Weekend Update

Hi Everyone! I've actually already been to sleep tonight, but I woke up and now I can't go back to sleep so I figured I'd blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! Since I couldn't be home, mom sent me a really cute Easter basket that I've been nibbling on the past few days...

I would update more, but I am exhausted and need to get some sleep! I started training at my new job on Monday, worked at the agency today, and am training again tomorrow during the morning shift. I am really enjoying it so far and can't wait until I am done training and working on my own! Good night!!

-Emily

When Things Start to Rock, Be Ready to Roll!!

So the title of my blog is from a sign I read today - you know those signs that they hang on light posts to promote something and they're on about every other one? April is Earthquake preparedness month in Los Angeles and after the tragedy in Italy I am determined to get prepared! I started yesterday by buying a flashlight pack with one big flashlight and another small one to go in my night stand. I also remember Carol advising me to put some shoes under the bed in case an earthquake strikes at night and there's glass on the floor. I've just got a few more things to get so I can be ready for what everyone calls "The Big One!" I'm not too worried, Los Angeles is the most prepared city in the United States for an earthquake when really they could happen anywhere. So maybe everyone reading this should prepare for an earthquake, you know, just in case! :)

I saw that Amy broke the news on her blog that she's expecting!! I wasn't going to say anything until she did. I can't believe there's going to be another baby in the family soon but I'm very excited! Being an aunt is the best because you don't have to go through the hard part of having a child, but you get to enjoy it very much. Sorry Amy that you haven't been able to experience that...and you probably won't for quite a while!! I've got my fingers crossed for a little girl!!

Besides that, today has been a very productive day. I got a new job that I'm very very excited about. It's a serving position at Cabo Cantina on the Venice Beach Boardwalk. It's a very fun environment and the restaurant is very popular so I'll be able to make good money! The beach cafe in Hermosa just isn't going to pay the bills, but I'll continue to work there if they need me to. Obviously I still have my internship at the talent agency as well and I really enjoy it! I couldn't have asked for better bosses. 

I've also been doing some spring cleaning and trying to get our apartment put together. We still are missing a few things that we need for the house, but I got some chairs for our balcony yesterday. We also got cute little rope lights that wrap around the balcony so it's just perfect in time for the warm weather! If we had a hammock, I would sleep out there. It's really peaceful and quiet at night. I don't have a lot of other news...I just got some sushi and a movie from Red Box so that's going to be my night! If you've never used a Red Box, you should...it's great! You rent the movie for $1 plus tax and then return it by 9pm the next day. For every day you don't return it, you get $1 fine, but after 25 days, they quit charging you and the DVD is yours to keep. That's a pretty good deal for people who are bad at returning things *cough* MOM! I remember we could never rent movies from Hastings because we had too many fines! haha! Have a good night!

A Trip Home and Santa Monica in the Spring Time!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, but it's been a busy couple of weeks. This is going to be a long post! I got the chance to go home for a visit the 25th through the 30th and it was a great trip!  I flew out of Los Angeles at 6:00am on Wednesday morning, and for those of you who know me at all, know that I can't get up in the morning even if you set a fire in my bed so I decided the best thing to do would be to stay up until I had to leave for the airport at 4. All was going well, Jennifer and I went out to eat in West Hollywood and went out for a little while, then I came home, showered, packed and we headed to the airport. I made it to Dallas on time but missed my connecting flight because of a delay out of LA. They couldn't get me out of Dallas until 4:45 and at this point, the lack of sleep is starting to get to me. I couldn't possibly get comfortable at the gate, so I ate at Chili's (alone of course) and then found one of those massage chairs that costs $5 for 15 minutes so I could recline and get some silence with their over-sized probably lice covered headphones. I don't care, it was worth it. I finally got home and fell asleep watching DWTS. (or American Idol I can't remember!) The next day I got some things done in Conway. Mere cooked me an amazing lunch of meatballs and mashed potatoes, my FAVORITE! Mere, if you could send me that recipe I would be forever grateful! I also saw Brad and got a cavity filled. :( That night Mom, Sarah Clark, Sharon Clark and I went out to eat at Michaelangelo's. (Disclaimer: I don't know how to rotate pictures yet, so some are crooked...I need some help with this!)

