Sometimes Fingerless Gloves Are A Bad Idea

OOf. Tonight was a long night. One of our actresses got food poisoning this afternoon. I overheard someone talking about it on the phone and it did not sound good. I'm pretty sure they were going to take her to the emergency room. Well there was a long chain of people that the information had to go to so that they could decide what to do about the show. I knew they were going to cancel it. But we had to wait. Of course I was lobby managing so we had to prep the lobby as if the show was going to happen. This includes the very tedious job of printing off a list of the subscribers that are coming to see that show and placing cards on their chairs that say "happy holidays, have a free peppermint hot chocolate on us." It always takes a long time to put out the cards so I was stalling big time. Alas, when push came to shove I had to put them in the house because if I waited any longer and the show did happen, I wouldn't have had time. Buh. 

Of course .2 seconds after I finish with the cards they announce that the show is officially cancelled. Shock of the century. We made a contingency plan ala Jurassic Park for just such an occasion. Jessica and I stood outside of the theatre, freezing our toes and fingers off, and announced to people as they were walking in that the show had been cancelled. Then we handed them a sheet of paper saying all of their options. They could always exchange for another night but if they wanted to stick around for some theatre they could see our other show for free or go next door to the Intiman and see Black Nativity for free as well. I think that that is one heck of a deal. I wouldn't say that anyone was actually mad about it. One guy asked why we didn't have an understudy and I just flat-lined it and said, "Sir, we can't afford that." A couple people just wanted refunds, and some just stalked off, but a good number of them went to one of the other shows and were happy to have the back up plan. It was a pretty smooth night considering everything and I think I'll regain feeling in my fingers eventually (you have no idea how hard it is to type this).  Live theatre, sometimes you wear me out. 

OH and did I mention that I got to go to Roosevelt and Woodinville high schools yesterday? Kristi drove me to the schools so that I could get video footage of their rehearsals for the Playwriting Project. Some of these kids are absolutely adorable. I don't know who I'm kidding, I know that some day I'm going to be a teacher. It's just so inevitable. Bottom line is that high school theatre shaped who I am today and I just really get a kick out of it. Look at me, I'm discovering who I am and becoming an adult. Creepy. 

Goodnight Sweetheart, We'll It's Time To Go

I'm awake. It's too early to be awake on a Saturday. This is of course after I already laid in bed for a long time trying to go back to sleep. I'm just all wound up and nervous/thinking about too many things. And I don't have 3 men to sing me a lullaby when I can't sleep so....here I am. I'm sure I have yet another cold sore coming, which will be ever so exciting for my family in Indiana to hear!!!! They love that kind of stuff.

Speaking of Indiana, can I just say that I loved going home for Thanksgiving. A part of me was skeptical. I was the only intern, I think, that went home for the holiday and it was just feeling like it was going to be spending a lot of money for no reason. Well, that is crap. I have a ton of reasons why I needed to do it: I got presents (like christmas gels for our windows and stolen hotel coffee bags), I got to see two movies and they didn't cost a zillion dollars (Four Christmases had nothing redeeming about it except for the Taboo scene and Vince Vaughn's description of his life as Shawkshank Redemption, and Quantom of Solace was pretty darn awesome although not quite as good as Casino Royale), I ate epic amounts of food which you know doesn't happen often on my salary, and I got to just be with my family. They really are a crazy bunch of people. Example: one morning all five of us were bustling around our hotel room trying to get ready and Jackie notices all of my mom's jewelry on the table. She then proceeds to put all of it on and became the female version of Mr T. It was hilarious...but I guess you had to be there. And did I mention Irish Car Bombs with some of my cousins? I won't mention their names in case they run for office one day but it was quite bizarre and hilarious.

All of my extended family is reading this blog so I'm sure I'll here about everything I'm posting when I go home for Christmas but I think it's fun to be more connected to them than usual. How can they adore me when they don't even know what I had for dinner yesterday. Am I right or am I right? I'm also just glad that I am over and done with flying by myself for the first time. It wasn't too bad. I guess. The way home was stressful, delayed and consisted of an unavoidable $47 taxi ride, but hey! I did it all by myself. Where's my cookie?

Coming back to work after such a packed holiday was really just not that much fun. We were all stressed out and had too much to do. Opening night for YCTIWY was hectic. We had to do another audience response video and we were being legit professional about it. We made quarter sheets to pass out to people that had a blurb about it, our Talk It Out Booth logo, and a snazzy map of the lobby to show you where to go. Yeah, professional. We even had the stool, lights and backdrop set up the whole time so that people could walk by it and get interested. Well the second intermission was over and we’re doing our final prep and in walks a five piece band that set up about 2 feet away from us. I could have shot them all. The sound quality is pretty bad on the tape. And overall people just didn’t want to do it. It seems like it always ends up being a ton of work for practically no pay off. Once the video is up I’ll post a link to it and you can see what I mean. It’s not bad it just, well it’s not what we wanted it to be.

Then last Friday we had a double whammy. The Crew 10th Anniversary party was the same night as Happy Hour. We had to set up for both of the events simultaneously which mainly meant hauling around huge tables from one end of the building to another and trucking mass quantities of alcohol. And maybe it would have been okay if it didn’t happen on a day when two people got laid off and we had a company meeting about how screwed we are for next season. It was just a really sad day to be at work. The parties themselves went really well though. Drew and I made $27 bucks each in tips working behind the bar and we were finished cleaning a bit after midnight. Oh 9am-midnight days, you are only possible because of my youth and lack of ability to find another job.

I lobby managed all weekend and then bippity boppity boop I’m back at work again on Monday. No complaints because money is great, but, I think I need to scale back next year. I’m just doing too much and I fear my head will explode.

This week wasn’t as bad, but was still a long one. We had Taste of the Rep last night. There was talk of snow happening so traffic was ridiculously bad. Half of our participants didn’t show up and the food was an hour late. It’s fine. What was really awesome was when we were setting up a song came on and Fran said, “This is the song that helped me get over a break up.” So we turned off the lights and Jessica, Fran and I laid on the floor and just listened to it. Sometimes we just don’t have time to do bonding stuff like that because we’re too focused on getting more napkins and moving chairs. It was fun and will most likely be one of the truly peaceful moments I’ll have until I’m back in Iowa (coming Dec 20th to a Dubuque near you).

This was Haley, the paints intern’s, last week at the Rep which was really sad. She’s down to Earth and really funny so she’ll be missed a lot. We also did our Intern Skit for the SRO holiday party. The basic plot line was that we acted out snippets from three shows that we’ve done this season and had an actor ask the stage manager what their next line was. In a bit of hilarious I’ve-never-seen-this-before type circumstance, the stage management intern was day dreaming and then WHAM the actors transform into the dream sequence. Highlights of my acting included a Delilah reference, channeling Samuel L. Jackson for our Cakes on a Plane scene, and mocking Waiting for Godot. People were saying it was the best skit they’ve seen in years. Obvi. Our intern class is pretty much phenomenal.

OH AND DID I MENTION? This week I also went to the Deck the Hall Ball at WaMu theater in down down downtown Seattle! The bands were The Aqueducts, Shiny Toy Guns, Cold War Kids, Death Cab for Cutie and The Killers. Um. I need an iTunes gift card NOW. It is killing me to not be able to buy music. This was my first time going to a concert that wasn’t headlining five men singing and dancing for 13 year olds and I loved it. The Killers were absolutely, positively the best band I’ve seen live, which granted isn’t a long list, but get over it. I was pretty miffed off that they wouldn’t even let me into the bar area because I had a vertical id still. I just said, “Really? Really? Even though it clearly states that I’m 22 and a half?” “Um, yeah. It’s Quest policy.” And the hit list just keeps getting longer and longer.

I have another long weekend of lobby managering ahead of me, but it shouldn’t be too bad. I do get to go to my very first office holiday party tonight at Scott’s house which I’m probably way too excited for. We’re talking egg nog and singing carols around a piano type fare and I’m pumped. I’ll also be watching a lot of Mad Men Season One, which is slowly starting to push me to working more in marketing and maybe even an advertising agency someday. Okay, we won’t even talk about that. Also—I rewatched Dial M for Murder last night and it is still amazing. Netflix it, it’s good.

Alright, well I’ll try to calm down and hopefully my last week before Christmas won’t be hell on Earth. I will be going to two high schools all day Monday to take pictures and shoot videos for the Playwriting Project so at least that’ll be fun. If anyone has strong sleeping pills, send ‘em my way. I think eventually I should try to get some sleep.

Love and Frasier.

Shameless Plug

Drew and I finished our ednotes for boom soooo, yeah. You should check it out. I'd put it in the blog, but I can't figure out how to do it. 

