Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve Shoes

Merry Christmas to all!
My family always does Christmas Eve dinner at their house. At times we've had as many as 30 or more come over for the epic spread. It's potluck-esque with everybody bringing a dish but still a ton of work. It makes me feel very grateful to all my aunts and uncles who are willing to host other holidays. Not only do they do it with pizazz, they also do it with joy. I do it with wine. And then lots of coffee to get me back and up running to go to Mass.
It's been a rainy Christmas in Tejas. The weather has been akin to what it would have been if I had stayed home. Which is pretty crazy. Newark and Houston do not often have matching weather. It's a Christmas miracle.
Went ahead with some haircutting. Short bob. As always, I fret about it and then love it shorter. I'm rocking some old plaid pumps. They don't clash too much with my beloved blue jerssey dress. They were probably my first peep toes. The buttons look pretty dated, but overall not bad for old shoes.
I'm debating rocking them with my beret and my grandmother's wool penguin coat (or as I like to call it, my inheritance. Pics of it to come later. Or just find me wearing it in NY) to mass tonight. Classiness. No matter what I do, I will be way over dressed. Why not also be ecentric? What can I say? I enjoy being fabulous!
The infamous plaid shoes. It's Christmas and I'm Scottish. And yes. My foot is beveled! :-)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Late Night Laduca Musings

Laduca shoes are the industry standard right now. Softer than Capezios with an option of seude or hard soles, a variety of different strappy designs, and different heel heights (the higher the better!). Chorines, leading ladies, and chorus boys all happily trot around the country with their trusty Laducas. I have two pairs I scrimped and saved for, and after dancing in them for a few years, (prepare for blasphemy) I don't think I will buy new ones (Though they do have a fabulous one day a year sale...)
I love the leather they are made of. Soft, buttery Italian leather encasing your tired tootsies. It's not all that sturdy when it ones to the abuse dancers put their shoes through. (Though it does smell heavenly. The scent of new and fabulous leather just makes you feel expensive and luxurious.) The black shoes can be polished and rebirthed, but the tan ones start to look like pretty ratty. My old Capezio war horses stood up much better. Plus, you could run over those things with a tank.
The heel is funny. It flares too much at the base and somehow manages to feel wobbly. I have mine braced due to my feer of heel snappage. A snapped high heel is serious in this business. These aren't just high heels. It's showgirl war!



A pink pair of Laducas! See what I mean about the heels.
So what does a girl do? For now I'm waiting for their one day sale. Maybe a smaller price tag would endear me more to them. Or if I picked up a really pretty pair in a fun color (once again at the sale). Do I defect back to Bloch? I loved my Blochs. They pointed beautifully and fit my square toes to a tee! Whatever I do, I will still be writing those shoes off as a business expense. Tools of the trade!
Hey Phil. Design me a pair and you might win back my loyalty! Hahahaha.This pair from Contact was pretty glam... :-)

Christmas Oreos!

Best follow up to a dentist visits: Christmas oreos with red fillings (and fun graphics!) and a cup of coffee. I get classy points.
Returning to Houston, I am finding the following to be true:
1. I don't like driving everywhere. Everything is spread out way too much.
2. It's hot.
3. In suburbia, it's OK to wear sweatpants out if they are velour and fitted. I disagree and look way over styled.
4. The skinny jean invasion has not wreaked as much havoc here. (I write as wear mine) This could be due to many woman realizing they are unflattering on their bodies or just due to plain stubborness. Don't take away my boot cut!
My parents huge Christmas junkies, and even through the significant rough seas they've had to deal with recently, they have turned their home into a Christmas winter wonderland. Lights, garlands, bows, and a tree for every room. Christmas is serious business for the Chilton clan. :-)
We had a birthday dinner for my granddad yesterday. He was in much better spirits than I though he would be. I got him to watch White Christmas with me. Red velvet cake and turkey pie for dinner. Yum! Not bad for an 89 year old widowerer. Grandma was there in spirit chastising my arrangement of candles on the cake and making sure everything was perfect for her number one man.
More laustable objects from window shopping with Jeffrey. Ralph Lauren flapper party. Christmas fantasies. I would totaly spill red wine all over this dress that would pay my rent for several months. :-)

