Vegas Time

Just ran into Joe Reilly at the Crapids airport. I'll pound a drink and get on this sketchy plane to wing my way west--where the time makes sense and there is no snow. VEGAS

Traveling Business Woman

I really hate traveling. More specifically: being an adult who has to figure out how to get to the airport and deal with adult suitcases and adult boarding passes and adult strip-downs at security. But I did it. Why? Because I'm an adult. And guys, I did it with gusto. And while I'm sitting here a good hour fifteen before my flight leaves, I'm so glad that I have enough time to be at B8, using SEATAC free wi-fi and writing to you all. Merry Christmas, you beautiful people.

Let's Talk Important Stuff

So I am not going home for Thanksgiving. And I've been having roommate drama coming out of my ears. But by God, this has still been a great year. So I made my 09 mix and here's the list:

1. Maybe This Time - Glee (This show is the best addition to my tv line up)

2. You Make My Dreams - Hall and Oats (Always classic but made topical again by (500) Days of Summer)

3. Crow - Simone Perrin (She performed in Breakin' Hearts at the Rep and I sang this song basically every day for a month)

4. Just Dance - Lady Gaga (My ringtone and the best song she's done so far)

5. I Am the Walrus - The Beatles (Jessica and I took an impromptu trip to Las Vegas and saw the Cirque show LOVE and it changed my life. I'll be ringing in the New Year the same way--Vegas, with the fam and seeing LOVE. Totally Billy Andrews)

6. Single Ladies - Beyonce (Because this song was huge this year. How could it not be on my list? I should just be thankful Kanye didn't burst into my living room asking why it took so long to list it. IT WAS THE BEST VIDEO EVER MADE)

7. Wake Up - Arcade Fire (The song that appeared in the previews for Where the Wild Things Are. I got to see this movie with Michael and Jason 3 weeks before it was released. They gave us crowns to wear and we got to hear a discussion with Dave Eggers and the little boy, Max. It was simply wonderful)

8. Anoanimal - Andrew Bird (I discovered this song this year and fell instantly in love with it. I also made my kids in my Acting 1 class do a choral poem with it, which was the best call EVER)

9. The Night of Nights - HSM3 (This was the year that I became unabashedly obsessed with Zac Efron. I know all of the words to all of the songs and I don't care who knows it. It's sad, but it's what I've become)

10. Run This Town - Jay Z (No explanation necessary. When I'm getting ready for opening night parties or a friend's birthday, this is my jam)

11. Human - The Killers (I saw them last December and still can't get over it. Deck the Hall Ball, you were exhausting but so worth it)

12. My Eyes - Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog (Still obsessed. Still working out our four part harmony)

13. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand (Saw them at Bumbershoot. I didn't know that I'm actually in love with their music. It's such a great sound)

14. You Found Me - The Fray (The Fray is the sound of Seattle. Grey's used them and so did that new Jennifer Anniston movie Love Happens set in Seattle. They are how I celebrate living in this great city. And how I ball my eyes out)

15. Confessions/It's My Life - Glee (This was the year I learned what a "mash-up" is. And it is awesome)

16. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon (Carrie Fisher performed at the Rep and talked a lot of dirt about Paul. But this song was hilarious because when she was talking to an audience member and she asked his name, he literally said the title. Priceless)

17. Love Sex Magic - Justin Timberlake (It isn't a list of music without Justin)

18. Wild Young Hearts - The Noisettes (This song is just fun and spunky. I'd listen to it everyday if it wouldn't drive my [non-existent] roommate batty)

19. Young Folks - Peter, Bjorn & John (On replay all the time. This is driving around Dubuque, Seattle and walking down the Queen Anne hill)

20. Myriad Harbor - The New Pornographers (Don't let their band name fool you, this is an amazing song and will be stuck in your head for weeks. It makes me think of how beautiful Puget Sound is and the first time I went to Gas Works Park in May)

21. Murder on the Dance Floor - Sophie Ellis Bextor (Just for fun)

22. Us - Regina Spector (I went to LA to visit Amie and this song makes me think of when we went to the park from 500 Days of Summer and how great it was)

23. I'm on a Boat - Lonely Island (Amanda, Aditi and Justin in Seattle for Spring Break. One of the best weeks of the whole year)

I'll make you a copy if you want one. It made 09 one heck of a year. 

Rainy Monday

I feel like this blog is less of a telling of my life and more of a chronicling of when I get cold sores from stress. Another one came and gone. That's at least 3 this year. Being an adult can suck.

Being an adult can be so much fun! Today I'm cleaning up a storm because some of my co-workers are coming over to my apt to have dinner before we go to an interview with Stephen Sondheim at Benaroya Hall. As anyone from my dorm hall last year can guess I'm making Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies from Sweeny Todd. We'll also be having some sort of West Side Dish Story along with some Merrily we Rolls Along. Our cocktail will of course be the Tipsy Gypsy.  This is what theatre people do: sit around and come up with clever titles for dinner options. 

But seriously this place was disgusting. I don't think it's ever been really cleaned. And I'm not that good at it. Like even the garbage can was disgusting. Everywhere I looked I just saw one more spot of grit and grim that I had to wash away. Oh and apparently I don't have windex in the apt. I have a shower cleaner that does a pretty useless job of cleaning mirrors as one might imagine. One more day that I'm glad not to be a house wife. 

Grease Is The Word

No seriously I was going to get so much done today and here I sit, watching Danny sing at the drive in and not getting a lot done. I mean the dryer and dishwasher are in full mode and I did go grocery shopping. So maybe don't give me those judgement eyebrows? K thanks. 

Things are pretty much in high-gear in Seattle. Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps will open this Wednesday at the Rep. It was a show that was on Broadway and we're the last stop they have before the production launches its national tour. I got to "host" our Saturday night preview AKA interviewing designers and actors pre- and post-show so that's cool. Someone even recognized me from Talk Irish with Kelly. Famous. 

Family Day at the Rep happened again this year and it went pretty well. Most of the things I worked on last year I'm working on again but with actual responsibility. So far it's been going really well. Ben Moore walked up to me last Friday night and said in his silky vampire-like voice, "Kiki, I hear that you've been doing your usual 185% on these events and they look wonderful." Aw, littlebear. He's adorable. 

My roommate and I are still trying to figure out this whole living together thing. She hasn't taken out the garbage/recycling and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one doing the dishes. But it could be worse. One of these days I might bring it up in a sugary passive aggressive way. We'll see how it goes. 

No seriously, how cute is John Travolta in this movie? For reals. I'd race him for pinks any day. 

It's pretty much Fall here. My favorite time of year. Hoodies and jeans every day--I just love it.

