Talking To Myself

A few projects I have been working on.

2012-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

I know I've been silent for a long time but I haven't felt like blogging for a while. Since I last blogged I moved then moved again but I have worked on some fun projects( let's face it pintrest has inspired me to attempt some things I might not have tried before)

Dresser

For the last five years I have been using a smallish three drawer night stand for a dresser. This would be a problem for most people but I happen to have a clothes obsession. (AKA I love bras and I have too many of them) so I have been needing a real dresser the problem is, the style of dresser I really want is mirrored but if you look at the prices on them they are usually between $750 to $1000and that's on the cheap end.

So I took some inspiration from pintrest and I went to DI and found a nice six drawer dresser for $35

I removed the drawer pulls,cleaned, sanded, and repaired the dresser then I went to the home improvement store and found a really good silver spray paint.

I got Valspar primer in grey and Valspar Billiant Metal in silver. I started with primer first.

then waited overnight for that to dry completely then I started with the silver. It took several coats and several days and I decided to paint the inside of the drawers. I used a purple kyolan color but it didn't cover as well as I would have liked.

when the dresser was painted and everything was dry I went back to the store and picked out some new drawer pulls.

That is the finished project and now my clothes have a happy home.

One thing I have noticed is I have silver "dust" that will rub off of the dresser when I touch it. I think it's because I was working on this in October and the days were getting cold. I don't think the paint could dry properly. I plan to wait for spring and warmer weather and take it back outside and give the dresser one more coat of silver then get a good quality clear spray and give the whole thing a clear coat. I'm also not happy with the coverage of the purple inside the drawers so I will redo that and I might go with a dark charcoal instead of purple.

Monsters

Another fun project I have worked on are some crazy closet monsters. In October I was at the book store and found a fun book about taking old clothes that you would get rid of and turning them into monsters. I love this idea, taking something old and "upcyling" it into a creative project. I immediately thought of making monsters for my nieces and nephew for Christmas. So I found three projects in the book that I thought were cute and again I headed to some thrift stores( I didn't have the specific clothing items I needed) take a look at these pictures.

I forgot to take a picture of the sweatshirt before I cut it up but this first one was made from a teal sweatshirt. I made this one for Ari because I thought he was kind of funky for a young teen girl.

This Monster started out as a pair of zip off leg pants. This guy was for Kai because I thought the Velcro pocket and the texture of the corduroy stripes and the zipper head (yes his head can zip off completely!) would be great for development of a one year old.

And this guy was a green and purple turtle neck sweater. I thought this would be fun for Devyn because the sweater is soft and cuddly, also I thought the monster's personality kinda matched Devyn.

Aren't these guys so funny. I'm very happy to say that they were a pretty big hit with the kids for Christmas.

So That's just a little of what I've been doing to keep the creative juices flowing.

USU Theater: The Three Musketeers

2011-05-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

I just saw this video on one of my assistant designers' blog. I thought you might like to see it.

Maiden Voyage

2011-05-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get out of my apartment, enjoy the nice weather, and get a little exercise, I decided to get out my bicycle today. I pumped up the tires and went for a short maiden voyage. I haven't been out on my bike since I moved to this apartment, two things I noticed 1)this neighborhood is my more level than my old one and it's nice not to have so many inclines. 2)There is allot more traffic here and the view from a bike isn't quite as pretty. I used to live very close to the island and on my old bike route I would ride right along the road that looks out over the valley. I guess it's a trade off. I think I'll see if I can find a bike route that I can use that isn't on such busy streets maybe a park or something.

Adventures in L.A.

2011-02-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

As promised, I am posting pictures from our trip to Los Angeles. When we arrived in LA our host Don showed us around his home and the house where we stayed, then we were still very awake so we walked down to Hollywood Blvd and saw a bit of the walk of stars and the Chinese Theatre. The next day we all stayed at the house most of the day working on our presentations, getting them finished up, but we did go to dinner at a Thai restaurant that evening. The next morning we drove to the Los Angeles Theatre Center to set up our displays and find out when our presentations were. Lindsay, Caroline, and Molly presented the first day then Annie, myself, then Milinda presented on Thursday. Thursday night we went to an Italian restaurant then we decided to explore the art walk that happens in downtown LA once a month. Friday morning We had to load in the set for Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico. The Show had two performances with a feed back session after the first. then after the second show we had to strike the set and load it out which made for a very long day. On Saturday I slept in a bit then Nate and I walked over to Hollywood Blvd and got lunch and I did a little shopping and bought some new perfume at the Sephora. Then we met up with Annie and Melinda and went to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) where there was an exhibit of this year's Oscar Nominated Costume Designs. Then we dropped Nate off and we went to the Disney Concert Hall, and after that we drove by what looked like a street festival so we stopped and looked around and decided to stay for dinner. I had the most delicious Mexican meal and we were serenaded by two Mariachi signers. That night was the awards ceremony we got there a little early and played Phase 10. At the awards ceremony Caroline got a Regional award for costume, Molly got National for make-up, Milinda got a Regional for lighting, Annie got a Regional award for Scenic Design, and I got the National ward for Scenic Design. So, way to go Utah State-rs!

Home again, home again, gigity gig.

2011-02-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

Back home from L.A. lots of fun, stories to tell but for now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. More on my trip soon.

Confession

2011-01-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

(New Tools: a kitchen scale and a salad spinner)

Ok so I have started something that I normally don't talk about in public...a weight loss routine. There are a couple of reasons that I normally don't talk about it when I'm dieting or trying a new workout routine; 1) If I tell people that I'm working on my weight and then fail to lose weight then they will know that I have failed, 2)I don't like to acknowledge the fact that I'm not happy with my body to most people. My family and close friends a sort of a different case but even then I'm a little funny about it. But I have realised that this is probably part of the problem if I'm trying to secretly lose weight I have no support or accountability to anyone or anything. So I'm breaking that bad habit and I'm writing this post about my efforts.

I got a Wii Fit for Christmas and I have been working out on that pretty consistently since the week after Christmas. That may not seem that impressive to some people but it's huge for me this is literally the first time I have ever stuck with an exercise routine of any kind for more that a week. EVER! Also, this week my sister told me about something that has been helping her it's a website and an app called myfitnesspal.com she's been having success with it so I thought I would look at it. It's basically a website were I can track the food I eat and the excersize I do and I can connect with my sister (or anyone else on it for that matter) and get support and encouragement.

So let me just say that this effort is not without it's ups and downs earlier this week I was pretty excited because I lost a pound because it means that I'm doing something right and going in the right direction. ( I should say that since Christmas I have actualy lost 3 lbs. but I started the myfittness pal this week) The one problem I have with my Wii fit is it weighs me every time I do it, although it shows it to you in terms of BMI (body mass index) you can peek at your actual weight in pounds, so I'm getting a daily look at my weight and seeing it fluctuate up and down is a little frustrating. I feel like I'm doing everything right even though I'm not perfect with my calorie goal everyday I know I'm doing allot better than I was before I started, but the pounds just aren't moving yet.

So this morning I had a bit of a breakdown. But after a good cry and a good talk with my mom and sister, I've decided to change my focus from pounds to a few things that might be better indicators of how I'm really doing: 1)I am feeling really good, I'm happier,I have more energy and I'm even sleeping better. I'm sure that's due to the consistent exercise. 2)I'm going to take measurements and use that as another way to gauge my progress. 3)I will not look at my weight on the Wii every day. 4)I am going to feel good about the fact that I'm making healthier choices even when I don't meet my daily goals.

I think that last one is really important because I'm not doing this to get skinny fast or to impress anyone else.( The people in my life that really matter love me the way I am, and know that I'm beautiful whether I'm overweight or not) Ultimately I'm doing this to be healthier, the pounds are just a number, I'm trying to make a new lifestyle for myself. I want to go for a hike up the Jardine Juniper trail this spring and not wonder if I'm strong enough to do it. I want to go to Europe next year and have the energy to walk all around to see the things I want to see, and if I get married I want to be healthy enough to have a safe and normal pregnancy in my thirties.

