The Beginning of the Hollywood Journey

I have done a lot of acting in the past, but none in L.A....which is a whole other level of professionalism and a bit crazy. But, now I'm here and beginning this journey of auditioning and hoping and believing that everything that I've done in the past has been preparing me for such a time as this. There have been good days, and hard days, but overall I'm living my dream and having a blast doing it! My husband, Ryan, has already signed on to produce two films and has other projects in the works. The people he's working with are some of the best in Hollywood and they are taking notice of his talents and abilities. It's SO fun watching him soar. I couldn't be happier.

I LOVE Washington state and I still have a place to go back to there  because I started another journey of being a real estate broker for Sotheby's International Realty in Seattle.  I've always wanted to delve into the real estate market and I'm having a BLAST doing it. So, I get to fly back and forth from L.A. to Seattle depending on where I need to be at any given moment. Anyone wanting to buy or sell in WA state, hit me up!

Because we have 5 kids and a dog, and didn't really know the L.A. area well enough to just pick a house down here, and didn't want to stay in hotels while we figured it out, we bought an RV. That gives our 2 year old twins the same bed every night and every day for naps (which is good for routine and stability) while we get to know L.A. and figure out where the majority of our work will be located. We are actually loving the RV life (most of the time! lol). We are parked at a 850 acre gated resort where the kids can run and play and swim in the pools, play in the splash park, play sports, and join all of the kids activities they have there. It feels like we are on vacation every day. Plus, the sun is shining EVERY DAY and there are palm trees to look at (I have a love affair with palm trees). So this always cold, damp, Seattle girl is in paradise.

Some days are more fun than others. The not so fun days are necessary because they make the fun days really awesome. I tell myself that when I'm swamped in laundry (my least favorite house chore), the kids are fighting, I don't feel like cooking dinner, everyone has cabin fever, and the dog has been whining to go on a walk. So today, I'm gonna tell you about one of the awesome days I had this past week. It's much more fun to write about than the day before my awesome day when I was cleaning the bathroom and accidentally left the bathtub running and flooded the RV...fun times. Which is a classic example of how that day made my awesome day even more awesome. lol

First of all, I had my very first L.A. acting audition. It was very easy and I wasn't even nervous (which is not usually the case! Especially since I took a break from acting when I got pregnant with my twin girls so it's been a while!). This particular audition was for a makeup commercial. They applied makeup and all I had to do was smile...easy peasy. I had been asked to audition for a film at the same time that morning but I had already committed to the commercial audition so I had to turn the other one down, but there are more of those types of things in the works so I'm not too worried about it.

Moments after my audition! (Feeling relieved)

L.A. traffic is crazy and even though the audition was only 45 miles away, I left super early in the morning and gave myself 2 hours to get there. I arrived to the general area of where I was supposed to be and realized they gave the wrong address...an address that didn't exist. There was no contact info so I had no way of getting ahold of them. I searched and searched and went into every building that had a suite 108 (I knew that part of the address was correct). Finally, right when I thought I had exhausted every possibility and was about to call it quits, I found the building. I ran in ten minutes late and explained to them that their address was posted wrong on the audition info they sent out...and they were grateful for the info because they couldn't figure out why no one was showing up to their audition times! So, crazy first experience auditioning in L.A.

Stopped at a stoplight &
 looked over & saw this view.

After that, I thought I deserved an IN-N-Out Burger for all my hard work. And let me tell ya, that was a good burger! I had an event to go to that evening in Hollywood, so I figured I would take the scenic route that direction...I drove through Malibu and Santa Monica and the sun was shining on the beautiful Pacific Ocean. I do love a beach view! I felt like I was living the dream until I got stuck in traffic on the 405...it was basically a parking lot...we didn't move. By the time it was all said and done, I had been in the car for 5 hours. I love L.A. but the traffic...ugh.

The highlight of
the day was going to
 the Screen Actors Guild National Headquarters in Hollywood for a panel discussion on acting. I was sitting in a room filled with professional, working actors in TV and movies and it felt so surreal. The talk was "Editor's on Acting: TV One Hour Drama". These are the current editors from Scandal, House of Cards, Homeland, Pretty Little Liars, and Daredevil, although they've worked on tons of other shows too (one guy got his start on McGyver...how cool is that?!).






I learned so much! The panelists discussed the elements of craft and technical skill an actor must execute to avoid the cutting room floor, and the decisions directors, producers, and editors make based on an actor's performance. In my opinion, editor's have one of the hardest and important jobs in a production.

Being a fan girl
with Jordan Goldman

One of the editors on the panel, Jordan Goldman, is the author of the book "How to Avoid the Cutting Room Floor: An editor's advice for on-camera actors". It's a great book and when I realized he was the author of a book that had been recommended to me back when I first started acting in Washington, I was like, "Whoa...I'm really here...with all of these people that are actually professionals in this industry and I'm not just hearing about them, or dreaming about joining them." Very. Cool. Moment.

With the amazingly talented and
all around awesome
human being, Peter Xifo.

My good friend, and fellow actor, Peter Xifo, invited me to this amazing event and I had a ball. I learned so much and if you are an actor, or want to be an actor, I recommend watching the video of this SAG Talk. Peter has just landed some great tv projects and I am so excited to see him on TV soon (he can already be seen in a national Sansung commercial too!).

By the time I got home, it was almost midnight and I was wiped but had had the time of my life. The next day was laundry day...fun times. ;)

Until next time...