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.