Down Time

I hope everyone enjoyed Labor Day Weekend! I spent a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing. But I wanted to show you a few instagrams from my life this past week.

Top Left: View from a bridge over the Arkansas River, Top Right: My new best friend Action and I. Bottom Left: Argenta Market Bottom Right: A Gay Bar. I love the sign.

TL: Rocking my new Panama hat. TR: Mod Podged wine bottles. BL: Neon Sign in AAC. BR: Laughing Dog Beer Glass.

Once You Climb Up A Mountain...

So my second week in Little Rock has been pretty...er..."rocky" to say the least. Sunday was our first annual 'Equity drinking night' where we gathered together to celebrate our first week and have good drinks and good company. I made some chicken fingers that turned out yummy, Aleigha made some awesome cheese spread and Jillian made some thoroughly delicious cinnamon bun cupcakes.

Monday was spent thrifting around Little Rock with Aleigha. I ended up finding this painting by William Holbrook Beard called "The Bear Dance"

I spent $8 for a framed canvas reproduction that goes for around $200 online. Ba-zinga!

Thrifting is fun for me because I enjoy hunting through garbage in the hopes that maybe you will find one object, be it a sweater, a dress, a teacup or a piece of art that makes your heart lurch out of your chest. This painting reminds me of a friend from home, so it is worth the $8 to look at it every day and think of him.



Those of you who know me know a few things about me. 1. I am an actress. 2. I am sometimes (a little) dramatic. and 3. I am a crazy dog lady. These are my babies whom I miss very dearly.

Daisy, staring dreamily into my eyes.

Beasley, deciding if he likes me enough to kiss me.

Aren't they the most precious beings alive? Well, I have always gotten along really well with dogs (even mean ones) so I very ignorantly tried to make friends with this little guy who lives upstairs:

After his owner assured me he wouldn't hurt me and told me to stick out the back of my hand towards him "Bullet" jumped up and took me completely by surprise by biting me on my hand. I was so stunned for the rest of the day. How can a dog not like me? I firmly believe that there are no such things as bad dogs, just bad owners, but man meeting Bullet gave me kind of a crisis of faith. What kind of world do I live in if dogs aren't all nice?? Bullet may not have broken my skin, but he sure did break my heart. :_(


On a very different note I have been cooking more than I ever have in my life! I am pretty proud of myself, seeing as I have very little domestic talent. So far I have made:

Grilled Portobello Parmesan Sandwich
(2) Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sammies
Roasted Red Pepper and Chicken Sandwich with Provolone and Mozzarella
Pasta with Vodka Sauce

It seems small now that I've listed it but honestly I rarely cooked at home. I made due with peanut butter sandwiches, cereal, and take out. Now that I'm financially responsible for my food I really can't afford, both fiscally and healthily(?) to eat out so much. Hoping to do this more in the future.

On Tuesday I went for a bike ride to the farmers market not too far from my apartment. I lost control of the bike and fell off of it, landing pretty hard on my legs/knee. So in less than 24 hours I had managed to be bit by a dog and eat pavement pretty hard. Awesome! Welcome to Little Rock!!

Here is my boo boo. Below is what my mom put in my first aid kit in lieu of first aid ointment. Thanks Mom!

Wednesday the other company actors and I ventured off to climb one of the only mountains in central Arkansas, Pinnacle Mountain. I was told that this was a small mountain, more of a "hill", so I wasn't too worried about the climb being too physically taxing. I WAS VERY WRONG. This absolutely was a fricken mountain! I was breathless so quickly and felt stupid as my friends skipped up the mountain. Many times I curled up on a boulder (Yes, we were crawling up boulders. What kind of hill has boulders I ask you???) and told the others to just leave me behind and catch me on their way back down. They wouldn't let me so I begrudgingly continued up the mountain. FOR AN HOUR. AT 80 DEGREES. UP ROCKS. Finally we reached the top and everyone asked me if I felt like it was worth it. Honestly? I probably won't do it ever again. But it was a really good lesson in sticking things out even if they aren't ideal and finding whatever positive you can in a less-than-perfect situation. I challenged myself and won. And once you climb up a mountain, you can't back down. For one thing, you should watch where you're going or you will most likely fall onto something very sharp.

Fozzie's face up the mountain.

My face up the mountain. Often accompanied by me muttering obscenities.

Note the bandaged knee.

       

Next post I am hoping to talk about how bad I am at being poor. (And how I'm getting better at it.)

Did We Just Become Best Friends?

