zipliiiine

I went ziplining in Kauai, Hawaii a few days ago! It was pretty cool. Nine other passengers and I took a bumpy truck ride up a mountain. It rained off and on, and right before we took the first zipline down there was a huge beautiful rainbow as we looked down the canyon! Being afraid of heights, it was a bit scary taking off the edge of seven ziplines, but once I got going it was a lot of fun and I had a blast. I also learned that Kauai is where they filmed scenes from Tropic Thunder and the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We drove by the place where they filmed the big opening explosion scene in Tropic Thunder. AND my excursion was free! (one of the perks of helping out the shore excursions staff at 7am once a cruise).

Now we're just preparing for our Christmas cruise. We have a bit of a different schedule due to the holidays. We're working on a little Christmas Eve show with some various crew choirs and other songs by the 4 of us singers in the cast. That will give me a little something to look forward to since I won't be home for the holidays this year. :(

However, my parents are coming to cruise January 2nd, can't wait! How the time has gone by...

I'm definitely missing people a lot these days

where is my tan?

How is it that I can still manage to get turned around on this ship even though I've been on here for just about 3 months? Last night Eric and I were leaving dinner and heading downstairs to the theater, but we took a different staircase than normal. We got to deck 4, where the theater is, but we were at the back of the ship where one of the dining rooms is located. Being the smart girl that I am, I just figured I would get to the theater by walking through the dining room. Eric kind of stopped and laughed a little and said he would walk with me. We took about 4 steps toward the dining room and I realized we would only end up walking into the back of the ship, instead of to the theater at the front of the ship. That's when he really started laughing at me and I felt like a complete idiot.

...I blame the choice of taking different stairs. I pretty much always take the same staircase which is located at the front of the ship. One gets into a habit of what stairs to take and where to turn on each deck of the ship. Anyway, at least getting "lost" on the ship makes for a more entertaining night after being on here for quite some time! I'm just trying to keep things new and exciting...yeah, that's it...

Also, I don't have much of a tan. It's quite difficult to maintain when we only have 4 days in Hawaii with 4 sea days there and 4 sea days back. That's not much time in the sun! But at least the weather is pretty nice. Gotta love the sunshine here! That's one thing I do not miss about the windy city. But I am sad I have to miss seeing the awesomely huge tree at the Daley Plaza downtown. :( And I will miss seeing snow, but I won't miss living in freezing cold weather for 4-ish months! bwaha.

That's all for now. Much love to you all!

Sailing

I'm bad at keeping up with this thing, sorry. I'm just having a lot of fun on the ship! We just left Hawaii yesterday, and now we have about 4 sea days until we reach San Diego once more. As usual, I spent the days walking around, shopping a bit, and laying out on a beach. And I ate some yummy shrimp yesterday with my man. We saw a ton of dolphins playing out by our ship last week! I think next cruise I'm going to look into going on some excursions in Hawaii. So far I've just kind of walked around and explored a little, but I'd like to do some scuba diving or zip lining or something fun.

Our shows have been pretty good. Last night it was really rocky and I kind of stumbled a few times on stage, but nobody fell over so that's good. :)

I'm also getting excited for Christmas! I'm in the mood to start watching Christmas movies already, but I think I have to wait until Thanksgiving. I also really want to buy sweaters and warm clothes, but I have to remind myself that I don't need them. :( Oh well.

Alright, maybe I'll have a more interesting blog another time! Miss you all!

It's Autumn?

I can't believe it's already almost Halloween! It's weird not to experience autumn, especially because that's my favorite season. I miss seeing beautiful leaves changing color and the smell of fall. I miss apples and caramel and cider...and pumpkins!! Of course I can find a way to get cider and some apples, but it's still not the same. However, I can't complain too much because the sun is beautiful while sailing on the ship. I still can't get over how pretty the blue water is!

We reach Hawaii again tomorrow, so I'll probably try and go to some beaches while we're there for 4 days. The passengers on this cruise have been a really good audience, so that's great.

Last week we had a Blues Cruise to Mexico, and there were tons of blues musicians playing everywhere on the ship. It was pretty cool, especially because that meant I had the week off from performing! But it's nice to get back into the swing of things now.

Alright, that's all for now. I'm still really liking ship life, but it's gonna be weird with these next few holidays coming up...definitely makes me miss my family and friends.

Sending love and hugs!

Sailing the Open Seas...