I'm also working on my room. I'm going to make it not look like a dorm room. Trips to IKEA and a hardware store are in the near future. And maybe a few orders from Kathy's Kraft Korner in lovely Dubuque IA. Once this place get's to be back in tip top shape I'll do a video. For all my fans out there.

Keep living the dream everyone. 

Close To Being Moved In

My hands smell like Comet.

My shoulders and upper back are killing me.

I found out my neck won't snap when a mattress is balancing on it.

I'm pretty sure I look like a degenerate.

I'm over packing and moving and all of it. The next time I move it'll be because I'm leaving Seattle. And not a second before that. 

But I guess it's all worth it. I mean, look at this picture. 

Packing

I kind of like packing. I like picking up everything I own and taking a good, hard look at it. And I found my Steve Madden sun glasses! They were in a purse I took to Elizabeth's wedding. In MAY. That feels like forever ago. But there they are, sitting pretty on my desk. I've had those glasses at least 4 summers in a row. That has to be some kind of I-don't-care-if-they're-out-of-style record. I also set up a jar to collect all of the change I find. It's bank time. 

I just want to pack little by little, so that moving isn't such a time suck. It's weird to be moving from my apt. I'll miss the view. Beyond that it really is such an UPGRADE that I don't think I'll miss it in the long run. 

I hope my new roommate doesn't worship Satan or something weird like that. Although, if she can do magic that'd be AWESOME. 

Here's The Deal

1. LA was awesome. Sweet baby Angel and Lou Daddy were great tour guides and helped me navigate the winding roads of Margaritaville. I went to the park from (500) Days of Summer and watched Nathan Fillion (!!!) film an episode of Castle. We went to the beach, shopped, went to see Mann's Chinese Theatre and lots of sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade. All in all a great trip. Celebs I saw: red headed kid from Sandlot, blonde son on 7th Heaven, Paul Rust from I Love You Beth Cooper and an Iowa alum, and probably most importantly Cheech from Cheech and Chong. Eat your heart out. 

2. I applied and got accepted into the Apprenticeship program at the Children's Theatre! This is exciting news for numerous reasons. A. It's only a small time commitment every week and basically it's me working on a class in the same capacity I did this summer. Easy enough. B. In bi-weekly seminars I'll learn how to plan a 10 week long curriculum, build a portfolio and will meet even more teaching artists from the Seattle Area. C. By the end of the Apprenticeship I'll be considered a staff member and will be allowed to teach my own classes. This will work out great with my time at the Rep. My contract there ends on May 21 (my birthday and one of the high holy days) so now I'll have work lined up for the summer. And did I mention that I'll be making $29 an hour? Because I will.

3. I started my job at the Rep two weeks ago and so far so good. It's pretty slow going. (Remind me of this when I'm stressed out later) But everyone was really happy to have me back. Hugs and strawberry shortcake in meetings. I love the Rep. Hopefully it'll pick up this week. If anything I'll just start being more vocal about needing things to do. I'm such a suck up.

4. I'm starting to try to figure out how to move out of my apt. This should be...interesting. I'm not going to freak out. It'll be fine. It's all about that queen bed. 

That's it for now. Mollie and I are enjoying cookies and ice cream and I'm enjoying that I don't have to go into work tomorrow. Sweeeet. 

LA BABY!

Here I come!

NO-WORK MONDAYS

Today is the first of my no-work Mondays at the Rep. I'm back starting my new job tomorrow. 32 hour work week. New desk and a window. 

My bag of things to not forget include: a bowl, a water bottle, and allergy medicine. This is what being an adult has done to me.

NEW JOB!! BENEFITS!!

105 DEGREES

Hot. Hot Hot Hot. Hot Town Summer In The City.

When I was younger my mom's side of the family had an annual Grandkid's Pool Party where my Grandma could give us all birthday gifts and then 10 secs later we could jump in the pool. Sweet gig. We even ate bikini-clad cookie bears on a stick. Believe it.

After my Grandma passed away, we kept the tradition going and got together every summer to exchange presents with one another. Well, I'm not the best present-list maker. I've always struggled to come up with something other than just a gift card. That doesn't fly with this side of the family. 

I remember distinctly my 13 birthday and coming up completely dry for what to put on my list. I already had a Tiger stuffed animal written down, but had to come up with at least three items. For some reason I wrote down a fan. Apparently I was concerned about overheating in my parent's air conditioned house. Well, wouldn't you know it, I actually got that fan from my Aunt Theresa. And at the time I was like, "No seriously, you gave me a fan?" To which my mom responded, "But it's what you asked for." To which I snarked back, "But I didn't mean it."

I'm now sitting in my apt, barely moving, sweat trickling down my back and brow and that same fan is pointed at my glistening mug. I've had that fan for 10 years. I took it to college. Moved it half-way across the country. It's probably the one thing from when I was that young that I still. Something that I care enough to take with me. 

Aunt Theresa, thank you for that fan. It is the one thing between me and a bullet to the temple. DID I MENTION IT IS HOT?

UPGRADE

Life was crappy for around 4 days. Which lead me to eating too much ice cream and not sleeping well. BUT TODAY. Oh today, you've turned things around. Things that will be upgraded in my new swank apt:

1. patio

2. fireplace

3. DISHWASHER

4. washer and dryer IN APT

5. my own bathroom

6. closer to work

7. more bus options

The girl said that she was interviewing 3 people and of course facebook stalked us. She asked her co-workers to vote who she should live with and I won. This is why I spent 2 years crafting the perfect profile. 

It sucks being so charming though. I had to let another girl come over anyway to look at my current apt even though I'm going to be moving. I think her parents loved me and she seemed sold on the place. I hate breaking news to people. Maybe I'll be a jerk and just text her. MEAN.

An Apothecary On The Moon

The Children's Theatre has made this a most bizarre summer. I've owned a banana stand, an apothecary on the moon and the messiest room on the planet. I've played Mrs. Spider, an Evil Queen, and soon an Unlikely Knight Crab. The line between Real True and Drama True is a fun one to dance around.

Alice in Wonderland closed last night. I'd show you pictures but I don't want some HMM (high maintenance mom) to sue me because I posted pics of their youngling. It actually turned out to be a pretty tight show. There was a bit of depth, lots of winks at the parents in the audience, and has me really geared up for March 15th.  I think I'm going to sit down and actually read Lewis Caroll's book. Why not? I mean, I've just got ever so much time on my hands. Puh.

Harry Potter came out this week! I've already seen it twice. I think it's pretty phenomenal. Very different than the other movies. But then again the sixth book was different than the rest, so it was pretty fitting. I know a lot of people aren't on board. But wasn't it beautiful? And funny? Have you ever described a Harry Potter movie that way? Then isn't that something? I think so. And so does Entertainment Weekly. So you lose. 