Ur Pix Fix

This is Jessica, Antoinette and I after I won $50 from the donors that came to the Rep. They were sad they didn't win anything. I was sad that my friends aren't as awesome as I am. 
Mom and I in Seattle on our Argosy Cruise! Yay for peachmonsters coming to the Northwest. 
Just us and Obama on Election Night, looking fierce. And a random drag queen in the background. 

The Good, The Bad and The Tuna

This was another hectic week to add the annals of my so-called life. Let's just dive right in:

It's fine. No really, I don't care. Buuuut, I kind of got fired from writing the Cue Sheet. The higher ups declared it to be a "threat to the organization." So I only got to write about 6 of them. It's been hard fielding e-mails from people asking me why I'm not doing it any more. I'm supposed to answer: "The Cue Sheet is a big commitment and now that I'm in the middle of my internship I need to turn my focus on to other important projects." This is complete crap. I'd rather say it like it is and tell people, "There are people out there that don't know how to take a joke. So instead of having an interesting Cue Sheet that people actually want to read, we're just going to copy and paste department's information into a Word Document and call it a day because we're lame. And we hate fun." I feel like Eminem. It's just him and me against the FCC. Getting censored and cleaning out our closets. 

I worked a lot of extra hours this week so that I could get trained on how to run the Leo K Theatre as a Lobby Manager. I still like working as Concessions Manager more, but it's nice to know that I could do a different position if I wanted to. (That's what she said). One night we had a karaoke machine set up because an actress from last season called and said she wanted to have some fun before she saw the show. Since she can really belt people lined up to sing a song with her and have it not sound like auditions for American Idol. People were really getting into it. I opted out of singing Ms. New Booty because I'm not musically challenged, but the CAs that did it were kind of hilarious. As a fun little joke we played It's the End of World As We Know It once boom was over. We love making apocalypse jokes. PS I've been stalking the playwright of boom ever since he got in town. I'm a creeper, but I can't help it. His play is awesome and I'm obsessed.  Read it. Worth it. 

Wednesday was opening night for boom. We had the grossest food spread ever. Since we have basically no budget we made the theme "food you'd find in a bunker after the end of the world." We had the obligatory twinkies but then we also had canned sardines, peaches, mini gerkins, and oysters. Gross. I didn't eat. Not that I would have had time to. At 1pm that day Joanna from Communications asked Drew and I to make a video of audience's reactions to the show. We had 4 hours to figure out how we wanted to do it. I was channeling my desire to be on the Real World and came up with the idea of making a Confessional Booth. People would go in while the camera was taping and could say whatever they wanted about the show. Basic reactions included: "Is there a priest in there?" "What do I talk about?" "Is this thing rolling?" I mean people were just not gets its that night. Once that video is done I'll be sure to post it. We screened it the next day and here's a laundry list of what we saw:

1. Jessica crying because "Kiki is so mean to me."

2. Someone confessing about cheating on their girlfriend.

3. A woman said that she loved the movie. Yeah.

4. And Rob started smoking a cigarette. Pretty sure that's like way against the law, but it's fine. 

Someone from Seattle Weekly was there and loved that we were doing it. They want a copy of the video to blog about it. Hopefully this is the beginning of my film career. Done and done. Although I don't think AbbaDahl Films is quite a compelling name. We'll have to come up with something more Spielberg. 

The rest of the week was just a lot of working and hanging low. It's getting pitch black outside around 5 so it always feels a lot later than it actually is. Being north is weird. 

I did see Twilight and it pretty much sucked. I finally watched Rushmore and can continue my love affair with Wes Anderson. I also cooked dinner last night and tonight. I mean, that's unheard of around here. I never have the time. 

Speaking of food: we had the intern food drive on Friday in the shop. Every intern got two huge boxes full of food. I now have more peanut butter and tuna than God. There was a lot of trading going on and I didn't get rid of everything that I wanted to. But it's okay. I scored a lot of pasta so A+ on that front. And we all got a $35 gift card to Safeway. I'm using it to buy ice cream because I never have it and I want it oh so bad. Yum. 

30 Rock season one is amazing. As is Six Feet Under. Why people don't take more advantage of the library system is beyond me. Oh and Frasier season two is my new life. 

I get to go home this week! The time change is going to suck. But seeing my family and sleeping in my bed at least one night will make it worth it. I wish I could see some of my friends but I'll be in Indiana pretty much the whole time. Sadness. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Morning, Rain is Falling

Actually it isn't raining. Apparently it only does that when my parents are visiting. Le sigh. 

 

Seattle is cool. I mean like wayyy cool. I've done some down right amazing things that, let's face it, would just never happen in the Midwest. 

1. Remember that Shitstorm I told you about? Well it happened about 3 weeks ago. We had 150 people, standing room only, in our PONCHO rehearsal hall and we talked (more like ranted) for three hours about theatre and drank dollar PBRs. We talked about this article in length. The article was read out loud and then two big wigs in Seattle Theatre started off the conversation by "contending the bone." One of them picked apart the Shakespeare point saying that we need to continue doing his work. By not doing so you're robbing artists all over the country from doing the classics and putting their interpretation into anything other than new work. He stressed that playwrights aren't the only ones that deserve to be creative. Point well taken. The other man agreed with this point and bounced off in numerous different directions basically culminating in calling the article's author an idiot. I felt bad for the journalist. He was pretty much slaughtered. But that room had an undeniable energy. People were shouting and cat calling and pretty much pouring their hearts out. I've never seen people talk about theatre in this way. The passion. The intensity. The sense of urgency. It was so contagious. It really reminded me that theatre is frickin amazing and I chose to be in this line of work. So economy be damned I'm going to do everything I can to stay in it. If not for anything else than for the dollar PBRs. Oh and did I mention that we ended the evening by singing Journey's Don't Stop Believing? Because we did. 

2. OBAMA. Obama. OOOOOOOOOBAMA! Now if that wasn't just about the most exciting night, then I don't know what was. I had some friends over to my apt and Mollie cooked dinner while we all sat two feet away from my tv and watched the results coming in. The noise level was deafening when Obama went over 270. We were all freaking out and calling/texting everyone we knew. I was shaking all over I was so excited. It's nice to feel like a vote matters. That when you vote Democratic they don't just automatically say, "tough luck." And it is SO NICE to know that America supported Obama. None of this too-close-to-count-so-let's-wait-three-days bull. He won. Change is in the air. Of course we then all started balling our eyes out when he gave his speech in Grant Park. When you see Oprah and Jessie Jackson crying and you don't shed a tear, then I'm pretty sure you're heartless. Of course the fun didn't stop there. We took to the streets of Seattle. We went down to 1st ave and marched with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of other people chanting "Yes we can!" Antoinette hugged just about every person she ran in to. Jessica and I were just screaming our heads off and dancing with strangers. It was just...amazing. Big city living perk: the liberals love to come out of their house and party it up. I don't think I've ever felt so proud to be American. Even saying that sounds corny and cliche and something that a Texan would say. But I really did feel it. It was a great night. Freedom. Democracy. America. 

3. And what about my parents coming in town? It was, to say the least, one of the best weekends I've had in Seattle. It was so much fun getting to have my dad in Seattle and not be stressing out about buying a bed or finding a discount furniture store. And it was wonderful to finally have my mom here and get to show her just a few of the things that I love about Seattle. We went to Pike Place Market, of course, and spent a lot of time there shopping for my grandpa's 70th birthday presents. We went into the Space Needle and had dinner which was soooo good. It was kind of an overcast night so next time we'll do brunch. But it was awesome and touristy. We went down to the Aquarium which was more fun than I thought it would be. I knew my dad would get a kick out of it so I offered it up on the itinerary, but I actually had a great time. Things that I love that I didn't know I loved: sea otters. They're the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Cats and dogs have never done it for me, but these little guys? I'd buy a tank if I didn't have to pay rent. It was just really nice to have my parents here and to not be worrying about, well, anything. It was so calm and relaxed. I loved it. 

4. I protested Prop 8 in the streets of Seattle yesterday. Once again I'm pretty much a Doobie Brother. There were 10,000 estimated people there wearing rainbow colors and holding Bert and Ernie balloons. There were signs about "Divorcees for Gay Marriage" and "Jesus had two dads." I won't stand on my soapbox and talk about it here, but seriously: don't hate. (Maybe this is just the thing we need for a bunch of recording artists to get together and re-record the Black Eyed Peas' Where is the love?)

