Culver City Apartment Living

Have I mentioned that I live next door to a concert pianist, who is also a piano teacher of children?  Now, some of these children are actually really good.  I would dare say even better than him.  But some….some should never be allowed to touch those keys again.  It seems that it is this particular type of player who is practicing every time I am home.  I also keep my window open most of the time, so you can imagine the kind of agony one has to endure for at least an hour per child.  Every Monday night he has his jazz band over for practice, and I swear there are at least twelve pieces involved.  They rock the roof off until about 10:00, which must be the agreed upon quitting time decided on by the other neighbors.  So far, he has been mindful of this treaty.  It is this very same neighbor who I have caught, on more than one occasion, in our back drive way performing some sort of martial art exercise/dance/ritual while I am attempting to back my car out.  We don’t speak.  Sometimes I wave.  He just continues on with his movements un-phased, not acknowledging that someone is about to run over him.   A true artist.

Secondly, have I addressed the parking situation yet?  As some of you know, parking anywhere in the Los Angeles area is a challenge, and a parking spot is certainly a commodity.  I actually have one, behind the building, and I park right beside a black Porsche.  The only issue is that the owner of this Porsche is slightly over protective of this car…actually, borderline insane with it.  Upon my move in, I was instructed to park as close to the wall as I possibly could, far away from the vehicle  (which is fully covered in a tarp each and every night anyway).  The spot is already tight (definitely for a compact and what I drive is definitely not compact), so it has been a challenge to accommodate such a request.   Lets just say that I now have multiple scratches on my back right bumper that were not there two months ago.  But I must maintain good relations with the neighbors.  I must.  He also never drives it anywhere, but he does move it every morning, tarp removed, to a spot on the street right in front of the building.  For the life of me, I cannot figure out what his motivation is for doing this.  To show it off?  To give it air?  A change of scenery?  I have no idea and I find it odd.  Nevertheless, I park to please.

The FDN

Dates are fun.  Dates are expensive.  Dates that are inexpensive are just as fun.  This is what I have learned in the last three months.  I have never considered myself a high maintenance girl, who needed to be wined and dined by men to be happy.  But I do like an occasional dinner and movie combo, concert, play, or some other activity that requires a significant amount of cash to pull off.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), when you and your significant other are both between jobs, you have to get creative with these little outings.  This is how the Free Date Night was born, or “FDN”. 

The concept is this:  One person plans the entire date for the other, and the only rule is that you cannot spend more than $10 total (including dinner).  Going forward, we will most likely include gas in this amount as well, since it is $4/gallon.  Daniel and I are both very active people, and got pretty bored with the routine of applying for jobs every day at a coffee shop, eating in and staring at each other on the couch.  He took the first round, and I must say, I was more excited about what he had planned for FDN than I had been for a date in a long time.

When he picked me up, he had a big bouquet of yellow Gerber daisies, and handed them to me with the following disclaimer: “the date has not officially started yet, and these are actually your housewarming present.”  Well played.  Our first stop was to some office building in Century City.  I thought we may be going to pay a parking ticket or something, but it was actually an art museum of sorts, that had a Rock & Roll photography exhibit (free).  Unfortunately, the place was closed on Tuesdays (random) so we couldn’t stay long.  I thought it was a great idea though, and gave him partial credit for stop number one. 

Next on the list was a park near his house, where we played a few games of basketball/Horse next to a group of guys who probably should be playing for the Lakers.  Regardless, we both made a few half-court shots and had a good time doing it.  After we were overtaken by an eight-year-old future Kobe Bryant (true story-he just started shooting at our basket, and was making everything while we made nothing), we found a spot in the park to sit and answer a list of questions he had found on the internet.  This was honestly my favorite part of the whole date.  Definitely some fun facts uncovered. 

Dinner was at Chipotle (buy one, get one free coupon), followed by a movie on Netflix at his house (Casa de Mi Padre, which I had been dying to see).  It was really the perfect afternoon/evening.  I felt very special, and we could both feel good about only spending a whopping $6. 

When it came time to plan my night, I was really stressing out about the food situation.  $10 doesn’t go a long way for two people here, and I already had allocated a portion of my budget to something else.  After digging through my boxes, which I am still living out of, I found that beloved Chick-fil-a calendar my mom gets me every year for Christmas, which I never appreciate.  Thankfully, every single coupon was still attached.  Mom has saved the day once again!

I picked Daniel up with a little “before the date officially begins” gift.  A pack of moustache magnets.  You read that right.  He loves the moustache for some reason that I cannot understand, and I found some at Disneyland just a few days before.  As a side note, I don’t normally just jet on down to Disneyland to pick up gifts for him, but happened to be there visiting a friend for the day.  Anyway, we headed to our first stop shortly after, which was Point Dume (just north of Malibu).  After a gorgeous hike and some time at the beach, we went back to his house to carve a pumpkin ($3 at Trader Joes).  This ended up being him carving the pumpkin since I have no patience for such things.   Dinner was at Chick-fil-a (FREE!), followed by his high school homecoming football game, and then back home to watch another movie with our beloved Will Ferrell.  Great times.  Less than $10.  Success.

I highly recommend anyone who is currently working to try these as well.  We plan to continue the tradition even now.  Saving money is sexy.

Firsts

As I sit here and write this, I am listening to the rain hit the sidewalk outside and it is just glorious.  This is my first LA rain.  All I want to do is run around outside in it, barefoot, with my mouth wide open just like Andy when he escaped Shawshank.  Some like to say that it rained about two months ago, right after I got here, but that was in the middle of the night and would barely qualify as a sprinkle.  We are going on an hour now of continual dripping noises, and I couldn't be happier.  It only took 97 days!!!

I have finally spotted my first celebrity here, and I am sure very few of you will know who I'm talking about.  Does anyone know who Leslie Jordan is?  Anyone?  During my laid off time in New York, I became obsessed with Will & Grace.  Leslie is a very minor character on the show, but is southern (he's from Chattanooga) and that accent is somewhat addictive.  Daniel and I were eating dinner at this place called Baby Blues BBQ (North Carolinian owned) down the street from his house, and in walked Leslie.  I almost passed out.  He is so short and adorable.

Ever since my last big role in a theatrical production, (Old lady #2, Tom Jones, Stockbridge High School), I haven’t really dreamed of being an actress.  Sure, I thought it would be fun, but I had no expectations of hitting it big given my thick southern accent and a physique that would be considered plus size in Hollywood.  I think this is why background work fits me so well.  I still get to be involved in some pretty cool projects, without the pressure of looking a certain way and also memorizing a lot of lines.  I also get to meet (and work with) celebrities.  What’s not to love about that?

While in New York, I was able to work on 30 Rock, Man on a Ledge and the Newlywed Game Show.  Since moving to L.A., I have been on a court tv show (I have no words to describe that experience), but my first major background work was on Arrested Development.  Unfortunately when I was cast on AD, I knew nothing about the show.  Had never even really heard of it and I certainly didn’t know what to expect.  I can now, with pride, say that I am a fan of the series.  Yesterday, I was on 90210.  Talk about a blast from the past, only this time, I felt REALLY old watching it.

Next week...my first LA wedding (a big fat Greek one), my first bake sale (certainly not my own baked goods) and my first LA viewing of a Twilight movie.  Premiere tickets still pending.