Monday, December 19, 2011

Fierce Shoes and Christmas Visits

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat. Which means New York is overcrowded with tourists looking for "the Tree" and going to see the Adams Family.
It also meant that people are glammed up for holiday parties. And very rarely, does money come with taste. In honor of the tasteless rich women in the tri state area, I now post shoes that I could rock. Instead, I will wear my grandmother's schwanky green satin pumps from the 60's. And possibly her beaver coat too, but since I am going to visit family in Texas, you don't really wear more than a sweater in that heat.
But if I had tons of money to blow, and I wasn't making DIY Christmas gifts (though I made some really good ones), I would totally buy these (on sale for 569 dollars! Hahahaha) and rock them at the five million holiday parties I go to (or work at.) (I could also retitle my blog "have Louboutins. Am Fierce.)



Reality is different. Packing a bag to go to Houston. Clothes for Christmas mass. I am bringing a pair of fierce shoes home to perk up my senile Grandmother. She was a shoe woman in her day, and she can no longer wear them or remember what day it is, but she still appreciates her some fierce shoes.
Especially if they're green.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Sugar Momma/Daddy/Spouse Plan

Life changes as we keep moving along, but some things stay basically the same. I went to an audition today. They only kept ethnic girls for Legally Blonde, Zombie Prom, Tarzan, and Ave Q. Not ethnic shows. We danced Legally Blonde. Well, I guess their sorority girls were very different than the ones I remember. Shorter, white, and on the chunky side is what I remember. Black, Asian, and ethnically ambiguous got kept off a very simple combo. Oh well. The theatre was just in Southern Virginia, and I thought it would be really cool to book a job there and get to visit some family. (My great aunt-ish Miriam sent me a Christmas card from Southern VA that I just got today. Which made me super happy!)
I met up with a couple of friends later on in the afternoon. Jeffrey, I went to college with and I did a show in Houston with Megan. We are all in our 20s, work crappy jobs at odd hours, spend lots of time going to and fro on mass transit, and can't wait for the day we land all of the following: Broadway show, rich spouse, and Park Ave apartment. (I think the sugar daddy/momma/spouse probably has the apartment and we just move in from our artistic hovels in the outer boroughs and Jersey into the Park Ave apartment. At least that is how this works in my fantasy land. Plus, my sugar daddy/loving and very rich spouse looks like Gerard Butler. Fantasies are fun!)
We went up to 81st and then headed down
through Central Park and down Park Ave salivating at store windows. We longed over clothes we couldn't ever afford. And at Tiffany's. Jeffrey's prep school style looked longingly at the very spiffily (spell check insists that is not a word. Boo!) decorated Ralph Lauren store windows, while I lusted after a black velvet pants suit at Max Mara (testament to it's awesomeness, I am normally a dress girl. Short, curvy girl plus pants suit is not always the best idea. But this was beautiful!) If there is one thing that I have learned working expensive benefits: people who have money do not always have taste. So why do we with no money have fabulous taste? The ever popular question of people in their 20s without trust funds.
After deciding its was a no go on seeing theatre (between what we had seen and what we had collectively not seen, it was difficult to find something we all wanted to pay for. And we were hungry.) We grabbed burritos and drinks at Blockheads. Signs we are old. One drink and it is 730 an we are feeling it. We all got second drinks because we planned on sitting there in their lovely heat longer (and they were cheap. And the Mexican bus boy was antsy.). Last ditch attempts at being bright young things on our nights off, decaf coffee. Then we all headed back on our trains. Home long before midnight and ready for bed. No longer in college are we, but it was still a fun day. We may paint the town much differently than we used to, but it is still a good time. We may not have much now, but our possibilities are endless. At least they are once we've made enough to pay the bills that month.
Oh yeah. I worked on Damages yesterday. Short day. Get paid. Get out. No John Goodman or Glenn Close scenes. Bummer. But life moves on. And one can get their free monthly chocolate at Godiva! (Almost as good as a paid for Park Ave apartment!)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

For Grandma

This afternoon, I found out that my Grandma Ruth had died. She had a heart attack and went quick. Which is a blessing in it's own way. Not lingering and fading slowly like my other grandma. In her honor tonight, I write this.
I have just watched Babe, listened to some kickass stride piano, ate my stash of truffles, and drunk some Scotch in her honor. May she and her magical jazz fingers always stay with me. She will be sorely missed,but always be with me and the rest of her family. As my boo would say, she was a BAMF.