So I guess I've come out of the closet about this now, so if your reading my blog just know that I could really use your support and if you have similar goals I will be more than happy to return the favor.

So Bowling is probably not a big calorie burner but I had allot of fun and I'll tell you what, My bum was sore afterwards it's like doing a bunch of lunges.

Crazy Week

2011-01-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well I've come through another crazy week. I managed to get my set for the one acts up and I think it looked good and on Wednesday night I was in charge of stiking it while I was sicker than a dog. On Friday I went to the doctor since I didn't seem to be getting better after a week and a half and it turns out I have an ear infection and probably the flu as well. So now I'm on antibiotics and I'm finaly starting to feel better. Here are some shots of my set.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

OK I know it's been the new year for a couple of weeks now, but it still feels new to me. If your anything like me you make resolutions every year in fact I make the same resolutions every year because I'm not very good at keeping them but I've decided that it's good to set goals even if I don't reach them because it means that I'm still trying. I don't like to tell people what my resolutions are because I'm slightly superstitious and I'm afraid if I tell people then I'll fail to meet my goals. There is one goal that I have that I don't mind telling you and that is my goal to graduate this semester! It's a little scary to start my last semester of college ever. Wish me luck! Oh and by the way how do you like my new look? I love the sparkle of the chandelier.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

This will be short but I just wanted to post a quick wish for a very happy Christmas to everyone. I love you all and I hope your holiday is full of love, warmth, loved ones, and joy. I'm thinking of all of you tonight.

Merry Christmas!
Love, Brandee

Christmas Goodies

2010-12-17T16:11:00.001-08:00

My favorite thing about Christmas is all the traditions and the smells and sounds of the the season. One of the things I remember about Christmases as a kid are all the fun treats my mom would make, cheese balls, and candies, and peanut brittle. I don't remember lots of cookies at Christmas, my sisters might have different memories but I'm a little younger so mom might have cut some of those things from her very long to do list by the time that I was old enough to remember. But one cookie that I do remember, and it's one of my favorite Christmas treats, are Russian teacakes. Now that my finals are over I finally had time to do some baking. So I made these Russian teacakes for the party I had the other night. They are simple to make and I think they are a little fancier than a regular cookie. It was fun to spend a little time in the kitchen.

These cookies are nice because they aren't too sweet. You roll them in confectioners sugar after they are baked so they are frosty, wintry, white. I think they look pretty on a Christmas table.

Christmas Party

2010-12-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love the most about my new(ish) apartment is that with the extra room I now have I can finally invite people over and entertain friends. On Wednesday evening I had a Christmas/ end of semester party at my place. Since I was in High School I always thought it would be so sophisticated to have a formal Christmas party where everyone dressed up I mentioned that to my friend Annie and she totally got behind it. It was allot of fun and I'm hoping to have another party soon. Some of these pictures are blurry because the lighting was soft.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2010-12-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

My goodness, it has been a long time since I was able to blog about what I've been up to mostly because I've been very busy! One of the classes that I've been taking this semester is a Millinery class. Millinery is the art of hat making here are pictures of the hats that I've made this semester.

Some of the class wearing their Regency bonnets

This is my bonnet It was made from an old straw hat that I wirerd and cut into the brim shape and then added a fabric crown.

This is a Cavalier hat made of felt, made by taking a felt hood (kind of a "blank hat with no shaping or sizing) then I wet it with water and blocked it into the shape, wired the brim then we stiffened it with sizing.

This is my Buckram Cavalier hat. it is made from a stiff material called buckram. I patterned the shape then cut out the individual pieces, wired them then covered them with fabric then stitched the pieces together.

This is my Medieval Hennin. It is made in the same process as the Buckram cavalier hat. I did make the large braided trim that goes around the top of it. I made a long velvet"snake" then braided it with several pieces of contrasting trim to give it the right scale and interest.

Showing off our Hennins on the day of the final.

One of my other classes is Scene painting This is my final project for that class, It is a translucent drop, which means you paint it in a certain way so that it can be lit from behind so it can change looks. Some will change from day to night mine just glows. I chose a vintage corset ad for my project. These pictures show the work in progress.

This is the finished project lit from the front (it's a little shinny because it was still wet when I took this picture.

And this is what it looks like lit from behind it doesn't show up so well in a photo but the stars glow and the the highlight on the lady glows. I get to take this one home and I'm planning on hanging her in my bedroom.

So there is a sample of what I've been working on this semester. Now I have to get back to cleaning my house.

Happy October

2010-10-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Well, at the end of the summer I said that I was going to try and keep up with blogging one a week like I did while in Maine. It's been about a month and I've failed miserably but I'm going to try to do better. So what's been keeping me so busy that I couldn't take a minute to write on my blog, you ask? Well a couple of things. First of all the whole pesky school thing with it's homework and time consuming projects has been a big part of it. The weekend after I got back to Utah I then jaunted off to California to visit my sister and her family, to meet my new nephew. (he is so cute I can hardly stand it!) My best friend got a great job and moved away so I was spending time with him before he left. My best girl friend got married so that was a trip home for that. And then there's been the fact that I've been trying to get unpacked with all of these other things going on. But I can finally say that after a weekend of concerted effort I have finally unpacked the last box and cleaned the place, so I'm officially moved in. I've even done a little decorating mostly concentrated in the living room for now. So That's my update and I'll try to be good and write again next weekend.
The trip to CA

At lunch with my beautiful niece Ari

My nieces and my new nephew

Celebrating mom and dad's birthdays and anniversary.

I made Sunday dinner for my friend Nate before he moved I bought some inexpensive flowers and arranged them and I also made this no-bake Oreo pie. it was so yummy.

This my lamp project. I took some lamps that I already had, spray painted them black, found white shades, then bought some black trim for the shades. What do you think?
Before...

And after

I bought an inexpensive love seat and chair and I was able to buy a slipcover I liked for the sofa but my mom and I found this cute stripped fabric so I'm making a slip cover for my chair. It's still not finished but I just have to take some darts at the corners and add ties.

This is what my living room looks like I'm not done with the placement of things on the walls, I feel like I need something else but I'm not sure what yet. and I'd really like a small coffee table but I haven't found something suitable. and I'm going to add an accent color, I'm thinking pear green. But it is starting to feel decorated and livable.

What I did this summer - or - Things I learned in Maine

2010-08-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

So this is it my last blog post from Maine. I thought that I would start off by posting a link to Maine State Music Theatre's website, where you can see videos of most of the shows that we did this summer. If you watch the video for Spamalot keep in mind that in the last song of "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" I'm onstage behind the castle, it's my secret cameo. This week I've still been dressing Spamalot and that's going more smoothly now, and I've also been working on the Co-design of Alice in Wonderland. Some of the pictures I am posting are shots of the Girl playing Alice in her costume for so publicty shot (but I took these of course)I'm also posting pictures of various items that we were considering as options for the show, however, not all of them made it to the show. It's been a fun crazy sometimes awefull sometimes wonderful summer and I thought I'd make a list of what I learned in Maine.

