A year ago today...

So much can change in a year.  It doesn't seem like a significant amount of time, but so much happens!  Then one has to wonder...well, if so much can happen, why hasn't my career happened?  Quandry of my life thus far.

But, I just stumbled back upon my blog after taking about a year off of writing anything.  It makes me sad that I've missed an entire year of using my written language, but maybe everything happens for a reason and I needed that year off.

I feel like an entirely different person then I was a year ago:

New apt
New haircut
New love
New job
New friends
New car
New Nephew
New body (au naturel of course)

The list goes on....

I know the last time I posted I had mentioned getting my one-sheet done. Well, not only did I work on my own one-sheet, but I started creating one-sheets for other actors.  And then more, and more and now, it's sort of a little side gig I do.  I've grown to really enjoy it!  I used to be on my highschool yearbook team (?) club (?) what do you call it?  Anyway, and I'd work on the layouts and I remember loving it.  I think if I were offered a job as a designer for legit magazine covers, I'd take it!  But in the meantime, I'll make these actor one-sheets:

Shameless self promotion:  If you're interested in getting a one-sheet done, please email me at cbONESHEETS@gmail.com and I'll fill you in on all my rates and how to proceed!  They really are a great marketing tool for actors who want to get their faces in front of agents, casting directors and managers!

Now a new goal for me is to keep up to date with this blog.  I'm going to do my best to write once a week, if not more!  I'm happy to be back!

Gratitude 365

Gotta be thankful for even the smallest of victories:

1. Grateful that I had such a blast at my audition yesterday
2. Grateful that I had the courage to drop off my movies to a target CD
3. Grateful I have a car again
4. Grateful for my friend Jayme
5. Grateful for inspiring movies like 'Django'

'I'm so happy and grateful that I booked a supporting role in a SAG feature'

I'm doing a 42-day Book a Job Challenge and part of the process is keeping a gratitude journal daily.  I've done this challenge once before and my favorite part was starting each and every day with the things I'm grateful for.  It really makes you focus on what's important in life and makes you less worried about what you're doing wrong or could be doing better.  Keeps me present.

So, on to day 10 of the challenge!  My goal today is to work on a 'One Sheet'.  I'll share it here when I'm done!

What're you're goals for the next 42 days? Inspire me!

Change of Perspective

Isn't funny how when you're a little kid, the idea of getting up for school before the sun rises was torture?  I remember my mom dragging me out of bed at 6am, and still being asleep as I fumbled around looking for something somewhat clean to wear.

This morning, I got up at 6:20am and rode my bike to Pilates class and was out of class by 7:50am and watching little kids pile off the school bus into the elementary school down the street.  I felt great!

I'm not gonna lie, the idea of getting up in the morning still makes me hesitate the night before, because I do tend to enjoy my evenings and try to make them last as long as possible.  But while I was stretching and doing my 100's at Circuit Pilates, I didn't regret getting up with the sun at all.

If you had asked my 6yr old self, 'What do you imagine you're life being like 20some odd years from now?'  I'd most likely have answered, 'Sleeping late, eating cookie dough for breakfast and owning a bunny farm.'  Well, 6 yr old self.  You can thank me later!  Perhaps there's still a chance for that bunny farm...

My Secret to Happiness (on a deserted island)

    I've been feeling pretty unmotivated with my blog lately, anyone else feeling this?  There's just so much blogging going on around here lately and if you don't have a really great original idea or something just super fun then you fall amongst all the other unnoticed, unread blogs.  That's how I'm feeling.  I have a blah blog.

So, I reached out to my fans on my fb page, if you haven't visited it yet, please do: My Fabulous Fanpage I asked which topic they'd most like for me to blog about and this one won (thanks Al and Scott!):

The 3 things I would want on my deserted island:

First off, I must say, the idea of a deserted island seems pretty nice right now.  No pressure.  Well, I suppose the pressure to survive, but the first few days would seem pretty great, huh?  

Ok, the first thing I think of that would be fabulous to be stranded with is a journal.  I'd love to have an unending number of blank pages to wax philosophic on and spend my days doodling or perhaps accomplish a novel before I die of starvation.  I think writing your thoughts on a daily basis is essential for clearing space in your brain for new thoughts, ideas and creativity.  Yes, my journal is essential.

The second thing I would love to have on the island is an acoustic guitar.  Ok, so i may not be the most talented when it comes to playing it, but I do love my Baby Taylor and it's amazing sounds.  Plus, I figure if I had all the time in the world, I'd probably be able to figure out some new chords and create some new music.  Making my grand total of songs a whopping 4?  Plus, as long as I could sing along to something I think I'd be less likely to go insane.  I love the power of music.  It truly is a healing sound. (I use to sing myself to sleep when I was in middle/highschool and imagined that my walls were soundproof, until one day my sis told me she heard me every night and loved it, she's the best!)

The third and final thing I think would keep me happy on a deserted island would be a bow and arrows.  Ok, way before Katniss Everdeen made it cool, I was shooting a bow in the backyard with my father and I felt pretty cool.  I never attempted to kill any animals, but I figure if I had time on my hands and needed some protein, I might be a pretty good shot, or at least could learn to be.

