November 26, 2009 at 10:44 pm (Happy Days, The Fam)
I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving day! We sure did here in NYC!
The day started off with me staring at the television until the Gabba Gang crossed the Macy’s Star. They were great and I was super excited about their performance!
After that I started to cook my first turkey ever. I was very concerned. And let me tell you, after I pulled the giblets out I was pretty sure that I needed to become a vegetarian! That is nasty! Why can’t they just put those things on the side. You can’t cook them in the turkey anyhow! Gross.
Totally rethinking this cooking thing!
Once, I finally got the turkey in the oven I had some time to kill so I decided to do laundry! (I like to do my laundry the day I pack so that everything I need is there.) Then I packed for my trip tomorrow and by that time I was behind in getting everything else together for our first Thanksgiving feast.
I started to make the sweet mashed potatoes and giblet gravy. While making the sweet mashed potatoes, we encountered a little problem. We couldn’t beat them without splashing the entire kitchen!
Sweet Mashed Mess!
Eventually, I got everything timed out. Brian still had to carve the turkey, so I caught up! Then, came problem #2… “Where in the world are we going to put everything?” One would think two people that have lived in a studio apartment for 3 years would think of this before cooking. But no! So, we put most everything on the stove top but the rolls didn’t have room. So the rolls… well… they were served from the nightstand. Which isn’t as weird as it sounds when you consider that the nightstand is next to the stove. Oh, NYC!!
We finally got all the food out and ready and sat down in front of the Cowboys game for Thanksgiving dinner! Now, when your apartment is only 450 square feet, you tend to give up some luxuries. Like, tables for example. TV trays do just fine though and sense I was in my own house… I got Thanksgiving my way… no food touching!
Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!
Apartment Style Thanksgiving.
1 Comment
November 24, 2009 at 1:53 pm (Happy Days, Tuesday Tunes)
Would you believe I have found time for this today!!
For those of you that know me, it is no surprise that I am already listening to my Christmas playlist. For those of you that don’t… I am a HUGE fan of Christmas. I get giddy when I go to Starbucks and they have changed to holiday cups. I have lived in NYC for almost 10 years and I still go walking around Rockefeller to see the tree and 5th Ave to look at windows. That doesn’t even include what the Christmas ads on television do to me!
So, in the spirit of the holiday season… These are my very favorite Christmas tunes.
- All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey: This is by far my very favorite Christmas song EVER!! Everyone loves it and if you don’t… Bah Humbug!
- O Holy Night: I don’t really care who is singing it, I just love it! Not sure if anyone else remembers it but way back in the day on the Cosby Show lil Raven Simone sang this and I believe that is when I fell in love with it!
- Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley: This song reminds me of my Dad. He has a very extensive Christmas collection but this will always play and maybe it is because Dad likes to sing along and pretend to be the King!
- Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant: This song makes me think of Christmas in our house on 3rd street. We had the sound system in the living room and Mom (shocking) was a HUGE Amy Grant fan.
- Rudolph Rap by the California Raisins: Ha! I know you are laughing at me now! I freakin love this song! If you remember the California Raisins then you are just as big a geek as me! We did an entire competition dance routine called Happy Holidays one year and this was one of the songs in the mix. Little Sarah Cooper as Rudolph. It was fan-freakin-tastic! “Do the Rudolph Rap, Rap, Rap!”
- White Christmas by Bing Crosby: The only way to listen to White Christmas is with Bing singing. If you like any other version, well, I think you should be arrested!
- Everyday Were A Holiday by Miss Molly: Way back in 2007, I was on a show called Ditty Doodle Works. Miss Molly sang this song and I love it! I happen to love the actress and enjoy bouncing around the house listening to her. I don’t think you can buy the song… but if you want it… I got it!
- I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas: I love love love this song! Not sure what version I like best, but I love it!
- I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus: Remember when I said my Dad has a very extensive Christmas music collection? Well… We have some interesting music at our house. This one may be my favorite from the “funny” Christmas tunes but I also enjoy Walking Round In Womens Underwear to the tune of Winter Wonderland. Oh, my family, we are fun people!
- Mele Kalikimaka: I like the Bing version and the Bette version of this one. Bette is from Hawaii so it has a sentimental sound when she sings it. I have always loved this one because I am a beachy kind of girl but now that my brother lives in Hawaii, I really love it!
Leave a Comment
November 19, 2009 at 12:10 pm (Life on the Road, Yo Gabba Gabba)
Who knew when I said yes to working on another kids show that I would meet Snoop! ha! Seems a little strange but it worked!
Snoop teaching The Peanut Butter Stomp
So, Yo Gabba Gabba is full of celebrity guest stars and bands on TV but getting them to perform live is always a little different. Especially if you ask someone to teach The Peanut Butter Stomp! But, fear not, Snoop was by far the best dance teacher we had last weekend!
Another dancer that I thoroughly enjoyed was John Heder, Napoleon Dynamite. He did the running man on stage and that just made me giggle. Others that performed with us for the LA shows were Sarah Silverman and the Geeks from Freaks and Geeks.