1. I don't realy like lobster I tried it and I don't hate the flavor but I can't do the texture.
2.I think I could learn to like fish if it's really fresh.
3.I hate humidity!
4.The Big Top deli makes a delishious turkey club...yum!
5.Being nice doesn't always make people respect you.
6.I don't care about that last one I'm not going to stop being nice.
7.I'm physicaly capable of things I didn't think I would be capable of i.e. running up and down stairs more than 10 times a show.
8. I should never work at a job where I'm have to work alone in a room with no one to talk to...it makes me a little crazy.
9.Even when it's hard and I'm exhausted I still love theatre.
10.Roomates can be fun and they can keep you sane.
11. I love my family and I can always count on them to see me through hard times(althought I knew that before I came to Maine)
12.I miss really good squeezy hugs from my friends.
13.A somewhat narrow galley-style kitchen is actualy quite a luxury.
14.It is possible to make good food even when you only shop for two or three days at a time.
15.I love my car and miss it a lot!
16 Hannaford is a lovely grocery store and I wish they were located in the west.
17. The Altantic ocean is cold!
18.I am weaker than I thought I was but more resilient then I thought I was.
19.I'm a western girl, even though New England is lovely and I do think I could live here I will always be a western girl. I like mountains, wide open vistas, and the warm and friendly people.
20. There are many wonderfull and talented people here who have made my time away from my home bearable/wonderful and I hope that I will be able to keep in touch with many of them.

Well it's been a great summer and I have about two and a half days left but I'm very excited to come home but I will miss the new friends I have made here.

12 down One to go!

2010-08-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

It's been an extreemly busy week. I've been working on the wardrobe crew for Spamalot, which opened Thursday. If you've never seen or heard of it, Spamalot is a musical based off of Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. It is very funny and has a lot of gags, tricks and spectacle. It is also a very hard show to run. There are 8 dressers and we all pretty much run from one change to the next. We have been open for several days now and I'm finaly getting to a point where it's going more smoothly. I'm also Co-designign the intern show of Alice in Wonderland. We had most of the cast in for fittings on Saturday and they went really well, which is good because we load that into the theatre on Saturday, and with our show scdule we have the morning today and Friday to get the show done.

Wardrobe Crew playing frisby after we had pre-sets done.

Carrie wearing a hat that we may put in the show.

The prop girls wearing a matching color scheme.

The Final Strech?

2010-08-09T12:15:00.001-07:00

This one is going to be short and boring. I'm going to be dressing Spamalot and co-designing Alice In Wonderland right up until I come home. I will probably be pretty busy from now on. I took a few photos of the storage area of the fort to give an idea of what I've been working with. My parents have been helping me look for an apartment back home so we'll see how that goes. I finished my initial scene breakdown for Three Musketeers, the show I'm designing next year, so at least I'm making progress on some stuff. That's about all for this week.

Change of Pace and a day off!

2010-08-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

This week has been alternately a hard week and a fun week. I think it's been difficult because I'm getting closer to the end and yet it's still a substantial amount of time left, roughly a third of my total time here was left to go at the beginning of the week. However, I got to go work at the costume shop on Saturday which I was nervous about (new situation) but it turned out to be allot of fun and one of their stichers had been hurt earlier in the week so they were very grateful for my help, it was nice to be appreciated. In fact, they asked me if I would be willing to come in on my Sunday day off to help more and I agreed to because it was really enjoyable to get to work with people for a change. Then on our Monday day off my roommates invited me to go to Freeport with them then we went to a company picnic at a board members house. It was a perfect day, warm but not too hot, and the house and the water was beautiful.

My roommates and I had a feast of zucini, squash, potatoes, and chicken it was delicious. the above video is me trying to be clever and document cooking in the tiny kitchen we share but I probably sound like an idiot. Oh well I was having fun. This is me working all alone at the fort in fact I took this picture with the timer on my camera thus the poor photographic quality. On Saturday when I worked in the shop I went to the mall to get a hot dog from a stand in the park and there was a band playing in the gazebo and two of my roommates where there and one of the electrics interns showed up it was nice to have lunch in the park and poke a little fun at the quality of the band (clearly High School aged boys) Perfect Saturday in the Summer atmosphere. These are photos of the lovely location of our company picnic I believe this is the home of one of the board members of the Theatre. There was good food and it was so beautiful and I got to go on a boat ride in the bay but I forgot to take my camera on the boat. Well that's one more week down and now I'm at about three and a half weeks to go I think I'm going to be very busy for the rest of my time here but I think that will be good so I don't have time to feel homesick. Until next week....

One Month to Go!

2010-07-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I missed my usual Sunday post but I decided to wait for today since one month from today, I will be getting on a plane to come home. Now, this comes with stress out factors such as not having a place to live yet, but never the less I'm still very excited that the end of the summer is getting closer. I have had a mostly unexciting week mostly work, however, Chicago opened this week and I went to the show opening night and then to the party afterward. I did take a few pictures but the light was just dim enough that the photos didn't really turn out that well. At work I pulled a package for West Side Story in one day. That sounds pretty impressive, designing an entire show in one day, but it's not as difficult when if just pulling options for the show and there are no actors that have to be fit. If your interested in seeing what I did you can go to the MSMT costumes website and look up West Side Story. Well I guess that all my news for this week. One Month to Go! Yea!

My Fair Lady

2010-07-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well it's been another busy week in Maine for me. This was the last week of My Fair Lady which has been keeping me very busy. Also this last week marks the half way point in my time here in Maine which is exciting but I'm also very anxious to get home I just want to get rolling on all of the projects I have coming up, not to mention I miss everyone at home. Also I'm pretty sure that most of my readers belong to my family but just in case you aren't, I'm excited to say that my nephew was born yesterday! I'm very excited to meet him, however, I have to wait until Labor day to do so. I'd just like to say Welcome to the family little one!

These are some houses that are on Park Row by the mall I think they are absolutely gorgeous. They are all businesses now, one is a Museum,one is an Inn, and one is an antique store. Aren't they lovely old buildings?

The other evening I went to dinner with some friends from the show at The Great Impasta which is a fantastic Italian restaurant.

Apparently it's a tradition with the wardrobe crew to have "Wardrobe Wiggie Night" where we all try on wigs from the show. Is is just me or do I look like the lady from Pete's Dragon in the cockney wig?

These are some of the lovely people that I got to dress in My Fair Lady. I thought my mom would particularly appreciate the costumes.

This Bree she one of the ladies I dressed, She's a fantastic dancer and a lovely person I really enjoyed being her dresser.

This is Jean she is a local woman who was in the show she was just such a sweet lady and very classy, she was also alot of fun to dress. I didn't get pictures of the other people I dressed but they were all so good to work with.

Well I guess that just about sums up my week I get a couple of days off and then it's back to work at the Fort for me. Have a wonderful week!

Busy Week...Boring Blog

2010-07-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

I've had a very busy week this week I've been dressing My Fair Lady and it is a big show with allot of changes and I've been getting a real work out running up and down stairs to keep up with my costume track. Running the show is fun and exhausting but it means I haven't been out getting pictures of things or have any fun stories to share and you may have noticed that I'm a big cheater and I posted last weeks post today. Well I don't have much more to report I did have a cold this week but I think running the show in 90 degree heat with lots of humidity actually acted like a sauna and sweated it out of me. But I'm happy and tired and I get a day off tomorrow so life is good. I love you all and I hope I can have a more exciting post for you next week.

Booth Bay

2010-07-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from when I visited Booth Bay while my sister was in town.

Picturesque Maine

2010-06-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

So I've had a fun and busy week and I took allot of pictures. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed getting to take them.

Statue on the Bowdoin Campus

Carrie in front of the cool arch on campus this is just in front of the Theatre we were on our way to dress "Rent"

These next few pictures are from a visit to the beach this is maybe the second time that I've ever seen the Atlantic Ocean it was a very fun day but even though I put on sunscreen I still got a sunburn.

Our roommate "family" dinner on Monday night

A visit to Freeport and the outlets

The House where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin"

A Tour of the Harbor at Portland

The Captain and Me

Only in Maine can you get the buzzer for your dinner in the shape of a lobster

And a nice gellato to finish out the week. Not a bad way to end the week I'd say.

Week 4????

2010-06-20T14:06:00.001-07:00

Well it seems wrong that it's my fourth week in Maine but I guess at the end of the week it will have been a full month. i don't have many new things to share but I've had a good week. I'm a little short on time this week I have to go to the theatre to dress the Rent concert. so here goes.

