The Newest Year

So it's been one official week of the New Year and it's already been an exciting ride! I've arrived in NYC, begun the process of settling into my new (sublet) apartment, been on two auditions, seen some friends, and plenty more. Getting back into the swing of things at New York's pace is like playing catch up every moment. I have lists and lists of things to do each day, only half of which manages to get done.

New Years has always been an epic holiday in my past, so I felt like having fun but keeping it a little lower key this year. I had dinner with my friends Sam and Jason (who are expecting a baby and joked all night that they are the "shut ins" this year) and a few others from our summer stock 2007 year. S & J made an amazing baked spaghetti- thank you Paula Dean- and we sipped champagne and watched movies. Then I headed downtown to a little cocktail party hosted by my chic friend Kelli. I rang in the New Year a few blocks away at a CAP party, a lovely practicum reunion. After all that, the only thing left to do was go to bed.

CAP girlies: PJ, Melanie, me, and Shanna.

The next few days were spent unpacking, discovering what I'd forgotten (hangers?! completely essential, shower caddy, and heel taps were in the mail during an audition...oops!) and trying to settle into a big apartment without my other roommates. Abby and Caitlin arrived on the 4th and finally the place felt a lively. I knew Caitlin from Drowsy in Florida, but Abby was new to both of us. She's very sweet and now we've got a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead in our place!

I've encountered two problemos: I have the master bedroom which has no closet. It's a common problem in NYC real estate, the utter lack of closet space. Not even little slender linen closets, just nothing. I think they think it'll make the rooms look smaller (which, it might) but it's preposterous to have an enormous room, any room, without anywhere to hang anything. Anyhow, I happen to have a fancy little garment rack from the Container Store which is a perfect size. 

Problem #2 was the heater. My last apartment was a dry heat radiator, so it was like a dry sauna in there all the time. It was impossible to regulate the temperature and I dressed like summer inside. The heater here however, has it's own set of issues. My first night it didn't come on for at least 6-7 hours and when it did it filled the room with steam and the valve leaked an enormous puddle on the wood floor. We repeated this little incident two nights later. With my comforter still on the way, this made sleeping a big problem. Thankfully our maintenance man is very accommodating and came out ASAP. Still a little steamy but definitely warmer in here.

My first two auditions back were a little rough, I'm obviously rusty and nervous in every regard. I need to get back into dance class, a few voice lessons to polish up and feel like I'm not drowning in the room. It's amazing how quickly one can fall out of practice. 

New week, lots to do! I wish I had more pictures to break up all these words, but I'll leave you with one my friend Adam posted in a Tweet. It's Elizabeth Taylor, looking stunning in a tutu and heels. Perhaps a new audition outfit approach? :)