I realize that this picture does no one justice, but it was the only one I had...oh except for the one of Sarah's mess, which is actually pretty impressive...so I'll post that one too!

Sarah - you're 23. That's all I have to say about that. Haha! We definitely ate WAY too much!

On Friday I drove up to Fayetteville in the morning because I had a facial appointment. My skin has been crazy since moving to California and trying to get used to the water here. After that, I went to Amy's house and tried to help out as best as I could because she was getting ready for her Church group to come over and was behind. She mostly just needed someone to keep Andrew under control and I was glad to help because I haven't seen him since Christmas! He has grown up so much! He showed me how much he loves to clean and has gotten very good at calling Allie. (or Awwie as he would say!)

Here he is showing me how he can clean and also drink out of his grown-up sippy cup! (He's also wearing the shirt I got him for Christmas, Yay!)  That night I got to go to dinner with my friends Nicole, Erin and Catherine at Theo's and enjoy a night out in Fayetteville with my friends that I never get to see! Sometimes I really miss Fayetteville, but then I remember that it's not the same town I am used to. My friends have moved elsewhere and my friend Nicole is in law school and is consumed with that! We got to go to my favorite bar, Grub's, and watch my favorite band, Boom Kinetic, which is an 80's cover band! (Formerly Molten Lava) I was so excited they were playing at Grub's that weekend, but it was definitely different from when we used to go in college! Still fun, nonetheless.

I love this picture of Erin and me. I guess because we look so excited...we were!! The next day Erin and I were supposed to go to a wedding in Tulsa for one of my good friends, Katy McClish. We woke up to a snowstorm and were told that there were 8 inches of snow in Tulsa, so we couldn't make the trip. We spent the day being lazy, then went to eat at one of my favorite Fayetteville restaurants - La Huerta. We also got the chance to spend another night having fun in Fayetteville. 

Here's the four of us at Z330, from left to right is Erin, Catherine, me and Nicole! I'm wearing the awesome shirt I bought in the LA airport...it says "The Governator" and has a picture of 'Ahhnold' on it! I love it! The next morning, I drove back to Conway to see Carol and Jenny and also for Thomas' birthday! I was so glad that all of the family got to come by and I got to see everyone again before I left the next morning. I think Thomas had a pretty good birthday, too! On Monday I got up, packed, and dad drove me to the airport for my flight back. I was sad to leave, but I have a lot to do here so it was time to get back! When I arrived it was Spring Time in Santa Monica! I also came home to a steady leak in my tire so I took it to get repaired and while walking home I took some pictures of the scenery.

This is actually someone's grass...Those may be weeds, but they are so cute!

This is the Miles Playhouse which was opened in 1929...it's famous. 

This is the Santa Monica Catholic Church. It's also famous - for Tom Brady's secret wedding to Giselle about a month ago. It's gorgeous!

This guy isn't famous, but I was getting a kick out of watching this squirrel in my neighbor's drain pipe. He was just sitting there keepin' watch! (I took the picture through the window so pardon the screen!) So the final part of this epic blog post: on Sunday, it was warm enough to go lay out on the beach, so Jennifer and I walked down there. She told me about a place called Paradise Cove in Malibu, so we decided to go there for dinner. It was so neat! It was right on the beach and the tables were in the sand. The calamari was amazing but the entrees were nothing to write home about. The highlight of the night was getting to see one of our favorite actors - John Krasinski, who plays Jim on "The Office." He was also there with his girlfriend, Emily Blunt, who is most known for playing Emily on "The Devil Wears Prada." I couldn't stop staring, but luckily I don't think I got caught!

Here's Jennifer being awkward..but you get the idea of the restaurant! I felt like I was on vacation!

