First Show.

Today I had my first show. It went great. Then I went out to dinner with my boss and his family. That is all.

Just kidding. The show was so fun! I was nervous, more nervous than I've ever been, because of the yo-ing. But the kids thought it was cool. I think they loved my magic tricks. And want to hear something really crazy? After the show, a little girl comes up to me and says, "Hey! Do you do the Ghost Tour in Boston?". In Kearney, Missouri. Can you believe that? Not only had she been to G&G, but on a day that I was working, also she recognized me out of costume (which most people at Old Town Trolley couldn't even do), and she was at my very first show. Wow. I wonder how often that will happen.

Tomorrow, roomie and I are going to check out Downtown Kansas City- there's a steamboat museum. I'm excited.

Kansas City!!

Here I am. First tour. And first show tomorrow. Wish me luck.

I'm in Kansas, and I haven't seen much except for the highway, a Whole Foods and the Courtyard Marriott. But here's to more exciting things to blog about tomorrow!

The West is pretty.

This is the beach in Edmonds, WA. See the mountains? Wow. It's also an underwater park and sanctuary.If I knew how to scuba I could check it out. This beach is maybe a 10 minute drive from where I "live". It makes me smile. The ocean always does that.

The yo-ing is going well, my first show is on Monday. It's split with my trainer incase I fall on my face and blank in front of the crowd, but I think I'll be okay.

Roomie and I had plans to hike to a waterfall today, but it is rainy and cold, so they had to be postponed. The first time it's really rained of my time in Seattle. Funny. I wish the weather were just as beautiful as it was the other day when I took these pictures. O well, I'll be returning home tomorrow!

On the road again....

S0, much has happened since my last entry!

Friday was so busy I didn't even get a chance to write. There was rehearsing, and a group lunch, a hurried, trafficky ride to the airport- where there was an interlude of trying to find a gas station that would accept AmEx to refill the rental car. And yes, boyfriend, we found a place that would take American Express! (He always laughs at me when people won't take my credit card.) There was a flight home with a miserable stopover in SFO. But then I arrived in Boston, for a lovely weekend! It included sunshine, and farmer's markets, friends and plays and ziplining- which was so wonderful. A quick stop at Mike's Pastry on the way to the airport, and here I am. Back in Seattle again.

I brought cannolis to a friend that had asked nicely for them, and was happy to share in the creamy deliciousness. I watched three movies on the flight here, Black Orpheus (kudos to Hil), Shrek Forever After, and Hercules. Huzzah.

Training buddy and I are back at our hotel. The lady at the front desk remembered me by name. Not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. Today was a day spent running lines and yo tricks, which I felt overall went well. I'm very good at lines. Not as good at yo tricks, but that will come. My first time performing in front of a crowd will be next week in Kansas City, wish me luck.

For now I'm signing off, off to check out some small-town oceanside Washington. xoxox

I should be going to sleep now.

Ah, another day. Today was a day filled with paperwork. Learning paperwork. Learning how to do paper work. Learning how to talk about paperwork. My brain is tired. There hasn't been much yo-ing this week. I also got to learn a little bit about what my schedule's going to look like and where I'll be going. I have some questions about that- but for the most part I'm excited. I'll be spending a lot of time all over New England.

After work was nice today! My roommate, a new friend from the office and I went straight downtown after work. We had a crepe with lemon and sugar, we chatted in the sun. We walked, and learned about Seattle. The more I see, the more I like it. It's a very cool city. To me, everything feels so new, very 20's. No cobblestone streets or gas lamps like Boston. Mountains and water surround the city, and the sky is just big. But it is cold. It maybe got close to 70 today...maybe. Feels like late September.

I love September.

Today was a lovely day.

Cal Anderson Park. Capitol Hill, Seattle.

