Monthly Archives: August 2010

by | August 31, 2010 · 9:15 am

Retail Therapy and Pizza!

     It was an amazing Monday! I started off with a beautiful Monsta!

Gigantic! This had 5 cups of spinach, 1/2 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 of a banana, 1/2 of a cup of frozen blueberries, 1/2 of a lemon, 1/2 of a lime and a handful of ice. No idea why it turned out this color…
     I also had my first day AT THE GYM!!!! I got there early, spent 20 minutes on the stair-climber, climbed 79 floors, then hit up the weights. I basically sampled a little bit of everything. My all-time favorite weight set is the lat pulldown, so I revisited that a few times throughout the hour and a half. It’s strange being back in a gym after over 2 years without. I remember when I’d sit down at the lat pulldown and do three sets of 20 reps at 75lbs, and today I struggled with three sets of 10 reps at 45lbs. Sniff. I’m so ready to get stronger again!
     I did a crapload of crunches after all the weights, then attempted to stretch out. Afterwards, my arms were COMPLETELY dead. I had trouble lifting them to type and check my e-mail. I LOVE that kind of pain! Totally looking forward to doing a repeat tomorrow, then complaining to you all again about how much I hurt.
     After I showered and changed, I headed over to the Topanga Mall to meet up with my wonderful, amazing friend/cousin Allie! We did a little retail therapy, then headed out for some lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen.
They now have a calorie guide! I started to open this, and Allie grabbed it from my hands and threw it across the restaurant. Thank you, Allie :).
We ordered our drinks – she got the Prosecco split (I LOVE PROSECCO!) and I settled for the Mirassou Pinot Noir to abide by my red wine rules for August.
YUM! Me gusta Mirassou! I could actually taste and distinguish the tastes of cherries, strawberries and lusciousness. YUM again!
We split a Spicy Chicken Tanga Quesadilla from the Small Cravings menu. I could’ve eaten six more of these!
We also split the whole-wheat thin-crust chicken pesto pizza. Full of pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and onions and deLUSCIOUS cheese! I may have had half. I don’t regret it – I’m lucky my arms could lift the food to my mouth after that workout :).
     We shopped around a little more, then went out separate ways, full and happy. I headed home, changed for work, and headed off to my easy shift at work. Nothing special happened – I emptied stock boxes, got some gelato and ran through my sides for my audition tomorrey.
     Tomorrey = early gym, then off to my audish, then hanging with some wonderful friends in LA before coming back for pottery class. It’ll be a busy, wonderful Tuesday!
Do you look forward to your weeks like I do? I tend to dread weekends because weekends = retail. Let’s get real life STARTED already!

Comments Off on Retail Therapy and Pizza!

Filed under California Pizza Kitchen, green monster, gym, Merlot, Mirassou, pizza, quesadilla

by | August 30, 2010 · 7:13 am

Monster of Orange!

     I woke up when my alarm went of at 6:30am and headed out on a 20 mile bike ride. That’s totally a lie. I woke up, turned off my alarm, and fell asleep until 8:30am. When my body tells me that it needs another day of rest, I listen. Instead, I did a bunch of pushups and crunches before breakfast.

This morning was an ORANGE Monsta! We didn’t have much spinach left, so I improvised. This had about 1 cup of spinach, 1/2 of a peach, 1 carrot, 1/2 of a cup of soymilk, 1/2 of a banana, 1/2 of a cup of frozen blueberries and a big handful of ice.
     I headed off for my full shift at work. The day actually went by pretty quickly. There wasn’t too much to do, so I had lots of time to hang out with my coworkers and also read my current book, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Everyone’s read it, so I have to get onboard and read it before they make the U.S. movie version!
     I went out to lunch with my friend, Griffin, to the Lazy Dog Cafe.
Sir Griffin trying to decipher the menu.
A tasty glass of merlot!
I got half of a walnut chicken salad sandwich that has walnuts (duh), dried cranberries, thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes and lettuce, and came with a small side of fries.
It also came with a cup of chicken tortilla soup. The waiter failed to tell me that the avocado was an extra dollar. I should’ve guessed. Le sigh.
     We got back to work, kinda, and watched the clock slide by until it was time to go home. I’m pretty stuffed from my late lunch still, so I’ll probably skip dinner.
     I’ve said it before, but I am going to be going to have my first day at the gym tomorrey morning! I have a week-long guest pass, so prepare for a lot of complaints about how sore I am for the next week :).
Do you belong to a gym? Or do you prefer working out in the great outdoors?

