Thursday's Ten: Bucket List

This seems especially poignant today...but at the same time it's nice to think about something else for a little while.

My Bucket List:
#1: Get married and have children.

#2: See one of my books in print.

#3: Provide a voice for a big-name production (Disney, Funimation, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon)...it doesn't matter if I'm the lead or the ADR loop!

#4: Learn ballet.

#5: Get my MFA.

#6: Throw a 1950s-style dinner party- pearls, petticoat, apron, Betty Crocker recipes, Fiestaware, the works!

#7: Grow a garden.

#8: Sing in public.

#9: Get down to my target weight...and stay there.

#10: Win a sewing competition.

Want to participate? Go here!

Prayers

My grandfather passed away yesterday. His health has been failing over the past several years, and he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this summer.

My parents were going to wait until I got home from classes to tell me, but I found out via my cousin's Facebook status right before my noon class.

Please pray for my family, especially my mother.

And if you could keep me in your prayers on Saturday, that would definitely be appreciated. Because of my commitment to the show, I will not be able to attend my grandpa's funeral. It's going to be difficult.

Wardrobe Overhaul

I've decided to go through my entire wardrobe and purge it mercilessly.

(What a way to begin an entry, eh?)

My wardrobe is just so weird. I mean, my clothes fall into five different categories:

-Items I've had since middle school and high school and I've kept just because I haven't outgrown them.

-Items I bought on the spur of the moment, and I've never had the chance to wear.

-Items I bought because they were cheap. And only because they were cheap.

-Items I made.

-Items that I wear to death, and they're now falling apart and pilling and gross.

Plus, most of the stuff I wear either A) makes my boobs look huge, or B) makes me look like a six-year-old. Or a six-year-old with big boobs, which is very unsettling and I don't want to think about it at all.

P tends to give me very sensible fashion advice, but sometimes I just don't pay any heed to it. My mom isn't that great giving me tips (they mostly say something like "cover up your boobs!") and my sister is in her "artsy college freshman" stage, so I can't really get much fashion tippage there.

So, I mostly look online for my inspiration.

Sally at Already Pretty:
She has a lot of really good advice, both about your clothing and how it relates to you as a person. Plus, she's funny!

Zooey Deschanel:
She's very retro and fun and quirky. Have you seen the coat she wears in Yes Man? The movie's just all right, but that coat...that coat trimmed in bias tape...it's glorious! And I'd love to have her hair. At the moment I've got the color (just not for much longer).

Kate Nash:
She's my all-time favorite singer. And she's British. And she plays the guitar, plays the piano, and writes her own music. So in short, she's fantastic. That, and I don't know if I've ever seen that girl wear pants. She wears the absolute cutest dresses!

She's also really close to my body type, so I can definitely copy her styles without too much trepidation. And I've actually had her haircut before, and it looks really cute on me. I just don't have a picture of it...

The Pipettes:
It's another awesome British singer!...er, group. The three girls- RiotBecki, Rosay, and Gwenno- wear supercute retro clothes. And again, I want Rosay's hair (she's the brunette in the middle). Sadly, Riotbecki and Rosay left the group for solo careers, but they're still amazingly awesome. (And their backup dancers are three guys called the Casettes. I want one.)

Modcloth/Modlife:
It's an absolutely great website with classy retro clothing...and they show you how real people have put it together!

So this is rather rambly post, but I hope it makes sense. I'm ready to be a married lady instead of a little college girl, and I need to dress like one.

Hopefully I'll succeed. :)

Hair Dramaz Part III and Opening Weekend

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but my hair is...well, decent. I dyed it Natural Medium Brown (or Truffle, in Garnier language)...but it still came out really dark. Darker than I would like, to be honest. That first morning after I dyed it, I was a bit shell-shocked when I looked in the mirror. I was so shell-shocked, in fact, that I scrubbed it twenty times with Pantene that morning.

Twenty. I counted.

The color has softened a little bit, but it's still quite dark. A lot of people have told me they like it, but I just don't think it's flattering on me. Maybe if I had a warmer shade of brown, so it didn't make me quite as gothicky-pale. It's all good, though. I'm going to dye it red again as soon as possible.

Also, you might have noticed that my blog got revamped. Again. I just felt that the new layout was too cluttered, and I like this one a lot better. It just looks cleaner and prettier.

And now for the big story...