I've been skyping like it's my job. First Kristin then Sweet Baby Angel and now Mom, Dad, and Nikki. I'm kind of in love with it. JACKIE--GET INTERNET TO GET IN ON THE FUN. I'm still a hater on the phone and this just makes things so much easier. Yay for new computers that don't suck.

I'm going to go on the Light Rail today since it's free. Awesome. 

Half-Blood Princess

3 days until HP6! WHY ISN'T NIKKI FLYING TO SEATTLE? I'm really going to miss having her here. :(

I installed Skype today so if you have it, look me up and we'll chat. I also joined Twitter. And the 21st Century. Plugged IN.

Blogging About Blogging

Here's an interview I gave for the Children's Theatre blog. I know you're just dying to read it. 

Hitchhiker's Thumb--I see you, and you are gross. 

Fantastic Shapes

I got back to Seattle last Saturday and holy crap it's been crazy. Mom came for a conference so there was a lot of ho tubbing, sauna-ing, dinners, theatre, getting lost, accidentally keeping keys, and long discussions of our days. She heard Al Gore speak I made Fantastic Shapes with my body and learned how to hit myself in the head with my shoe. Same page. 

My internship at the Children's Theatre started last week. So far, I'm feeling it. The interns are great. They are all basically actors so we click better than the interns did at the Rep. Orientation had a lot of ice breakers. Kind of hate those, but I survived. And I'm not interested in showing anyone else how I "bugalow" so don't ask. We had an intern party on Friday night and we played my new favorite game Celebrity. I will teach you and then beat you at it. 

This week is going well so far. First two class were Physical Comedy and Shakespeare. I smacked my head on the ground which sucked but also recited some Macbeth which was awesome. I'm keeping a journal of everything we do just in case I teach some more. And who are we kidding, I probably will. 

I was too tired to straighten my hair so it'll be curly tomorrow. Get over it. 

Class Acts

Family Bonding time before I leave for Seattle. We gorged on Taiko and then watched Stephen Colbert in Iraq. So choice. I'd marry him. Then I was all, "Let's play a game" and before you knew it we were sipping Raspberry Sparkletini out of plastic Carlos O'Kelly's cups and chair dancing to Celebrate while we played a rousing cut-throat game of Dominoes, because yes this is the 1800s. These are good people.

I had a bit of trouble finding my glasses before I watched D2 The Mighty Ducks last night, but fret not. I found them and enjoyed every duck related joke. The quack attack is back jack! Oh my god, I'm 60 years old. 

Jesus, Take The Wheel. I Gotta Grab Something In The Backseat.

Well my time at home has certainly picked up in the last week. On a spontaneous whim Nikki and I popped in the car and drove to The Region so that we could go see the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. Suzanna sent me a link about it and I decided that it had to happen. 

We drove the four hours on Wednesday night after Nikki got off work. In true Kiki/Nikki fashion we played Harry Potter games most of the drive. We took all of the books and played the name-the-title-of-the-chapters-in-order game first. Then whoever wasn't driving would comb the books for difficult questions to ask the other person. I was wearing my Harry Potter scarf (see Jackie, I wear it) and I gave Nikki my baller time turner to wear. We probably took too many pictures while going 72 miles an hour, but we wanted to live a little. We even stopped on the side of the road next to an H for hospital sign and Nikki made the "P" with her hands. HP excitement on the highway.  We got in around 10 and I was jacked on the pop we drank. Mikey was all out of sorts from a knee injury so we high-tailed it to the basement to watch The Departed. Um, how good is that movie?? So good. I didn't take my eyes off of it the whole time. Which is why we didn't get to bed until 1:30. Bad plan, but worth it.

We got up at 7:30 the next day so that we'd be sure to have enough time to get to the South Shore Line. Aunt Theresa made an awesome breakfast and then we were out of the door. Train ride was great. No attacks from dementors to speak of. We went straight to the Museum and pretended to care about baby chicks hatching as we waited for them to call our time slot. We finally got in line and bought our audio devices. 10:23 hit and we were pretty much freaking out. The audio device played the Harry Potter theme as we walked to the first room in the exhibit: the Sorting Hat. We watched 3 younger people awkwardly get sorted into the house of their choosing and then they ushered us into a dark room to watch an HP movie montage over 8 vertical screens. Chills, my friends. Chills. We were ooo-ing and ah-ing the whole time. Magic. Harry Potter. Living the Dream.

The exhibit was absolutely wonderful. We spent two hours looking at costumes and listening to the designers point out features and discuss their details and decisions. We saw props like Tom Riddle's Diary, The Sorcerer's Stone and life size models of Buckbeak and the Hungarian Horntail. Dementors have tales that look like spines, did you know that? I didn't. We pulled out Mandrakes, shot some leather Quaffles into the hoops, sat in Hagrid's chair and quoted the movies the entire time. It was so awesome and I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much without Nikki there. It was a pretty good substitute for us not being able to see the 6th movie together so Huzzah!

We still had some time to kill before the train came so we haphazardly ran across Lake Shore Drive to hit Lake Michigan. We put our toes in the freezing water and sat on the beach for a long time. Then we pounded in a Subway foot long and hit the train back to Munster. Before you knew it we were back on the road for more driving action. We hit massive traffic and I made us listen to the Life is a Highway cover at least 3 times. Seriously, what a good song.  But it wouldn't be long till we were in the car again...

To drive 5 1/2 hours to Minneapolis! My second cousin (right? i don't know how that works) on my mom's side was graduating. I desperately wanted to go to the Guthrie to see Tony Kushner's new play so I was down for a back-to-back road trip. On top of buying awesome accessories for my, oh wait, what's that, BRAND NEW computer and iPod touch we also logged some H&M time which is always a plus. I got to see my 3 hr and 40 min show, Mom got to take notes and drink wine coolers and we both ate more cake than Delta Burke. I also had 3 Magic Bars made by the one and only Aunt Dorothy. The theme for the weekend was, "Why don't we do this more often?" Seriously--I think I'll live there one day. Good theatre, good people, good times. 5 1/2 hour drive back and now I'm planting myself in Dubuque for the rest of the week. 

Mom and I head to Seattle on Saturday so I'll spend my last week finishing my room, eating at my favorite local restaurant, buying things cheaper in the Midwest, and trying to Houdini everything into my suitcase. The Midwest done treated me real nice. 

Week Two & Three: The To-Do List

1. Financial Confabulation Starring Mother Abba. It wasn't too bad. I ended up coming out ahead after my internship, but only by about a month's rent. Better than going in debt. And better than getting shot in the face.

2. Dentist Appointment. No cavities, suckers.

3. Finally Renew License So That It Is Horizontal. I squinted during the vision test and lied about my weight. At least now I can get into the Quest Center Bar.