3 Comments

Filed under chicken walnut salad sandwich, french fries, green monster, Griffin, gym, Lazy Dog Cafe, orange monster, tortilla soup, work

by | August 29, 2010 · 7:47 am

A Simple Kind of Life

     Summer tastes exactly like a tree-ripened peach, freshly sliced, sitting next to a mug of coffee.

At least to me. It was a wonderful way to begin my morning, overlooking the sunrise.
My Monsta had something different in it today! This had 5 cups of spinach, 1/2 a banana, 1/2 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 of a cup of frozen blueberries, 1/2 of a gigantic carrot, and 1/2 of a lemon. The carrot definitely added some sweetness to it. Boo to the yah for 6 veggie servings before 9am!
     Work was work. I whined, I complained, I commiserated with my fellow unhappy coworkers, and I ate cupcakes.
Yes, my work gives out junk food when you do something well. I don’t understand why they feel the need to make us all gain weight… I demolished this cupcake. Oops.
     Lunch was a mini spicy tuna roll with brown rice, followed by some speed walking. I had some company back at work which made the time fly by, then headed home with some mountain biking on my brain. I walked into my house and decided biking was a bad choice. Instead I decided on this:
Fancy nachos! Soy and flaxseed tortilla chips with leftover tri-tip, chipotle peppers covered in pepperjack cheese and guacamole. Guacamole from a bag. It looks awful, I know. Red wine, for the win!
     My alarm is set for an early-morning bike ride tomorrey, followed by an icy Monsta and a long day at work. Next week will be full of pictures of friends and foods and auditions, so stick with me! 
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

2 Comments

Filed under biking, coffee, green monster, nachos, peaches, red wine, sushi, work

by | August 28, 2010 · 9:14 am

My Legs Hate Me

     Today I woke up at 5:45am and decided that a trip to go running on the beach was in order. My roommate and I hopped in his car and head up to Goleta, CA – him for kayaking and for me, some intensely therapeutic working out.

     We had to stop and fuel up before we embarked upon our insane day, so Starbucks was in order.

Yes, that is an Egg McMuffin ala the Bucks. I don’t care how many calories are in it. It was GOOD!
     We got to Goleta around 7am and were greeted by a THICK marine layer!
I could not see past 100 feet in front of me. Awesome!
Me realizing that I forgot my sweatshirt. Crap.
     After my roommate launched, I headed up to UCSB, my old college campus, and ran the route I used to run every morning.
Looking down the cliff at Campus Point. I used to surf right there! The ocean has eroded so much of the cliffs that it all looks completely different!
The trails were pretty slippery and it was misting heavily. I was drenched with marine layer two minutes into my run.
     I ran north on DP (Del Playa aka PARTY CENTRAL) and passed lots of beer pong tables, tons of new apartment buildings and a girl on the walk of shame, carrying her stilettos in one hand and wearing a dress that should not be shown in public. After I passed through IV (Isla Vista, the neighborhood where all the UCSB students live), I kept going north for another 45 minutes.
It was WET out!
Really, really wet.
I ran into a dead end by this beautiful little house tucked into the marsh preservation area and didn’t want to run on the road, so I circled around and headed back to campus.
     The UCSB library has eight floors. The UCSB library has a staircase. I totally killed myself sprinting up the eight flights. At the top I was shaky, out of breath and wanted more! I perused a few bookshelves to regain my lung-composure, then headed over to my old dorm, San Miguel (or as we called it at the time, San MiGhetto).
     San MiGhetto also has eight floors. And stairs. I sprinted up those, then wandered the halls and traced all the memories I’d made there. It was a very nostalgic day for me. San MiGhetto also has a little gym that just happened to be unlocked and not in use. Since sprinting up the stairs and running for 2 hours straight wasn’t enough, I went in and did some lat pulldowns and other arm weights. Wonderful, wonderful pain.
     I made my way back down to Sandspit Road, where we’d started, took off my shoes and walked barefoot on the beach enjoying the crashing surf and the chilly air.
It was a beautiful morning.
     Since my roommate and I had both spent three hours exercising nonstop, we decided that a trip to The Taj in Ventura for an indian buffet was in order.
I cleaned my plate and got dessert. I was ravenous!
     After indian, we headed over to the chocolate shop, Trufflehounds, to pick up some more deliciousness, then headed home. I showered off the salty sea air, sand and sweat, then proceeded to pass out in bed for a good hour and a half. I woke up just in time to head to work.
     Work went well, considering it’s retail. I had some Paciugo therapy, sold 240% of my goal and spent over an hour with two really fun customers who made the time go by quickly.
     I have a full shift tomorrey morning again. Getting back into the swing of things. It’s difficult after such a wonderful week on set, but I’m looking forward to some auditions I have next week. They make it much more bearable.
What’s the most intense workout you’ve ever done?