On monday (our day off) my roomates and I decieded to fix dinner we set the table and sat down to eat together it was nice. I even put on some music for atmosphere.

This is my Roomate Maggie at the roommate dinner.

These are the banners I've been working on all week.

I found this cute frame at Target and I photoshoped a few of my favorite photos to put in is so I could have pictures of family and friends to look at on my wall.

Kind of boring pictures but well it's been a busy week so I haven't taken to many photos but I'm in a much better mood this week so I guess that will have to make up for the lack of photos. Have a nice week.

Week Three, the blahs.

2010-06-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say this week but I'm trying to make it a habit to write a blog every Sunday to keep you all updated on what I'm doing. I hate to admit it but I've been horribly homesick this week, but I'm trying to stay positive and I'm even trying to make a game out of it so three work weeks down about 10 1/2 to go!

I thought you might like to see our apartment/dorm this is the living room and that little alcove is the kitchen.

This is the bathroom that you have to pass though to get to the bedroom.

This is the Bedroom my bunk is the one on top with the lavender and white printed sheets

This is my roommate Christina we were all sitting around one night and decided to paint our nails for the opening night the next night...it was kind of like going back to Jr High but it was fun. Oh and she is also wearing all of my big rings all at once that's why I snapped the picture she's showing them off not flashing gang signs.

This is the theatre where we produce the shows.

This is Christina and myself at opening night of "Always...Pasty Cline" it was a great show.

This is just a crazy truck that was in the parking lot at the Fort one day when I came back from lunch. I don't know what the story is about it but I thought it was cool.

I went to the Flea Market that is at the fort where I work, and I found this lovely amethyst vase and silhouette picture. I paid $14 for the vase and $4 for the picture, not bad prices don't you think? They add a nice homey touch to our very bland apartment.

This is me sitting in the hall to get on the Internet because the signal is weak and I can't get online in the living room I think I can in my room but I don't like getting up on my bed more then I have to because I'm afraid of heights.

Well, have a good week I'm going to keep my chin up and I'll be back next week with more to share.

The Rain in Maine....

2010-06-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well week two of my Maine adventure is complete. I find I'm still adjusting to everything here and I've had some bouts of homesickness, I just miss everyone back home so much. I've also discovered that things you take completely for granted can really make your day. I.E. since I got here I've been wanting peanut butter toast or a toasted bagel but we didn't have a toaster but earlier this week someone brought a toaster over and put it in the common room and when I went and toasted my bagel I was very excited. I know that's probably sounds stupid but I thought I was going to do without any toast for the whole summer so it was a definite bright spot in the week. It's been raining most of the week but I don't mind that at all because it's considerably cooler when it rains and the humidity at least feels normal when it's raining instead of hot and sticky which I'm not a big fan of. Well as promised here are more pictures for the week.

This Gazebo is on the town Green it was decorated for Memorial Day. It was so cute I had to take a picture. When I first saw it it wasn't decorated but I did immediately think of the Gilmore Girls.

This is the view from our windows at the fort it was rainy that morning that's where all the mist comes from. I think it's really pretty. You can't see it in this picture but there are water falls right out this window they are similar to the falls in Idaho Falls it's nice to look outside when I'm having my lunch and see the water and the seagulls. In fact this is the window where I saw the Bald Eagle last week but he flew away before I could get my camera out.

This is my supervisor Jacob he is trying on the "Bustopher Jones" costume from cat's I know it looks like we're goofing off but we were actually trying to figure out how much padding was needed to make the costume look right but it was pretty funny so I took a picture.

Just a street lamp but I thought it was pretty.

We had a company promotion Patsy Cline Karaoke at The "Sea Dog" which is a pub the place is in another old mill building and when I go in there it reminds me of my favorite song "Brandy" This is a bunch of the interns singing Don't Stop Believing.

This is one of my roommates, Carrie, at the Pasty Cline Karaoke night.

This is the Fat Boy Diner Jacob took me there for lunch yesterday. It's an original 50's or 60's Drive up.

See that look of terror on my face? That's a lobster roll in my hand and I did actually eat the whole thing...I didn't hate it but there was kind of a lot of mayo so I'm withholding final judgment.

This is Gelato Fiasco which is a shop that sells hand made Gelato "Italian ice cream" we worked really hard yesterday so Jacob took me after work it was very delicious.

I decided to go for a walk this morning and lo and behold just up the street I found this foot path in the woods so I had a nice morning walk in the woods.

Isn't it pretty I walked for about a half hour and would have walked longer but I was beginning to feel like I'd taken too many turns in the woods that I worried I'd get lost on the way back. I was thinking "Where are my bread crumbs when I need them?"

Well that was pretty much my week I'm sure I'll be back next week with more to show and tell. I love you all and I miss you but I'm doing okay for now.

Maine first impressions

2010-05-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well it's been an interesting first week in Maine and I have to say that despite the slight drama in actually getting here (flight delays missed connections etc.) it been a good week. So far I really like the little town where I'm working, it's interesting and beautiful. I got off work a little early yesterday so I did a little walking and exploring and I took a couple of pictures. More photos will follow I'm sure but I'm happy, enjoying myself and working hard.

The entrance of Fort Andross the building where I work

Fort Andross (originally a mill I think)

A view of Maine Street

Just to show you what I've been talking about.

2010-02-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

This was my presentation display for the design competion at KCACTF

This is my classmate Paul Yeates' Display

This is my classmate Lindsay Keller's Display

This is my classmate Molly Hill's Display

This is my classmate Nathan Kluthe's Display

This is my classmate Jenn S. Taylor's Display

This is my classmate Anthony Johnson's Display

Phew!

2010-02-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

So, today I did a very scary thing. I got up in front of a room full of people to talk about my costume design for the show I designed last semester. I thought I was going to vomit I was so nervous. So, the background to this story is that I'm in St. George at the KCACTF conference(that's the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for those in the know) and I'm here to present my work in the the Design/ Tech competition. The person who wins first place in each category gets to go to Washington D.C. and present there. I've been working on the physical part of the presentation for weeks and stressing about the verbal part of this thing for days but I was so nervous. If you know me at all you know that I'd much rather sing in front of 500 people than talk in front of 25 people. But all in all I think I did OK, hopefully I didn't make a fool of myself that's really all I care about. But I'm done the scary part is over. So now I can breathe.

What I've been up to

2009-12-05T06:32:00.001-08:00

Thursday night was the photo call for Issun Boshi,the show I've been designing. I thought I would post a few pictures that I took so that the family and friends that I've barely spoken to for a month can see what I've been up to. Some of the costumes you see here were rented some of them were things that we built. The pink princess costume and the orange and blue costume on the guy on stillts were hand painted. I'm very pleased with how everything turned out.

Butterfly Lady

2009-10-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

So it wasn't Halloween but I decided the day before called for a little bit up dress up.

You know your a costume designer when...

2009-10-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

You dig up dirt put it in a bowl mix it with water and...

Paint the mud on boots!

Happy October!

2009-10-01T06:58:00.001-07:00

Today is October 1st and that means fall is really here now. We have had unseasonalbly warm weahter and then yesterday it snowed go figure, but I am really excited that it's October because this is the start of my favorite time of year from October to Christmas. I love to dress warm and cook "fall food" like stew and soups, and I like to go for walks and just look at the fall colors. It might be my mothers influence on me over the years but I just love Autum.

Yellowstone

2009-08-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

Last week my friends Nate and MerAnda and I went on a quick camping trip to Yellowstone National Park. I have wanted to camp in Yellowstone for a while because it's something I haven't done since I was a kid(pre-teen) and I have great memories of it. Yellowstone is probably one of my favorite places and no matter how many times I see it I still love it and I'm facinated by it. Here are a few pictures.