We also had some guest bands. The Aquabats performed in the first show. This was, of course, the best idea ever as the lead singer of the band is also the creator of Yo Gabba Gabba. Cold War Kids played the 2nd show and I think I was more excited about that than the actual audience. On Sunday we had Matt Costa and Mix Master Mike. I had never heard of Mix Master Mike before but he was great! He mixed in music from the show and it was really pretty entertaining.
This week we have 3 shows in NYC at The Beacon.I am super excited to play the Beacon. Also really excited for people I know to see the show!
Wonder who our Dancey Dance guests will be this week…
Leave a Comment
November 17, 2009 at 8:30 pm (Life on the Road, Yo Gabba Gabba)
Sorry for the delay in posts, I have never been so busy. EVER.
There is so much to tell, I will have to break this up into separate posts.
Sometime during rehearsals I backed into one of the cast members cars. And well, all I have to say is that maybe he shouldn’t have been wearing that Longhorns shirt.
Oopsies
Uh...oh
So, that was that… and glad I got the insurance on my car!!
Tech rehearsals began on Nov. 6th with the cast at University of California at Irvine. They don’t call it hell week for nothing!
I quickly learned that I was over my head with the amount of work I had to do. I had quite a few really bad days at Irvine. I think it was the lack of sleep accompanied by the lack of edible food. I was also just really homesick at this point and that makes things worse. Oh, and did I mention that I was doing a job normally done by 3 people!! No worries, it got better!
Towards the end of tech rehearsals I started to at least get my barrings and they FINALLY hired a company manager so that I could… breathe!!
I Like To Dance (Tech Rehearsal)
2 Comments
November 6, 2009 at 1:29 am (The Fam, The Sailor)
Well, not too much to say.
Just thought I would share this picture that my brother sent me from sea. Why, oh why, did they allow the guys on deck for this? And the crazy part is that this was just taken yesterday. They were actually not allowed to be outside during the typhoon. I can only imagine what that looked like!
1 Comment
November 5, 2009 at 12:41 pm (Life on the Road, Yo Gabba Gabba)
Rehearsals Day 1
Well, I flew out to Southern California on Oct. 27 and became a resident of the Holiday Inn. Not too bad. We began rehearsals the very next day and I love the cast. They are fabulous!
Yesterday was our last dance rehearsal and my last night in La Mirada. Now we are off to tech at a local university so I am switching residence. Yipee!! Hotel with a good restaurant!!
I am super excited to see this show with lights and costumes! There are so many great surprises and special effects, I just cannot wait!
More to come about me in Southern California!!
Leave a Comment
November 4, 2009 at 1:17 am (Tuesday Tunes, Yo Gabba Gabba)
Well, I am officially stressed to the max! I am daily given a new task that has nothing to do with the job I was hired to do. However, I am very grateful for the opportunity to work on such a great show and will take it.
With that said, the following music is the only thing I have heard for the past week and well, it is stuck in my head. These are my favorite songs from the show!
Tuesday Tunes… Gabba Style!
1. Party In My Tummy (Foofa may be my favorite character in the show but Brobee and Tummy are by far my favorite part …. I LOVE IT!)
2. Get The Sillies Out (Super fun song!)
3. Peek-A-Boo (So when I heard this one on the CD I was bit creeped out by it… but after watching the cast perform it, I love it!)
4. The Name Game (Yet another one I thought was a bit strange without choreography but now that I know the characters I really like it)
5. All My Friends Are Different (such a great message in this song, I hope it sinks in with every child that listens.)
I hope to have time to really write more about the rehearsals, cast and life in Gabba Land this week. It really is a great show!! I am so excited to be involved. Even if I am losing my hair from all the craziness of production work!
Oh, and Brad Pitt dressed as DJ Lance Rock for Halloween! Too funny!
Brad Pitt as DJ Lance Rock
Leave a Comment
October 30, 2009 at 10:18 am (Happy Days, Life on the Road)
Well, I like to call this the calm before the storm.
I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise and thought about how nice it was to be in California at six o’clock in the morning. You just do not see these things in NYC.
View from hotel window.
It is amazing how something so simple can calm me down before the jitters of the working day get to me.
My picture quality is not so great because I took it through a closed window but, you get the idea.
Another thing I noticed this morning was how often I forget that there are mountains in California. This place is really pretty! I am so lucky to be able to travel to so many places with my job!
It is a fun life… even if today is filled with nothing but paper work.
Mountains...
Leave a Comment
October 29, 2009 at 11:10 pm (Tuesday Tunes)
Sorry there were no tunes this week! Hopefully I will not be nearly as busy next week and can write much more!
Leave a Comment
October 21, 2009 at 9:50 am (Tuesday Tunes)
Well, I was so busy with work yesterday that I forgot to post. Not only did I forget to post but I also, for the first time in forever, didn’t look at iTunes!! This is how you know I am too busy to even try to think.
So, with that said I listened to the Nutcracker Suite yesterday while working. (I, of course, stood up and danced to any pieces I knew). 
Leave a Comment