Beau Jest opened on Friday night, and it was fabulous! Dress rehearsal on Thursday night was rough, unforgivably rough. We had done well on Wednesday night, and I think we allowed ourselves to coast on Thursday, instead of focusing and bringing up the energy. So we were all nervous on Friday night. But it turned out to be great! The audience loved it and we had a blast playing off of each other. Of course, we had the requisite bloopers- parsley didn't make to the stage, lines were dropped, lines were swapped ("Can you get impersonated for arresting a Jew in this state?"), stuff fell over, an earring got stuck in my hair...you get the picture. But it was still great.

The greatest moment happened on Saturday night. Jake, our TD, came backstage to check up on us. I asked him how I was doing, as he's been the most forthright about my performance. He told me I was doing great and that I didn't need to worry. Then he turned to the others and said, "You need to focus more and be careful. She's stealing the show from the rest of you."

High praise!!!! Especially from Jake!!! I was incredibly excited.

I think it's my hair, though. Seriously. On Saturday night, I got a laugh on my entrance. My hair is absolutely enormous. It's teased within an inch of its life and shellacked with enough hairspray to prevent it from moving in a hurricane.

But now it is late. And I have to sleep, so I can finish my red coat tomorrow morning. And clean my room. And clean my bathroom.

Oy.

Hair Dramaz Part II: In which my true hair color is revealed

The Color Oops! worked wonders. The black is goooone! Huzzah!

So it turns out my real hair color is an ash brown with a reddish tint to it. Rather nice! If I didn't need to have dark brown for Beau Jest, I'd probably keep it. At least for a while.

Now I have dark brown dye smeared over my head, and I'm fervently praying that it turns out nice. And that my scalp will stop burning.

But if you wanted to see what my hair really looks like, here it is:

And now I'm tired. I just want to rinse this dang dye out and CRASH.

Hair Dramaz Part I: In which I had black hair for twenty minutes

Beau Jest opens tomorrow. And I have reddish-blondish hair. That doesn't fly. Ergo, I must dye my hair a rather dark shade.

I purchased Garnier hair dye, as that's my usual, but instead of my typical Chocolate Caramel color, I selected Sweet Cola, as it was also labeled as "darkest brown." I was going to pick a different shade, but Rebecca thought that this one would work.

At 11pm, I began dying my hair. It was great. It was fantastic. I've done this a million times. I even chatted with P while the goo sat on my locks. And then I rinsed and shampoo'd...all that good jazz.

Imagine my horror when I realized that "darkest brown," in Garnier-language, translates as "GUESS WHO LOOKS LIKE WEDNESDAY ADDAMS?! YOU, BEEYOTCH!"

Terrible. Simply terrible.

I washed it several times and blew it dry. Still terrible. I hopped back in the shower and washed it about four more times, this time with dish soap. Nothin'. Still black. And there ain't no fixin' it.

And the show opens in less than 24 hours.

Fantastic.

By now, it's midnight. I alerted my father, and an emergency run to a 24-hour Walgreens ensued. Thus armed with Color Oops! and Garnier in "Truffle" (or "medium natural brown," as they're claiming at the moment) I returned home and immediately set to work.

So now I'm sitting around with Color Oops! soaking into my poor hair. It smells like someone mixed fertilizer with industrial bleach, but at least this should save my color. In about five more minutes, I'll rinse it out. Then I'll blow it dry. Then it's time for color round #2.

I'm just scared that my hair will freak out. I mean, after all, it's pretty fine. I have a lot of it, but it's really fine.

But before I leave to rinse out my hair, I offer a picture (captured via my cell phone camera) of my gothic princess hairstyle.

It's just awful. It just soaks up all the light, like it's some kind of parasite.

Parasite hair. Great.

Two days left!

Rehearsal last night went...decently well. It was kind of rough, because we now have all tech and all costumes and all transitions, and we don't have them all down yet. The other main problem is our energy levels. They keep tanking. It's easy to enter with energy, but it's hard to keep it up when the rest of the cast is lost in self-consciousness.

Also, I was relieved that Vali didn't come observe. I love Vali, but I know that I'm not a very good practitioner of the acting technique she teaches. But instead of Vali, Chris came. He came, he gave excellent notes, he didn't pull any punches. Marvelous.

I think tonight is going to go well. I feel like Erin and Caleb are really going to take it up, and once they're on the right track, the rest of the show will follow.