4 Comments

Filed under beach, Goleta, Indian Food, library, running, Santa Barbara, stairs, Starbucks, trufflehounds, UCSB, Workout

by | August 27, 2010 · 10:06 am

Merlot and Fire!

     Farmers’ market! There’s nothing so wonderful – except a farmers’ market that’s not 95 degrees! I had a nice cool breakfast to start my day with.

A Monsta. Duh. 5+1/3 cups of spinach. I have 5 servings of veggies in my before 8am. Boo to the Yah!
Enjoying my Monsta with a view.
Life is good. God is great 🙂
     I spent a lot of the day doing laundry, cleaning my room and the house, and doing all the things I’ve missed while I was gone for over nine days. Getting my room and house in order helps me feel like I have control over my life, and helps de-stress me. Cleaning is so therapeutic! And I’m weird. You all know that by now :).
     After breakfast, I did a little interning for the talent manager, visited the bank to deposit some checks, and headed out to the farmers’ market.
Need eggplant recipes! Anyone???
A jungle of kale and chard. I’ve tried the kale, what do I do with chard?
Normally I’d buy some flowers, but nothing grabbed me today.
Here’s the bounty I returned with. I LOVE VEGGIES!!!!
Lunch was a Kitchen Sink Salad with about 2 cups of mixed greens, a whole chopped red bell pepper, 3/4 of a cup of lentils and some homemade balsamic dressing.
     After sweating through the farmers’ market, I headed back to the wonderful comfort of air conditioning and finished my current book, “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay. The book was breathtaking until the halfway point, but really petered out by the end. Actually, it was really disappointing. I feel like the author stopped caring and just decided to add some busywork to add some extra pages. Oh well.
     Next up was some chopping in preparation for dinner!
Slicing kernels off of corn, dicing cooked potatoes and sipping merlot. I had a rough night ;).
Dinner was delicious corn chowder, a glass of merlot and an amazing script. I have lots of memorizing to do! It’s so nice to get a script you really can connect to. The last one I felt so strongly about was Summer Campbell, which I just filmed. I have high hopes for this next one :).
     The night was spent sipping merlot, eating a freshly picked farmers’ market dinner and sipping on merlot. Oh yes, and roasting marshmallows.
Roasting marshmallows/setting skewers on fire. Same thing!
     Now it’s 11pm and I have to sign off and head to bed so I can wake up at 6am for a beautiful run on the beach up in Santa Barbara! I feel so blessed in life right now. Thank GOD for his peace and balance 🙂
What’s the most therapeutic activity for you?

4 Comments

Filed under farmers' market, fire, green monster, kitchen sink salad, marshmallows, Sarah's Key

by | August 26, 2010 · 9:34 am

Back to Retail. Yay.

     Today I had to get back to the grind. It was extremely depressing to go back to retail after having nine days of pure bliss. I may have had a mini breakdown at lunch. Very mini…

     The day started off wonderfully! I had my first Monsta in DAYS and I needed it!