Weekend Update

I went to a singer's call yesterday morning with a new song. The holding room was empty and they took me right away. I sang my cut. The response. "That was very sweet." I don't expect to hear from them and I don't plan on using that song again. Oh well. Ballads and I just don't seem to get a long. Maybe I just need to find an even goofier one.
I spent the rest of the day wandering about with different groups of people. By the end of the night, Stacey and I ended up with tickets to Lysistrata Jones. Which was fabulous. Go see it. You will laugh really hard. And it has glitter cannons. Cheapest student tickets I've ever had for a musical (25 with all the fees). Plus, we were in box seats. Sweet!
Entertaining calls for background this week include Pan Am stewardess with the following measurements 32A- 24- 35. To put this in perspective, I wear an xs and a 2 or a 4. This woman would make me look fat. Another fun call was for Olivia Wilde's latest project. They are looking for the "hotest" women in New York. And they misspelled it twice in the notice. :o
Work is dry right now. No parties for next week. Not that much filming (and they like to film when I want to hit up an audition). I did really well in November, and I thought December would be even better. Dame fortune is fickle and jealous of my fierce shoes. But I do have cash coming in later in the month for a New Year's Eve party. It'll be tight, but all right. (Yes, I meant to rhyme that. I am a dork)
I'm debating a new hairstyle again. I seem to do this every so often. For a huge chunk of my life, I kept the same long, stick straight, 70s esque hairstyle. Then I got antsy about life and my sweet, nice girl hair in college. As a freshman, I cut my own hair. It could have been worse. Kay fixed it and I wore a medium length, Meg Ryan esque, shaggy cut for a couple of years.
Next change- I added copper highlights. Fun, but I couldn't wear quite as many ridiculous colors and the dye has a mind of its own. It stayed fairly copper (my hair naturally has a lot of red in it), but it would morph to a slightly different tone everyday. Plus, it was expensive to get it dyed. (I watched friends in college do their own hair out of a box. The good, the black that was supposed to be brown, and the partial Rainbow Brite. Whoops. No thank you!)
Enter my junior year of college in which the only role I was cast in was Snow White in Into the Woods. Hurrah. Before I knew that I was getting to take choreo to ACDFA (which rocked), I had a moment of panic. I needed to change something in my life, I had my hair bobbed in Oklahoma. Woo!Ch-ch-ch-changes Mr. Bowie!
That Christmas, I told Kay to do whatever she wanted. I ended up with a shaggy pixie. I'm not sure if it was actually Mom hair, or just my own panic about the possibility of having Mom hair. I went back to the bob where I have stayed ever since.
But I'm antsy again. Do I want to go shorter again? If I do it soon, I have time for it to grow out a little bit over the holidays. Decisions. Decisions.
I love Marcella's short hair here. (She's the one in the middle)She's currently rocking a much longer doo. I like her better with the short hair.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Brilliant Ideas and Little People

Bret and Jermaine need to write a musical. Look who's writing on Broadway right now- pop and rock all over the place. They already have an apt sense of theatre, a unique voice, and an ability to turn the most mundane moment into a funny and momentous catchy song. Bret just wrote the songs for the Muppet Movie (which were brilliant. Who doesn't have me parties?). Plus, you left the theatre singing his songs. There were catchy, funny, and just plain singable. Something missing from a lot of musical comedies being written in this day and age (Catch me If you zzzzz...). There are talks about Flight of the Conchords movie, which would be sweet, but they need to write a musical. They seem a more sane choice to me than Bono or Regina Spektor (though I do love me some Regina). Plus, they would be a younger audience demographic. Love me some Anything Goes, but I saw it while I was on my senior showcase trip. The small crew of enthralled MT's spread out in the sea of blue hairs. It would also be a side option for tourists on dates. You don't have to be drug to Wicked by your girlfriend. (Good luck getting Book of Mormon Seats. And depending on your lady friend's sensibilities, good luck getting any sugar after she is offended by it.) Why not try some Bret and Germaine instead? You're nerdy girlfriend would love it almost as much as the green girl down the street! They don't push the offensive limit to the South Park level (It don't care as long as it's funny, but it bothers some girls.). And you still get good boyfriend points for going to see a musical. My ex and I used to trade who picked the movie on movie night. So that means he watched Victor/Victoria and I watched Withnail and I. The things you do for other people. :)
I lost my train of thought! Choo Choo. Anyways, they should write a musical. It could be really awesome. This has been another brilliant idea brought to you by a little person with absolutely no power. But I do make a mean cup of coffee!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