I didn't manage to get a pic of myself, so here's my feet in the sand. I know I have ugly feet, but my toes are cool, right? Purple is where it's at. 

So pat yourself on the back because you've made it through the longest blog post of the century, but now you're up to speed. Next time I'll try not to wait so long before I post again! Who knows? Maybe I'll even post tomorrow! 

Happy Sunday!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! I did, even though it wasn't much different from the rest! Oddly enough my weekends seem less eventful than my weeks, but I guess I've never been one to be normal. On Saturday I had my improv class and getting there was a nightmare because Hollywood Blvd was blocked off for a protest. I'm sorry, but I would like to get a protest together to protest protesting. I understand the freedom of speech thing, but blocking off a major street in a city that already has traffic issues just so you can not shave your legs and march up and down the street is ANNOYING. Not to mention, they were protesting the war, which is so 2006. Obama has already said he's pulling out of Iraq in 2010, so I don't see what the point is in protesting it anymore. It was obvious that some of the hippies hadn't made new posters in a while because a few said "Make Levies, Not War!" Sweet...throwback to Katrina. Anywho, I'm a little too lazy to upload some pics from the weekend right now because I'm about to make a trip to Target, but I'll leave you with a video that will certainly make you laugh! 

Improv, A Visitor, and a Holiday

Hi everyone! The past few days have been pretty busy, so I haven't had much time to post. This past weekend was fun -- I spent the majority of my day on Saturday at Second City at the first class of my third term. It was such a fun day! Some people don't know what improv is, and confuse it with stand-up comedy, so to explain to you the best I can, I'll give you an example of one of the games we played:

In one game, we were doing a sort of talk show. Four of us were seated, and one person was the host. The four people who are seated are given an "area of expertise" by the audience. I was an expert in lighting grills! Some of the other players were experts in logging, Pokemon, and spinning class, for example. The talk show host basically leads conversation by possibly bringing up a current event, but there really are no rules as to what they can say. There's really no rules in general, you just form an opinion and watch the scene unfold! So to further the example, when I was "playing," the host brought up Bernie Madoff and we were supposed to give our thoughts. Since my expertise was lighting grills, I said: "There's two ways to light a grill: propane and charcoal. Sure, propane may be more convenient, but charcoal makes the food taste better. So sometimes you just need to put in the extra effort and use the charcoal instead of taking short-cuts." Now I have absolutely no idea if this is true or not, but in improv you know everything! That is what usually makes the scenes so funny, is when people talk about things they have no prior knowledge about. 

On Sunday, one of my best friends, Ben Blakeman, was in town for business. I drove down to Valencia where he was staying along with Jennifer, and we went out to eat and went out for a little while. It was great to see him! He is a promoter for Anhauser-Busch and travels all over the country attending special events.

This picture is actually from the first time Ben was here on business, but I like it because it is on the pier in Santa Monica! Ben is on the left, obviously I am in the center, and Jim is on the right. Jim is one of the guys Ben used to travel with!

St. Patricks Day was pretty crazy here in Santa Monica! I don't know if I just never noticed it before or what, but I felt like people out here went crazy for St. Patricks Day! EVERYONE was decked out in green! I had to work during the day, but that night Jennifer and I went down to the Gas Lite. It was really fun and we sang "Jump" by Kriss Kross...it was a cool song when I was in elementary school! Needless to say, I was a little rusty but the crowd liked it!

Here we are decked out in our green clothes! (And green eyeliner if you can tell!)

Today I worked at the agency again. It was a pretty normal day until after work. I went to the Starbucks across the street just like I normally do, and all of a sudden there was a swarm of paparazzi. Apparently it was Kim Kardashian shopping at the store next door! I'm not really a fan of hers, she is famous for nothing basically except for her reality show on the E! network. I also saw Queen Latifah when I was walking into the office. I really liked her in Chicago, but I didn't see much of her, she just drove by in her Rolls Royce convertible and waved at a passing tour bus. 