This is a chipmunk at Firehole river my sisters and I used to feed them sunflower seeds when we were young. As I was standing there a little girl was feeding them, seeing that was very nostagic for me. I tried to get a picture but couldn't.

This trip I bought a wildflower guide so I took a lot of pictures of the wildflowers so I can try to identify them.

I don't know why but I have never been on the walk that goes around the old faithful area where you can see many more gyesers and hot springs Nate was surprised that I had never seen that part of Yellowstone before. This is Castle Geyser from that walk it was pretty cool looking and if we could have waited untill 10 p.m. we might have been able to see it erupt.

The famous old faithfull we sort of caught it coming and going but it's always fun to see even if your not right up close with the crowds.

We went in the Old Faithful Inn and when we walked in Nate said he had never been in it I was pretty surprised by that you can see him here looking up at the woodwork it was cool to show him something he had never seen since he had shown me a trail I had never seen.

This is Nate starting his famous "two match fire" which actually only took him one match to light but he says if you go around claiming a one match fire then you look stupid if it takes two. I have a feeling he could start a fire without matches if he wanted to but I was impressed with his one match and no newspaper fire.

Bison

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We decided to drive home through Grand Teton National Park and boy am I glad we did

Nate thought that this was probably a moose it was far a way and this was the best my camera would do for a zoom shot.

And then the coolest thing I saw and have never seen before was this...Look closly.

A Grissly Bear! he's right next to the wood fence.

A Sense of Acomplishment

2009-08-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well I'm pleased with myself because I just finished a big goal that I set for myself this week. While I would have liked to do something fun or go somewhere exciting (even my parents house, while normally not "exciting" would have been a heck of a lot more fun then hanging out at my apartment by myself) but instead of going and doing something fun or even being around people I have just finished my first rough draft of my first chapter of my Plan B Report which is kind of like a Thesis for my grad program. Now it's really rough and it will need a lot of work before it's even ready for my committee to review it(and then suggest a bunch of rewrites) but I set out to have the at least a very rough draft and I did it. Now I need to get out of my apartment and have some fun the only person I've had a face to face conversation with this week was a Borders employee and I'm bored out of my mind and a little lonely so this last week before school starts is for having fun. I have a short camping trip with friends planned for Tuesday-Wednesday and a friend's wedding in Salt Lake on Thursday but other than that what should I do? Any Suggestions?

Being Creative

2009-08-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I was a little bored yesterday so I decided to go to Micheal's and look around. For more than a year I have been looking for a late summer wreath for my door and haven't found anything that I like. I thought to myself hey I used to work in a flower shop I can figure out how to do this... so I bought a $4 grapevine wreath and some inexpensive silk flowers and I made one myself.

Here it is while I was working on it.

And this is the finnished product.

What do you think?

Nail Polish

2009-08-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

There is almost nothing in life that I love as much as taking time to pamper myself. One of my favorite things to do is to give myself a manicure and pedicure. I love nail polish. When I was younger in my early college days I used to wear all kinds of crazy shades of nail polish most of them in the purple shades. Although I did once have a black polish that I wore with a glittery topcoat called "Millennium". I remember that, because, I used to say that the two together were Black Millennium and my friend said that maybe that was a little ominous since it was right before 2000. As I have gotten older and, I like to think, a little classier I no longer wear bright colors on my fingernails, I always wear a french manicure. I think it's classy and it goes with everything. That, however, doesn't stop me from wearing bright colors on my toes, in fact my conservative nails might be why I like to go a little crazy with my toes. I have over this summer been searching out new fun colors for toenail polish.

And you have to admit nail polish color names tend to be fun. the colors pictured above are from left to right Basket Case, Coconut Kiss (how they got that for purple I'll never know), Moonlit Madness, It's up to Blue, Tree Hugger, and Tangerine Tint.

This week my toes are purple.

Stuff that I do

2009-08-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

So my mom asked me last week why I never post on my blog any more and my response was that I don't feel like I have anything interesting to blog about. Then the next day I was up in the grad studio helping Nate with his model for Glass Menagerie (I'm his assistant designer) and I thought about what I was working on and to me it's just everyday stuff that I don't think of as interesting but I'm sure my mom would find interesting and I thought that maybe the rest of my family might like to see it as well. So I will apologize if your really not interested in this stuff but then again maybe you will be.

This is a 1/4 inch scale model of a chaise lounge it's not finished yet it will still need to be painted and have some detail work done on it.

This is a table in the same scale to give you and idea of how small it is I set a ruler behind it, as you can see the table top is probably less than an inch long.

This is the table in progress. I use balsa wood and cut the pieces to a rough size then carve them with an exacto knife and sand them with an emery board nail file to get the shape I want. then I glue the pieces together with super glue gel. Then I paint them with gesso.

I will be finishing these pieces and making a few more. When I do I will post more pictures so you can see how they turn out.

Costume Design

2009-08-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

In a recent e-mail conversation with my sister I mentioned some design projects that I have been working on and she asked me what it means to "design" a show and I realized that this is something that I talk about allot but that my family and friends who aren't involved in professional theatre may not know what I'm talking about when I say that I'm designing something so I thought I would post my response to her explaining what I do.

Hmm what it means to design a show... I guess that's a little tricky to answer but I'll try to explain. First to design costumes I read the script and make notes about it, then I talk to the director about their ideas and we decide what direction we want to go with the show. then I go do research on period and color and style and I usually make tons of photocopies so I can reference my research while I'm working. Then I usually start with rough sketches and show them to the director to make sure we agree with my approach. Then depending on the type of show it is I will either refine the rough sketches into final renderings or as in the case of The Good Doctor I just went down to costume storage and started pulling costume that I thought would work well for the show. for Ishun Boshi I will have to have good final renderings because we will probably build most of the costumes for it because it is so specific. ( in costumes we call it "building" a costume rather than "making" or "sewing" because allot of times they are more technical or specialized then sewing regular clothing) I will give copies of my renderings to the costume shop manager and she and I will talk about then and she and I will oversee their construction. I will need to chose fabrics and trims because all of the creative choices have to be made by me. Then when costumes have been pulled and altered or made from scratch I have to oversee fittings to make sure everything is right then I have to go to dress rehearsals to make sure the whole show looks right, and that everything works together.

Homemade Pay it Forward!

2009-02-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

My sister is doing this cool thing on her blog and I'm going to try it too. What happens is if you are one of the first three people to comment on this post I will make something handmade and send it too you sometime this year and it will be a surprise! How fun is this but to play you have to post a similar blog and do 3 handmade gifts for someone else. Now...this doesn't have to be something big and certainly not expensive but just handmade and then once you've posted on your blog come back and let me know that your doing it too!

Costume Shop Hijinx!

2009-01-13T06:22:00.001-08:00

Well it's the new year and I'm back at school, and boy have we been having fun in the shop. Let's just say that we have some fun together at work. Last week we decided to play a game and this is what happened.

A fun way to waste time!

2008-09-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

The following is a video I made when I had too much time on my hands and I was surfing the net, then after showing it to one of my friends he made the following two. It's silly but kind of fun, try it! You'll laught when it's you and your friends or coworkers.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

First Day of School!

2008-08-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

So today was my first day of Graduate School. I had some running around to do and I had to talk to my advisers about what classes to take so it was a busy day and I don't have any clever pictures but I'm excited and ready to be really busy.

California Here I Come!

2008-08-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

So my parents were planning to go to California with my sister and her family and they were planning to go to Disneyland. Well long story short I was having a bad night and my sister called and in the course of the conversation she mentioned that I should come with them to cheer me up but we both thought that it would be too expensive, but the next day I was still in a bad mood so I was thinking about it some more and I checked on air fares and found a pretty good price on a round trip ticket. So Thursday night I called my mom and my sister to make sure it was ok if I came, then I booked my ticket, packed my bags and then by 2:00 Friday I was driving to the Salt Lake Airport to fly to LAX We went to Disneyland Saturday, and Sunday, and Disney's California Adventure on Monday I had alot of fun but I was completly worn out by the time that I was flying back on Tuesday. Here's a few pictures, I don't have any pictures of myself at Disney but I have alot of my two nieces.