5. Work Updates: I've been trained in how to work both theatres in our building as a Lobby Manager so hopefully that will continue to bring in extra money and not be too stressful of a second job. The Rep as a whole isn't doing too hot. I won't write about it because this is a public blog and, hey I kinda want to keep my job. But the economy sucks and everyone is hurting. This makes it a really interesting year to be an intern. You're watching the steamroller go by knowing you won't be affected by the aftermath. It's odd and sad. Ask me about it and we'll talk. Three Musketeers closed and it was a really great last show. That audience was ready to laugh and have a good time. The actors were pretty much doing whatever the heck they wanted. Jeff Bender yelled "You're shooting blanks" when Ryan Sham's gun didn't go off and I then I died. This was a fun cast and I actually got to know a few of them. I'll miss their opening entrance and my obsession with Hans the most. He's just wonderful. 

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll post pictures of all of these things soon. Thanks for reading. Miss  you!

Yes, I Google Myself. Sue Me.

Look at how cute and dorky I am. I think I look kind of fake-y in that picture. If they were going to do touch ups they could have at least taken off one chin.

Jackpot

It is a beautiful day here in Seattle. I can see the mountains out my window. It hurts being this good.

I just got my Entertainment Weekly, there are two loads of laundry currently being tumbled and I have a lot of dishes to do but updating my blog seemed like the biggest priority. This past week was pretty great. I worked every night so that the dolla dolla billz can keep flowing in. On Thursday I got my usual stipend check of $200 and then my manager check. It read $420. And then I cried. It was such a beautiful thing. I haven't been able to watch my usual shows so I took this morning to catch up on The Office on hulu.com (why I just started using this website is beyond me). I would have watched it on NBC.com but they wanted me to update my flash player. Girl can't do that when her computer is already a sad muffin that freaks out when a dvd is playing. The least amount of crap on my laptop the better. 

Friday was by far the highlight of the week. Two board members came to the office and we were instructed to be at our desks because they had presents for us, aka yellow headbands with smilie face antennas. Pretty sure I haven't worn one of those since Bill Clinton was in office but what can you do? Then we all gathered in the scene shop for their weekly beer:30. We all got in a huge circle and sang Happy Birthday to Ben Moore (like the CEO of the theatre) and then the board members started raffling off envelopes. I told Jessica that I would probably win one, and then lo and behold they called my name. I put my arms in the air and sunk my head like a boxing champ as I made my way to claim my prize. When I opened the envelope it had a $50 bill in it. Then I started screaming as if I were 5 years old, "This is the best day of my life!" Not true, but maybe top 30. 

Later that night we had The Taste of the Rep. Patrons pay a bit extra to come early, eat Musketeer-themed food and listen to a short "warm up" about King Louis IV. It was a great turn out and I think people were having a good time. Pat on the back for knowing how to throw a party. (See Jackie, if we did open up a party planning business I'd have skills to offer. This could totally happen.)

Now don't judge me, it wasn't my idea I swear. After the Taste was over, I went to go see High School Musical 3. I need friends, and that's what my friends wanted to do. Whether or not this makes them good friends is still up for debate, but I went anyway. I cheered when Zac Efron took off his shirt and then slept for the rest of it. $10.25 well spent. 

Yesterday I hit the downtown area to do some much needed relaxing and shopping. Jessica and I went to The Navy, Gap, and H&M. It was so wonderful to be around mannequins that know how to layer. Then we went to Nordstrom Rack. That place had the fuggliest stuff I've ever seen. I don't know how people walk out of there with anything of substance. Then we got coconut ice cream and took the monorail back to Seattle Center. I love monorails. This one didn't have that familiar voice echoing to "stand clear of the doors," but it was still fun. 

Another friend from work, Whitney, is a huge Phillies fan and she really wanted us to come out and watch one of the series games with her. The bar was crowded, we weren't facing a tv, and I was really tired. I doubt that I impressed her friends. It's hard when someone says, "Oh, this is Kiki. You'll love her, she's so funny" and all you want to do is pass out on the couch. I tried to cheer but it was half hearted. Eventually we just left and then sat around watching youtube videos and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog for about the 50th time. It may not be an exciting life, but it's mine and I love it. 

It was Mollie's birthday last weekend so her mom came in town. Oh my gosh, she is adorable. They both have the best Chicago accents. We had a huge dinner of crab legs, scallops, ahi tuna, I mean her mom pulled out all of the stops. It makes me sad that my family doesn't do seafood because Nikki is the pickiest eater on the face of the planet. Then I found out that neither of them have seen Bridget Jones's Diary. I considered this an offense to women everywhere and immediately put the disc in. It was so much fun. Mollie's pretty much a great roommate. I lucked out big time. The rest of the weekend we all just hung out and ate really good food. I'll have to be sure to invite her along when my parents and I go out for dinner, which is in one week!!!! I'm so excited!

And speaking of Mollie, she is in LA visiting a friend this weekend so I have the apt to myself. I'm going to keep doing laundry and will eventually get to those nasty dishes. I'm going to have some friends over tonight for a potluck picnic. I call it that because a) i don't cook and b) because i don't have enough chairs for everyone. I'm excited to finally have some friends come over, but that means I need to do some serious cleaning. 

This week is already looking very busy. I'm booked until Saturday so who knows when I'll get to write again. But thanks for reading, and hey, keep it sassy. 

GOBAMA!

Oh Right, I Have a Blog

Hey. Hi. This is. Awkward.

Here I am creating a blog and I don't even have the decency to write in it for three weeks. I have obviously let you all down. For this I say: I hope you found something better to do with your time than obsess about what I'm doing. I know I did. I mean, if the worst part of my day is that I didn't get a chance to blog, then that's not too bad.

I'm not really sure how I want to do this. There is so much I want to say, but I don't want to ramble on novels at a time. Maybe a nice cliff-notes version will suffice? Let's see what happens if I just free style this. I apologize in advance if it's a bit all over the place.

Uhhhh I went to Portland! A couple Saturdays ago, Jessica, Drew and I piled into a rented car and drove about 3 hours away to see an Apple Festival outside of Portland. It was beautiful. Portland felt a lot like Seattle but with a better layout. Houses tucked into the hills and coffee houses everywhere. Home-y and new age all at the same time. I wish we could have spent more time there.

Isn't that beautiful? Check out that mountain in the background. I was so in love with it that I bought a souvenir shot glass with a picture of it, complete with forest fire. Awesome. We were just there for the day, picking apples out of barrels and mocking the lame corn maze. But they did have pumpkin people. Let me illustrate:

This guy is Tom Hanks from Cast Away. I'm in love with the detail that goes into these things. It was pretty amazing and one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I walked away with a ton of produce and some killer apple cider. Then we went back into the city and bought some coffee while we hung out in the biggest independent bookstore in the country. I saw a Virginia Woolfe book that she bound herself worth $17,000. I know, I'm a rock star. So yes, that is my Portland Adventure. Woot.

What else have I been doing? Oh yes, I'm working as a Lobby Manager in addition to my internship so that I can earn some extra dough. It is pretty entertaining. The people I work with are awesome and the work itself isn't that hard. It's a lot of opening safes and counting money. But I really like that I'm not freaking out about money as much and I feel like it makes spontaneous trips to Portland more of a possibility.

We've had two opening nights at the theatre. Both shows are pretty amazing in their own way. I've become a certifiable stalker of Charlayne Woodard because her one woman show is brilliant. I'm not kidding when I say that I'm giving everyone I know a copy of the script for Christmas. The story is about how she has been an auntie to dozens of kids in her life and has helped to "fill in the gaps." She is one heck of a story teller and is one of the most captivating actresses I've ever seen. Give that woman a Tony. Three Musketeers is doing really well! Families are loving it and that's exciting because kids are rarely seen inside the Rep. We had a family day where kids came in early for Musketeer Boot Camp. They made tunics, hats and swords and then we taught them how to lunge and poke (they had to learn at some point). We even knighted them with a real sword at the end. These kids were loving it. I even wrote the pledge that they chanted at the end promising not to kill each other with their swords. How adorable.

I've been hanging out a lot with Jessica and her roommate Michael. They're pretty much my besties at this point. We like to cook dinner and watch some TV or play Wii after a long day at work. It's nice to have people to just really kick back with. OH but don't get me wrong, I love my roommate. Mollie and I are totally getting along because we're basically the same person. We are both the middle of three daughters, Polish, from the Midwest and have curly brown hair. I'm sold. We don't get to see each other a lot because our schedules don't match up very well. But when we do, we have a ball. Last Saturday we went and had dinner downtown and then caught a movie. A simple and fun night. I'm a lucky chica.

What else? I saw Peter Brady and his wife Adrian at a bar one night. Believe it. Hmmm...I've been working with some high schoolers to help them hone their critical writing skills. They love me. And I love helping them with writing.