Writing, singing and hunting.  My secret to happiness...huh, yeah even that last one kind of surprises me, but the more I think about it, I guess I spend every day of my life hunting for my next gig, right? 

What three things would you want?

The Best Mexican Wrestling and Male Strippers

That's how my night went.  How was yours?

I got to play 'Press' at Lucha Vavoom at the Mayan Theater last night.  It was an epic evening!  I was there to support my good friend Jim Turner (of 'Arliss' fame) in his Sashay Gigante performance.  If you've never seen the show...you haven't lived life!*(see footnote)

I got a press pass so that I could take fab pics of the evening, and fab pics were taken!  The whole evening was just splendid, the burlesque ladies that started the evening were very...um...talented.  The commentators were ridiculously funny and the wrestlers.  Oh my, how do I describe the wrestlers??

I'll let the evening speak for itself with pics:

The funny thing I found myself doing though before heading out for the evening was trying 'Dress like Press' or how I perceived them to dress.  Then I had the thought, well if I feel like I have to dress the part to be it, then why do I not think 'Dress like a successful actress' every time I leave the house?  This needs to start happening!  There's a new goal for myself...but then again, how do successful actress' dress?  However they want!   ;) 

*This is a phrase my father used to use often.  I would get so annoyed by it and be like, 'Well, i guess i haven't lived then...' ha, but now in my "wise old age" I quite like the phrase.  Thanks, Dad!

Reboot Aftermath

I lasted 6 solid days on the cleanse.  On the 7th day I awoke with feverish chills and barely made it to my kitchen without passing out and shoved an apple in my mouth as fast as I could.  Now, I don't want to say this to discourage anyone from trying the cleanse.  I really actually feel like I benefited from it.  So much so that now I'm nervous to completely go off of it because I feel like my body will just completely revert to its pre-cleanse self in a minute!

My main goals for the cleanse were to see if it helped my focus, mental clarity and my skin.  I believe it did all three.  Plus, my stomach is the flattest its been in years...crazy.  On day 7, I started adding food back into my diet, but still steered clear of alcohol, sugar and carbs as much as possible.  I ate veggies, fruits and protein and still made myself drink a juice.  So, for the remainder of my 10 days I continued doing that.  Juicing, and only eating raw foods and proteins, and just a little teensy bit of bread here and there.  I have to slowly re-introduce the more complex man-made foods back into my diet so as to not completely lose everything i worked for in the past week and 1/2.

Now, though, I'm finding it challenging because my head is so worried that everything I put in my body will do extreme damage, that I'm scared to eat.  Don't get me wrong, I am eating.  I love food.  But, I'm being very picky and very slow to put harmful things in my body.  I guess this is a good thing...?  I just hope maybe it'll eventually become second nature and that way I won't have to think about it, but instead it'll just be instinct to choose the better options.

Sometimes I feel like a robot now, I look at a piece of food and in my brain calculate it's beneficial aspects vs. it's completely useless aspects and depending on how useless I avoid it.  Nuts.  I thought I was healthy before, but I suppose there are always ways to be even healthier.

Huh...would you ever try a juice cleanse?  I highly recommend it!

All or Nothing...or is it all nothing?

I've gone and done it.  Jumped on the healthy train.  I restarted training with a personal trainer and now I'm going all out with a juice cleanse.  I love it!  I feel focused and ready to sore!

While making my first juice for Day #2 of juicing I had a revelation about myself.  I made a juice last night that tasted so horrible, I had to try with all my might not to gag with every sip.  But, I forced it down knowing it was full of good for me things.  Today, though, I was determined not to make juice that is hard to swallow, because if i follow that pattern, I'm sure to fail.  So, I simplified.  My problem last night was that I tried to put every ingredient and it's mother into the same juice.  Well...lo and behold, not every fruit and vegetable tastes all that lovely when mixed with each other.  Here's what I put in this morning's juice:  Kale, Carrots, Cucumber and Pineapple.  Perfection.  Still lots of veggies with the sweetness of the fruit.  Not bad.

What I realized after thinking about my 'gung-ho' juicing attitude was that, simplifying is a glorious thing!  I applied this to my life.  I do so many things in a day/week/month that are good for me, but end up feeling spent and unfocused and altogether unaccomplished, my days become hard to swallow.  Well, I need to simplify and try not to cram all the good for me stuff into one months time, but rather spread it out a bit.  That way I can enjoy the flavor of each activity on it's own and give it one hundred percent of my attention as opposed to whatever I have left.

My challenge for myself over the next few weeks is to really concentrate on the things that make me feel good.  I'm not going to say yes to every favor or every activity that comes my way because I think it's a 'good cause', but because I truly feel that I can give it my full attention and brain power and therefore better myself and the world around me. 

Check out Jeff Phillips website: http://www.jeffphillipscft.com/  and click on the link to 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead'.  It's what totally motivated me to want to 'reboot'.

What healthy changes have you made lately?