I was so excited to walk into Disneyland and see that sign I haven't been to Disneyland since I was eleven years old.

Ari and Devyn in front of Cinderella's Castle

On the Tea Cups I'm actualy in this photo if you can see me I'm with Ari in the blue and white tea cup near the back and I'm not facing the Camera.

The Haunted Mansion is still one of my favorite rides at Disneyland

This is Devyn watching the parade she just loved it.

Ari with Mickey

Mom and Dad outside of the Tiki Room

Devyn outside of the Tiki Room

The Plaza Inn Where we had a nice lunch on Sunday afternoon.

Camping

2008-08-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

When the Lyric season was finally over some of my friends and I decided to go camping. We went to a campground that was right on a reservoir we went swimming and made dinner and the next day we went to a hot springs. I had a lot of fun I wish that I could have had a little more time so that I could have stayed for more than one night but I wanted to get home to see my niece, but it was still fun.

Nate and Dave

Nate in his Camping/Hiking hat

Mary-Ester and kids

Swimming in the Lake

Just a fun Mosaic

2008-08-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

I liked making that question mosaic so much I decided to make another one using just my favorite colors, I think it turned out really well.

1. even flowers know the magical power of hugs, 2. Purrple sparkles, 3. purple rain (drop), 4. Brandee's Wedding Dress - (12-19-2005), 5. Soft purple, 6. O Barco Azul [The Blue Boat], 7. Bliss, 8. Red Square, 9. Fireworks Twelve, 10. Gold and Purple Swirl, 11. White box, 12. shot inside a pot of styling gel, 13. Painted!!!, 14. Yearning for Spring, 15. l'hiver s'annonce..., 16. Fragrant Blue

There are so many cool photos on the web. There's allot of talented photographers out there.

Dinner with my Best Girl Friend

2008-08-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was cleaning and packing since I'm headed out of town for a few weeks when I got a surprise call from my best friend MerAnda. She and her family were nearby today for a family reunion and they wanted to have dinner with me because she's heard me talk about Tiny Spicy Chicken at my favorite Chinese restaurant and they wanted me to take them there. So I met MerAnda and her family at the restaurant and we had dinner I was relieved that they liked my favorite dish since they ordered it solely on my recommendation. It was so nice so see people from home especially since MerAnda's family is almost like a second family for me.

Don't the girls look so cute in there matching purple shirts?

It was so good to see my best friend.

End of the Season

2008-08-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well I can't believe it but today is the last day of the Lyric Season. I have to go to the theatre at 10 tonight to strike the last show and then we're done I have mixed feelings about the end of this season but mostly for personal reasons but I have a few pictures from the company picnic and a breakfast that the apprentices invited us to. I'm headed home for a few weeks and then on to Grad School.

This was a human rubber band at the picnic it looked funny but I wasn't brave enough to try it.

The Company Picnic

The Apprentice Breakfast

One Month Anniversary

2008-07-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well today is the one month anniversary of my breakup I'm doing OK but it's still no fun. All I have to say is break-ups suck...can I get an amen? So if anyone has any great stories of how it all turned out for the best or brilliant advise on how to recover from a break-up let me know. I'll try and have a more cheerful post next time.

Tagged

2008-07-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Tagged...

Joys..
1.Singing at the top of my lungs
2.Spending time with the people I love
3.Dancing when no one is watching

Fears..
1.Getting Hurt
2.Never finding love
3.Disappointing people

Goals..
1.Learn new things
2.Be an amazing student
3.Get Healthy

Current Obsessions..
1.Shopping
2.Watching Gilmore Girls
3.Trying to get to swimming in the mornings

Surprising Facts About Me..
1.I love the outdoors
2.I don't hate anyone, there are people I don't really like but it's not the same thing
3.I think that I'm beautiful

Your hit..I tag..
Desi and Leslie

Me in Twelve Pictures or Less

2008-07-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

My Sister did this on her blog and I thought it was cool. Try it out if you want to and let me know.

(12-19-2005), 2. Fettucine Alfredo with Pastrami, Ohlala Cafe, 3. civiclawn, 4. Just an Orchid, 5. More Johnny Depp..., 6. Tropical Lime Smoothie (2/2), 7. Tour Eiffel, Paris France, 8. Chocolate Fondue, 9. Costume Designer, 10. My family, 11. Artist Under Bridge, 12. Little Su makes claim to being the cutest panda girl ever.

My Sister did this on her blog and I thought it was cool. Try it out if you want to and let me know.

Here’s how you do it:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.b. Using only the first page, pick an image.c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your favorite animal?

Oh These are the people in my neighborhood

2008-07-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well my mom said that I needed to post something new so the first thing you see isn't Boobs from my previous post. You have to read what the image says under the picture it was supposed to be funny maybe it's only me! I have great pictures of work and the fun we have so I thought I would write a little blog about my friends at the costume shop.
First is my boss and very good friend Amanda.

Amanda is the kind of person you want on your side when the chips are really down she's funny and extremly good at what she does. One of the things I like the most about Amanda is she can be very blunt or as she would put it she doesn't blow sunshine up anyone's skirt, but because of that I always know that when she says something it's the truth. Amanda and I go way back to when I was at school here before I left. She was the first person that I met here and the first person to be nice to me and I will always consider her my good friend. She's a fantastic designer and I try to learn as much as I can from her because she's worked hard to become a great designer.

Next there is Jared

Jared is kind of like the brother I never had. Jared works with us in the costume shop he just graduated with me but as an BFA acting major and I'm always impressed with how good he is in the shop and we would be lost without him. He is great fun to have around, if I'm wearing a top that ties in back he will come up and untie it when I don't even realize he's behind me. Jared knows almost anything you would want to know about musical theatre and I really apreciate the deep respect he has for all aspects of theatre.

And then there is Leslie

Leslie is firecracker. I've never seen a person that Leslie couldn't start up a conversation with. She's very outgoing and has a sparkling personality. Leslie is Jareds Partner-in-Crime/Opponent and the two of them provide us with hours of entertainment with the way they tease each other. Leslie is very creative and is an amazing artist I sometimes have to remind myself not to compare my drawings to hers or I get a little jealous.

And last but not least is Do (pronounced Doe like doe a deer)

Do is the most genuine and kind person I've ever met she's the kind of person who makes you want to be a better person just from being around her. I think Do is one of the most origional and creative people ever. She is a fantastic artist and designer. She wears clothes in her own way and makes many of the pieces she wears by taking something and changing it into something unique and cool. She's quiet and hard working but sometimes a little sneeky she pins tails on people without them knowning she did it.

I've seen people walk around for an hour or more ith a tail that they don't know they have I think some people have even only realised they had a tail when they went to the restroom. Amanda says that Do could Plot to take over the world because no one would expect it.

Well that's a little about the people I work with. They are a pretty great bunch of people to work with.

Goals

2008-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

I normally don't like to talk about specific goals because then if I don't meet my goals I can pretend that I didn't really have them in the first place. Most of you probably know by now that my boyfriend and I have broken up. I'm doing OK but of course it's been a little hard. However I've decided that since there has been a major change to my daily routine maybe it's a good time to make some other changes as well, so I'm going more public with my goals than I usually do. My big goal is to get healthy so I've decided to swim three mornings a week for the rest of the summer and I'm trying to make a healthy eating plan but that's a little harder for me so if anyone had any good advice or articles they have found helpful please let me know also I'm hoping to get some support and encouragement by sharing this info so if anyone has any suggestions for that or can think of a good reward system pass that info along as well. Wish me luck! oh and I just put the goals poster on because I thought it was funny I hope it doesn't offend anyone.