4. Start A Puzzle. We got this Thomas Kincaid puzzle set and ripped open one of the 500 piece bags. The pieces aren't cut well and the shapes are so discombobulated that you're never really sure where a piece goes. I mean we had difficulty assembling the border. Now that's just sad. I'll powerhouse through it and then hopefully we can get one that doesn't suck.

5. Catapult My Family Into The 21st Century. For Mother's Day we got my mom a Wii. For her birthday she got a TomTom. I just bought a new computer with a free iPod Touch. What's next? A hover craft. 

6. Turn 23. It's really just the second anniversary of turning 21. 

7. Make A Trip To The Region. Saw all of the family I could in a 48 hour period. Dominoes, babies, and loud conversations. I'd say it was totally worth it. 

8. Memorial Weekend Explosion. I saw Jackie. Played corn hole and rang a wind chime every time I mistakenly made a good shot. Ate more food than a stomach should be able to consume. Drank for cheap at the casino. Caught up with Ms. Romaine. It was a pretty great weekend. 

Week One: A Return To Form

Tuesday--
-Fairwell McMenamins lunch with Kate then off to the airport
-Awkward man in front of me pushes chair back too far--curse words fly through my head as I try not to vomit on his jerry curl
-Land in Dubuque to a sobbing Mother Abba and a JJohns sub

Wednesday--
-Wake up early and drive to Iowa City, listen to birthday mix from Jessica
-Meet up with baby sister and steal dorm keys
-Go into back office to visit with RAs--Amanda freaked and turned red, got a hug from Jacque (???), avoided Barb and her crazy tinted mom-glasses
-Lunch at Z'maricks with Kristin, ordered Z'pesto and gossiped
-Picked up sewing machine for Mother Abba
-Hit up Joe's Place with Secretary Extraordinaire Jennifer, Amie, Amanda, Justin, Aditi, Ryan, Nick, Chong, Crystal and Bob--discuss the crumbling of Res Life and recreate scenes from Tea Time
-Dinner with Brian and Adam at Oasis--monsoon starts and we wade back to his apt
-L O S T with Brian, Adam, Katie, and Sean--two years in a row, what?
-Drive to Walmart with Nikki to get ice cream and watch bad tv
-Epic fail when blowing up air mattress

Thursday--
-Sleep in? No thanks.
-Visit with Jessica Heacock and Matt French by the piano room--yes, they get two names for being so important
-Get lunch at Hamburg with Nikki and see her office--those computer screens are huge
-Capana with Aubrey and new beau Matt
-Visit Justin in dorm and help him watch YouTube videos
-Java Juice with Elise and David--get the low down on theatre and how everyone's senior year sucks when it comes to casting
-Cheesburger dinner with Kristin, Amanda and Nicole
-Back to Green Gables to watch The Office and other NBC necessities
-Forced to go out to Brothers (yes, I did go back) with Crystal, Amie, Amanda and Justin--ran into Cara Clonch and Rebeka Stein, no where to sit, awkward run in with Burge RAs, left after an hour
-Back to Crystal's room to educate her on YouTube videos
-Crashed

Friday--
-Another monsoon happened--drenched when moving things back to car
-Stole Nikki's ID and ate at Burge--tried to remain inconspicuous, cookies still delicious, I guess I should stop saying, "last time I'll eat at Burge" because it seems to happen more often than it should
-Illegally parked by a fire hydrant to move out Nikki's stuff
-Used RA connections to get a cart and move crap three blocks while crossing Dubuque St.
-Too tired to do anything else we drive home and luckily don't crash
-Dinner with the fam--Happy Joes, you tempt me
-Rewatched L O S T finale

Saturday--
-Up early to get ready for the wedding
-Hit the road at 11:30 with only 3 cds and no caffeine
-Hour later I remedy the caffeine situation and get some Cheez-Its--so necessary
-Made it to the church by 3 to be greeted by Liz Steele, the one and only
-Wedding at 4, sat by Brian and Liz and cried roughly 3 times
-Went to Granite City to get a much needed drink in between events with Liz
-Reception at Hyvee Convention Center was gorgeous--good food, cash bar, Minnesotians across from us hate us for being from Iowa, we all made it in the slide show including a creepy picture cameo by Brian
-Danced to Gaga and the like
-Hit the road, drove too fast, home by 12:15
-Started HP6

Sunday--
-LOW KEY, PLEASE
-Star TREK again--better the second time, more starring at Chris Pine
-Mom breaks the news my room is going to be the new home to Kathy's Kraft Korner--like the KKK needs another meeting room in Dubuque
-We drink two bottles of wine as I begin to move things out and say, "well crap" all of the time

And this was just the first week. I still have 4 left. Oh Mylanta. Iowa--you keep me young.

I O W A

I'm getting on a plane tomorrow and heading home. Star Trek made Iowa look so baller, I'm sure everyone is jealous of me. I'm going to go to Iowa City, a wedding, the region, Minneapolis, Pepper Sprout, Chicago--you name it, I'm going there. It's Midwestpalooza over here. 

It's sad to think that this will be the last time that I get to come home for this amount of time. Mother Abba has certainly planned a lot for me to do. I'm told that there is a two page list waiting for me. I hope "lay on the couch and take a nap" is on there more than once. 

As much fun as it is working 80 hours a week, I'm ready for a break. A long, extended, sit-on-the-porch-and-drink-a-lemonade kind of relaxation. I may even be really daring and get a professional massage so that I don't start forming a hunchback with all of the tension in my shoulders. Ring my bell, masseur. 

I cleaned out my desk today. Everyone said that the pod now looks sad and empty. YEAH you're gonna miss me and my loud singing of show tunes e'r day. Did I mention I'm excited about having a window view next season? Because I am.

Did you all watch JT host SNL? LOL^20,000. Ya dig?

Necessary

Jessica and I were on our way to see a play in Capitol Hill. We were running late, were assuming that this wasn't going to be a good performance, and Jessica was hungry. So we turned around, picked up Michael and decided to drive 30 mins to Puyallup to go to the Sonic that opened up last Monday. This is what spontaneity means to us. 

It took awhile to find it and when we did and Michael screamed the shrillest/girliest scream I've ever heard. We were laughing our heads off and cheering and making a general scene for the green Outback next to us.

Then all the noise on the planet ceased.

There was a line. And not just any line. An hour wait kind of line. We cued up and this 15 year old, chewing gum and spewing attitude, gave us a post it note with 8:38 written on it and told us we could leave now or proceed forward into the hour wait zone. We figured, what they hell, we already drove this far, we were hungry, we had nothing better to do, and we're TOTALLY CRAZY people, so let's do this. It felt like we were at the fairgrounds. They packed us into this gravel parking lot with cones and bright yellow rope. They set up 6 or so lines that were about 7 cars deep. We turned off the car and just sat.