1/2 of a cup of soymilk, 5 cups of spinach, a handful of frozen strawberries and blueberries, 1/2 of a banana and 1/2 of a lemon and 1/2 of a lime. HELLO ENERGY!!!!
     My stomach has massively shrunk since beginning filming. I finished my Monsta, but it was a challenge. This baby kept me full until around 11:30am. I decided that I just hadn’t had enough veggies, so my roommate made us some Kitchen Sink Salads.
We were low on lettuce, so it was mostly warmed lentils, egg white salad and sauteed asparagus in Herbes de Provence. It was a perfect petite meal.
     And then came work. My friend Duck-Duck came to visit, which made it slightly more bearable. It was a pretty dead day, and I had to work in the women’s section. Utter hell. These women fight over sales and will bite you in order to get commission. I am most definitely NOT competitive when it comes to sales. If I ever feel the need to be competitive in my job, I will quit. This was meant to be temporary anyway, and this last week has put a hunger in me for the career I really want – acting.
     My mom came to visit me for lunch and helped calm me down after my mental breakdown. She helped me put together a plan for the next few weeks that involves lots of filmed auditions and focusing on the future instead of dreading my retail job. She helped so muchly. Thanks, mom!
Some Mini Spicy Tuna Roll with Brown Rice helped too. I asked for some avocado to up my healthy fat intake. I needed all the buffer I could get today.
     The day passed by very slowly. I met a new coworker and had some awesome conversations with her, and finally got to go home. I was greeted by this lovely sight:
A glowing glass of Merlot. I may actually be LIKING wine! Who woulda thunk?
     Tomorrow is a day off (already needed), so I’ll be filming some auditions, organizing my room and my life, and interning from home. OH! And I just remembered that it’s Thursday, so I’m going to try and hit up the farmers’ market too! It’s the little things in life :).
I survived my first day back at work. Barely. Time to join a gym and work off my anxiety!

2 Comments

Filed under green monster, kitchen sink salad, Merlot, sushi, wine, work

by | August 25, 2010 · 7:25 pm

Santa Monica and Glazing!

     Yesterday was jam-packed! I got home from LA around 9:30am, had a huge cup of coffee and entertained my roommates with all my stories from being on set, then proceeded to walk out the door and pick up my friend from Colorado who’s visiting and go out for an extended lunch. I was planning on staying in town, but then heard that the high of the day was going to be 110 degrees. No thank you. We ended up in Santa Monica, on the beach.

Kim and I trying to narrow down our food options. TOO. MANY. CHOICES!
We ended up at Yangtze, a Thai/Japanese/Chinese fusion restaurant.
A very pale salad. Delicious sesame dressing, though!
I got a bowl of Tom Kha Gai, a coconut milk soup with lemongrass, galanga root and chicken. I’m still working on getting my appetite back after filming.
Kim got the Bangkok Inferno. Awesome name!
     We hung out at Yangtze for about an hour and a half catching up and going through some amazing memories from high school in Colorado, where I used to live. This girl can have me laughing like no other! Kim, when are you finally going to move out here??

     We walked around the 3rd Street Promenade, went into a few shops, bought some awesome, affordable clothes from H&M, and watched some street performers.
Buskers! We saw these tap dancers, an opera singer, some dude with an awesome beard playing guitar (the beard was more impressive than his guitar skills), and a bunch of palm readers and psychics.
Man with flower. I want to frame this picture, and then I want to go buy a big flower, wear a slick black suit and look awesome.
     Kim and I drove up the coast while listening to Gomez, Sky Sailing, Seabear, The x x and a whole bunch of other cool indie bands. Our lives do not suck.
     After I dropped Kim off, I headed over to mi madre’s. We stopped by Lotus for some frozen yogurt.
A small cup of original tart with chocolate chips and strawberries.
Then we went to pottery class. It was glazing night!
My two favorite colors: Cappuccino and Batik Blue.
The kiln was at 906 degrees. It was kind of hot.
The night sky outside of the studio. Bliss.
Me putting my enormous guns to use and whisking the glaze.
     Unfortunately, all my before pictures came out blurry, so you’ll just have to wait until next week for the finished products. Christmas presents, anyone? I am so ready with my bowls!
     As for today, back to reality. I have a full shift starting at noon, but I have a wonderful new outlook to keep me sane. Happy Wednesday!
What helps keep you sane during the work week?

Comments Off on Santa Monica and Glazing!

Filed under Uncategorized

by | · 9:01 am

Summer Filming: Day 8

     Yesterday was my last day on set. So sad!!! We had a 9am call, had to wait while camera got set up and after shooting a few scenes in a musty basement, had lunch.