Today is my last day as a redhead...for the moment. Tomorrow morning, I shall be a brunette. The color is Garnier Sweet Cola. So basically, as close to black as possible. It's going to freak me out, but I'll rock it hardcore. I know I shall.

In other news...I don't really have any other news. Right now, Beau Jest is EATING MY LIFE.

And I love it.

Ever'body better come see it. Or I will weep copiously.

No, seriously. I will.

I feel like I talk all the time about my acting experience, but this is the first time that I've gotten a big part at Lipscomb. I feel like I have to prove to everybody that I'm not a poser and I really can act.

And it makes me sad that a lot of people aren't coming. We run for three different weekends, and apparently none of them fit in their busy schedules. And yea and verily, I do weep.

But right now I have to look over that dang Sylvia Klein argument. It's gonna kill me.

It is so fracking cold in Shamblin it's not even funny.

But the set is gorgeous. Seriously gorgeous. And Patrick and I might buy the table and chair set. Because it's awesome. And we need a table and chair set.

And we open on Friday.

*a;lefdsklfdshyfioewjfkldsnfnaeyroiwejioewuof*

That is the sound of my spazzing.

Like seriously.

I'm terribly excited about it, don't get me wrong. But it's been so long since I had a sizeable part that it kind of makes me nervous. I know my lines, the part works for me, I love the show...I'm just anxious. Especially since Vali is observing tonight. As in the teacher who taught Advanced Acting last year. And we all know how well I handled that...

So yeah.

I'm going to post more later. But now I have to be prepared for makeup. Yayyyyyy!

Yoga Bag

YOGA BAG
Pattern: McCall's 4261
Fabrics Used: knit print, light green fleece
Made: September 2009
Time: About an hour and a half
Cost: About $12.00
Made for: Fitness Yoga class

I'm taking Fitness Yoga at school, and I needed a yoga mat. Did you know how expensive yoga gear can be? I found a cheap bright pink mat, but I wasn't about to pay $25 for a canvas bag...especially when I knew I had a pattern lying around that I could use.

The fabric was on sale at JoAnn's. I love love love this print...even though Patrick hates it. I also purchased cording and a button (well, two buttons, but I only used one). When I got home, however, I realized that I didn't like how thin the bag would end up. I wanted something a bit sturdier. Luckily, I remembered that I had a vast quantity of light green fleece lying around, so I used it to make a backing.

The main modification I did (besides the backing) was to make a strap using the knit on one side and the fleece on the other rather than using a length of webbing. I thought it was prettier...plus I forgot to buy the webbing. But it worked.

I also didn't add the velcro closure on the pocket. I'm not a fan of velcro, plus I don't feel like I'll be putting enough stuff in the pocket to merit adding it. So the button is just there to be pretty.

Something you'll discover as I post more sewing projects is that I hate interfacing. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I avoid it as much as possible. Therefore, there was no interfacing used in this project. I just used the fleece backing to stiffen the bottom of the bag.

Also, I sewed it with pink thread. I thought that pink topstitching added a nice touch.

What I should have done was measure the length of my mat. There's a good four to six inches of bag that closes over the mat. If I make this pattern again, I'll measure the bag so that it just closes over the top, rather than having all that extra.

So far, it works really well. It's sturdy but lightweight, and super soft. Plus I think that print is super cute.

Aaaand...things are looking up.

So yeah. Gap in blogging.

It's all good, though. 'Sall good.

As you've probably noticed, there's been a revamp of the blog layout. I got tired of the old one...and the old name. Thus, my blog has received its fourth name change. Good job, blog. Good job. I'm still working the bugs out, though, so bear with me.

I'm working on transferring the meager contents of my sewing blog onto this one. Goodness knows I have enough trouble updating one blog, much less two. So be prepared for blathering about sewing projects showing up on here.

Rehearsals for Beau Jest are progressing really nicely...which is a good thing, because the show opens in two weeks. Two weeks! Yikes. Oh, well. It's going to be fun. And do you know what else is fun? Dying my hair super super dark chocolatey brown for the show, because I need to look like Erin's mother, and goodness knows my hair isn't nearly as dark as hers.

(I've used the phrase "goodness knows" twice in the past two paragraphs. How old school am I?)

Oh, well.

I've got some sewing projects to work on, so get ready! I'll post them as soon as I can.

Whuch means that could be anytime in the next three months. Who knows?