Monthly Archives: January 2018

Take Care of Your Lips in the Winter!

Posted in beauty, product reviews, skincare by
Disclaimer: this post is not sponsored and I bought everything myself!

I did a post earlier about what I do in the winter to take care of my hair and my skin when the air is cold and dry. But you might have noticed that I didn’t mention anything about my lips! That’s because I take extra precautions. My lips always seem to be affected by the change in weather first. And when your job depends on you talking nonstop, well, you want to make sure that your mouth isn’t in pain! So here’s what I do to avoid dry, chapped, cracked lips in the winter.

-I apply a lip balm first thing in the morning. I don’t shower every morning, but I always clean up my face and follow the steps of my morning routine to take care of my skin. The last step is always to apply lip balm. Lately I’ve been using the Maybelline Baby Lips in Quenched. It has SPF, which is super important when you work outside all day like I do. The formula is thin and slick but absorbs fast. Plus the smell is reminiscent of my favorite Fresh Sugar lip balms (which are great, but a little too pricey for my wallet for everyday wear.)

-I apply lip balm at work too. I keep a squeezy tube style lip balm in my work backpack. I learned pretty quickly in my Disney career that a normal lip balm in a tube will melt like nobody’s business (I had a pretty catastrophic lip balm eruption in my bag when I worked at Star Tours). I’m currently using the Shea Moisture Coconut and Hibiscus. It’s supposed to “revitalize and nourish,” which is really what I look for in the winter. It’s a very thick formula and takes a little while to absorb, but it’s great for when I’m driving the truck and chilly winds are blowing through the open windows (especially at the Savannah Overlook!)

-I keep lip balm in my rehearsal and performance bags. Singing and speaking also dry out my lips faster, so I make sure there’s a lip balm in my bag. Inevitably I lose my lip balm, buy a new one at Target, find the old one, lose the new one, lose the old one again, repeat the cycle (anyone else do that? Just me?) Usually I stick to the Eos lip balms since they have a wide variety of scents, and the round shape is easy to find in my bag. I also have a Lip Smackers Tsum Tsum balm that I adore (it’s Tinker Bell and scented like Pixie Peach Pie, so like…what’s not to love?)

-I exfoliate at night. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always do my night time routine, but I try to stick to it, and when I do I always exfoliate. If I need just a little bit, I use a dry washcloth. My sister got me a couple of the magic Disney Princess washcloths from the Disney Store a while back, so I use those. If I need a little more, I use the Lush lip scrub. My favorite is the Popcorn one- it’s salty and sweet, and it wipes off easily. My lips always feel so soft afterwards.

-I use Vaseline. Yep, good ol’ Vaseline. The skincare favorite for Hollywood starlets in the 30s and 40s is a favorite in the winter for me. The Vaseline lip balm can come in a tiny tub or a round tin, and it’s usually pretty inexpensive. It’s thick and creates a protective layer over my lips, and at night time that’s plenty of time to let it sink in and do its thing. One of my major issues is the corners of my mouth; the skin tends to crack and even bleed sometimes. Putting Vaseline on at night seems to be the best thing for me to heal the skin.

So that’s what I do on a daily basis to keep my lips healthy in the winter! Do you have a favorite lip product to keep your lips healthy? (Anyone else still have a soft spot for Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers?)

Costuming the Wedding Singer

Posted in sewing, theatre by

Before I costumed The Wedding Singer…I actually hadn’t listened to any of the songs from the show. Oops. I had seen the Adam Sandler movie, ages ago, but I had some research to do for the production.

Wedding Singer is a super cute, super lively musical about a (duh) wedding singer and a waitress who fall in love, even though he’s not over his ex who left him at the altar and she’s engaged to a (really awful) CEO. It’s an incredibly high energy show from start to finish, and it’s set in the 1980s, so clearly that makes it a lot of fun.

I just didn’t have any idea how challenging this show would be to costume! Here are just a few of the problems I ran into:

-a huge cast! There were about 25 people that needed costumes. Not only that, but each lead had an understudy, plus all of the ensemble members had multiple costume changes.

-multiple specialty costumes! I needed three blue blazers, plus four wedding gowns, plus four sets of bridesmaids. It was super intense.

-minimal budget and no wardrobe to pull from! This production was done through the Stage cast club, which is for Disney cast members, so we didn’t have a specific theater that belongs strictly to us. The show was actually performed in the Ballroom of the Americas in the Contemporary resort. So you can see how it was an interesting set up from the beginning.

I pulled as much as I could from Goodwill and from the actors’ wardrobes, but I did end up making a lot of specialty pieces.

One of the actors actually found the iconic blue blazers online! They weren’t exactly, uh, the best craftsmanship, but it was easier to alter these guys than sew blazers from scratch. The director also found the piano ties on eBay. George’s top was a ladies’ blouse from Goodwill and I added copious amounts of ruffles.

IMG_1506 (1)Robbie also had some pretty sweet parachute pants “that his grandma bought for [him].” They were actually tracksuit pants with extra zippers attached.

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The ensemble for “All About the Green” needed to be identical, so there were about ten navy dirndl skirts. Yikes. Luckily, one of the cast members, Madison, was an absolute angel and helped me with a lot of projects, including this one.

The impersonators posed a definite challenge- Mr. T, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, Imelda Marcos, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Nancy’s dress and cardigan was already in her closet; Ronald and Imelda got their outfits from Goodwill with some alterations. Mr. T and Billy Idol pieced their costumes themselves (with some extra fringe stitched carefully to Billy’s vest). Cyndi was the biggest challenge. I pulled a cute Betsey Johnson dress from my closet, added some multicolored tulle left from Holly’s skirt (you’ll see in a second), and we added a lot of accessories. A lot. Unfortunately the zipper popped during tech week! We had to replace it at the last minute. But it worked!