 

Hey y'all. It has been a crazy couple of days! The last leg of the drive wasn't too awful, especially after seeing this sign! We arrived in Little Rock around 7pm Sunday night and found a Holiday Inn about two blocks away from my Apartment. Monday morning we moved everything in. This is my first apartment where Im living/paying for it by myself and although the complex is a little sketchy I really love it. I mean I lived in North Philly for four years so I think I'm prepared for most things that city life can throw at me. I'm trying little by little to make it my own and also keep it tidy for guests. (As much as is possible for me.) One of my favorite things is my little bookshelf. I am a pretty big book hoarder and although it wasn't the most practical thing, I knew I had to take at least the highlights of my collection with me. For me as an actor it is important to have audition/research material as accessible as possible. The more books I have the better prepared I will be for auditions and hopefully one day when I am a teacher it will be immensely useful for my students. However, I probably won't trust them because if they are anything like me they will, ahem, *forget* to return some really good books/plays...oops!

(And yes, for those who are wondering Dug made the trip to Little Rock safe and sound.)

My other favorite thing about my apartment is my WALK-IN CLOSET! The only thing I have more of than books is clothes and shoes, so this is a huge change for me to be able to see it all and access it. My closet at home is so teeny-tiny...I honestly cried when I saw this. My next mini-goal when I'm bored is to organize everything by color and type of garment. (And keep it organized, which is more difficult.)

(Modeled after this one on A Beautiful Mess blog)

Here I am outside the River Market in downtown Little Rock. The River Market is a little bit like the Reading Terminal Market except much smaller... more like a classier food court. There is a farmers market every Tuesday and Saturday outside of it that I'm very excited about because it's about a five minute walk from my apartment. Definitely planning to cook more! And I may or may not have already purchased a western looking hat from said market... man I'm no good at being poor.

Tuesday was my first set of meetings and rehearsal with the company members. Rehearsal was basically a meet and greet with the several young children cast in our show (Madeline and The Gypsies). We got out very early and the five adult company members headed downtown to grab a drink... and I have to quote one of the kids in our production of Madeline and The Gypsies and say "I know I just met y'all, but I feel like you're my family." Precious and true. I already know I'm gonna love the crap out of these beautiful people. The past two days I haven't been called for rehearsal so I don't really know what to expect/what to do with myself in my down time. Once we are all called to rehearsal all the time I might have a better idea. There is a gigantic library a few minutes away from me and more things to discover. Excited!!

(Ignore the zombie/transformer eyes. Happiness and beer does that to us.)

I will leave you with my favorite art print by Roll & Tumble Press I discovered at a cocktail event at Electric Heart Tattoos. 

(via Roll & Tumble Press)

           

On The Road

Hi there! I guess I never thought about how difficult it would be to write an introductory post on a blog. I mean, I read lots of blogs (and by read, I mean stalk and pin all the outfit pictures and recipes that jump out at me on my blog reader,) but I've never read any initial posts on any of them. Guess I should have done more research, but after 12 hours on the road I'm just gonna do what I do best: wing it/fake it.

I guess introducing myself and what my best intentions for this blog are would be a good first step. I'm Sandi. I'm 23 and I've been out of theater college for a little over a year. I landed a professional acting gig performing in a season of children's shows at a well-respected theater in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Wow...that was a lot less complicated than I thought.

This is an Instagram of the last of my bags, sitting out front of my house at approximately 5:30 this morning. I don't know the next time I will see this house, my family, my puppies, and my friends. (Who btw, threw me a surprise going away party. It's been a secret dream of mine to have someone throw a surprise party for me, and I was not expecting it at all. I don't remember the last time I felt so overwhelmed with love and happiness.)

People have been asking me if I am nervous or excited to drive across the country with my parents, have my own apartment and work my first "real job" out of college. And honestly, I don't know what to tell them. I've had about a year of the Post-Grad blues, and I think I'm still a little numb and skeptical that I might actually find myself out here and enjoy some kind of success or advancement in my career. But I do have faith that once I am settled and throw myself into the work and am reminded once again of why I chose this path (because it makes life worth it) I will start to get myself together.

This is what I was riding in the backseat of for about 10ish hours today. I was out late the night before enjoying some good company and a Monster Mash sundae from Friendly's so I was plenty tired for this trip. We're spending the night at a hotel in Knoxville, TN and ending up in Little Rock tomorrow evening. We can't move in to my apartment till Monday so we will be spending tomorrow in another hotel. I feel a little bad that I wasn't really conscious enough to take in any sights on the ride thus-far. Maybe tomorrow I will be more alert... maybe.



P.S. Here's me in a crown from Burger King today. It matched my sunglasses!