Speaking of writing, I've been doing a lot of it. I got put in charge of the Cue Sheet which is a departmental newsletter. I ask heads of departments to e-mail me what is happening, events, new people, anything really and then I have to put it all together and make it interesting to read. Of course it is dripping with sarcasm and wit, I did write it after all. The sad part is that after I send it out, I have to reserve the following hour for answering fan mail and a lot of complaints. I tend to ruffle feathers with what I write and people aren't quite ready for it. But I'm not going to change it. I like the fact that people are reading it. It used to be something that no one read, cared about, or wanted to contribute to. Now it's like a must-read thing. If you want to be cool and have something to talk about at the water cooler then you read what I wrote. Amazing and demanding all at the same time.

I've also been working a lot on the blog for the Rep. I've written a few articles (like me dancing with a Tony winner...I'm getting more and more awesome by the second) and am responsible for Ednotes. I interview Ed and then Drew edits the video. I'm really excited about it. A lot of people have taken notice of it in the Rep and I think it might grow to be a bigger marketing tool which would be awesome because it really is mine and Drew's. Interns making a difference and changing theatre. Loves it.

Let's see. I'm just sitting here racking my brain trying to see if something mildly interesting will spill out. Did I mention Peter Brady? I bet I did. I'll most likely be milking that for the rest of my life. What else? Ummmm there was a fun intern dinner that I went to. It was at this older woman's house and we had this giant mexican spread. We feasted on tacos and then I complimented them on their Thomas Kinkades. I then accidentally ate three cookies with chocolate covered espresso beans on top and have only recently started sleeping again.

I walked to work in the rain one day. It sucked. No one around here carries an umbrella so I feel like a freak holding one. But I'm straightening my hair everyday and there ain't no way I'm letting the rain mess it up. So there.

I'm working my way through Frasier Season One. Holy crap, why haven't I been watching this show my whole life?? It is smart, witty and pretty hilarious. I'm excited about all eleven seasons coming my way. PS mom I want How I Met Your Mother for Christmas. And The Office. I will now also be using this as a christmas list generator. Blogger, thank you for being so multi-facetted.

Speaking of my mom, both of my parents will be coming in two weeks. I'm so excited! We're going to go out and really explore Seattle. When dad was here before it was work work work. Now we're gonna have some fun. Hopefully mom won't go into cardiac arrest when we do the Space Needle. I just want a nice clear day so we can see the mountains. Then I'll be content. We'll probably also...take a ferry, go to the aquarium, do the music experience project, eat thai, meet people at work, you know the works. They should be excited because Seattle is way better than D.C. I'm fully convinced.

Wow. That took quite a while. Sorry 'bout how long this is. But well, you asked for it. I miss you all a lot. Call me, text me, hit me up on facebook and tell me about your life. Here's to love and Frasier Crane.

UGH.

I have a cold sore.

This week is the opening of Night Watcher, training for house managing, a CREW event, and most importantly the Gala on Saturday where we dress up and ask doners to give upwards of $20,000. And of course I now have a small mountain on my face. An eye sore from tumor hell. I only get these when I'm stressed, and granted things have been a bit busy, but I don't feel that I've warranted this gargantuan virus eating away at my lip.

I went to Bartell's with Fran to buy something to clear it up. The pharmacist said, "For fast acting relief on the first day of your cold sore, try Abreve." Thanks buddy, that stuff is $19. I feel like a moocher, but Fran bought it for me. I didn't ask her to, she just picked it up and said, "We have to get you looking great for Gala." She's such a sweetheart. I now owe her lunch and my first born male baby. It's the least I can do for getting rid of this friend-repellent.

I've tried so hard to keep these posts upbeat, because who likes to read about this kind of crap? But bear with me, I'm in rare form today.

On a lighter note, I've written another post for Seattle Rep. I should charge extra for this stuff.

Two Words: GREEN PANTS

Instead of doing actual work right now, I decided I'd rather share the photos taken of all of the interns during my first week. I think we're cute.

Yeah, my feet are really not even off the ground. But at least I didn't have to have my belly photoshopped out like some people.

Dorky, but charming.

And this one is my FAVORITE. They said, "Do something crazy!" And of course the best we could come up with was jazz hands.

Blog Me About It

I just wrote my first post for the Seattle Rep blog. It's a short "get to know me" piece mixed with a cupcake investigation. You just have to read it to understand.

Seattle Surprises

1. Did you know that 10 Things I Hate About You takes place in Seattle? Yeah, I didn't know that. I watched that movie last night with some friends from work and we figured out that the house Bianca and Kat live in is probably in Queen Anne somewhere. We've already made plans to find all of the locations in the movie and photo document the event. Consider yourself warned, Facebook. We also cracked open a bottle of wine to drink while watching the movie. I do not recommend the game take-a-drink-whenever-you-miss-Heath-Ledger. You'll only end up with an empty bottle and a little hole in your heart. 

2. So much for trying to be a classy professional. I've only been at work two weeks and I'm already organizing a bar crawl. They apparently have never heard of the concept and are surprised that the idea came from an Iowan. The hard part is going to be figuring out where to go and what design to put on the shirts. The two higher ups are named Ben and Jerry so I might milk (bad dairy pun) that theme. Kurtzy is going to help me figure it all out and hopefully it'll be a good time. Basically you can take the girl out of Iowa but you can't take the party planner out of the girl. 

3. This actually isn't a surprise, but more of a happy shift in attitude. Mollie and I are doing really well living together. She works 8-4:30 and I'm more of a 9-6 girl. So we completely miss each other in the mornings and by the time I get home she's already had dinner. But we've been bonding a lot. She'll sit with me while I eat dinner and we'll talk about our work days and the stuff that we want to get done in the apt. (We're still working on the cable and internet.) One night I was watching something in my room and she had a question for me. She stood in my door way, looking as if she felt like she was intruding or interrupting. Girl needs to learn that I have very small personal boundaries. I invited her in and we sat on my bed and chit-chatted the night away. Very Babysitters Club of us, but it was fun. I think we'll get along really well and won't be needing that roommate contract after all. 

4. I actually liked the movie Tropic Thunder. Kurtzy and I were in giggle mode after a particularly stressful day at the Rep. So we hauled it to the movie theatre to do the two things we love most: relaxing and paying for overpriced tickets. We didn't have time for dinner so I ordered a small pizza at the theatre and they delivered it to me during the movie. Now that's just cool. Unfortunately you could barely find a pulse with the audience we saw it with, but the two of us were dying the whole time. I completely recommend it if you want something light and frothy to watch. Thinking was not required for this one. On our way home we saw that that day was also the opening of the H&M downtown! We went in and explored the two store mecca complete with purple blazers and a trashy chick DJ playing euro-techno. It was pretty much the best way to end any day. (Mental note: I'm not allowed to go to that store until I have an actual paying job for fear that I'll spend my rent check.)

5. People in Seattle think "oxtail" is something you eat. I mean, I know you could put raspberry chipotle sauce on pretty much anything to make it taste good, but oxtail? Jury is still out on this one. 

6. I've finally decided to stop complaining about the government and to stand up and do something about it. Fran, Kurtzy and I have been given the go ahead to organize a booth where people can register to vote in the lobby of our theatre. You have to register by Oct 4th in WA so we're going to be making our effort for about a week as we go into previews for The Night Watcher (starring a woman who was on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I kid you not). I hope that we can get a lot of people to sign up so that we can make some changes around here. But I swear, our efforts are non-partisan. To a point. 

7. People really mean it when they say Ask and Ye Shall Receive. Mollie and I asked for some stuff for the apt from SRO, our volunteer organization. These people came through like gangbusters. We got: a tv, lamp, laundry basket, 12 white hand cloths, spoon, spatula, salad spinner (?), grater, stir fry pan, and the piece de resistance, a cast iron pan. We've made out like bandits (that's what she said) and it's all for free. I might as well ask for a Wii and a Jaguar just to see what their limits are. 

8. The thing at the Rep that I'm most looking forward to working on is, drum roll please, managing their internet image. I'm going to be blogging, creating Facebook groups, and updating their MySpace page with the help of Andrew, a fellow intern. I'm so excited that the things I do voluntarily and incessantly in my free time, they want me to do at work. It's like paying me to blink or make sarcastic comments.  Once I get rolling I'll be sure to post the link so you can read whatever dish I come up with. This is such a beautiful thing. 

9. And finally, in a completely unsurprising turn of events, it has started to rain here. It's been overcast and chilly since Thursday and today it decided to stop threatening rain and just go all out. To be fair, it's not like we're Tina Turner to some Hurricane Ike, but it is coming down pretty hard. 

Too soon?

The Old Man Across From Me Smells Like His Nurse Forgot the Sponge Bath

No seriously, this guy smells terrible. I'm trying to only breathe out of the corner of my mouth so that I don't pass out or throw up. I would move but this is the only chair left in the place that is unoccupied. That's a lie. There is one next to a man in all camo that talks to himself really loud about God knows what, so I try to give him a nice 50ft radius.

