Chaplin, Hollywood, and 5 Yrs.

Happy Birthday Charlie Chaplin!!
He's been my inspiration in so many ways. I still get giddy by the sight of his old studio on La Brea.

It's also the 5th anniversary of moving from my Pacific Northwestern hometown to Hollywood.

No idea what was ahead of me then. I still have no idea what is ahead of me now, but I do know that I feel fulfilled and happy as can be.

5 years ago I picked up and moved to LA planning on being there for only a year. Just to take improv classes at the iO West and then I was going to be off to New York City to pursue my career in the Theatahhh!

A year went by, I moved to 3 different apartments, found a circle of friends that instantly felt like family. I finished up my training (although, do you ever finish learning improv? heck no!) at the iO West, auditioned and was put onto a regularly performing improv team on Friday nights. I started picking up little jobs here and there. Dabbled in background/extra work. 3 months was all I could handle of it. And when things were starting to look really dark - I was completely broke, I gave my roommate a month's notice. I couldn't pay rent, my bags were packed, and I was going to head back home. Right after calling to notify my parents to air out my old room I got a call from the AFTRA-SAG credit union offering me a job (I had applied weeks earlier but had given up). Called the parents back. Told them "nevermind", LA wasn't done with me yet.

The credit union helped me pay rent and make some really great connections with other artists in the industry. Suffice it to say, I was much better at networking than being a bank teller.... I was let go 9 months later. I honestly couldn't have been happier. I knew it wasn't the job for me, but who was I to turn down a steady income offered to me? A couple weeks of unemployment and I was back to figuring out what roof I would stay under. Fly home? Crash on a friend's couch? Stick it out a little longer? Thankfully I was rescued by dear friends who had an extra room. I made a promise to them. 2 months. That's as long as I would stay... whether I found a job or not.

Thanks to my friends - who I like to call my "heart family" I was able to find work on commercial and film sets as a craft service girl. In those two months I made enough to get back on my feet and secure a studio apartment all to myself. Finally! After moving 5 times in about 3 years and having crazy roommates (at one point I lived in a house with 10 other girls), I finally had a place to call my own. A little over 2 years in LA and I was starting to feel settled. I had a theatre company I was part of and taking scene study classes there. I filmed my first silent film. Was regularly taking voice lessons, working on sets, and exploring more of LA. I even got to work at the Oscars! The fear of not being able to pay next month's rent was always there but I kept on. Trusting things would come up. And they did.

When crafty gigs slowed down I managed to find a job with one of my castmates I was in a play with at the time. I started working with him and another friend who was in the play. Not only did I get a job out of that play, but I also met my future husband. Not the castmate, his brother. One of my best girlfriends is marrying the castmate now as well.

See!? How little I knew back then! One of the girls I became best friends with right at the beginning of my Hollywood adventures would turn out to be my future sis in-law. We always seemed to date the same guys all those years, no surprise we would marry brothers.

This time last year I had been dating Eric for about 9 months and were talking about moving in together. He lived in Big Bear, CA (about 100 miles east of LA). I wasn't getting many auditions and I was tired of the shooting happening outside my apartment on a regular basis so I thought, why not? The transition wasn't easy. I still miss my LA family very very much. But I made new friends...

Since moving to Big Bear I have had more auditions and more creative projects going than in my first 4 years. I still go down to LA regularly. Booked my first TV show a couple weeks ago and booked my first commercial a couple months ago! Now a proud member of the SAG-AFTRA union too!

Busy writing/filming/ and acting in a sketch comedy show (Happy Hour Sketch Comedy) here in Big Bear and I am also in the early stages of creating a non-profit theatre company - Big Bear Theatre Project.

5 years. I heard before I moved that for a lot of people in LA it takes about 3-5 years for things to feel like they are falling into place and for you to figure out just where in the heck you're going.

I'm getting married next month. Now there's a new adventure!

I'm happy. And I'm super happy that every time I was on the verge of giving up, for some odd reason I didn't or couldn't.

So, my dear friend, keep going. It truly is about the journey.

Slow and steady...

It's been quite a while since I last posted.
The new BIG news is I booked my first commercial.
You can see it below if ya like:



Finally after going out on auditions for about 3 years I finally booked my first "big" commercial. It was a regional one that played up in my hometown in Washington state (among a few other areas in the States). What lovely surprise to see myself up on the big screen in the movie theaters and on T.V where my friends from home could see me. And just in time for Christmas! Merry Christmas indeed!

This April will be my 5 year anniversary for moving to California. Until I was engaged to my fiancé my parents kept thinking I would come back home eventually. I'm super glad I stuck it out.
And now as we have finished the first month of the new year I am motivated even more. This one booking has taught me that it worth it to just keep going. Do what you love, don't give up, and the right things will happen at the right time.

I'm glad I didn't book this commercial until now. Over the years I have gotten myself acquainted with film sets thanks to working as a "background artist" (when I first arrived) and especially thanks to working Craft Service on sets for the last 2 years. I knew who everyone was - or at least what each crew member actually did. I knew who to talk to if I had a question. And I THOROUGHLY enjoyed having my own room in the trailer to hang out it. Granted, they weren't long breaks but my name was on the door...on masking tape and permanent marker.

By no means was this shoot easy. We were filming during a heat wave in LA in late November while wearing all that winter gear. I was taped into my costume and sweating non-stop. At one point they had to stop production so I could get ice down my shirt to keep me from passing out. I got a bit dizzy and cross-eyed. I kept thinking it would be just one more take. I could do it!

After all was said and done I came home exhausted and never more happy with a day at work. I was prepared, I was professional, I worked my ass off, and I was happy. I was doing what I had originally set out to do.

The funny thing is is that I remember in high school swearing up and down I would never do commercials. Little did I know that 10 years later they would make me the happiest camper.

I can not wait to do another one. I hope I don't have to wait another 3 years (or more). But in the meantime I am staying productive and continuing to move one step at a time.

This month I start in rehearsals for The 39 Steps working with The Big Bear Theatre Project and I'm filming a few sketches to air for the local T.V station - while also producing and running a few of their morning shows.

I'm hoping to film my silent western film this summer. Thankfully Big Bear has the perfect location for that.

So. Just keep going. Be prepared for when the time comes because you never know when that is. Every day has something new to teach you that you may find useful when new and bigger opportunities come.

I'm excited for this year. It's going to be a great one.