What what!

Well I must admit- I am in a great mood. I just went to my first NY audition, and I feel very good about it. It's a 2 person show, and I would be playing a 16 year old, messed up waitress/prostitute. Aren't you proud!? Look at me mom and dad, I could be playing a floozie. I'm shooting for the stars! It brings me back a couple years ago when my dad asked me at the dinner table, "So are you a little bit of every character you've ever played?" I still laugh at that.

I'm not going to get excited about the audition because let's face it- I'm in NY- the land of actors. I'm just glad the audition went well. If nothing comes of it I can at least say I worked hard and tried my best. I'll keep you posted.

Lauren (one of my 2 roommates) and I had a fabulous time together last night! We hung out at the apartment and had our first "Beer and Breasts" night. What does that consist of, you ask? It's pretty much a girls' night with beer and a bunch of giggling. And of course breasts. Our fun girl time instantly ceased when Omar came home- it just wasn't the same. Plus, we knew he would drink the rest of our beer. And he did. Damn Mexican.

The following pictures are from our "white trash" gallery. Enjoy!

love love.
Em

Went to Manhattan today

For some reason it feels like I've haven't been into the city for a while. I was in Harlem all last weekend, and since then I've stayed in Astoria, so it was nice to go into Manhattan. I went early this morning to apply for a barista position at Oren's daily roast- a really cute coffee/tea shop. It's very quaint and small, and I felt very good as soon as I walked in there. The atmosphere is very inviting- not too independent but not too corporate. Don't get me wrong, I can do corporate coffee. I applied to a few starbucks last week and I will definitely take the position if I'm asked to. I would honestly rather work for Oren's because it was intimate and personable, but I'm kind of getting antsy to work somewhere. Well not anywhere. Not a stinky mailroom.

So after I turned in the application at Oren's I explored Manhattan! I felt good with myself because this was the first time I thought "ok. If I go this way then I'll end up here." Before it's been "ok. If I go this way then....uh....well I can always ask someone where the nearest subway station is if I get lost." So I ventured over to Central Park. I needed to memorize lines for an audition tomorrow, and I knew I would be less tempted to 1. eat 2. sleep 3. watch tv or 4. play on the internet if I studied the script away from the apartment. Plus, it was a great day to be outside.

I will admit, it took me a couple hours to sit down in Central Park and start studying. There was so much to look at! I came across the filming of "The Nanny Diaries" with Laura Linney and Scarlett Johanssen. I got a picture of Laura Linney (see below) but no Scarlett. They had a TON of people around the set- techies, assistants, nannies for the actors, tourists, extras...it was insane. I smiled at what I could already hear my mother saying to me, "Emily! Here's your chance! Go stand over there! Maybe someone will look at you and ask you to be in the movie!" Sweet mom.

So I did the Central Park thing for a couple of hours, then I made my way uptown to have lunch with Omar. Well, that didn't really work out and I ended up in Harlem. Why do I always end up in dominantly black neighborhoods? It must be my Houston roots pulling me there. As I was exploring Harlem (and once agan, I could hear my mother's voice in my head....) I stopped by a clean pizza place (a lot of them aren't clean) and got a huge slice of veggie pizza, some cantelope, and one of those smart waters my dad raves about. Do you see a pattern forming here- my family constantly comes up in my thoughts. I always notice things they would like, places they would like to see, comments I know they would make. After lunch I came across Columbia University and snapped a few shots for you to see. If I had the money I would go there in a heartbeat. I'd call up Natalie Portman and be like, "hey girl. So I heard you went here. I'm going here too. Want to put me in a movie?"

I had half of my lunch left over, so instead of heading home I found Omar, gave him the food and walked a couple dogs with him on the upper west side. A few of the pics are from that part of town, which is really cute with it's brownstone buildings- I think SATC was filmed there.

Now I'm back at home. I'll be in for the rest of the night working on lines. Hope you enjoy the pics.

love love.
Em

a few days of exploration

I haven't posted in a while because so many new things have been happening. Last weekend me and the roomies, Omar and Lauren, house/pet sitted in a penthouse apartment in Harlem. We felt like we were on vacation. We didn't do anything in Harlem, just hung out in the apartment for most of the weekend. We went back home to get our laundry, then came back and did our laundry for free, drank beer, ate pizza, and watched mindless cable tv. It's odd how well the 3 of us get along- it's like we've known each other for years. I really lucked out with them. Even right now, as I'm writing this, we're all watching "Flight of the Navigator" in the livingroom. It's nice to have such good people to be around while I'm in this totally new environment. It's just one more thing about this move that fell into place.

I explored my neighborhood yesterday, which is where most of these pictures come from. I wanted to show y'all things that I see everyday. I walk around Astoria and Manhatten wishing I could share the experience with someone, so this is how I'm doing it. I also took pictures of the apartment so that my family knows where I live. I think it's kind of fun to see the little, everyday things in people's lives- like the bathroom. I know it's anti-climactic, but if they were here with me I would give them the tour of my place. Since I can't, this is the next best thing.

Unfortunately the picture descriptions didn't come up, so just know that these things are sights around my street and apartment. A couple of them were from Omar- he took the picture of the pink stuff- my breakfast: oatmeal with strawberries, honey, mixed nuts, and dried fruit. The ultimate bowl of fiber! He literally had the camera and said, "I want to show people that you actually eat this stuff."

Enjoy!
Em