    

That's about it for my weekend and week so far! Have a wonderful afternoon!

-Emily

For Your Consideration...

After the post I made previously, I was watching 20/20, an episode called "Bailouts and Bull." One woman on the show struck a chord with me, and not a good one. Here name is Barbara Ehrenreich and she is the author of a book called "Nickled and Dimed." According to Babs, you can not survive on an entry-level job. She worked as a nursing home assistant, and a sales associate at Wal-Mart. She claims that there was a ceiling placed on how much she was "allowed" to earn. Then the question was brought up. "If you worked hard, couldn't you be promoted?" and she goes on to say "Well..I guess, but only if you're the exception!" So you are encouraging others to not strive to be the exception because it isn't easy to attain? This woman is speaking at commencements all over the country!!

A recent college graduate who was assigned her book, Adam Shepard, wrote a book called "Scratch Beginnings" to dispute her argument. He claims she "tried to fail!" He drew a random city out of a hat which turned out to be Charleston, SC. He went with $25 and nothing else. No exceptions. He moved into a homeless shelter and began working for a moving company making $8 an hour. He eventually worked up enough money to buy a used truck for $1,100. She made no sacrifices, while he did. He said she bought a $40 pair of pants while he bought his at Goodwill. She also stayed in motels instead of finding a roommate, which is what he did after working for a few months and saving for an apartment.

The middle class income has increased in real dollars, adjusted for inflation, from $29k to $75k since the 1950's. Not to mention we have endured worse recessions in that time. 20/20 interviewed people who were young "back then" who have thousands upon thousand invested in toys such as boats and custom ATV's. Their jobs? Landscape contractors, law enforcement, and gardeners. 10 million Americans take cruises every year. This isn't a question of having less money. It's having higher expectations. Have we set ourselves up for failure by making excuses? I think so. 

What do you think about all of this? I thought it was interesting to say the least.

Welcome to My Blog!

Okay so I've been talking about starting a blog for some time, so I figured it was time to getting around to it! My sister, Amy, has a great blog that I love keeping up with, and since I can't talk to everyone as much as I'd like, I decided to follow suit! 

For those of you who don't know, I recently moved to Santa Monica. I absolutely love it here! The streets are lined with palm trees, the people are friendly, and there are 325 days of sunshine a year! I currently have two jobs -- I am an intern at a talent agency in Beverly Hills and I also am a waitress at a cute little beach cafe. I spend the rest of my time focusing on my improv comedy classes and spending time walking on the beach!

 I began taking improv at Second City the second week I moved out here. I was completely unaware of what I was getting into...but I was bored, lonely, and unemployed at the time so I was pretty open to anything! The first class was absolutely terrifying. The teacher would call out your name and you were expected to make the craziest noise and movement you could think of...in front of a bunch of total strangers! In the first ten minutes! Now, I am beginning my third term and have gotten so close to my classmates. It is the highlight of my week and I look forward to every Saturday that I am fortunate enough to spend at Second City with some of the funniest and most intelligent people I have ever met. 

Anyway, that's enough background! Today, I didn't have to work or go to class, so Jennifer (my roommate) and I walked down the beach to a great restaurant called Patrick's Roadhouse for breakfast. They had a book there about the history of Santa Monica and the bay area that I thought was so interesting. I love to learn about the history of every place that I live, so I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the book that I saw. I also got two other books which are both autobiographies of comedians. One is "Thirty-Nine Years of Short-Term Memory Loss" by Tom Davis who was one of the SNL originals and a Second City alum! The second is "My Booky Wook" by Russel Brand. A lot of people don't think he is funny, but I do, and I would like to know more about him. I'll keep you updated! 

     

Since you've made it this far through this crazy long post, I'll leave you with a video snack. This is of a man that frequents the karaoke bar Jennifer and I love to go to in our neighborhood. I would tell you about it, but there is no explanation necessary...just watch for yourself!!