homecoming is drawing near!

I get to go home for a visit in about a week! I am so thrilled! The city is fun and i love how fast paced it is but I am southern at heart and I need this Alabama visit so I can slow down a bit.

I MISS THE SOUTH.

these are the top ten things I miss about the south (dont worry this whole post is not going to sound like a country song. I promise not to mention trucks or sweet tea ... although mmmm sweet tea!)

10. I MISS MY FAMILY! when i moved to new york all i could think about was the adventure of moving. It honestly didnt cross my mind how far I was moving from my support team. I cannot wait to gab with Gigi, laugh at Dave's corny jokes, and see my bro pitch at Spring Hill. I am also excited to see my grandmothers and my aunt!

9. to go right along with 10 i miss my roommates from college. And even though now ALL of us are spreading out, most of them are still close neough to plan an exciting weekend visit. ( yea this weekend and I am super jealous). I am more used to my bfa class being split up around the country but i miss some of those crazy folks too! ( thankfully I spent the summer with kat, kara visited several times, saw emily stephens during the fall, liz lives up here and payne visits on the reg ( and when I move to richmond in a few weeks for stuart little i will be working for the same company as payne!).

8. I miss my buds from bham as well. and Even though I LOVE going to Redeemer in NYC i still miss the familiarity at bwood. I miss the girls staff the 9th grade girls, and my college freshman girls.

7. I miss ChikfilA. yep its on the list. I havent had it since Dec. I am craving it almost everyday.

6. I miss sunshine. yea. the sun doesnt like to come out and play a whole lot in nyc. this includes warm weather. It is going to be 42 degree in NYC tomo ( which is WARM ) and it is going to be in the 70's in AU. WHAT THE WHAT! no fair.

5. i miss walmart. yea! fight me on that if you will but it is cheap and convienant and you can get everything in one place! and i dont care that it is the "devil" and so corporate america blah blah . ITS AWESOME!

4. i was surprised I feel this way but I miss my car? I still dont love to drive but I do love the idea of being able to hop in my car run out grab whatever and hop back in my car and park in my driveway.

3. i miss how inexpensive the south is in comparrison. EVERYTHING costs an arm and a leg here!

2. i miss the south because events that I care about going to are in the south. Barb is having her baby, jess and keri anne are engaged and doing fun things. I miss knowing I could go to things for people I care about!

1. politeness. I know sometimes its fake or forced but in the south we learn from a young age to wave and smile and speak to people kindly. We learn that if someone is struggling with dropping their groceries you stop and help and give a smile. not so much here.

Even thought I am clearly a tad homesick today, it does not mean I dont love new york. I love the park and working at Redeemer and brunch with the girls, and celeb sightings ( Sarah Jessica Parker, MAtthew Brodderick, Ed Westwick, Marcia Gay Harden, AL PACINO! ( dont worry AL is gonna get his own blog soon.) just to name a few) I love the theatre community here and when the sun is out I love walking from my house to kristi and Liz's apartment! There are plenty of things to love here but the south is just so special and it took me being away from it to realize how much i miss it.

new york observations

So I have been living in New York for a little over a month.

I have observed some things., some about myself and some about the new environment Im living in.

-I have my first New York audition tomorrow. SO NERVOUS. holy moly. I haven't auditioned since last May. Needless to say, Im a little rusty.

-I have a new life goal to add to the list. I want to be a victim on Law and Order SVU SOOOOOO BADLY! In NYC you can submit yourself on a website to be cast as extras on TV shows and SVU is one of them. If you know me at all you know that SVU is one of my favorite shows! I wanna be on it so BAD!!

-I am loving training right now for my job at Redeemer. It is the sweetest thing I have ever done. I sing little songs and teach litle lessons to about 10 classes on the west and east side for infants, 1 yr olds, 2 year olds, and 3 year olds. I cannot explain how sweet this is EVERY week!

-My new friend Kate introduced me to this bookstore called Shakespeare & CO. It is a fun little bookstore and downstairs they have an EXCELLENT collection of plays! SO FUN! http://www.shakeandco.com/index.php

-so I am not super employed right now. I am only working two days a week with Redeemer. So I feel like a stay at home mom to my cat and my roommates dog. I wait for Christina, Kristi or Liz to get home every night. and make dinner. and clean. I need new things to do in the transistion period. I need to get a few new books, I am going to learn to knit ( ha ironically this only adds to my stay at home mom mantra. )

-I also want to volunteer with Hope For New York. I think they are fantastic! They serve the New York City area by practically serving those in need. If homeless need food they feed them. They serve practically with no agenda. They just want people to know they are loved and valued by Jesus Christ. beautiful. http://hfny.org/ check out the website and mission statement.

