work hard, play hard

This past week was another busy week of auditioning (9 auditions), and I had to work 40 hours at the nanny job. The kids had two weeks of spring break, and with four kids home all day every day last week, I had to put in some extra time. I also had to make enough money to survive while they went on a 9 day vacation this week. Luckily they're on the vacation now, so I am LIVING THE DREAM, but last week was a hard week. Despite all the working, I managed to have some fun! :)

my girls at Lindsay's going away party!

girl cousins at Dos Caminos

Anne, Lily, Sebastien, Laura, Emmanuel, Claire, and Sophie were all in town, so we had some quality family time. Dinner at Dos Caminos Saturday, Burgers at the Parker Meridien Sunday, followed by a trip to the park made last weekend absolutely awesome. I got to spend some additional time with Anne and the kids, and meet their friend Fanny this past week. It was wonderful having family in town!








I went to the Metropolitan Opera with Will, and sat in orchestra seats for "Romeo et Juliette," a French opera in five acts. It was my first experience at the Met, and I loved it! The unbelievable talent combined with the lavish costumes made it a beautiful spectacle. I also went to a benefit for the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center, which was awesome!







I've had a reasonably relaxing weekend, which consisted of manicures, margaritas, and a viewing of Legally Blonde the musical at my apartment.  I'm looking forward to going home on Thursday, but I have two weeks of audition work to cram into three days between now and then.

St. Patrick is my BFF

St. Patrick’s Day was just one of those days where everything was awesome. I had a great audition, and was incredibly productive before work. I checked my mail on my way to work, only to find a VERY nice treat waiting for me from Ima. Thanks Ima! I also had an awesome package at the post office to pick up from my family. I felt so loved! Work was great on St. Patrick’s Day because I got to see some of the parade! (St. Patrick’s Day in NY is sort of like Halloween in Chapel Hill.) There was everything from men wearing to kilts, to men wearing tutus. As Amy, my co-nanny said,"I saw someone wearing only a thong and a tutu. Apparently you can wear whatever you want on St. Patrick's Day as long as it's green."  I walked with Marguerite and Tatum across the park to tap class on the West Side, and I got to spend some quality time with Tatum’s mother Kathryn, whom I admire so much.

St. Patrick’s Night was even better! Some girlfriends and I went down to Stone Street in the Financial District. It was possibly the best night out I’ve had in New York. It’s basically a giant frat party for grownups. The street is closed down, and all of the bars have tents and picnic tables. It was such a fun celebration.

St. Patrick’s Day is officially my favorite New York holiday! 

Glimpses of Spring

"It's springtime Emily, things happen in the spring!" - Will

My good friend Will and I were riding the subway on Sunday, and this is what he said to me. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the past couple of couple of weeks have been reasonably eventful.

I spent a morning walking around the Upper West Side with a tranny named Dallas... If you want more details regarding how this interesting situation came to be, feel free to ask.  In the meantime, just picture me bopping along in my Gap jeans and hot pink cardigan with my blue converse, while he/she strolled next to me in fur and Chanel. We were a sight. After that adventure, Aunt Laura took me to lunch at Eately! WOW...new favorite lunch place in the city! It was great to see Laura too!

everyone needs at
$25,000 Barbie
Foosball Table

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Sloan-Kettering Bunny Hop. This is a huge benefit in FAO Schwartz, where the majority of the people are dressed "preppily" in Lily Pullitzer etc. The former nanny sarcastically told me it was a "dream come true," and I quickly found that to be truth. The store is closed down, and hundreds of kids come out for face-painting, dancing, a magic show, toys etc. Hundreds of parents come out for an open bar, and some of the best catering I've ever tasted. Marguerite and I had a blast walking around and enjoying the festival with friends like Tina Fey and Kelly Rutherford. My friend Kelly was playing Dorothy for the evening, so it was funny to see her!

Dorothy, Marguerite and me

cute kiddies at the Bunny Hop!

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=soc_events_bunny_hop




Kenan and Nick came to visit for the latter part of last week! On Thursday, I took them to the reservoir, and gave them a brief tour of my neighborhood. After a delicious lunch at Bella Cucina, they came to work with me! They even got to see an exciting day of crazy school pickups, and Marguerite deemed them "her favorites." On Saturday, we watched the end of the Carolina game together and then ventured to the Chelsea Highline with their cousins, Joel and Lystra. We had SO much fun! Seeing them was such a treat!

I had a fun weekend, despite Carolina's loss on Sunday, and enjoyed quality time with good friends. Sherrie, Sarah and I had girl's night on Saturday and saw No Strings Attached. I can honestly say that was the funniest movie I've seen in years! We laughed so hard we cried. The writers also write for SNL, so obviously the one-liners were hysterical.  William and I spent the afternoon together on Sunday, and that was equally wonderful!

This week is an absolute whirlwind. I didn't realize until Sunday, when I was looking at my auditions for the week, that there are so many I've been waiting for finally happening. I'm currently in Boston auditioning for North Shore (their season includes Legally Blonde!!!) and later this week I have an appointment for Shelby in "Steel Magnolias." Those are just two of many big auditions this week that I'm really excited about! :) In non-audition news, I was recently invited to join the North Carolina Society of New York. It's a social club here in the city, and my first official event will be a NC Barbeque with real BBQ that they drive up from Wilson, NC. I'm so excited! I'm also really happy because if all goes as planned, this Thursday will mark my 100th audition since moving to New York in August! It falls right on St. Patrick's day so the celebration will be epic!

I've never spent spring in the city, but there's already so much to look forward to!

'Cause the world keeps spinning round and round, and my heart's keeping time with the speed of sound...

What a busy few weeks it has been...full of highs, lows and everything in between!

In the past two weeks I've said goodbye to Allen, as he and Carly start their exciting life together in San Francisco, been to 15 auditions and a callback, seen two excellent shows, watched the Tarheels crush Duke at Brother Jimmy's, had my new headshots printed, and spent more hours with the kids than most spend with their significant other. What a whirlwind!

The lows these past two weeks have come from bombing auditions, dealing with crazy people at auditions, and getting physically/verbally abused by a 5 year old. My solutions: Statistically when I've been to 90 auditions since moving to NY in August, it's only natural that 4 or 5 would have not gone well...I'm over it. Actors are crazy...just because they're psycho at auditions doesn't mean I have to talk to them. I just get on my iPad and tune them out the best I can. The kid is 5...one minute she hates me, the next she loves me. Who cares? And when she kicks me in the stomach...well, I just flex my abs in hopes that my six pack will hurt her foot more than she hurts me.

My 6-month anniversary of moving to the city passed recently, and it made me realize how much I've accomplished in 6 months. I've been in a show, and had several callbacks for other big shows. My audition technique has improved, and a good friend who was coincidentally in the audition room last week commented that I don't even seem "green" anymore. I've learned to live by myself (oh, and how I love it!!!), yet I've still made some of the best friends I could ask for. Though I'm feeling very satisfied by what I have accomplished, I am still so excited about what the next six months will bring! :) My goals are lofty, but I'm ready to continue working my tail off.


My three headshots:

serious/straight theatre shot.
sorry it's sideways...

commercial shot...
don't I scream, "Shop at Gap!?"

musical theatre.

Farewell, Al and Carly!
We will miss you!

an action shot of my day to day life
5 year old's "winter gear" on the kitchen floor.
typical day.

teaching my NY friends what it means to be a Tarheel!
unc vs duke - march 5 - brother jimmy's!

karaoke at keats.
my favorite quote of the night, by a random man who came up to me
"excuse me miss...why is it that ALL your friends can really sing?"