Hmm, so work. This morning my roommate and I arrived at work about 8am. When we arrived, we went down to the kitchen to look at a map. In the kitchen there's a big map of the U.S. with all of the Yoyo Pros' (people who do what I do) pictures on it, with an arrow pointing to where they work. While chatting, I met my person who books shows for me. She is awesome and originally from N.H.- so knows the lay of the land out east which is awesome. I asked her about some of the places I may go. She's working on booking me shows in VT, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick- which I am so excited about. All of which I hope I get a chance to see before (or after) it gets unbearably cold. After chatting, we went over some policy/handbook things. When finished with that (10a.m.), we went shopping. Yes, yesterday I colored and today I shopped. And got paid for it. We picked up all of our costuming needs for the show, and also had a stop at Red Robin for lunch. Red Robin was pretty cool- two words- bottomless fries. Yes, they refill your fries as if they were a soda. With a quick fashion show of our costumes back at the office, the day was over. And off to yoga!

Yoga was great. Finding the studio was not great. We got very lost and were 30 minutes late. But we still went into the class, and it was nice. I did my first headstand which was exciting. The first class at this place was also free. I think I'll be returning as soon as possible.

After yoga, my roomie and I took a jaunt into Seattle. By suggestion of a new friend who works in the office, we decided to check out the Cal Anderson Park (pictured above) and the neighborhood surrounding it- it's called Capitol Hill. This was a really cool park. It was filled with art, fountains, reflecting pools, circus performers, kickball and puppies. I loved it. We asked a guy in the park if there were any cool restaurants in the area- he gave us oodles of suggestions, but we decided to go with his first- the Bleu Bistro. His mention of Wasabi Grilled Cheese caught my attention. This was a cool cool joint. It was tiny, and all of the tables were tucked into grottos surrounded by candles, christmas lights, tinsel and funky velvet curtains. The ambiance was awesome, and so was the food. I got the grilled cheese, which came with 3 delicious dipping sauces (wasabi, basil mayo, mango/apricot something) and veggies to put in, on or around your cheese. It also came with a fantastic salad. I highly recommend it if you're in the area. The Bleu Bistro, near Broadway & John. Yum. This was definitely what I was looking for for dinner, and far more successful than our search last night. We may be going into the city a lot more often...

Now with tired eyes I write again. What's in store for tomorrow, who knows?

Baaaaack in Seattle again.

So, after a few days of working from home, and a lovely weekend, I returned to Seattle yesterday. After my plane landed, I went directly to pick up my rental car- which is a very nice red Jeep Patriot. While driving to my hotel, I realized, "Hey, this is the first time I've ever had a rental car." That was pretty exciting, in adult milestones I guess. Hopefully the milestones don't get progressively duller as I grow up, I think it'll be a mix, but I digress.

My roommate and training buddy arrived at the hotel about two and half hours after I did, due to diverted flights. I tried to stay awake to wait for her, but fell asleep around 3am EST after trying to keep myself up by watching a cake decorating show. Nonetheless, it was great to see her when she arrived! We hadn't seen each other since the day of our auditions, which now seems like eons ago...but it was really only 6 weeks ago. I tried to sleep last night, but found myself feeling like it was the night before the first day of school- and sleep was hard to come by.

Training today was nice. Kind of relaxing and a good way to ease into things. There were a few introductions, a lot of talking, some shopping and a little bit of coloring. Yes, today I got paid to color. I can't wait until tomorrow. No yo-ing today, but no fear my friends, the yoing will be plentiful.

After work I did some research on yoga studios in the area, and I'm very excited because I found one that looks pretty cool. It's called the Laughing Buddha. My roommate and I are going to a Vinyasa class tomorrow after work. Yay! Today I went for a bit of a run while listening to Depeche Mode, had a little visit with the gym downstairs, and a much longer visit with the pool. After being cooped up inside all day, I needed to get out- and it was still relatively hot and sunny when I got out of work at 4:00 today.