Yes it has been forever since I have updated this lovely blog. After being on board for a month, we are now headed for Hawaii! I'm very excited for sunshine and warm weather. Our schedule changes now, because Alaska was 7-day cruises, and Hawaii is about 2 weeks. This means more free time for the cast, though! Here's an example of my current schedule for this cruise (our first one to Hawaii):

Day 1:
-free morning/afternoon while the passengers board the ship
-3:30pm boat drill. I look like a football player, wearing my sexy lifejacket and Traffic Director vest. I stand near the back of Deck 3 and direct passengers to either go left or right (that's Port or Starboard side, folks!) to their lifeboats. One time a couple took my picture while I was wearing this lovely outfit.
-4:30pm rehearse for our “bumper” show. This show basically introduces the cast to the passengers and gives them a little taste of what's to come.
-free time; usually dinner and/or gym
-8:30pm get ready for our bumper show
-9:30pm perform!
-10:30pm done with the show and free for the night.
(it gets a bit rocky the first few nights on our way to Hawaii, and I threw up this night...at least it was in my room after our show and not during a performance!)

Day 2: Sea Day
-freeee morning and afternoon. I usually always get breakfast with a few cast members a little after 9am and then go back to my room and take a nap. Then I'll wake back up for lunch or I'll eat a snack in my room, and then we go to the gym around 2:30pm. I'm surprised I haven't fallen off any machines yet with a rocky ship! I love the gym though, because the view is always so pretty, whether it's simply open waters or mountains with small waterfalls.
-6pm or so we eat dinner
-7pm go over notes about our upcoming show with our dance captain
-midnight rehearsal of the upcoming show. We do these late night rehearsals because it's the only time we can get use of the theater, and it's a brain refresher.

Day 3: Sea Day
-breakfast
-11:45am tech rehearsal with microphones for the show we're performing this night.
-lunch, nap, gym, free time
-7pm called to get ready for show
-8/10pm perform show for 2 different audiences

Day 4: Sea Day
-free day! Pretty much wake up for breakfast, maybe take another nap, lunch, gym, read, watch movies, write letters to people, lounge about in the ship, etc.

Day 5: Sea Day
-breakfast
-2pm help teach a short dance class with one of the dancers from my cast (this week is swing!)
-free the rest of the afternoon

Day 6: Hilo
-free to get off the ship and explore for the day

Day 7: Lahaina
-50% of the crew has to stay on the ship at all times, so this is my day to stay on board. I signed up to get a hot stones massage on the ship though, and I get a nice crew discount. Can't wait! :)

Day 8: Honolulu
-get off the ship and explore
-11pm rehearse for the show for the following night

Day 9: Nawilliwilli
-noon tech rehearsal for the show later this night
-7pm get ready for show backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 10: Kona
-music rehearsal in the afternoon
-11pm rehearse for show the next night

Day 11: Sea Day
-noon rehearsal for the show later this night
-7pm get ready for show backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 12: Sea Day
-free day!

Day 13: Sea Day
-free afternoon
-7pm notes for the show the next night
-midnight rehearse for show

Day 14: Sea Day
-noon rehearsal for show later this night
-7pm get ready backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 15: Sea Day
-10:30am sing farewell song in the theater
-free day

Day 16: San Diego
-passengers leave in the morning, new passengers arrive in the afternoon, and it starts all over again with a boat drill later in the afternoon!

Times can get a little confusing because we move 1 hour back 3 different nights on our way to Hawaii, and then the clock moves 1 hour forward 3 different nights on our way back to San Diego. So we always have to make sure we remember to change our clocks on the appropriate nights!

I haven't quite looked up what all I want to do in Hawaii, but riding a hot air balloon is definitely on my list. Perhaps some hang-gliding. And of course beach time. And playing with dolphins. And sea turtles. And whatever else there is. :)

Love and virtual hugs to you all!

Alaska!

I'm in Alaska! It's so pretty. And not too cold!

Our shows have gone well so far. We're still busy rehearsing on the ship at odd hours (midnight tech runs of our shows, etc), and performing as well. But things are good!

I'll try to give a real update later. Miss you all!

Bon Voyage!

We board the ship bright and early tomorrow morning!!!!

Crazy.

But I'm glad to unpack for real and be done dealing with these suitcases for a while.

What do people want from Alaska?

I was thinking of sending home a puppy Husky to my parents... ;)

Miss you all.

I'll always be a Midwest Girl...

We only have 3 more rehearsals left before we head out to the ship!:

Saturday- rehearsal

Sunday-off

Monday-rehearsal, review 2 shows for the office

Tuesday-rehearsal, review other 2 shows for the office

Wednesday-day off to paaaaack!

