And The Winner Is...

Us. Lowering the Bar took the cake my friends. Congrats to us!!!! Yaaaaaaay!!!

Now I can put a fun little footnote on my resume:

Lowering the Bar* May Plain Label Pictures

*Winner of the 2009 Chicago TV Comedy Pilot Competition

Oh yes.

It should be noted that some strange combination of keys I just hit on my keyboard caused Asteriod and PacMan type sounds to come out of my computer. What? Yeah. I don't know either.

Lowering The Bar Y'all

That’s the name of the pilot I shot last fall starring the comic stylings of T.J. Jagadowski and Sue Gillan.

This a still shot of me and two of my buds (what up Rawson) on the set, in character of course. Let me tell you something about being on the set of this show. Not only was it funny, mostly improvised and the most fun I’ve had on a set lately BUT I had the easiest job in the world when it came to hair and make-up. The other ladies had to sit in the chair, have their hair put up in exactly the same way everyday, super thick make-up etc… and an hour later they were set. Then of course they had to touch-up every hour or so. My character was a recovering drug addict. I sat down in the hair chair, the woman would slap some putty to make my hair look greasy, and then the make-up lady would make my under-eye circles look a little darker. Voila. 2 minutes later I was done and out. I was actually encouraged to not shower and could totally nap in the corner between takes because I was supposed to look ragged. I could get used to that.

I get to see the final result tonight for the first time at the Chicago TV Comedy Pilot Competition. We’re one of 6 finalists. Hoo-zah**!

*Not to be confused with the show “Raising the Bar” currently being shown on TNT. I assume it’s still being shown. It has cheesy ads on busses though so it looks like one of those shows that goes away quickly, you know? Also that show is about lawyers and this show is not.

**Hoozahs were a reward we received in elementary school for doing good things, like keeping our tote trays clean. They even had a store where you could take your Hoozahs and buy things with them. I bought my uncle a paperweight for Christmas with my Hoozahs one year. He left it at my grandmother’s house and never took it home with him. On purpose. He even asked if that was okay, to leave his gift at grandmother’s house. The nerve. I saved up Hoozahs for that damn paperweight. Maybe someday I’ll find a picture online of a Hoozah and post it. That sounds like fun… Google, here I come.

Oh Britney...

How dare you drop that cup.

Colour

The past few weeks/days have been filled with me decorating my tiny condo in my mind.

I can do that. I can rip out my cabinets, white wash them, put them back up and install shiny glass knobs on every single one. Cause they're mine.

Sorry. I don't mean to brag. It's just that not until recently did I realize I can actually paint and splatter just like I've always wanted to and no one will take my security deposit away, because there isn't one.

There are downsides. Like my broken thermostat. I have to buy and install a new one all by myself. Also, any and all renovations are charged to bank of Molly which is not FDIC insured.

I'm trying to focus on the positive.

Paint colors.

It's taken me FOREVER to pick paint colors. To me once those are in, everything else will tell me how it wants to be. Like throw pillows, linens, art work, candle holders, doorknobs....you get it.

I went ahead and painted my bathroom because I felt like it would shove me in the direction of truly making my space my own. I painted the bathroom Marlboro Blue by the lovely Benjamin Moore. All my paint will be Benjamin Moore. They have the best colors w/out ordering from specialty stores (in my opinion).

Here is the color (not in my bathroom):


I have no idea who Donegall is or what episode 2018 is. 2018:Donegall kind of sounds like it would be a BBC show about a man named Donegall, ex-military, who is the only man left on earth roaming around a demolished England with only his military ration of food in a small gunnysack. Maybe that's just me though.

I also finally picked colors for my living room/bedroom/kitchen/office. The accent will be this beautiful Galapagos Blue:



Thank you Domino Magazine for taking that lovely photo. Someday you must come back to us. I miss you Domino....I like, miss you a lot. I'm staring at your book on my coffee table right now thinking about all of our good times.

The rest of the walls will be a lovely shade of Moonlight White:



I think this pic is from Domino too. My goodness. This economy sucks...Domino....:(

I'm slowly realizing that maybe the bathroom color doesn't go with the rest BUT too late now. I'll make it it's own little thing with it's own little color scheme, call it an oasis and no one will know the difference.

Let me know if you want to help paint the rest of my place. Jandy will appreciate it. And I will too. :)

Adowable.

Phasessions

I, like probably a lot of people, go through phases. I refer to them more as obsessions. So for the purposes of this blog I will refer to them as "phasessions."

Here is an example:

I love the game Cake Mania. If you haven't played it, don't start. You might not ever stop. Currently I am obsessed with downloading any and every game that is in the same genre as Cake Mania and playing the free trial version. I have now mastered one hour of Ranch Rush, Spa Mania, Posh's Boutique, and am currently mastering Nanny Mania II.

Two other things that I also love are cooking and baking. If I wasn't acting and writing, I would be in culinary school. I am by no means an amazing chef, BUT I love it. It's therapeutic to me and usually tastes good.

Since most of my phasessions involve things that ruin my brain, like Cake Mania, and do not enhance my quality of life, like Posh's Boutique, I am trying something new.

I'm going to cook every recipe in my Ina Garten cookbook, Barefoot Contessa at Home.


Hi there Ina.

Why this cookbook? Several reasons.

One: I love Ina Garten. I want to be her a little bit. Mainly I just want her kitchen, her house in the Hamptons and have a cooking show involving them both. Her food always looks so fresh and delightful. I think she is my long lost Aunt.

Two: Cooking every recipe in one of my Paula Dean cookbooks would mean gaining 30-40 pounds. I am not willing to do that. I often refer to Paula Dean as my long lost grandmother and I love her food dearly. However, my heart cannot afford to consume 1 stick of butter per day. Sorry Paula.

Three, this cookbook was given to me by my dear friend Melissa as a gift for helping with and being at her wedding. It has a special little note in the front that I can read when I get frustrated with grease stained kitchen towels and burnt rye bread.

I'm super excited about my new phasession. I am. I did get a little nervous when I saw in the list of recipes on the back "Cornish Game Hens." I'm trying not to think about that until I get there. Live in the moment or something, right?

Here goes nothing. No wait.

Here goes something...awesome.

Movie Madness

I had been so obsessed with watching TV shows on DVD and being poor that I hadn't been to a movie or Netflixed a movie in almost 6 months.

That all changed in the past couple of months.

Not sure why. I'm still obsessed with watching TV shows on DVD and still poor.

I decided to list the movies I've seen recently and give a "No" or "Yes" to each. Here is a key to define both "No" and "Yes:"

No=Don't watch this movie ever. Even if your life depends on it. Seriously. It will waste your time and you don't want that.

Yes=You better watch this movie if you want to be my friend. End of story.

Here goes!!!


Henry Poole Is Here

No. Giant NO. This movie is a giant ball of melodramatic mush. The acting was good though.


Up


Yes. Giant Yes!!! I cried twice. In the good way.


The Hangover

YES. Another giant Yes. My sides hurt from laughing so hard.

Grey Gardens (HBO)

Massive Yes! If haven't seen the 1975 documentary version first, I would watch that then watch this one. Drew Barrymore actually does good acting!!! Only when she's the older Little Edie though.

Run Fat Boy Run

No. Very bad. Not funny. I thought it was supposed to be funny.

I also saw Star Trek (YES!), Wolverine (Yes/No - Yes for Hugh Jackman being sexy, no for stupid plotlines) and Terminator (No. Christian Bale is annoying).

And there you have my two cents.