But the good news is that Mollie has divulged that she too would like internet and cable. So once we get a tv we'll look into our options. Once I can blog from the comfort of my own bed, I'll be a happy camper.

Right, so Mollie. The new roommate. She got here on Saturday morning. I rushed down to the street to help her move her 80lb suitcases up the cement stairs. I only took one, and let her heave the other two. Then we assembled our death futon from Target. I know for a fact that this futon is uncomfortable and will fall apart in a mere week, but I let her take charge of it and will keep my mouth shut. So then we chatted for awhile and I made us lunch. Great roommate award, over here. Then she went into her room to start getting settled in. And that's where she stayed the whole weekend. Door shut, in her room, and quiet. Whenever she does seek daylight we get along and talk a bit. I've been making a point to keep my door open and watch my movies or read my books in the living room. But she doesn't come out. I feel like a freshman again, trying to get my next door neighbor to play with me. The whole point of living together, at least for me, was so that I could have someone to talk to. So that the apt wasn't so unbearably silent. We're still working on that I guess. I'm just trying to give her some space. It might feel like it is more of my apt since I brought a ton of stuff and had been living in it for a week. Hopefully once she gets more unpacked and settled we can start bonding. Fingers crossed on this one, guys. There are no roommate agreements to fill out so I'm gonna have to wing this thing. Oy.

Work picked up considerably in the last two days. Tomorrow night, Fran, Jessica and I are going to a reception at an Art Gallery with the cast of the two plays that we're putting on. It will be a great chance to get to meet a lot of Equity actors and hopefully make a good connection with the Gallery owner. I'll be wined and dined so I'm all about it. We also have a Company Meeting tomorrow. This is where we all get together, and I mean everyone, to talk about all of the new stuff that we're working on at the Rep. The Audience Development department has decided that we will illustrate our points by creating a series of carefully crafted tableus, and thereby winning the Biggest Losers award. Whatever, we're geeks and we know it.

Every time I have a meeting, that person takes me out for coffee. Which is fine, and great, and I'm happy that I never have to pay for it. But, seriously, I'm not a committed coffee drinker. Not yet. Today, I got so wired that I didn't eat lunch until 4:30. I was twitching my leg under the table so much that I'm sure everyone thought I was on something. Next time I'm getting a smoothie and calling it a day.

I don't think I've mentioned it, but the Rep is so quirky. For instance, when I log on to my computer I choose between the Dagohbah or Tatooine systems. Star Wars may have just put out a really crappy movie, but these guys couldn't care less. Also, one of the women on staff is named Christy Carlson. For anyone that has ever seen Even Stevens you'll know how to complete that thought. And my personal favorite, at 4:00pm on Friday the market across the street was giving away free Cupcake Royale cupcakes and the Rep practically shut down so that we could all go over there and feast. That's just plain baller. PS those were the best cupcakes I've had in my entire life. And that even includes Funfetti, which is really saying something.

The projects I'm working on are all really varied. I'm going to start blogging for the Rep, I'll be organizing a lot of initiatives for the fellow interns, I'm leading a lot of Marketing and PR work for events that we're putting together, and there's a lot of envelope stuffing. I haven't gotten coffee for anyone yet and I've only done a bit of copying. I'm just glad to be doing real work and building that portfolio. I've also somehow been appointed as the resident grammar expert so I proof read a lot of stuff. I'm sure Konrady is twitching somewhere at the thought of it. But as a huge BONUS they are going to train me to become a House Manager during performances. I'll make $12.50 an hour and will hopefully pay off all of my flights back and forth to Iowa. I'm like the Donald Trump of Seattle. But with better hair and a complete lack of authority to fire someone.

Here's a link to the two shows we're putting on: The Night Watcher and Three Musketeers. I'll let you know how those turn out. I can't take pictures of anything because of Equity rules and, you know, job security. But if I can get my hands on anything I'll be sure to post it.

The old man is still here, and I'm tired of holding my breath. Till next time.

I now have business cards?

First week of internship: done and done-r. I'm absolutely amazed at how much I love this internship. Coming in to work everyday is like always having your favorite songs play on the radio while you drive. It is familiar and comfortable while also being fun and exciting. There is also just a lot of singing going on around the office, which is an obvious plus.


So here are my responses to those teasers that I promised you!


1. When Kiki Met Fran

Fran Kao (last name pronounced "gow." it's like cow but with a "g") is the name of my boss. When I was applying for the internship in March I had to do a phone interview with her and immediatly knew that we would be like Thelma and Louise, but without the cliff. Our 25 min interview lasted at least 45 mins with all of our laughing, dishing, name dropping, and theatre ramblings. We had been in contact over e-mail all summer and for some reason I was really nervous to meet her. I wasn't supposed to get to work on Monday until 10. I was outside of the theatre at 9:30. Then I bought a water and it was 9:32. Then I paced around the main door and probably had people inside the theatre watching me do a mini freak out. At 9:45 I couldn't wait any more. I walked in and headed straight to where my desk was. Fran saw me and gave me the biggest hug ever. She gushed that she was hoping I'd come in early and was finding it hard to wait until 10. "I'm so glad that you're finally here." I'm already loved at this place. Fran is just amazing. She has a great sense of humor, is one of the most genuinly kind and outgoing people I've ever met, and we just really click. I like her so much I'd even do her dry cleaning. But hopefully she won't ask me to.

2. I'm not above Kurtzy-ing

When I was interviewing last March, I also had to talk with Jessica Kurtz. She was the Arts Management intern last year and is now a staff member for the Rep. She sits with Fran and I in the Audience Development Pod of cubicles and is pretty awesome. She's really great at filling me in on all of the people and events that I need to know about. She'll explain why something is funny in a meeting. And best of all, she'll give me the dirt on everything going on in the Theatre. She is fabulous. We've become really fast friends. She's already taken me out to lunch, and one night we went and got dinner with a friend of hers and saw Shrek: The Musical (more on that later). We're talking about campaigning for Obama together and seeing as many free shows as possible. She's a complete "gets it" and it's nice to have someone closer to my age to be around everyday.

3. HOLD MY CALLS I'M IN A MEETING

On my first day of work, Fran sat me down with a calendar and started giving me my schedule until mid-October. I have, ahem, meetings to attend. I'm that important. Typically once a day I'll have a meeting with the education dept or the audience development dept or the whole company will get together and crack jokes for 3 hours. It's awesome. Most of the time I have no idea what is going on. Names and acronyms are flying by my head and I usually make a list so that I can ask Jessica what they all mean later. But I'm trying to take detailed notes and pretend to have something to contribute. Like when I was in a meeting with our volunteer organization I noticed that they were all at least 65 and wrote, "The color pallete is very muted with this group. When dressing for this meeting in the future, think Easter." Professional.

4. ...and how is this different than being an RA again?

I've come to the kind of crazy realization that I'm a bit more prepared for this job than I realized. My RA training will actually come in quite handy. For instance, Fran asked me to print copies of all of the intern's pictures and to glue them to a huge map so that people could get to know their names and titles. That sounds eerily like a bulletin board. Another time we were outlining the events that we're throwing and talking about all of the numerous ways that we want people to hear about it and how many we want to attend. Hold the phone, is this a program we're talking about? If she mentions anything about "outcomes" I'm crying foul. All I need is Kate Fitzgerald actually running this theatre too with her neon green fleeces and crew-cut-of-love. But luckily for me I actually do like this kind of stuff. On day one she had me making buttons for a huge kick off event that night. Little did she know that Molly, Katie and I made buttons by the mass in high school to promote our plays. But don't worry, I wasn't making buttons for long. Eventually I trained Jarred, the recently released from prison guy who was looking for easy community service and decided that pounding out buttons was his new license plate making. I wish I was kidding.

5. Shrek: The Musical ????

Like I said, I'm pretty important. So of course I was invited to go for FREE to the premeire of Shrek: The Muscial. There were photographers everywhere. A green carpet was laid out in front of the doors. And who knows how many almost famous people I saw. It was a really fun night. I don't want to ruin it for people that want to see the show in the future, but here are my 2 cents:

Kiki's Critique Corner

I think that this play is going to be a major success. It already has the recipe by milking one of the biggest cartoon movies of all time and packing it with A list talent including: Sutton Foster, John Tartaglia, and Christopher Sieber. Not to mention Pulitzer Prize winning author David Lindsay-Abaire, and my current obsession, wrote the book and lyrics. The play did everything it needed to. It delivered the scenes that are everyone's favorites from the movie and did the dialogue verbatum. It tapped into the areas that were brushed over in the movie to have them explode in different directions on the stage. It didn't recycle all of the old material and instead brought new and hilarious insight to the characters, storylines, and fairytales in general. It also related to the new audiences by making fun of musicals in a hilarious and unpredictable way. The sets were amazing, and were half constructed by the Rep. Those sets will go all the way to Broadway which is quite the acheivement. They also did amazing things with special effects including 3 different turntables which rotated in all different directions. It was truly amazing. The one down side: the actor playing Donkey had zero comedic timing. I know playing a part originated by Eddie Murphy is a daunting task, but this guy phoned in the whole thing. Overall, I can't remember the last time I had that much fun at a musical and can't wait to see it again once it's gone through it's final tweaks and cuts.