More Money Than Sense

Atlantic City is not a spot of glamour and fun. It might have been in it's heyday, but all that remains is the deceptive glitz of the casinos and some really impoverished neighborhoods around it. Not a boardwalk empire anymore.
The gig went all right. Costumes didn't work with the choreo. I lost my big plastic Indonesian hat three times in the fan dance, but all of the diners were eating and not watching us. It was a fairly sedate middle aged crowd with a penchant for kitten heels. (Yuck) For an expensive benefit, most of the ladies shoes would have worn perfectly at my junior high school Valentine's dance. You can have money, but it doesn't mean you have taste. (or sense. They could have hired real Balinese dancers, but they wanted us!)
We were all slightly panicked when we saw at least a third of the guests were real Asians (unlike us), but they all turned to be quite nice and chill. We crashed out in our hotel and headed back home the next morning. Not the worst way to earn some money.
I worked background on Smash yesterday. It's supposed to air after the Superbowl. Between inefficency, poor writing, and casting American Idolers where they ought not be, I don't think the show will have much of a run. (Like the party: more money than sense) Hopefully the prove me wrong. (Craft services and catering were awesome! If only the could share that through the TV.)
It's raining and I need to do laundry. Blegh. I might be rocking some Muppets over my headphones at the laundry mat. It's the only way I'm getting any kind of motivation!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Eclectic, Crooked, and Accompanied by John Denver and the Muppets

I got in at 2 in the morning from Houston Tuesday and still haven't quite got my steam back. I can just feel my body trying to get sick. Not now please!
It's been a busy week. Auditions, rehearsals, and the ever present gig hunt. I turned down a gig with the puppet troupe that would be an insane amount of work for very little money and keep me from visiting the family during Christmas. It was a question of some money or some big Irish family time. As a workaholic, I have to remember to give myself breaks and playtime. Even if that playtime is Muppet Christmas sing a longs with John Denver and my family. (You can just guess who sounds better)
I got together with an old friend yesterday. It had been five years since I had last seen Brian. We're both older in body not spirit and still finding ways to deal with and get around life. And drinking too much coffee. If that is possible.
A combination of weather, tired, and just post Thanksgiving blues have hit me this week. Which is weird. In college, post Thanksgiving blues did not occur. It was the push to the finish. Which generally meant getting a show up, auditions, choreography showings, and finals. Not enough time to be blue. Barely enough time to sleep and put up my tiny Christmas tree. (But still enough time for lots of wine mulling. It can accompany everything. At least Leta, Alex, and I thought so!)
But now my Christmas tree is up. My landlord left it, and it's bigger than the one I had in college. By a lot. It's eclectic and crooked but somehow it is making my apartment feel warmer, cozier, and cheerier. I have a job this weekend. I have one on Monday (background props crew on Smash. College revisited if they give me a paintbrush.) and the possibility of another on Wed that would be really cool. (I'm not saying what it is cause I don't want to jinx it.) John Denver and the Muppets are playing in the background and I am going to bed early. Put the blues away and get down to working.
Tom, I head to Atlantic City with Chezzam and pretend to be a Balinese dancer. Someday, someone will want to hire me in my kilt. Doing the manly Scottish dances I used to rock at Highland Games (when I remembered the steps). When that day comes, I will be ready (and feel like a giant dork), but for now, work what I can get!
(If this doesn't make you happy, you are dead to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpuNU3y1KAk&feature=related)

The Leaning Tower of Christmas!