Spinach salad with strawberries, corn with zucchini, linguini mac and cheese and some kind of chicken.
     It’s been a long haul, but we wrapped around 7pm. Crew had to clean up and get everything packed away in the truck, then we all went out to Haven Gastropub in Orange.
Pulled pork sandwich with pommes frites and housemade ketchup!
Warm apple-cabbage slaw on top of the pulled pork. Happiness!
Chelsea and Coco.
Scott (with his awesome new haircut ala Jenny) and the Chelsmeister.
Boa, Jenny and Ryan.
Malachi, deep in thought after some deep, introspective film talk.
     The past nine days have been some of the most incredible of my life. I’ve made amazing friendships that WILL continue, and I have fallen in love with these people. 
     For now, I’m back to work and taping auditions, but I’ll be keeping these people and memories in my heart and mind to keep myself going through my retail days. Either way, I’m LOVING my life!
Best nine days. EVER!

Comments Off on Summer Filming: Day 8

Filed under friends, happiness, Haven Gastropub, short film, Summer Campbell

by | August 23, 2010 · 11:53 am

Summer Filming: Day 7

     One more day left of this craziness! I will be incredibly sad to see it all go. These past 9 days have been the most fun I’ve ever had on set. Sniff.

     We filmed in Toluca Lake today, in the kitchen of one of the houses. There was nothing too crazy, except for all the stunts I had to do. My elbow and knee are a little banged up, and I am proud! Lunch was from one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Porto’s!

Ham, cheese, tomato, lettuce sandwich on their freshly made bread, a chicken empanada and some kind of pastry filled with ground beef. Guess whose appetite is back!
I asked for a quarter of a cupcake, but Jenny MADE me eat the entire half!
     We filmed a few slow motion bike sequences, which look AMAZING, then headed out for dinner before we had to meet up for some night pickups. I headed over to my costar’s house and we got all chef-y!
Ahhh, I’ve missed chopping things!
We made a stir-fry with onions, yellow squash, mushrooms, steak and white wine with LOTS of HdP 🙂
And since the wine was opened, we figured we shouldn’t let it go bad!
     After dinner, we headed back for our pickups and walked down dark streets in the middle of Burbank. Thankfully, we wrapped and I headed down to Orange, where we’ll be filming our final day tomorrey. 
Time to crash!

Comments Off on Summer Filming: Day 7

Filed under chocolate cupcake, on set, Porto's, short film, stir-fry, Summer Campbell, white wine

by | August 22, 2010 · 7:06 pm

Summer Filming: Day 6

     Good morning! I woke up before my alarm today, checked out yesterday’s pictures and discover I only have three usable ones, so I’ll recap yesterday very quickly.

     I slept on the most amazing couch in the entire universe, and woke up slightly more refreshed, but still completely sleep deprived from the past week. I wound up being ridiculously early to set, so I swung by Starbucks to start my day.

A grande soy chai and oatmeal. This oatmeal has been my lifesaver! It kept me full for over five hours yesterday!
     We filmed about 16 shots over the course of the day. I met, worked with, and said goodbye to my on-screen mother, spent about an hour filming under covers in a bed (while it was about 90 degrees in the house we were using, thank you very much), and rode my bike off into the sunset. 
     Lunch was a crapload of Quiznos sandwiches. I regained my appetite, finally, and had…
A quarter of a tuna melt, which I did not used to like, but craved yesterday…
and a turkey sub on the most amazing herbed bread ever. I’m drooling remembering it.
     We wrapped early and all headed off to Robano’s in Toluca Lake for dinner. Sadly, I left my camera in a separate bag and was unable to document this amazing night. We had a group of about sixteen people, and spent a good two hours talking, making fun of the solo artist who was playing, and laughing our asses off. I sipped my glass of merlot (I’m sticking to this no beer thing! So weird!) and had one of the best nights of my life. I am completely in love with this crew. 
     I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I’ll be taking tons today to make up for it! As for now…
Off to set! I love saying that 🙂

Comments Off on Summer Filming: Day 6

Filed under filming, Quiznos, Robano's, short film, Summer Cambell