And here are a few side notes that I thought you all would enjoy:

1. On my way home from work a woman yelled out "Go Hawkeyes" when she spotted my Iowa hoodie. Gotta love that Iowa pride.

2. Also on my way home from work, two women were sitting at a table asking for donations for a battered woman's shelter. After I politely declined, one of them (who sounded either drunk or Australian) said, "Yeah, well you look like a battered woman." You know what, I'm tired and circles under my eyes happen from a lack of sleep and not "walking into a door" thank you very much.

3. (mom, don't read this one b/c it'll just get you worked up) I was going into the market to buy food for a party we had today. On my way in a man ran into me, almost knocking me over. Then he sprinted outside and was followed by two men in green aprons and white polo shirts. I started looking around the store to see if anyone else was noticing what was going on. Nobody had a clue. Eventually the two guys were pulling this insanly skinny guy back into view. He was struggling so hard that they started taking off his shirt because he was trying to get away so forcefully. Eventually the fatter one sat on the guy and got him to calm down. Then they picked him up and ushered him into the back offices of the store. And no one around me was watching. They just went about their day while I stared, open mouthed at the whole thing. The craziest part was how quiet it was. There weren't noises of a struggle or the yells of profanity into the air. Just three guys wrestling. It was wild. I've never seen anything like it. It's just my small town Iowa coming out.

4. And finally, my Mom once told me that she needs signs to help her make big decisions. And they have to be big. Small stuff will just pass her by. She needs something loud and in her face. Well, I was in a room today that had a bunch of posters from years past and I came across this play. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is.

I miss you all like crazy. You're the Timbaland to my JT. Call often.

Lifestyles of the Poor and Sassy

Here is a link to the video that I took of my apt. I tried to actually load it onto blogspot, but the file was apparently too big. This was very distressing for me to find out when I tried to upload it on Sunday at 8:00 pm while I was getting eaten alive by killer mosquitos. I'll bare the scars of that unfortunate night for years to come.

VIDEO!

I would also like to apologize about the number of times I describe something as "cute little..." or how often I say "swoop." They just kind of slipped out.

My internship started on Monday and, shocker of the century, I'm absolutely LOVING IT. But, as work should, it has absolutely worn me out. I plan to do a much longer post later on detailing my first week there. But to leave you hungry, here are some trailers to entice you for more.

1. When Kiki Met Fran

2. I'm not above Kurtzy-ing

3. HOLD MY CALLS I'M IN A MEETING

4. ...and how is this different than being an R.A. again?

5. Shrek: The Musical ????

Sweet City Woman

I can't spend another day cooped up in my apt and making up excuses to go check my mail at the library. It is Saturday, therefore a day to do something exciting. I charged my iPod, packed an umbrella, Dubuque Senior Rams sweatshirt and my camera into my backpack, threw on my kicky new Nike's and decided to head off downtown. I got directions off Google Maps yesterday, so the route should be no problem. (I need to cut a deal with Google Maps so that I get like a buck every time I give them free advertising. Maybe then I can afford such luxuries like turning the lights on in my apt or buying food. Hey, a girl can hope.)

Where else would I venture off to other than Pike Place Market? I didn't get to walk around down there the first time we saw it so I figured a nice 45 min stroll downtown would be the perfect time to see what all the fuss was about. Well, it was pretty amazing. It was like a small town festival with people selling yard art and cat magnets, except that there were wall-to-wall people. Everybody and their Asian brother were there. I had to fight my way through the crowds just to get to try a sample of hickory smoked moose jerky or the garlic mustard raspberry jam spread (both of which were not bad). I loved looking around at all of the little shops and getting to try all of the different food there. I had a bad smoothie incident this morning back at the apt so I was pretty hungry and they didn't disappoint. I didn't see any fish being thrown but I think that was because I was hear around 10:45am and not 5:45am. That would be one early morning walk.

I snuck out behind one of the shops and it had a great view overlooking Elliot Bay. I caught one of the ferries going by and had to get a picture. Derek Shepherd would be proud. It was a really gorgeous day. I was only slightly getting annoyed with the blister that was forming on my left  heel but I decided to press on. There was more to be seen and done. 

Here's a shot of the street that runs along the market. Like I said, there were just people everywhere. I know it's a Saturday and it's a big tourist trap, but I guess I thought it would have quieted it down by lunch time. It's just not that type of place. This thing was still going full speed. You don't want to get in the way of customers trying to get free samples and haggle over okra prices. The bathroom stall doors also only came up to my shoulders. This was concerning to me, but I overlooked it. 

Eventually the guilt of only eating for free began to weigh on me so I began my hunt to find the cheapest food possible. I heard this woman speaking with, what I assumed was a bit of a Polish accent. She was selling this hot pocket type thing that you see above. I bought it to see what it was like. It wasn't bad, it just didn't taste like anything. Ah, the Polish way: you pay extra for taste. It was also scolding hot. Those little buggers really can hold the heat.

I got this shot just as I was leaving the Market. I was on my way to find the movie theatre that was only a few blocks away. Apparently I was in just the right part of town. On my way I stopped inside a Starbs and got a Green Tea Frappuccino, which Suzanna got me hooked on, to finish off one of the many gift cards I have there. Then I felt a little sassy and decided to stop by Sephora and put on black shimmer eye liner. Foxy. All of the stores that I would ever want to go to were on these 6 blocks so I'm glad I found it. Gap, Old Navy, Tiffany's, it was all there. 

I finally made it to the movie theatre where I bought my ticket and watched the movie by myself for the first time. It wasn't too bad. The only other person in the theatre was also by himself. Probably because he looked like Colonel Sanders. I saw Hamlet 2 and it was so hilarious. It made me miss high school theatre, and college theatre, but also get really excited for Seattle Rep Theatre. So that's a plus.

I was thinking about taking the Monorail to cut some of the walk time down, but it was a nice day and I wasn't in a rush. I don't think I noticed how hot it had become. Or how much that blister was starting to hurt. Or the fact that getting downtown was pretty much down hill the whole way. Going back home was...an experience. By the time I got to the bottom of the Queen Anne hill I was tired and in pain. Looking up at it, I seriously thought about throwing in the towel. But I didn't want my first time climbing up the hill to be after a hard day at work so I sucked it up and started the trek. I could feel the blood dripping down my heel into a pool in my shoe. I was sweating through my shirt to the backpack that was hanging heavily on my back. I was carrying a blanket from Bed Bath and Beyond that I bought on the way home that might was well have been an anvil. I only paused once, to lean against a telephone pole and not pass out. But the worst part? A 60 yr old Indian man was doing double time up this thing without breaking a sweat. I felt embarrassed and like I wanted to hurl. But I made it home, ripped off my shoes, bandaged my heel and drank the entire contents of my Nalgene bottle. Then I proceeded to wash my face and lie spread eagle on my living room floor. This will take some getting used to.  I think if I ever walk home with my future roommate there will be a strict no-talking-while-hyperventilating-up-the-hill policy. 

White Female Seeking Any Human Interaction

Internet is going to be a bit difficult. I don't want to pay for it because I have no money. There also doesn't seem to be anyone in my apt building or general vicinity who doesn't have theirs password protected. Doesn't anyone trust anyone anymore? Sheesh. So I'm going to have to go to the library to get my free internet. And that would all be fine and dandy except that they keep weird hours. So most of the time I'll have to sit outside of the library, on the steps, like a huge creeper, just so that I can check my mail. And they call this America. 

Well I know you've been checking this blog perpetually to see if I've updated. You may now exhale. I hate disappointing my faithful followers. I don't know what it is like to not get your fix when you become so addicted to something, but I hear it sucks. So here is the up-to-date scoop with my seemingly-uninteresting-but-you-can't-get-enough-of-it life. Cheers.

Wednesday

My dad and I woke up early to finish off the list of things we needed to get done. Mainly: our test runs. 