Thursday-fly to Seattle, WA at 8:30am

Friday-board the ship around 7am, and rehearse, go to meetings, costume fittings, train for the ship, maybe eat, rehearse, perform mini opener show, and rehearse some more until 4am (hopefully we end sooner than that...)

It feels like I've been in LA forever, but it also feels like I just got here to start rehearsals. And thinking about the ship is a little overwhelming, but hopefully I'll survive the first two weeks of putting the shows up!

A group of us went to Disneyland last Saturday, and it was AWESOME. I even went on lots of big kid rides, which is impressive for me since I'm afraid of heights! I bought a very colorful and exciting Disney coffee mug, so be jealous.

We also took a day trip to Vegas with two other casts that are rehearsing at the studios right now. We saw a Matt Dusk show, and had to be the pretty people in the audience while they filmed the performance for PBS. It was pretty fun; he sings big band music, and did a lot of Frank Sinatra songs and such. I was 7 years old the last time I was in Vegas, so I took this opportunity to gamble. I wasn't too risky, and just put $5 in a penny slot machine and lost it in about 15 minutes or so. But now I can say I have gambled, wahoo! The 4 hour bus ride back from Vegas at 1am was...by far one of the most horrifically hilarious experiences in my life, but that's a story you'll have to ask me in person.

Overall, I do enjoy the non-humidity of California weather, but that can also be taxing for a singer. And LA is alright...it's just soooo spread out. It takes forever to get anywhere. And I'm not that in love with driving, anyway. I definitely like other parts of California better, but I am by no means a "California Girl," so don't start calling me that! I miss the layout of Chicago a lot. I miss the convenience of the el and buses, and just being able to walk to tons of places. I didn't realize how much I've come to love and adapt to city life. I guess that will make living in New York easier when that eventually happens.

Welp, that's all my excitement for now! We'll be sailing in Alaska for the month of September, so that's where I'll be for my birthday, which is in less than a month! Hope we don't hit any glaciers...bwaha

transitions

It's funny, for some reason the post-high school "me" didn't think much past the transition from high school to college. While in college, I used the word "home" to describe both Chicago and my parent's house in Indiana. Even though I moved to a new place every school year, I steadily came to think of of Chicago as my place of residence, a place where I belonged. Then I graduated, and technically I had the opportunity to go anywhere...it's both an awesome and a scary sense of freedom. Anyway, it's just kind of interesting to think that now that I'm temporarily in LA, I'm split between 3 cities instead of 2. And then I'll be on a ship for 9 months. And even after that I won't be settled down somewhere right away. Ohhh the life of a performer. :)

I find myself extremely happy here, working for a great company, working with great coaches/choreographers/etc, and living with a wonderful group of castmates. We have already bonded in both distressing and hysterical experiences...so many moments of belly-aching laughter. I'm definitely looking forward to spending these next 10 months with them, as well as exploring some beautiful parts of the West Coast!

However, I also definitely find myself wishing I could see a familiar face from "home" (anywhere and everywhere that applies) more than once in a blue moon. And I miss seeing my CCPA class every day! Good old Roosevelt University and the silly drama and gossip...but I do miss it and the people.

Blah blah blah, it's all a part of growing up! I'm really enjoying my time here, and I'm so excited about performing some fun shows and not paying rent for a place! I'm also glad the weekend is basically here. Probably gonna try to get some more pool time! OH, and it's payday Friday! AND next weekend is Disneyland!!! We shall see if I get the courage to go on any rides besides ones designed for children... :)

work!

Wow, I have internet again! Who knows how long it will last. So this past weekend I went out on the town all afternoon with my lovely friend Ryan, who was an RA with me in college. It's nice to know someone else here in LA. He picked me up last Saturday and we went to Griffith Park to see the Hollywood sign. We also went into the observatory and explored around a bit. Next we drove to get food at In 'n Out burger, because it was very important that I have that experience. We drove through Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Malibu. The scenery was great, with all the hills/mountains and crazy cool houses within mountains (kinda scary!). We went to Zuma beach and watched the waves for a while, and also enjoyed some people-watching. Throughout all of our car rides we heard Katy Perry's song "California Girls" ("gurls," whatever) at least 4 times on the radio, as well as some other songs about California. The radio must take much pride in its state.