My Parents are Cool

2008-07-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

So I don't know about you but I never really thought of my parents as "cool". Don't misunderstand me I love my parents they are good parents and I have always liked to do things with them but this weekend I realised that they were and are pretty cool. I guess I never paid attention or maybe they assumed that they had told me some of these stories because they had told my sisters but I never knew about some of the things they did when they were younger I guess that's part of being the baby of the family. We went to the Car Show this weekend and Dad likes to talk to people and look longer at the cars so Mom and I let him go his own pace and here's the funny thing My mom knows more about vintage cars than I thought she did. I've always known that my dad can name a car make, model, and year from just looking at the body style but my mom can too! With lots of the cars that we saw she could guess the year without looking at the tags and she nailed almost every one of them. And I knew that they had owned a GTO Judge when they were young but they also owned a little hot rod car like the bright green one dad is next to in one of the pictures and they owned a little Corvair convertible. How come I never knew my parents once owned a convertible? All I have to say is My parents are cool.... The things you learn!
P.S. I had to throw in a couple of pictures of the car I want to own someday My 65 Ford Mustang Convertible

I've been Tagged Too!

2008-06-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been tagged by my sister Desiree.

Four random things I like about my husband:(I don't have a husband but maybe boyfriend will do
1. He's very laid back, it takes a lot to get him riled up and even then it's kind of hard to tell that he is.
2. He reads, I can always ask him for book recommendations and he even read my favorite Jane Austen book because I asked him to
3. He's smarter than I am,( and I wouldn't say that about just anyone because other than the whole math thing I think I'm pretty smart)and let's face it who would want to date an idiot?
4. He has a charming smile

Four jobs I have had
1. Day Care at a Women's only Fitness center
2. Random Jobs between high school and college (Quilted Bear,JC Penny's etc.)
3 Loan Dept Receptionist At a Credit Union
4.Current Job, Costume Assistant

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1. The Last Unicorn
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
3. Taladega Nights (guilty pleasure I can't help it I thing it's funny)
4. I don't have cable so pretty much all the movies I own I have watched repeatedly so quite a few more than four.

Four places I have lived:
1. Idaho Falls, ID
2.Rexburg, ID
3.Boise, ID (for 4 days does it count?)
4. Logan, UT then back to IF,ID then to current location

Four TV shows I watch: I don't have cable
1. Gilmore Girls (on DVD)
2. Charmed (on DVD)
3. Ugly Betty (on DVD)
4. I had my dad record and send me Pushing Daisies before the writers strike but that darn strike ruined TV forever I think! now it's all reality TV shows and the dumber the better it seems.

Four places I have been:
1. San Fransisco for a day
2. New York for almost a week
3. Spokane WA
4. Home

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. My mom
2. random newsletters
3.
4.

Four of my favorite foods:( all of these may be spelled wrong)
1. Fettuccine Alfredo
2. Pad Thia
3. Tiny Spicy Chicken
4. Mom's Pot Roast and rolls

Four places I would like to visit:
1. Paris ( I want to see the Louvre before I die)
2. Italy ( I want to eat real italian gelato before I die)
3. New York (I've been once but I would love to go again)
4. England Someday I would love to save enough money to take my mom, dad, and my sisters to England and have my dad show us some of the places from his mission and I've always wanted to see Wales since the family name is Welsh.

Four things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Starting Grad School,that will probably encompass everything else in my life for then next year
2.
3.
4.

Four People I tag:
1. Desiree. (My sister)
2. Amanda (My friend and Boss)
3. Leslie (My School Friend)
4

Who are You?

2008-06-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

You Are Jasmine!

Independent and adventurous. You don't want much; just to break out of the guilded cage society has put you in and experience life to the fullest. Following orders isn't really one of your strong points, and you would rather live a life of poverty than being forced into something that you hate.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Graduation Day!

2008-05-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well Folks that's right I finally did it! Saturday was Graduation, it was a great day. All week the weather forecasts said that it was going to be rainy but it turned out to be a nice day. It was such good feeling to know that after all these years I'm finally Graduating from college. I just wanted to post a few pictures I think my sisters have more photos but I'll have to wait until I can get copies of them. I would also like to say that the whole cap and gown thing is not my favorite fashion choice and it's not terribly flattering to the figure.

Banquet

2008-05-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday night was the end of the year banquet for the Theatre Department. It's the event where scholarships are awarded as well as mainstage awards and some funny awards. I was given Best Featured Actress in a Mainstage, it was a surprise to me. Anyway this has been a busy week so I'm just now getting around to posting pictures.

Breakfast

2008-04-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

I will be the first person to say that sometimes I'm still like a little kid, I get excited about Christmas, there are certain cartoons I like to watch, and there's a reason why I'm a costume designer...I get to draw and color pretty pictures and I get to dress people it's like a grown up barbie doll. My whole childhood two things happened almost every Saturday, my parents would make a nice breakfast and then we did Saturday cleaning, and even though I'm an adult now I can't help but keep that pattern. So most Saturdays because I don't have to go to class and I can take a little more time I usually make something other than cereal for breakfast and then I usually clean up my apartment if I don't have major homework pressing. This morning was one of my favorites I made a Waffle with strawberries and whipped cream.

I know it might be a dumb thing to post about but I can't help it I get excited about Strawberry waffles!

Portfolio Review

2008-04-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

At the end of the year in the Theatre Department all the Design/Technical Students get all of their work together and put in on display and have a portfolio review. All of our fellow students and professors give us feedback to help show us our strengths and weaknesses We have a potluck buffet and it's really fun, we eat and chat and discuss each others work. The only thing is it does take several hours to get through everyone, it started at 3:30 and by the time we finished and took it all down and put it away it was probably 9 or later.

Sunday Afternoon Picnic

2008-04-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today when I got home from church Nate called and wanted to know if I had, had lunch yet, I hadn't and since the weather was much nicer today than it has been (see Friday's post) We decided to go for a picnic up the canyon to enjoy the sunshine. It was a nice break from being inside the theatre where we spend most of our time. there was still snow on the walking trail and I had on sandals for the first time this season, so we didn't do to much walking. Maybe another day.

Snow and King Lear

2008-04-11T15:31:00.001-07:00

It's Friday, and let me tell you this one has been well earned! The last show of the season, King Lear, is open as of last night. Nate designed lights for Lear so he has been extra busy, so he and I went to dinner last night to celebrate the opening of the show. It was nice to be able to just enjoy each other's company rather than rushing through so we could both get back to work. The pictures above are just some different aspects of work that we do to get a show open. Then this morning I opened my door to head for class and what did I see? That's right... SNOW on April 11! (I had to stop on my way to class to take the picture of Old Main it looks kind of pretty in the snow dosen't it?) I don't mind snow, winter is my favorite season from November 15 through February 15 after that I start to get tired of the snow. I try to be stoic about it, I know that it's good for the water levels and I know that I live in Utah and it can snow whenever it wants to in Utah but really... isn't it supposed to be spring yet?

Thank Heaven for Little Girls!

2008-04-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

So I have to say that I have the two cutest nieces in all the world. (I suppose I could be biased but I really don't think my judgement has been clouded at all!) My sister and her family lives in California so I don't get to see them often. Christmas was the last time I did get to see them; however, my sister has a blog and she posts lots of pictures of the girls so at least that way I get to see them grow. I sort of pilfered these pictures from her blog, they were taken on Easter and the girls are wearing their Easter dresses. Aren't they just beautiful?

Projects I've been working on.