Test Run One: We drove to the apt and parked the car so that we could perform my very first "walk to work" and get an idea of how long it would take.  (Test Run One Bonus Feature: Right as we arrived, the people cleaning our blinds let us in to the apt. My dad finally got to take a look around the place. There were no ceiling fans, as promised, but the apt looked like it was in great condition. We also saw that the mailbox was open and the new checks that had been ordered had already arrived. Yahtzee.) So we set our watches and began the walk. Google Maps, or my new best friend, told us that the walk was 1 mile long and would take about 22 mins. It neglected to mention the pain that my butt would be in later that night because of the extreme hill that we had to walk down. I'm telling you, that hill is a monster. It made me aware of muscles I never knew existed. The walk took about 27 mins. And we won't talk about what will happen when it rains. Most likely me barrel rolling down the thing in a mere 20 seconds. But at least I won't have paid for the bus. Now that is what I call living on the edge.

Test Run Two: Since we were all the way down by work, why not pop our heads in to look around. We were there at exactly 10:00, which is the same time that my boss said to get there on my first day. I can see why; that place was just opening up. If 10:00 is opening time, then score one for the home team. I could really get into that. We opened up the doors to lead us to the lobby, but it only let us in to the box office area. We then stood there for a bit, looking confused and arguing about whether or not to call my boss when a man opened the lobby doors.

Man: Are you with the tour?

Me: No. I'm actually an intern that is starting on Monday.

Man: Oh yes. You're Kiki Abba. Right this way. 

Mind you, there is another girl starting on Monday and I am one of fifteen interns. The fact that he knew my name was amazing. He introduced himself as Rob and said that he was in charge of marketing. I'm assuming that I'll have to work with him a lot for my internship so I'm glad that we've already met. He seemed really laid back and nice. We then went up the route that he described and found the education department. I thought my boss would be there but she was in a meeting. So instead I got to meet Scott who is in charge of the department of education as well as Jessica who was one of last year's interns that is now working full time at the Rep. These two are awesome. They were really welcoming and showed me around a bit. I even got to see my desk. Let's just say it's a good thing I packed a lot of sass to spruce the place up. The computer is from the 80s and the phone I swear was in the movie 9 to 5, but that's totally cool. I don't need high-tech gadgetry. I'm much happier with a friendly work staff, and I think I've got that.

Test Run Three: We tried our hand at the bus system to see what it was like. Overall it was really simple. We bought these tickets at Bartell's Drugs so that you don't have to have exact fare when you're riding. Then we hoped on the #2 bus and it took about 5 mins to arrive less than a block away from my apt. It was extremely convenient and saved us from climbing back up the hill and then taking my dad to the hospital. I'm going to try to be good and only use it when it's raining or I'm in a hurry. But man, is it tempting. 

The rest of the day was really chill. I used a piece of mail I got from my mom to get a library card, which is how I'm blogging to you right now. Then we went to an area mall so that I could buy a drying rack for my clothes, a pair of rain boots, and a rain coat. I paid an arm and a leg for these things, but they look well made and hopefully will last me for a long time. Then we headed back to the hotel. Dad watched Road House and kept pointing out moments for me to watch. Compelling stuff.  I meanwhile sat online and reserved movies from the library. For many of them I'm at least the 300th person waiting so I made a point to reserve a lot of them. I've already got 6 checked out. I'm practically one cat away from spinsterhood, but I don't care. Free movies will help pass the time till I make friends. Don't judge me. 

We weren't very hungry for dinner so dad treated us to some gelato. It's just better than ice cream, pure and simple. We waited for a very long time for the woman to call to say that we could get into the apt. Finally, an hour after she said she'd call, she phoned us and we rushed over to the apt. We did a quick walk through (now complete with ceiling fans???) and looked for damages (a la RCC style) and then she was off. My dad and I hauled all of this heavy crap from IKEA up the flight of stairs and into the apt. We were done around 10:00 and were getting ready to head to the grocery store to stock the refrigerator. Wouldn't you know it, the keys didn't work. I called her back immediately and complained. She said that she could have someone come in the morning to give us a new set of keys. Perfect. This set us a bit behind so we rushed back to the hotel to catch some Zzzzs before the hellish morning to come.

Thursday

We got up early, ate breakfast and stole fruit for my apt from the continental breakfast. We loaded up the car with all of our luggage and checked out of the hotel room. With all of our leftovers sitting on top of a bed of ice in a plastic bag in the back seat, we went straight to the grocery store and bought stuff like crazy. I'm now a proud owner of a Safeway Club Card. We bolted to the apt to find the door already open. Some guy was in there installing a heater in the bathroom and trying to fix my closet door. Dad and I unpacked the car and then started assembling IKEA furniture like mad. We did a great job. Everything looks sturdy and ready to go. Dad was good at putting it together while I was good at looking at the picture and telling him what to put together. We were a seamless team. Once we were done, it was time for dad to leave to catch his plane. I only cried hard for about 10 mins. Then Jackie talked me off the ledge and I spent the rest of the day unpacking. Then, when it got dark and the energy saver within me convinced myself that I shouldn't turn on any lights and would finish unpacking the next day, I watched Finding Neverland and talked with my family on the phone nonstop. My dad unfortunately got delayed in Seattle and missed his connecting flight home. He stayed up all night in Ohare, freezing his butt off and not getting any sleep. He my friends is the real hero of the story. 

My first night in my new apt sucked. I couldn't sleep or regulate the temperature. My pillow is too big and every noise sounds like a murderer coming into my apt. But I made it through. I took this morning off from unpacking and watched another movie. Then I went to the store to buy all of the things that we forgot the day before. And now, finally, I'm back at the library, and using the internet. It's sad how much I love the internet and rely on it, but I can't help it. It's what keeps me connected to you and I can't get enough of it. 

It still hasn't rained. I tried to say hi to one of my neighbors but I think I just scared her. Things aren't perfect, but it's like Tim Gunn says, "Make it work."

And On the Third Day God Made Cheap Mattresses

Today was another long day. My sleeping pill left me feeling groggy and moaning like Chewbacca this morning, but at least I got some sleep. Lately I've been waking up during the night from bizarre dreams. Hopefully now that I'm in Seattle the sleeping can commence. 

We had a lot that we needed to get done today. And I'm sure you would've liked it if we had done it nice and easy. But you see, we never ever do nothing nice and easy. We like to do it nice and rough. Just like Proud Mary. 

We some how managed to find our way to this Public Transportation type office area thing where we could get a bunch of schedules for where the buses go. I think I took about 50 packets. Anything that said Seattle Center or Queen Anne I just yanked it and stuffed it in my purse. That should hold me for a good long while. We were actually really lucky to find this place. We almost went into some condemned building we were so lost. But we're gonna look over the schedules and then hop on one of the buses tomorrow. 

We then went to the Bank and got two rolls of quarters, which will be used for bus fare and laundry. The bank isn't exactly close to my apt but it's nice to know where it is. Then we went to my landlord's office to sign the lease. She had no idea we were coming but improvised the situation really well. She's being really nice and accommodating and will let us move in tomorrow instead of on Thursday. This'll save my dad an airfare change, extra time for our rental car, and an extra night in the hotel room. That's like a bizillion dollars in case you weren't counting. So phew on that count. We'll do the walk through tomorrow night and then start the unloading process. He better not leave before this IKEA furniture gets assembled. Or Kiki's gonna have to go freak nasty on him. 

We ate lunch at this cute little cafe and I tried Clam Chowder for the first time. I really liked it. I'm one step closer to becoming cool enough to talk with a Boston accent. 

Now we're getting to the good stuff. For the first time this whole trip, Google Maps failed us. Actually, it didn't fail us at all, we just refused to believe the information it had given us. We got lost. And I'm talking yelling-at-each-other-and-making-pedestrians-stare-at-us lost. The map would've eventually taken us to the right spot but we cut out early and never made it. After a breather we decided to eighty-six going to this furniture store and go look for a bed. Bed shopping is way more fun when you're with Kristin Lang, let me tell you. But we actually had really quick luck and bought a Queen within about 15 mins. She'll even deliver on the day I want her to. Awesome. 

After that huge success we decided to try again to find this furniture store. With our heads hanging low because of our previous blunder we found the shop. It wasn't at all what we were in the market for so it was a quick hit. But I did take 2 starbursts so it wasn't a total bust. 

For dinner I made dad go to Toi (like TOY story) to get some Thai food. I never thought I'd say this but: I think I found the best coconut shrimp ever. For years the title was held by none other than Red Lobster. It was over this scrumptious meal that I forged a friendship with Alisa not four years prior. But today, at this restaurant, with my dad, I ate the most delicious coconut shrimp known to man. It was a sad day. The end of an era. But also an exciting day. Closer and better tasting prawns. Yummm. 

