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?"

Audition Season

downtown Pittsburgh

The official audition season has begun. "Audition Season" as NY actors call is is the time when most theatres have the casting calls for their season, including summer work. It means every day is filled with at least 6 or 7 auditions, and actors scramble around signing up for as many as possible, and choosing which ones are most important that they get seen for. My situation is a bit different because I can only audition until 3pm (at the latest) because of the nanny job, so my scrambling is done even earlier than most, so I can get seen at the auditions before lunch break. I also flew to Pittsburgh and back in a day for an audition, which went well, but was quite stressful. It's been pretty intense, but other than one anxiety attack at Actors Equity thanks to a mean monitor (you know who you are), I'm hanging in there. I have a really big week ahead with three appointment auditions (no waking up at 6am on those days!), so I'm excited for those opportunities, and working hard to leave this difficult week behind me.

KJ, Linds and me at a Valentine's Party!
Miss you, Leslie!

Let's go Tarheels!

Highlights from the past two weeks:

Watching the Tarheels at Brother Jimmy's. Even though we lost, it was wonderful to be surrounded by so much Carolina Southernness, and great to reconnect with friends.

Meeting a Broadway producer on an airplane, and making a good impression...I think!  :)

Spending time with my pregnant UNC professor, Melissa, who is in the city right now, and getting ready to have her baby. She's wonderful!

With friends at Lindsay's brunch!

Going to a fun concert in SoHo. "Wild Nothing" was the band - check them out.

Meeting Lindsay's parents and enjoying the brunch they hosted with my girl friends! :)

Two Individuals' Views on the Life of a NY Actress...

On Thursday, we had lots of pickups at work, all at about the same time. I grabbed the 13 year old and her friend at Chapin, dropped them off at the apartment with the other nanny, and continued in the cab to the West Side for 5-year-old tap class. Tap is probably my favorite kid activity of the week, because I really enjoy talking to one of the other moms, and tap just takes me back to my childhood dance lessons.

I was in the taxi with Maddie and Charlotte (two typical 13-year-old girls), and Maddie said, "Emily why do you want to be an actress?" I responded about how I love it blah blah blah...the answer I give to all of the people who just don't get it. She said, "But there are so many people who want to act and fail. Why do you want to do something that it's so hard to succeed at?" I explained to her that different people measure success differently. She said, "Do you want to be famous?" I said that I absolutely did not because I thought it would be miserable. I explained to her that I really just want to be on stage, and make enough money to support myself doing so. To me, successful actresses are those that can support themselves doing nothing but their art. She said, "If I were an actress and not famous, I'd deem myself a failure." I responded with, "Well it's a good thing you have other aspirations in life." That was the end of our conversation, but it really made me think about why I do what I do, and how I measure success.

Fast forward thirty minutes.

I was folding Marguerite's school clothes at tap class, as she had changed into her blacks and taps. I was chatting with Kathryn, the sweet UES mom that I love, and another mom of a girl in the class. Well the other mom just happens to be Tina Fey. Her adorable daughter Alice is one of my 5-year-old's friends. Tina invited us to join them for pizza after tap. I ran outside, called the other nanny to make sure she could cover dinner time at the apartment, and then prayed for twenty minutes that Marguerite wouldn't let me down and decide she didn't want pizza for some reason when she finished tapping. Marguerite frolicked out of dance class and announced that she would love to go to pizza with Alice, and so we did.

Tina, Alice, Marguerite, and I had a lovely dinner on the Upper West Side. Tina talked to me a lot about auditioning, and the performing arts business in New York. She talked about how much respect she had for people auditioning here, and how hard it must be. She was very complimentary and encouraging, and honestly gave me just the encouragement I needed, after a hard week of auditioning and comments like Maddie's from an hour earlier. Another highlight of the meal was Alice's boisterous statement that I looked just like the Legally Blonde girl. I told little Alice that was the nicest compliment I'd received since living in New York, haha!

Tina is so kind and fun to talk to. Her quiet demeanor is totally different from what I had seen on TV, and it's also really cool to see what a great mom she is. After dinner, we had cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. Tina blocked out the people staring at us and whispering, and we had a great time. I am SO thankful for the neat opportunity to get to know a mom who is also such a successful actress. I think Marguerite and Alice had a great time too! :)

"What's the most swankified place in town?"

According to "Wicked," that would be the Ozdust Ballroom. However, after this weekend I believe it to the be the University Club.

Chris came up to New York for the weekend, and we had the best time. In true Emily-style we fit about four days worth of activities into 36 hours, and it was awesome. We started off the weekend going to Harry's Cafe Steak downtown. After getting lost (per normal with me), we got there. We realized that getting lost was actually totally a good thing because on the way we got to see the filming of Blue Bloods. We saw a take, actually, with Tom Selleck smoking a cigarette in his trench coat. It was AWESOME. Dinner was even better. Chris got the monkfish, I had a filet, and we split the best salad of my life and a stuffed baked potato. I had the best Riesling ever, and Chris had a delicious Pinot Noir, even though we technically should have switched wines based on our food. :) The restaurant is a wine cellar, and they age their steaks for 28 days, so it's no wonder the food was so excellent. After dinner, we met up with friends for Leslie's going away party and went dancing at a bar near Union Square. The people watching and music were both top notch.

Saturday we got up early and got student rush tickets. Deciding on a show was hard because I insisted on seeing a show Chris hadn't seen, and he wanted to see a show I hadn't seen, but considering I live here and see a lot of theatre, there was not much overlap. I won the argument, and we rushed Memphis. We had a delicious brunch at The Boathouse, my favorite. Seeing the snow covered park was such a treat! Central Park is beautiful in every season, but the snow is especially lovely there. We then checked out Rockefeller Plaza, watched the skaters, and hung out until our matinee. We had box seats for Memphis which sounds totally posh, but really it was obstructed view. The show was still fantastic, with awesome choreography and talent. We met Sherrie for an early dinner at Shake Shack (a must for anyone visiting NY). We headed back to my neighborhood, visited with my cute little neighbors Jackson and Olivia, and then chilled at the apartment a bit. We were so tired, that getting dressed up for the ball was not appealing at all, but we sucked it up, and I'm so glad we did.


The Blue & White Benefit Ball at the University Club was probably the most elegant event I've ever attended. I was nervous about not knowing too many people but I met lots, and had an amazing time. The open bar and dessert table were both well-enjoyed, and the space itself is incredible. It is the oldest social club in Manhattan, and was founded in 1861 by a group of Yale alumni. The Alex Donner Orchestra provided the music, and it was THE BEST. I also had the best dance partner of my life (sorry Dad, Chris ' moves are even better than yours. Maybe he'd teach you sometime :) ). After lots of schmoozing, dancing, and enjoying the lovely benefit, we headed to a bar next door. The Peninsula hotel has a great rooftop bar with a view of 5th Avenue, so we sat outside under the heaters and talked about the classy evening, in slight disbelief about what a wonderful night we had had. We ventured down to Katie Sue's party after that, spent time with friends and then headed back to my apartment. Two 3 am nights out in a row are exhausting, but well-worth it.

This morning we got up and went to my favorite place in the city. Well, my favorite place in my neighborhood for sure: The Jackie Onassis Reservoir.  The view of the Upper West Side across the park is so picturesque, and it's one of those places that always leaves me in awe of how lucky I am to live there. We then had traditional NY Bagels at H&H, and Chris headed to LGA. What an incredible two days!