We played a "name that song from the ipod" game, we tried rocking the car, and I even got out of the car to take a picture of the lines, tripped on a rock, grabbed a side mirror on some random car and screamed "Help!" It's fine. 

So once that 15 min time period passed it started to look grim. Michael broke out into sweats. Jessica was sucking her thumb and rocking in the back. I was humming Rocketman while my left eye was twitching. We were hurtin'. Bad.

Thank God the line finally moved an hour later as promised. We rolled up to the stall and gloriously parked the car and started choosing our delights. We ordered $21 worth of food while the women on the speaker said things like, "oh I love that one" "yeah I like those nuggets straight too, no sauce" and "mmm i hear ya on that one." She was a doll and we tipped her some pocket change. 

We feasted.

Then 10 mins later Jessica and Michael wanted more food so they ordered another $5 worth. I was smart and didn't pig out on more food. They were hurtin' units by the end of the night.

It was a long drive home. The car rocked us into a sleepy daze where we were barely talking to each other except to say, "No, not that song."

It felt like summer. It felt eerily familiar. Summer 09, you look promising. 

Now It's Official

So, starting Aug 3 I will be Seattle Rep's official Audience Development Associate. Until then, I'll still be going home to Iowa for a month and then when I get back in Seattle I'll be doing an abbreviated internship with Seattle Children's Theatre. 

The job will be semi-different than the internship I did this year. Instead of being in the Education dept I'll be moving into Communications and reporting directly to our Director, Katie. I'll still get to do a lot of audience programs and hopefully write and perform some more warm ups. They also specifically wrote on the job description that I'll get to continue working on Youtube and Facebook so that's kind of making my day. We're scaling back a lot next year so it's really a miracle that I'll be able to work there. 

Things That Are Awesome:

I have a job

Window view

Health Care

4 day work week

Seattle!

Things That Kind Of Suck:

32 hour work week = working another part time job (aka: lobby managering some more)

Lease ends Sept 1 and my roommate is leaving Seattle

See how much the Pro list out weights the Con? It's really awesome and I'm excited to have a job so that I don't end up in Dubuque, in the basement, eating cereal and falling asleep to baseball games. I just intend to do those things for the next month. YAY!

My last day of work was so great. Katie got me tulips and a sweet card telling me how excited she is for next season. Fran took Jessica and I out to a huge sushi lunch, then I bought a cardi at Gap and then we rode a Ferris wheel. It's like Kiki Abba's Day Off. Then we went to see David Sedaris read some of his stories which was hilarious. (I'm going to start writing more. I am.) Pretty much the best way to end any internship if you ask me. 

Moving to Seattle = worth it. 

Remind Me Of This When I'm Broke At 30

I would rather fail doing this than succeed doing something else. - Conan

The Song Is: Me and Julio by Paul Simon

This is the poster I designed for our Drama Intensive. It looks hella betta in person, but you get the general picture. Everyone seems to like it so hopefully I'm worth the amount of cash they're dropping. Oh who am I kidding, of course I am.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a job today! I'm like a pension plan away from being a grown up. Where the heck am I going to live after Sept? Details, details, details. I can't announce it yet at the Rep so don't write about it on Facebook. I'll have to delete your nice sentiment. Lame. 

Once I can be official about it I'll give you all of the details. Or just ask Mrs. Hedeman. Apparently she really is all knowing. 

AHHHHHHH! SEATTLE! This will probably be on this week's Best Week Ever episode so I'd tune in for that shenanigan if I were you. 

This Is My Life?

My boss asked me yesterday to buy a birthday card for Carrie Fisher. I stood up, went to Bartells, bought this $5 piece of glittery what-not, and then as I'm checking out the cashier asked me who it was for and I told him Carrie Fisher. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how completely weird that was. She's famous. She's someone that I've "known" since I was little. She's one of the most recognizable icons in movie history. And here I am, buying her some Hallmark. Life is weird.

I should get to work. Today might be a really great day. 

Highway Glamor Shots

Today I got to go on a mid-day adventure with the Communications Dept. Here is a picture and the write up that I did of it on the blog. Eat your heart out. 

When someone offers me a smoothie, I always say yes. Mama didn't raise no fool. Little did I know that I'd be hiking up a mountain afterwards.

The Rep's Communication department went on a little outing while our Director was away for the day (jealous much?). We boosted up on intense-power-enhancing-mega-rocket-fuel energy smoothies and made our way down the Galer St stairs to behold our beautiful billboard on Aurora. Then, like the nerds we are, we took pictures to document our efforts. Look at those excited faces. They weren't that excited for long...

Once we were done geeking out we proceeded to climb up the 700 some stairs, some of us in heels and others of us in need of an oxygen tank. It's fine. Looks like we're improving our department's odds of getting the highly coveted "We Hate to See You Leave, But We Love to Watch You Go" Reppie Award.

Favorite Picture from Vancouver

Who dere?

Crow Fly Away From Here

Last night was our last opening night. We opened Breakin' Hearts and Takin' Names with Kevin Kling and Simone Perrin and that show is seriously wonderful. I found out yesterday that the songs from the show are our "on hold" music when you call the rep. So I called a line that no one is on, pushed speaker, and listened to four songs on repeat for an hour. I went away to ask someone a question and when I came back Jessica had hung up my phone. She'll pay for that mistake. Bottom line: I want to be a story teller like Kevin. He is full of joy and humor and has an optimistic observation of the human condition without being precious or naive. I just love this show. 

The contract for my internship ends May 1. It is freaking me out how close it is to all being over. Just something that I did for 9 months. Someone recently told me that she wished the word "just" didn't exist. She brought up a good point. I didn't just do my internship. I fricken schooled it. But "over it shall be." - Yoda. The I'll be back in Iowa for a month. I'll get to see my college friends in Iowa City, take up a Cubbies game, see my friend's wedding, and rediscover the joys and wiles of Dubuque. It'll be grand. River walk, here I come. 

Out Damn Spot

It is Spring. Know how I know? I made Red Raspberry Crystal Lite and opened up my windows, allergies be damned. But now my fingers are stained blood red because I dropped the packet into the glass of water and had to fish it out. Failure.

Jackie just called and her and Kyle have landed at the beautiful SeaTac Airport. We're gonna scarf down some food and then hit the trails on up to the 'Couve. I can't wait for hockey games, Mounties, and a suspension bridge of death. This is going to be hilarious.

In other news, it looks highly probable that I'll get to come home to Iowa for a month (holla) and then come back to Seattle for an internship with the Seattle Children's Theatre as a teaching artist. Who needs money and job security? Not this ho. 

Carrie Fisher is here! She better make the Rep lots o' cash. So far, so good. I'm excited about making bad Star Wars jokes behind her back. 