We finished off the day with a rousing trip to the Bed Bath and Beyond. I found a lot of jank stuff in the clearance section. There's a hunk missing from it? Add it to the cart.  That's pretty much how every conversation went. And to put a cherry on top of a deliciously busy day I filled out an automotive survey for an hour so that I could make $30. This is my life now. 

Furniture Shopping with the Stars

My feet hurt. 

We shopped. We purchased and finagled.  We looped a block 6 times to get a parking spot and then as we're staring at the meter, looking utterly confused as to how to put money into it, a lady shouts "Hey it's a holiday! No meter!" Thanks stranger, we are rookies and have no idea what the crap we're doing.

Since today is Labor day most of the places we wanted to go were either closed or having  HUGE MEGA BLOWOUT SALES and were crammed wall-to-wall with people. These are not good shopping conditions but we don't have a lot of time to work with so we set out among the Seattle-ites and try our hand at bargain shopping. It didn't go so well. Most of the things that we found were over priced to begin with and the delivery charge sent us over the edge. You can't charge $150 to move a $90 table set. You just can't. But, as you can see above, the drive to get to these places was just beautiful. The view of the side of the highway is just magnificent. You can see right over into Elliott Bay and watch the boats come into port. And right behind that is the huge picturesque Queen Anne hillside that is covered in quaint houses as far as the eye can see. I took about 10 pictures but this was the only one that wasn't blurry from the car. Dad refused to slow down so I could get a good shot. Something about us "crashing and burning." Whatever, learn to take some risks, man.

After striking out at a furniture store we made it rain at St. Vinny's. Their 1/2 Labor Day sale was just the ticket to get lots of stuff for the kitchen. I wanted to get a microwave but Dad was certain that it wouldn't work. He is such a discount hater. If my Mom had been there we would have bought it in duplicate. Oh well. Then we went across the street to Sam's to buy our weight in toilet paper and granola bars. Just call me Annie Oakley. Once that bargain buster was over we went downtown to find another furniture store. This was when we had our parking debacle. But in our parking pursuit we managed to find Pike's Place Market(as pictured above)! RA's take note: It is actually a really cool place once you're not bogged down with Fish Philosophy and "making someone's day." We didn't have a lot of time to look around, but I assume I'll be there pretty frequently in the future. 

We took a break to eat some lunch at this great cafe. The food was so delicious. I've decided that BLTs really shouldn't taste as good as this one did. It's just not fair to other sandwiches. It was a really swanky place and was the type of store where you might not know it's there unless you look right at it. That's what I like about Seattle, it's like there are secret places everywhere instead of a huge sign telling you that this is MACYS. Know what I mean? 

Also--the water here is really good. Unlike Iowa City, I don't feel like I have to worry about my first child coming out with a tail. It doesn't need a filter and doesn't leave any type of after taste in your mouth. This is really important since Dubuque has pretty much the best water in the nation. Seattle so far is matching up quite nicely. 

Eventually we made our way to IKEA. And not just any IKEA. This one, I swear to God, was the size of Seattle. It just. kept. going. We were only in there for 2 hrs but that's because I made us stare at the floor, hold our arms close to our body to make us streamline, and walk like there's free ice cream at the finish line. For my first time there, I have to admit, I was less than impressed. Probably because I wanted the big ticket items and they weren't being cheap on sofas or beds. I did find a suitable dinning table, desk, and end table for pretty cheap so that was a bonus. But by the end I was getting dehydrated and irritable. A lethal combo. This is my furniture in it's beginning stages. I hope that when I take a picture of it in the future, it'll be assembled and looking fly. 

After a particularly unpleasant trip to Target (what do you mean you don't have raincoats?!?) we went and got some pizza. Once again, it was the most delicious pizza I've ever had. No seriously, it was phenomenal. My dad and I talked about what our first impressions of the city were and I think we came to the same three conclusions: 1. It's clean and organized looking 2. It's not hard to get around. Especially when Google Maps is your middle name and 3. The weather is right up my alley. For any one that has ever met me you'll know that I'm a big fan of a jeans and a hoodie. That is exactly what this weather calls for. I couldn't ask for a better situation. (In case my tune changes, remind me that I thought this on day 2)

To finish off our day we decided to head to the Seattle Center and see what we could see. Well, we didn't see much. The one time we try to go off on our own without a map and we take quite a large detour. By the time we finally got there, the sun was going down fast and my feet were starting to feel like they were about to fall off. But I got a nice shot of the Space Needle up close, so I guess it was worth it. The place was buzzing with Bumbershoot crazies and loud music echoing from every corner. We never got around to seeing Seattle Rep, but I figure we have to save a few things for us to do tomorrow. 

Before we left, we stopped at a shop to get my Mom a Seattle mug and inside there was a huge rocks display. They must have also set this up because they knew I was coming. I love me some novelty rocks. I knew my Mom would get a kick out of this.

Now I'm just chilling with my Dad in the hotel room. He was snoring like a freight train last night so I've decided to take half a sleeping pill to help drown him out. As I take the pill I spilled a little down my chin and my dad said, "See those pills work great. Any minute now and you'll begin drooling." Thanks Dad, love you too.

Days in Seattle without rain: 2

My Mom's Worst Nightmare

Oh no Mom. You were right. I've fallen in love with Seattle. 

My dad and I got into town this afternoon around 2:00 PDT. That's 2 hours ahead of midwest time, and that my friend is jank. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm hoping it only takes a few days to get the hang of it. Amazingly my dad and I hauled 4 suitcases, 2 duffle-bags, and 1 oversized "purse" to the car rental place and got a classy champagne Suburu Legacy which could hold all of my luggage. I swear my dad made that thing into a frickin' clown circus car with all the stuff he managed to fit inside. 

The picture above is the hill that I'll have to go up and down to get to work. I'm living in the Queen Anne area of town which feels like a cross between San Francisco and Alexandria, VA. The old buildings, huge hills, cable car lines for the bus routes, it all fits so well. If I had to give you a further idea of what it feels like, listen to the song American Boy. Now that is my side of Seattle.  Basically it's gorgeous and I'm going to get killer calves walking up and down these monster hills. 

Once we got into town I made my dad go and stalk around my new apartment building. It's called Paseo Apartments. This is the outside of the building. I wish I had taken a picture of the more immediate front because you walk up a patch of stairs and it leads right into an open courtyard. The actual complex is shaped like a horseshoe and there is a gigantic tree in the middle that looks like it's been shellacked. It's very Golden Girls but I embrace it. 

As luck would have it we actually ran into the two girls that were moving out of my future place. We stalkered our way into the apt to take a look around. Ladies and gentleman, I have a view. In fact, move over Barbara Walters, this is THE VIEW. When you look out of the window in our dinning area you see the rooftops cascading down the hill to end up with a distant view of the harbor and the neighboring mountains. The girls said that at night you can see the lights of the ferry and cruise boats floating by. Heaven.  The rest of the apt is pretty standard. I'm probably going to screw over my roommate and take the bigger room with the ceiling fan. But she'll have a good view! And a room that's hot as hell. Too bad my internship started first, sucka. I'll probably offer to switch half way through because I'm a lady. We'll see what goes down. 

Moral of the story: I really like our apt. Good location. Amazing view. Not too cramped. I say we did alright for ourselves. 

This is a view of the hill I'll be walking down to get to work. It really does put the Pentacrest hill to shame. But as you can see, it's all pretty and I'll be looking out over the water as I skid down 0.6 miles of cement. No biggie. I really do think I'll need to invest in some rain boots.

As my dad and I were clinging to our Google Maps print out to figure out how to get downtown we were surrounded by hills and trees. There were trees everywhere. Then we passed a bend and got this shot of the skyline. I was jazzed. Also--Washington is the Evergreen State. This picture stands as testimony to that fact. 

This is our hotel. The shady, shady Eighth Ave Inn. We love that feeling of not knowing what type of drug deal was made here the previous night. I want it noted that I will also be sleeping on top of the comforters, thank you very much. Whatever, it was cheap and close to everything. I mean look at that Space Needle. Not too shabby.  

Here's a look at all that luggage I was talking about. I came to play ball. 

We got some dinner at a local cafe. It wasn't too expensive and the food was actually really good. Our waitress was oozing sass and perkiness. Everyone so far seems to be so nice. It's hard to think that people in a bigger city will be as nice as they are in Iowa, but so far so good. (Also, my dad was actually happy to be there. Honest.)

See what I mean? Happy Papa Abba! You can see the crowds of Bumbershoot in the background. That's the name of the huge music/food/awesome fest that happens Labor Day weekend in the Seattle Center. It's like they knew we were coming and threw us a party. 

Seattle is boss. I'm starting to not freak out at the idea of calling it home for awhile.

*** My address is 1517 6th Ave W Seattle WA 98119. Use it often! ***