-I am more madly in love with auburn every single day. Being an alum really teaches you to cherish those times on the plains, the people you are with, and experiences you have. Gosh.

I. MISS. AUBURN.

I chased a woman down third ave the other day because she was wearing an auburn hat. I rushed after her just to say war eagle. It was creepy and AWESOME!

-one thing i have noticed about New York is that people yell a LOT. like A LOT. and its not even always angry yelling. though it ALWAYS sounds angry. That is how people express themselves here. They are ALWAYS YELLING. it really bothered me the first few weeks here cause I didnt realize they werent mad. I just thought I cannot communicate this way! Now I get it. Men also when they communicate always sound like they are rapping. They are kind of yelling and halfway rhyming. I cant help but listen. It cracks me up.

-also I have become addicted to Chi Lattes. I mean seriously. I want one every single day. I could write a sonnet about my love for Chi Lattes.

-They say New York never sleeps. This is the truth. I need ear plugs to sleep. The honking outside my window is CONSTANT!

anyhooo. thats all thats new. bye!

rosaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

GUESSSSSSS WHOOOOOOO MOVES TO NEW YORK CITY TODAY??????????????????????

SORRY CHRISTINA. DONT BE MAD!

nyc pet peeves.

I know this blog is called counting your blessings but I just need to vent about a couple of things about adjusting to city life. but for the record I am happy as a clam here and dont want to be anywhere else. I have just discovered some irritations/new bumps in the road when it comes to my new home and I feel the need to brief you on them

5. THIS WEATHER IS OPPRESSIVE. seriously. I feel oppressed by this ice and slush and snow. I am a cold weather girl. I like to bundle up, I like coats, coffee ( NEW OBSSESION WOULD BE STARBUCKS CHI LATTE) scarves, gloves etc. BUT this is not just cold weather this is wind chill-make ya sick- wear 4 pairs of socks- live in your rainboots even on fancy occassions- slip on your butt b/c of the ice-dark-rainy-cold-dont go outside weather. I need to see the sun DANG IT.

(but i am thankful that i have rainboots, heat, socks and starbucks)

i took this right outside of the front door of my buidling.

4. no job= nothing to do( that doesnt cost money). pretty self explanitory. I am thankful that the reason it has been hard to find a job is bc I have to leave nyc in 6 weeks to work at Theatre IV and tour with Stuart Little. So I am thankful for savings and future employment. im going to google in a minute things to do in nyc inside and free.

3.PDA. its literally killing me bc it is only happening in really busy areas ( entrances to the subway, the middle of the street, crowded starbucks ) I realize its cold but I cannot watch more canoodling happen as I am trying to hustle past you and you are blocking the doorway of the train. MOVE FOOLS.

i took this picture at a starbucks on 42. seriously? and this was one of their milder moments.

2. grumpy new yorkers. not grumpy. just less polite. as a southerner I dont understand not smiling or speaking in an elevator, or not saying thank you, or getting legit angry that I called you maam. Thats a term of respect and endearment. Maam does not = old lady. calm down. but I am thankful for the people I have met that while they are not excessivly friendly or polite are truly helpful. the guy in my building who helped us w messed up plumbing, the woman who helped me get back on track when I got on a train that took me to queens, greeters at my church, the performing arts community ( man people who like theatre wanna be your buddy while we wait in the freezing cold to get tickets to shows )

hahaahah i think this picture is hilarious.

1. MY BIGGEST NYC ANNOYANCE IS THE WEEKEND SUBWAY SCHEDULE. o my goodness. It is the biggest pain. they come so infrequelntly, inconsistantly. Liz and Kristi are not that far from me but I usually only get to see them on the weekends because of how much they work. GOING ACROSS TOWN IS KILLING ME SOFTLY on the weekends. so dang slow. BUT i am so thankful to have two of my best friends from college here and so close! And Christina will be here tomorrow and she will be on the west side which is wonderful!

o 1 train. you are a pain.

Thanks for letting me vent. I really am loving it. I just cannot wait for SPRING!

NYC.

SO I MOVED TO NYC. obvi. these are the pics ive taken so far to document the move. I have been having a fantastic time so far. Ive been babysitting and now I am doing some small things at my church Redeemer. We are still looking for the magic job that allows for auditioning and shows. I have been going to Redeemer Presbyterian church and I have been loving it. My neighborhood is really fun. Hell's Kitchen is hoppin and young and fun! moral of this blog post. I am having a lot of fun and feel so happy and blessed to be here! Here are some pictures ( all out of order) from the move and getting settled. more to come soon!