Where the Wild Things Are

Watch this. It makes me so happy that I cry. It'll probably give me nightmares, but the kind that I don't mind remembering all day. It looks amazing. 

Lazy Sundays are my favorite. I took a nap and watched my bracket crumble and ate junk food with friends and wore slippers. I appreciate my days off because they are so few and far between. I pulled five back-to-back shifts and I was walking slow and hanging low by the end of it. People already think I'm older than I am, but I don't want to start feeling that way. Back to work tomorrow. I need to go to the bank.

Jackie and Kyle are coming in a week and we're going to go to Vancouver!!! I've never been to Canada. I love syrup and Alanis so I'm sure I'll like it up there. You live, you learn. 

I dyed part of my hair electric midnight blue and no one at work noticed. So much for being a rebel with an obvious cause. 

How cute are my friends?

Spring Break!!!

Amanda, Justin and Aditi are here! I'm so glad that they came to visit me. I have the best friends pretty much ever. We've been all over the place and having crazy adventures. More details to come once I have time to sit for longer than 30 seconds.

But I wanted to post this. How fricken baller is that? It doesn't have all of them posted yet but Heather is working on it. And yeah, that's my name at the bottom. It probably won't be on the website forever (I'm assuming that they'd take it down next season) but for this moment in time I feel like I did something that left an impression on the Rep and that's really exciting. I'm such a nerd.

In other news this is the first year that I've completed a March Madness bracket. My dad and my cousin Nathan helped me fill it out. Here's hoping I can win the Rep pool, I mean we're talking $425. That's a big chunk of change for this girl. Go UConn?!

Should Be At Work.

Last night I hung out with Mollie and Kate and we watched terribly awesome Apatow movies and ate junk food. It felt like college. I needed it after yesterday's interview which got me pretty stressed out.

Am I good at interviewing? Hmm. Well I talk a lot, but not too much. I make sure to answer the question but hopefully in a way that is memorable and charming. I made a L O S T joke and I think they got it. I could answer all of their questions and showed the research I had done about the organization. I made them laugh. I semi-explained how to play the warm up game Zip Zap Zop. They put me through a "situation" and I made up a pretty terrible answer, but I kept my cool and sounded really apologetic and nice. What they were looking for? Hell if I know. I don't find out about this one until April so, great.

We had a Teacher Artist Training at the Rep this past weekend and there were a ton of left over bag lunches. It always makes me happy when I don't have to buy food and can just eat off of the Rep's dollar. That'll be ending soon too. I might even have to go to the grocery store. WHAT?

My friends from Iowa get here on Monday night and I'm so freakin' excited!!!! Amanda, Justin and Aditi are coming on their Spring Break. I have really good friends. 

I should probably stop procrastinating and just go down the hill to work. It's just so darn cold it makes me want to not get out of my bed. 

Daylight Savings Time, I hate you. Love, Kiki

Stiff Upper Shoulder

When I search for jobs on my laptop I tense up my shoulders. (Probably tense from the impending doom of not having a job) I don't mean to do it, it just happens and it's starting to hurt. Maybe I should stop. 

I'm returning 6 movies to the library today. I didn't get a chance to watch a single one. Talk about a change from when I first moved out here and was averaging 3 movies a day. At least I've grown in that respect.

We had a company meeting this week at the Rep. People all over the building are just freaking out about it. It's been a sad place to work this week. I'm trying to help people remain upbeat. We need more dance breaks and more departments than just Development taking Rum shots at 3:00pm everyday. I kid you not. 

Talk Irish got extended and apparently our Managing Director said that it was a great example of what Audience Development should be. Too bad stuff like this didn't happen during my whole internship. I'll get to perform it a couple more time and even *gasp* get paid $50 for one of those performances so, here's to becoming a teaching artist. Maybe?

LOST is still amazing. When is there a new Office? I really want to watch Megan Mullally's new show. She's my role model.

I bet this was more fun to read when I was happily employed and discovering a new city. I STILL blame the government. 

Where's the Pepto?

Well I sent off about 5 resumes in the last couple of weeks. I talked with one company in Seattle today and set up an interview for Monday. Another summer stock theatre in New York also sent me an e-mail requesting an interview. My stomach can't take this. It all makes me so frickin nervous, hence why I'm still awake on a work night. It's fine. I'll live. 

In other awesome news my Talk Irish with Kelly Warm Up is apparently taking the world by storm. Usually our Warm Ups are lucky to get about 30 people in the Rotunda. I'm averaging 65 a night and there is always standing room only. Jerry Manning said that my work was "excellent." Now cast me in Rent, ho. 

I worked a ton this weekend. Hopefully I can come in late and leave early a few times this week. Every now and then I worry that I'm going to completely burn out because, oh I don't know, I'm selling my soul to an organization that can't hire me for the long haul. But what good is coming in late if you still wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:30am?

Wow, this post sounds so jaded. I'll work on keeping it upbeat. I blame the government. 

Bop Boop Ba Doop

I love Gmail chatting. I'm talking with Amie right now and it is ever so delightful. Why doesn't everyone have it? Get out of your log cabin-esque Yahoo mode and join us enlightened folks on the other side. You'll have more storage space and friends to sit with in the lunch room. Bonus.

Happy Oscars day! I didn't get to watch any award shows this year. I don't think I missed out with the Emmy's. They sounded LAME. No one cares about the Grammys. I tried to watch the Golden Globes but something came up. And the SAG awards were on a bad weekend. But I'm pumped about tonight. I'll watch them over at Jessica's place. We'll have a SlumHOTdog bar and lot's of Milk to drink. We've made Benjamin buttons as party favors along with Sean pins. For dessert we may even eat Meryl Peeps. I'm that cool. 

Predictions: Best Picture-Slumdog Millionaire; Best Actor-Sean Penn; Best Actress-Kate Winslet; Best Supporting Actor-Heath Ledger; Best Supporting Actress-Penelope Cruz; Best Director-Danny Boyle; and none of you care about the rest of my predictions so I'll leave it at that.

Friday night I planned the Communication's Retreat. It was actually just a party at Rob's house but I themed it Mafia Night. I asked everyone to "dress to kill" and come in cocktail wear while we listened to Italian Opera Music and had a delicious Pasta Bar. (Apparently I'm really into planning things with buffet style eating. I should just bite the bullet and go to overeaters anonymous. See I'd even bite a bullet. This is terrible.) Then we played the card game Mafia for three hours. Theatre people are so freakin good at this game. This needs to happen with every group of people that I know. I'm a titch obsessed with it. 