After workouts, chats and chilling, my roommate and I decided to grab ourselves some dinner. The dinner options here made me very thankful for Boston. We don't have many chains there. Not like the rest of the country does anyhow. I think I'll get a real taste of this over the next year. Every where you look there's a smathering of Starbucks', Subways, Denny's, Red Robins, Panda Express and any other chain you could think of. Old Country Buffet. Macaroni Grill. McDonald's. I googled thinking I could find better options. I used the little things finder on my phone. My roommate and I talked about all of the great local places we could have gone back home- the North End, Diesel(or any cafe near the Red Line). She told me about her favorite place in L.A. And after discussing all of these things, we realized our bellies were still empty. We got in the car and began to drive. 15 minutes of indecision later, we chose to go to the restaurant at the hotel I had stayed at last time I was here. And funnily enough, we both ordered the exact same thing. A Caprese Salad, with Chocolate Monton Cake and a scoop of Vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was exactly what a girl needed.

Now with a satisfied belly and tired eyes I write. My yo-yo arms are getting stronger from the rest- and I think I'll need it. Signing off, xoxox.

Day 4

I could get used to this whole working from home idea. I spent a good chunk of today in the sun, on my roof, learning lines. It's going well, I feel that I'll be ready to go back to training on Monday which is great.

After "work", I headed to yoga, which has become a new necessity in my life. My body is so happy when I make it to yoga a few times a week. I had a lovely dinner with Eve at the Cheesecake Factory which was, as always, delicious. Surprisingly, it was also the perfect amount of food- which never happens at the Cheesecake Factory. We split Avocado Eggrolls, and I had an Arugula salad. Yum. And then, I showed Eve some of my Yoyo tricks. I think she liked them.

I also think these posts may not be as thrilling until I start traveling again...so maybe I'll hold off until Monday for the next one.

xoxo

Day 3

Back in Boston. Landed this morning at 4:34am. That's too early to land in Boston.

After sleeping far too long, awoke and worked on some lines. No yoing for today. The next few days are full of show learning, which is good, because it'll give my yo bruises a chance to heal.

I had a lovely evening, my boyfriend cooked me a delicious linner and I went to a good friend's birthday party. It was a visit that was long overdue. I think I'm going to like this whole having nights and weekends off idea. Off for now. xoxox

Day 2

Hey guys. So I'm back at SeaTac again. It was a quick trip, but things have happened since I last wrote.

Perhaps most exciting, I met all of the other "Yoyo Pros" from all over the country, there are 17 of us. And yes, "Yoyo Pro" is my new job title. Ghost Host to Yoyo Pro. It seems to only be getting better. Everyone was really awesome and very welcoming. Most of them had just gotten back from Australia, which has made me more than pumped to go in the future. Only a year to wait.... A lot of the other girls seem to be my age, or close to it, and a few of them only started six months ago. This gives me a lot of hope, because when I was first introduced to the company, I thought everyone else on the job had been doing it since I was in High School...it's really good to know that I'm not all alone.

Yoyo tricks are hard stuff man. My yoyo hand is swollen and bruised...and I have a bit of a bruise above my eye where I whacked myself with a yoyo yesterday. I did learn some new things, and I feel A LOT better about doing my tricks in front of other people. This time around, I also learned to make a balloon hat and how to pull 15 feet of colored scarves out of my mouth. I know- Hold the phone- I can now do magic. I also got a company phone and a company credit card which makes me feel like a bit of a grown-up- no more chasing trolleys around Boston to get credit cards!

Now my plane is about to board, so I must cut this post shorter than intended, but I am sure I'll write from this same place again not too far from now. It's back home to Boston for the rest of the week, then I return to the west on Monday. xoxo.

Day 1

"This is not a parking meter. This is a chance for new beginnings..."

Hey, so as many of you already know, I got a new job. This new job involves yo-yo-ing, acting and traveling the world. As you can imagine, I'm very excited. A lot of folks have asked me to keep them updated on my travels, so I figure, what better time than now to start a blog?

Today is my first official day of training, on the payroll, in Seattle, or Lynnwood actually. Lynnwood is about 45 minutes north of Seattle...though I'm not really sure exactly how far, because every time I come it takes anywhere from 2-3 hours to get here from the airport. That's thanks to this ride share kind of thing called "Shuttle Express". It seems to be all the rage at SeaTac airport. Well, not really I guess. I did notice all of the airport cabs are hybrids though, and that made me happy.

So here I am, in the Embassy Suites in suburban Seattle. Work starts in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Wish me the best....