2008-04-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that whenever anyone asks me how I am or what I'm up to I usually say something like,"I'm busy but good." or "I'm working on a project for class." I know that these are vague answers but it's all just part of being a Theatre Student. So I thought I would post some pictures of some things that I've been working on recently to sort of fill in the blanks about some of the projects that I'm often vague about. The drawings are for my Design Studies class it's a design for the play Othello by Shakespeare. I designed the costumes in the Italian Renaissance period. The Little blue and gold dress is for my patterning class we were given a drawing of a Georgian period dress and we have to draft a pattern for it then make the dress in half scale to show if we patterned it correctly. And Yes, that dress form is exactly half scale for a size 10 dress form, most people don't believe that, they think it's too small, if you think about it for a minute it will make sense. I think the dress turned out to be pretty cute. Well just a little update about what I'm up to at school.

It's Official!

2008-03-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well it's almost official....I'm graduating from college and it's only taken me 12 years to get here. Today I went to the Grad Fair where you can purchase your cap and gown, and I also picked up my graduation packet which is the last official paperwork required for graduation I just have to fill it out and turn it back in and then it will be really official. OK so here's the thing anyone reading this who actually knows me knows that I'm incredibly emotional, right? So I'm at the grad fair which is really a room set up to sell you things and not just your cap and gown (and yes I now own my cap and gown) but all manner of graduation items not to mention school memorabilia it's their last chance to make money off of us graduating seniors. Well of course I fall for it hook line a sinker. In my defence I only purchased Announcements that I needed and a zip up hoodie that I've been wanting anyway. While I was standing there looking at the Announcements trying to decide if I needed one pack or two it sort of hit me that I'm actually graduating and I kid you not I almost teared up right there. Let me just say that I think this behavior is out of control it's a month till graduation and I'm already on the road to being a basket case. I'm going to have to remember tissues and waterproof mascara for the Ceremony. I'm actually a little terrified of graduating but I'm so excited at the same time. That's probably how most graduates feel but this has been a long time in the making for me so maybe I'm entitled to a little sappiness.

Tiny Emergency

2008-03-20T21:58:00.001-07:00

This morning I had a little emergency that made me late for class. Here's the story... I have a favorite necklace it's a small amethyst stone (my birthstone) on a delicate silver chain. My parents gave this necklace to me for my birthday, I think it was for my 21st (I'm 30 now so you do the math) I love this necklace I wear it with any outfit that doesn't have specific, coordinating jewelry to match. I hang many of my necklaces on the knob of the medicine cabinet in my bathroom that's over my sink. This morning when I reached for a different necklace that was under the aforementioned necklace I accidentally knocked the amethyst one into the sink and it immediately fell down the drain. I think my heart actually skipped a beat. Have you ever done something like that, lost something that means allot to you? I'll bet most of you have and it's an awful feeling. Well I didn't want it to be gone forever so I called my dad and asked him how to best recover the necklace. He gave me some directions for how to get the P trap off and walked me though it on the phone. It turned out to be pretty easy and I did retrieve the necklace so all was not lost. But I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself that I... A) kept my head and B) opened the drain by myself( well with dad's directions). So now maybe I can charge as a plumber..... well maybe not. But anyway, disaster averted.

Ladies Afternoon Tea

2008-03-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes life is hectic, and crazy, and I feel like a chicken with it's head cut off. I'm sure we all feel that way most of the time right? Well a couple of my girl friends and I decided a few weeks ago that we needed to do something fun on a regular basis, to have girl talk and get away from the Theatre Department for a couple of hours. So my friend Jenn knows a coffee shop that she likes to go to because as she says "it feels like your out of town" I had been there before and I also like the atmosphere so Nic and Jenn and I have started going to Citrus and Sage one afternoon a week and sit and chat and just enjoy being out. I like this particular place because I don't really like caffeine even in soda it makes me feel funny and Citrus and Sage has really nice herbal teas my favorite is Ginger Twist. Tonight there was also a jazz band there and the music was nice but we did have to switch tables so we could hear each other speak. After tea we came back to my apartment because Nic asked me to help her reshape her eyebrows. I was a little nervous because I tweeze my own brows all the time and I'm comfortable doing that but I've never helped anyone else but I think we worked together to make them look nice. We hada good time and it's so nice to have a girls night out.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

2008-03-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, today was my first day back at school after spring break. I wore green today for St Patrick's day as most of you did I'm sure. Growing up with two older sisters I learned that I had to wear pajamas with some green on them to avoid early morning pinching never mind what might happen if I was caught without green on for the rest of the day. Today in the shop Mary and Leslie and I were wearing the green so we took pictures just for fun. After school Amanda invited us over for a St Patrick's Day Party. She had roast beef for sandwiches and potatoes (sounds good and Irish doesn't it?) and the food was very yummy. Then we watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I remember watching that movie when I was little but I remember the Banshee being scarier. Well Happy St. Paddy's everyone.

Spring Break

2008-03-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

So it's spring break and I'm very ready for a nice week off from school. I'm having a hard time being excited about driving to Idaho for spring break when last year I was flying to New York to have the most memorable spring break. I wish I could be going again this year. A good friend of mine is on the same trip this year and I know she will have fun and I'd love to go again but I suppose if you went every year it wouldn't be as special and I'm sure I will go back again sometime. And since I've been thinking about it I'm posting pictures from New York because I have great memories from last year and I have to show them off. And Wow! I can't believe how much my hair has grown since last year.

Hooray!

2008-03-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

So I think that growing up in the 80's was the best. We had great TV shows,remember the Smurfs and Fraggle Rock?, and toys, Barbie and the Rockers was one of my favorites, and technology was starting to really get going, I remember playing games on our Apple IIE and our Atari. But we also spent allot of time outside making up games and riding bikes and I had a red wagon that I loved. Yesterday I had a happy moment while looking around on Amazon I saw that the 3rd season of the Muppet Show will be coming out on DVD in May. I own the first and second seasons not to mention all of the Muppet Movies because they are nostalgic for me I remember watching them with my sisters when I was little. So hooray for season 3!

Work Call

2008-03-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would post a blog about the normal things I do everyday it's not all that interesting to me but everyday stuff is what makes up my life. So one of the things I do every week is Work Call on Tuesday and Thursday. Theatre Majors need to take a class call practicum where we put work hours into the shops. I work in the costume shop so I put my hours in up there. We work on the shows, this Thursday I was working on some patterning for King Lear. In the costume shop we have lots of unique personalities (we are theatre majors after all!) so things are usually pretty fun.

Being Lazy Today

2008-03-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up with a cold (well I think it's a cold) so I've been sleeping on and off for most of the day but at least I got out of the house last night so I haven't been too bored today.The nice thing about being stuck at home is I still have the beautiful flowers my parents gave me for my birthday to look at. Today is the birthday of one of my friends who is also a costume designer. And since our birthdays are so close we decided to invite all of our friends in the department to meet us for dinner last night. It was a fun night even though our waiter was awful. I took some pictures but the lighting was so bad that none of them came out very well. Well this is a short post but I think I'm going to go take some more vitamins and get some more rest. Oh and Happy Birthday Mary-Ester!

Happy Brandee New Year!

2008-02-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

So, Yesterday was my 30th birthday and I like to think of my birthday as my own personal new year. So being Brandee New Year, I thought I might start my own blog, and post little things about what I'm up to for whomever might be interested. Now I realize that there may not be anyone interested in the goings on in my life so that's why I chose to title this blog talking to myself, not to mention I have a tendency to carry on conversations with myself. It's true I'm a talker so if there's no one around I talk out loud to myself. I promise I'm not crazy it's just how I work things out. So yeah, yesterday was the big 3-0 and I'm excited about anouther decade of my life. It was one of the best birthdays I can remember I had a really nice day. I made myself a strawberry breakfast, went to classes. My parents came to town to take me to lunch. My mom brought a cake to share with my friends at the costume shop where I work and my boss and good friend Amanda also bought the cutest tinker bell cake so we had lots of cake. Then I turned in a project in my design studies class. In the evening, Nate took me to dinner at Formosa, my favorite Chinese reasturant. It was just a really nice day.