I went to Annex theatre today. I'm going to help them with their Marketing stuff for their next show. We'll see how this goes. I don't really have any more time on my hands, but we all know how much I love being overbooked and overworked. Let's do this. Hopefully once I get started at Annex I can find some other areas to volunteer for them and I think it could be a great way to meet people and work on new plays. So Iowa, so fun. What's really cool about this theatre is that there is no staff. Everyone that works there just does it in their free time and all of the ticket proceeds go to paying rent for the theatre space. It's really collaborative and I'll get to help make decisions on season planning and things like that. Here's to new theatre avenues and long bus rides to Capitol Hill. 

I have to perform my Warm Up this week. I'm all kinds of nervous about it. I just hope I don't say "um" too much and that it is a bit interesting. We'll see. 

In other news: In one week I ate a whole package of Oreo cookies. I blame the government. 

AH!

Frasier. Season Four. Episode Four for the Seesaw. Not only does Megan Mullally (Karen on Will and Grace) make a guest appearance but she actually has the line, "We went to Seattle Rep and saw The Man Who Came To Dinner.

I just died. 

My Kitchen Smells Like Death

I took out the garbage and cleaned all of the dishes. Now I'm trying to air out the place. It wreaks. How did I end up living in squalor? 

I found a job I could legitimately be qualified for in Seattle today. Cross your fingers everyone. I'm currently nursing about 5 different resumes. Each one full of the words "proficient" and "facilitated" and more compelling than the next. 

I wrote my Warm Up this morning. AKA the neighbors probably think I'm crazy because I was talking out loud to myself the whole time. The problem is that if I'm eventually going to say it aloud, then when I type it I also have to say it. Yes, this is a problem at work too. I can often be caught gesturing and whispering in front of my computer. That doesn't sound good. Oh well, you're already over it. 

I hope in all of this job hustle and bustle I can still find time to come home for a bit. 

I need quarters in a real bad way. 

Lazy Sunday

I did nothing today. It felt so good. I laid around, caught up on Top Chef, read my Entertainment Weekly, basically just lived the dream the whole day. My hands smell like garlic and I love it. Yay for having time to cook real food. Sometimes I wish I lived by myself because of days like today. But then I think about Home Alone and how it could happen to me and I reconsider. "Keep the change ya filthy animal."

I'm still looking for jobs. It could be anything from summer stock theatre to working on a cruise ship. How weird would that be? I'm casting a wide net so we'll see what shakes out. Maybe Massachusetts, maybe New York, maybe the ocean. We'll see. 

I have tomorrow off since it's President's Day, only the greatest holiday EVER. I'm going to spend the day writing my Warm Up Talk Irish with Kelly. Basically I'll be teaching patrons how to do an Irish dialect since the next play we're doing is set in Baldoyle, Ireland. Throw in a few Lucky Charms jokes and I'll have 'em begging for more. I think it'll turn out to be really cool. Here's hoping at least a few people are interested. 

I finally got to see The Importance of Being Ernest. I severely love this play. It is awesome and makes me want to have a fake identity for when I'm in the country versus in town. Read it, watch it, love it.

The stimulus package excludes theatres. This is complete crap. We are so much more important than highway beautification. Lame, lame, lame.

L O S T is still the best show on television. Why are you denying it? Embrace your inner geek. I want to go to Hawaii and watch them shoot it. MAYBE I SHOULD GET A JOB THERE. It hurts being so cool. 

Never Ditch Your Wing Man

My godparents kind of beat the crap out of your godparents. They got in town today and we are already owning this city. I gave them a tour of the Rep and educated them on how theatre actually is a business and not just gay people running around lisp-ing. Then we ate at the 5 Spot cafe and my uncle said, "I didn't come to Seattle to eat food inspired by Texas." Damn straight sir. One organic coffee and plate of scallops to go for this guy. Then we went to my apt and within seconds were planning out the rest of their weekend here. They don't wait for anything. Because we were worried about them crashing early (what with the time difference and traveling) they went back to their hotel to take a nap before we hit the town. (This was a brilliant plan on our part. Word up to a good re-rack.)

Once they woke up from their coma we drove to Kirkland with their passive aggressive GPS. Turn right. No my right. Ugh. Recalculating because you're an idiot. I've never been to see stand up comedy so we went to the Laugh Spot and saw three people perform. First guy=I don't care if you were on Last Comic Standing. You weren't good. The second guy was better. He was only mildly awkward and had a few one-liners. But when the headliner came out it was awesome. Completely worth the price of admission. He tore into every one and thing. I might need to stalk him online and make him my new obsession. He was HILARIOUS.

Nursing our buzz from the delicious Root Beer and Vanilla Vodka drinks (i know, right?) we decided to head back to the Seattle Center, ditch the car, and hit another bar. Remember when I said that my godparents ruled? Yeah, I meant it. We went to Chopsticks, the Dueling Piano Bar. Upon hearing the name of the bar, my ever so Indiana-native uncle said, "Chopsticks? That sounds Chinese." Hilarious. We requested songs by Meat Loaf and Bob Seger and watched a graphic PG 13 rated sign language version of Joy to the World. It was amazing. These two people are cracking me up and I can't wait to see what we do next. They are just so willing to do whatever comes our way. Must be the Andrews genes. Whenever someone from my mom's side of the family visits, I'm guaranteed a good time. 

My uncle also wanted to know: why Seattle is so liberal and why the pedestrians think that they can just walk into the street whenever they want.  Touche.

WISHES!!!

Wish for humanity: That Beatles music will be available on iTunes

Wish for my sanity: That people will stop doing "25 things about me" lists on Facebook. I'm over it.

Wish for the weather: To not have it rain the entire time my godparents are in town.

Wish for the bathtub: That it will clean itself.

Wish for the future: That I can get a theatre job in Seattle.

Wish for when that doesn't pan out: That I can get a job somewhere.

Wish for when that also doesn't pan out: That I don't have to sell plasma to make a living. 

What I've Been Working On

Here is the latest Ednotes which is very bizarre but also charming. I hope.

And I also wrote a blog entry about a decade ago on the Rep's page, so take a gander at that. 

We'll be pumping out more videos soon and I hope to write more on the Rep's blog, so I'll try to keep this as updated as I can. 

I'm currently recovering from working until 3am last night for Play Date at the Rep. It was exhausting to say the least but was a pretty good time. I made at least 5 black friends, so that's awesome. And we ate ribs at like 1:30 in the morning which is always a good idea. 

I'm going to go hop on a ferry for the day, find time to work on my resume and try to figure out some plans for when my godparents are in town. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it. 

Barackolli and an Obama Mama To Go

5:13 am My alarm goes off. This is dumb. I'm very angry at my phone for making noise. But I get out of bed because I know that I have to. It's Inauguration Day, baby, and this ho's got places to be.