These are all my bags before I moved. All my possessions can fit in this one part of my kitchen in bham .

this is the latest blizzard we have had in NYC . intense. yes that's a car burried.

this is part of my room. thanks ikea.

o my best bud wanted to get in on the action. he is starting to get adjusted to the big city life.

ok. theatre dork. but this was so cool! I found the neighborhood playhouse. hello meisner!

i went and saw dear edwina ( off broadway) with christina and we saw Matthew Broderick ....

and the beautiful Sarah Jessica Parker. They totes sat 3 rows behind us!

so close to my house. I miss getting to take all those classes!

storming outside my window. so much snow all the time

another ikea purchase over at the krispilizzard. p is putting it all together.

tada!!

he was very organized putting it all together

this is my beautiful anthro bedspread ive been drooling over for months before i moved to nyc!

mom and dad by the tree at the rock.

me and mas

take 2

mas getting to eat to his hearts desire at Carnegie Deli

dad assembling my ikea bed in my tiny room.

the apartment just full of boxes of mine/lizzie's stuff

helpful hoj came over while krisp was at work to hang out with the fam and help put my furniture together. love ya lys! visit again soon!

mas was doing anything he could to stay away from all of this. He did not enjoy this particular trip to nyc. poor guy.

my roommate lizzie and payne lounging in the background. .

Gigi means business here. she is going to get it all organized. i have the best mom.

I also have the best friend in the world. Laura sent me flowers !

mason is trying to get his pretty head straight so he can build my chest of drawers.

dad and mason DO NOT like Ikea.

more pictures to come!

no one likes a mumbler. good thing she isnt!

Tonight was the opening of Modern Orthodox at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre! This show was starring the fabulous talents of Miss Kat Grilli!That's right! Grilli landed a major role in an equity show at a fabulous equity house! Patrons told her she was ADORABLE and the best part of the play. ( obvi ) So a major CONGRATS and WOOT WOOT goes out to the grillz!

This is a photo of Kat and my cat! both look pretty jaunty dont they?

recent musings.

ive been a bad bad blogger. lets catch up.

-Zorro ended

-i got a job at barnes and noble for the holidays.

-i moved to NYC today!

Zorro ended and while it was a wonderful experience Im not sad it ended. You can only do a childrens show so many times before you either wanna die from boredom or you start goofing around to prevent death by boredom. Our cast totally chose the latter. You can only ride the tour van or the penske truck or sleep in a new hotel room so many times or load in and load out before tour starts eating away at your " body and soul" ( that quote is from Payne who is also touring but with Theatre IV where I will be in March-May.) As an actor the kids are a rewarding and loving audience but you just miss having adult content. LIKE BAD. The best thing that happened on tour was becoming so close with Christina. Christina was the only other girl on tour and she played my daughter on tour. We became really close living together for those months. We always ( while we of course love the boys on tour ) were always happy to escape talks of their anatomies and farts. Goofy lovely zorro boys. So thank God for Christina is all I have to say about the end of Zorro.

Next I worked at BArnes and Noble. Holy Moly. I've never worked in sales/retail before. I learned a lot of life lessons. I would love to share them with you.

3. PEOPLE ARE GROSS. Example: with their payment of choice. The people who throw their cards at you, or sneeze and then hand you cash, or the WORST is when people have their credit cards in their mouths then hand it to you. I KID YOU NOT. PEOPLE ARE GROSS.

2. PEOPLE ARE MEAN. this is really hard for me to accept. I like to pretend that people are truly good. NO PEOPLE DURING THE HOLIDAYS ARE MEAN! they come into B&N and want to fight with you just because you cannot fight back and seriously. Im not making enough money to play that with rich mountain brook jewish women. BE SWEET. I WANT TO BELIEVE IN HUMANITY.

1. I LOVE TO READ. ive always known this. In third grade I went to the library 3 times a day. I read all the time. I got in trouble for reading too much. ( i know NERD. ) During college though I didnt get to read a whole lot for pleasure. being in Barnes and Noble allowed me to keep up with some new literature and i JUST LOVE TO READ. GEEK OUT.

I MOVED TO NYC TODAY!

-its so beautiful

-taxis are still insane.

-i ate at Pastis and got to see Kristi with my parents and Payne. awesome to be reunited with the cookie monster.

-snow is not pretty here because its now brown.

-my apartment unfortunately has some neighbors who like the combo of indian food and pot. haha we light a lot of candles.

-ikea was so wonderful and awful at the same time. there should be 3 rules. 1. no children under the age of ten. 2. no old people walking all pokey. 3. if you are out of beds tell people. grrrrr. thats a rant and rave for another day.

-also gavin creel lives down the street from me. AHHHHHHHHHH

pics coming next blog.