This past week seemed to last forever, but we learned the full blocking to 2 shows already! It's a lot to remember, but that's what post rehearsal is for I guess. That and the hot tub (which has been lukewarm lately, unacceptable!). Also, it gets quite chilly here at night. I was not prepared for this, but I guess I'm getting used to it now. Loving the cast, and excited for another weekend! Gonna lay out by the pool, maybe go out to West Hollywood, and obviously watch How I Met Your Mother. I do miss my family and friends, especially with the time difference and the internet issues. Bye all!!

sing sing sing sing siiiiiiiing

Alright, time for a quick update!

During rehearsals last week, we got to see some other casts do run-throughs of their own shows. It looks a little intimidating, though, because the head honchos were watching, along with other casts like us, so it was a full room. They were pretty impressive, and it was cool to see what some of the shows look like on their feet. Stiletto Entertainment also had general auditions later last week, and it felt good to be on the other end, knowing I already have the job--at least as of now! Hopefully the "big guys" like us after we learn our first show and do a run-through of our own. We got to rehearse with mics last week! We use hand-helds in two of our shows and headsets in the other two. It was especially great using them so we didn't have to sing out so much.

This week hasn't been too bad because we had Monday off (and the dancers finally arrived!), and Tuesday was just orientation. However, we had rehearsals 4pm-midnight yesterday and today, and that was a bit rough. Yesterday was our other female singer's birthday, so we all went out to lunch and then had cupcakes before heading to evening rehearsal. Just one more day this week and then it's Saturday and Sunday off for the weekend! Our apartment complex has a pool and hot tub, so that has been niiiiiice during our little free time.

The cast has been getting along great, and the apartment hasn't been too crazy yet! I'ts been a good time so far. :)

That's all for now!

California sunshine

Alright, this is my first blog, so please bear with me.

Well, I made it to Los Angeles in one piece! The lovely parents drove me to Midway and made sure I got my bags all checked, and then I flew to Minnesota and waited around 3 hours for my next flight to LA. That flight seemed to last forever, even though I reviewed all of my music and slept a bit. However, a passenger a few seats up was watching "Stomp the Yard" on his computer, so that made my flight much more enjoyable, as I am in love with Columbus Short (as Heather knows). So I arrived and waited forever to get my bags and to be picked up by my very nice production manager, who welcomed me with a friendly hug, and also brought his DOG in the car! I couldn't have been happier. At this point it was about 12:30am, which really feels like 3:30am Indiana time, but I was too excited to be exhausted just yet. He gave me my set of keys for the apartment, and I was greeted by my 3 fellow singing castmates (how nice of them to wait up for me!). Just the 4 of us are living in the apartment this week, and then all 10 cast members will be living in this 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. I have never seen so many mirrors in one living space--the closet in each room has sliding doors made with mirrors, a closet in the hallway has the same thing, and then there is a huge door-sized mirror just hanging out in the family room, and there are bathroom mirrors of course. There are also 2 refrigerators, which is probably necessary for 10 people. I feel like I should be on an episode of The Real World; it should be fun!

Since it was so late, I didn't really have time to unpack anything--I just found my toothbrush, facewash, and pjs and then went to bed. By this point it felt like 4:30am Indiana time, and I had to wake up at 8:30am Cali time the next morning. I finally got to see LA in daylight, since I didn't really know what was around the area late at night in the dark in a car. The roommates and I all headed to the studio for our first rehearsal of singing all day long! It's a decent 15-minute walk from our apartment, so that's not too bad. We met some people from other cruise ship casts rehearsing there, and it was cool to see some of the different shows in the rehearsal process. So we basically sang our hearts out all day, taking breaks for water and lunch. And you better believe I'm only gonna eat salads at rehearsal. There were some dancers walking around in cut-off shirts with 6-pack abs like it was just the usual. Props to them, I'd show off my abs too if I had a 6-pack! At the end of the day we sang for some head honchos of the studio (and the production manager's dog! I'm so excited to get to see a dog everyday), so that was a little scary, but they were all very friendly and supportive. Then the 4 of us headed back, and I found a Trader Joe's and did some necessary grocery shopping. I'm so glad it's nearby, because I looooove Trader Joe's!

All in all, it was a pretty busy day, and we were worn out by the end of it. Everyone is very friendly, though, and it's exciting to be a part of it all. We're rehearsing for 6 days in a row, so it's gonna be a long and exhausting week, but I'm glad to finally be here, working on the shows and meeting everyone...and I'm glad for this unlocked wireless internet at the apartment :)

Now everyone check out this awesome link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apEZpYnN_1g

Neil Patrick Harris has been on my mind a lot lately because I've been watching "How I Met Your Mother" like it's my job. In any case, that link is a fabulous video.

Miss you all!