5:30 am Michael picks me up at my apt. He doesn't say anything when I get in the car, he just shoves a camera in my face and snaps a shot. The horribly proof is on Facebook. Thanks for documenting how truly unfortunate I can look early in the morning. 

5:35 am Met up with a group of friends and we start walking downtown to the Paramount theatre. It is cold and my teeth are chattering. We pass another intern's apt and yell, "If you can hear us, jump out of your window." Delirium has obviously set in. The fog is really think over the whole city and whenever we see other people walking around they look like zombies. Are they zombies? Probably Obambies. 

6:03 am We reach the theatre. There isn't a huge line yet but we're about 150 people back. The theatre can seat 4,000 so getting there this early was obviously not required. I didn't want to be too bitter about this fact so I kept it to myself. Meanwhile we were shouting at the other people in line like we were back in Vegas. Imagine an MTV Spring Break house and you'll get the idea.

6:17 am I yell at a man, "Hey denim, back of the line." It is rude to cut lines, especially if you're wearing a denim coat. 

6:45 am I can't feel my toes. To quote Step by Step, "Either there's a rock in my shoe or my big toe just fell off."

7:04 am They finally let us in to the theatre. I get some free Tazo Tea samples from a Starbs employee and then someone else chucked two gingersnap-ish type cookies in my hand. Whatever, I was about to eat that rock in my shoe so I inhaled them. We get seats right in the middle of the theatre about 20 rows back. Perfect. Komo 4 news was there and we make fools of ourself to be seen on TV. Sorry you had to put up with us, Seattle.

7:04-10:11am We sit and boo as Bush and Cheney walk across the screen, stand up and cheer whenever there is a glimpse of Obama, Michelle, the Bidens, Obama girls, or that hot Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, we cry when Aretha sings and scratch our heads at the lame images that ABC Google-Earthed for the news feed, and listen with rapt attention as Obama gives his first speech as President. It is absolutely amazing and made every minute up until now completely worth it. It's hard not to feel apart of something bigger when you see the shots of DC packed wall-to-wall with people that are overjoyed to just be within earshot of the Inauguration. It was a pretty exciting thing to watch and being with such a big crowd made it even better. We finally have a new President! 

For the rest of the day I was pretty exhausted and had trouble focusing on my work. Then Jackie left a voicemail detailing all of the celebs that she ogled. That's when I hit a real low. Overcome with jealousy and exhaustion I made my way home. Today was a long, long day. But it was worth it to feel that in a small way I was apart of history. 

I'm sure I'll read this to my kids one day and they'll be bored out of their minds, but that's not my problem. It's there's. 

Like Finding the Hidden Toaster in the Tree, Here are my Highlights

Once again, I'll apologize for not updating this in a long time. I always tell myself that I'm going to find more time to do it, and then that time just isn't there. Excuse excuse excuse. So here are some highlights in no particular order:

1. Snow-attle

We had a huge snow storm hit Seattle two days before I was scheduled to leave for Iowa. I actually took a snow day since there was really no point getting down the hill for fear that I would never get back up it. Sadly though we still had a show that night and I was scheduled to Lobby Manage. So Kate, who came over to enjoy Top Chef marathons and Mollie's home cooking, drove us down the hill in her 4 wheel drive. It's so nice to know people with cars. Work was really quiet. I'd say only about 100 people showed up. But the show must go on yadda yadda vomit. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it back up the hill so I stayed over at Jessica's place since she was already back home. Guilt came over me the next day and I went into work. Like 10 people were there. This place just completely shuts down whenever there is snow. I got lunch with Katie and Rob from Communications and then at 4 I started my trek up the hill. I'm sure I was a sight. Shuffling my little feet and cursing under my foggy breath. I was not a happy camper. But about an hour later  I made it home so that I could start furiously packing and getting ready to leave. Kristi drove me to the airport hella early the next morning and lucky my flight went off as scheduled. It was stressful as all get out but I'm so thankful I made it out of there. 

2. Christmas Break

Two weeks in Iowa was just long enough to do basically everything I wanted to do. (Except I didn't see all of the movies I wanted to. I'll blame Jackie and the economy for that one.) I slept a lot. I ate a lot. I went to Galena with Peter and Libby. I went to the new casino with Jessica, Christine and Co. I went to Iowa City for New Year's to be with Kristin. It was pretty wonderful. Full of presents, puzzles and Wicked in Chicago. Santa's Little Helpers shots on Christmas Eve and Mad Men Season One. Blu-Ray Movies and not checking my work e-mail. I also took a lot of time to think about 08 and what a crazy year it was. Remember when I went to Memphis for UPTA auditions? Or that trip to DC with Nikki and Jackie? And how weird is it that I'm living in Seattle? And RA of the Year? Seriously? You'll see in the next few paragraphs that 09 is already starting off with a bang, so here's hoping the rest of the year follows suit. 

3. Sweet Baby Angel 

One of my best friends from Iowa, Amie, came and visited me for a week once I got back from Iowa! It was so nice to have some company in my apt. It was a bummer that I had to work during the days but she fired up that Iphone and was all over the downtown area. She did touristy stuff during the day like Pike Place Market and getting on the wrong bus. Then once I got off work we saw a play at Seattle Shakes, went to see Frost/Nixon, she came to Intern Seminar, and Jessica took her on a nighttime tour of the city and it's many neighborhoods. Then when we were done galavanting around we'd come home and watch L O S T season 4 special features and eat popsicles. I just had so much fun with her here and was so happy to have someone visit me. She pretty much rocks at life and I already miss her. 

4. Oh, To Be Young and Single

Don't judge me. I bought tickets with Jessica on Friday night to leave Saturday morning for a two day stint in Vegas. Awesome? Awesome. It was a steal. Granted we were staying at the Tropicana, but it is a good location and it was dirt cheap. They obviously don't charge for the diseases you could catch from their sheets. How thoughtful. But it was awesome. $1 margs at Bills, to the Cirque du Soliel show Love, to Tony Vegas on the streets, to visiting the Walshes, it was seriously one of the most fun weekends ever. It was just so spontaneous and hilarious that we were even doing it. It started off as a possible trip to Vancouver on a bus and ended with airplane tickets to Sin City. I need to remember to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities and not let my fear of being broke and homeless keep me from being a baller. Everyone at work thought we were completely amazing when we rolled into work on Monday morning. It hurts being this cool. 

Now I'm just back into the swing of work. We had the Playwriting Project on Friday which was so amazing. I reiterate: I need to teach high school theatre at some point. These kids were hilarious. Our next mainstage is opening this Wednesday so I'll be working that crowd in a cute dress. Pretty much just going back to same as usual. I'll try to update more often and I'll let you know if one day I just decide to hop a border. Weirder things have happened.

Happy Bush's Last Day in Office and Happy 09!!! GOBAMA!