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Linda, Robbie’s ex-fiancee, also got a great pleated skirt. I made it without a pattern and it worked out really well, especially with the leather jacket.

There were also four wedding dresses used in the show! One was donated to the production- a truly massive 80s satin nightmare. I also donated a wedding dress from my own closet for the bride in the opening number; the crinoline was cut out to make it easier to dance in, and I added a set of massive puff sleeves.

The bodice of Linda’s dress was sewn from an out of print McCall’s pattern, 5580. It’s a simple bustier pattern that I made from muslin with a lace overlay. The skirt was also muslin with a lace overlay, and then a truly bonkers high-low hem tulle skirt. It moved so well during Linda’s act one number, and with combat boots and a silver belt it was perfect. (And that wig…just look at that glorious wig.)

Julia’s wedding gown was a super important project for me. She’s the female lead and the object of Robbie’s affections, so it was important that her wedding gown was as simple, sweet, and lovely as she is. My friend Molly played the role with the perfect balance of sweetness and quirkiness and it was so fun making her a gown. I used an actual 80s formalwear pattern that I found on eBay, Butterick 5965, but I made the skirt long and full. The dress was lined in muslin (no budget to be had!) with a layer of satin over it, and then a layer of very soft tulle over it. It actually wasn’t even tulle- technically it was mosquito netting. But it draped beautifully and it looked so soft and dreamy. The dress itself is very simple, but I made sure it fit her well, and I added a rhinestone trim (also from the 1980s- it was actually vintage!) so that Robbie’s question about “is that bedazzling?” made sense. She wore it with a veil from my closet and a petticoat, but there wasn’t a train to make it easier to dance in.

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(you can also see the super cute bridesmaids’ skirts that Madison whipped up!)

Holly, Julia’s cousin, had one of the most challenging costumes. For most of the show, she wore an IMMENSE poofy skirt. It was made of three layers of pink organza, with multiple layers of tulle circle skirts in a rainbow of colors. It was so time intensive to make, but isn’t the final result great?

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But guess what! That isn’t even the final result! Under that skirt, Holly is wearing a mini dress made of pink swimwear material! See, at the end of act one, Holly pulls a Flashdance and does the whole pull-the-chain-and-the-water-comes-down bit. She needed a dress that could get wet and be completely dry by the next performance. So you see that fancy tulle circle skirt? Yeah, it’s actually a tearaway! It fastened with two extremely sturdy magnetic snaps at the waist so she could pop it off, and underneath was a pink minidress made from McCall’s 5580. If I could do it again, I would make my own bias tape from black spandex rather than using the woven premade tape, but it still worked out and she looked great. (“Like a fairy godmother…only slutty.”)

IMG_1505 Wedding Singer is a complicated show to costume even without the constraints I had, but overall it was a great show- definitely one of the most high energy and dedicated casts I’ve worked with! I’m glad I had the chance to make them look good onstage. And I can’t wait to costume the show again this spring!

Winter Hair and Skin Care (Even in Florida!

Posted in beauty, Birchbox and Ipsy, haircare, product reviews, skincare by
Disclaimer: All the items I talk about in this blog were purchased by me, except for two items that were gifted to me through the Influenster program. This post isn’t sponsored, I just like stuff!

I know, I know. I live in Florida. The sunshine state, right?

WRONG. It got into the 30s last week! I think my friend Ronnie summed it up the best.

I have super thin Floridian blood that is no longer accustomed to anything colder than 60 degrees. I’m a delicate magnolia blossom who withers in the frost, y’all.

The other problem is that Florida is the land of humidity- after all, I work in the middle of a renovated swamp. It’s constantly humid, but when it gets cold out the air invariably gets a lot drier. And that means I get a lot drier. I’m basically like Spongebob on that episode where he goes to Sandy’s treedome for the first time. So here’s what I do in the three weeks of Floridian winter to keep from freezing and drying out!

-A good shampoo and conditioner. My hair is super fine and porous, so I try not to wash it too often. That’s the nice thing about the Floridian winter, though- my hair is less frizzy in the drier air, and I sweat much less than I do in the summer, so I can get away with even third day hair. But I still want to keep my hair moisturized, so I splurged a little on the OGX collagen shampoo. Hopefully it’ll help. I also will typically braid my hair at work to keep it out of my face and reduce the likelihood of snapping my fragile strands as I yank a headseat microphone off my head ten times a day.

-A thick, moisturizing body wash. My skin gets really dry in the winter after a summer of heat and humidity, and I don’t have time for lotion. (Seriously, who has time for lotion?) Instead, I use the Dove winter care body wash. It’s very thick and creamy, and it keeps my skin soft and moisturized for the winter without having to go through all the effort of slathering on lotion. I think Dove has a summer care body wash, so when it’s hot again (so like…March) I’ll give that one a try too!

-thick eye cream. I started using eye creams when I was still in college, so I have very few lines around my eyes (thanks, past Caitlin!) The skin around my eyes is very fragile, and I’ve noticed some new freckles popping up under my lower lash line. I’ve been using the Origins ginzing eye cream (via an Influenster box) in the mornings and it’s just the right combination of creamy and fast-absorbing. I might switch to something even thicker though- any recommendations?

-thick face cream. I luckily have pretty good skin (combination: normal on the cheeks and the chin, slightly oily on my T zone) but I try to take good care of it. I’m pretty vigilant about washing my face in the morning with a mild cleanser (currently the Soap and Glory Face Soap and Clarity) and using a toner, eye cream, moisturizer, and sunscreen immediately afterwards. Right now I’ve been using the L’Oreal Revitalift cream, (also via an Influenster box). It’s a thick cream but I’ve noticed that it’s really helped with the slight texture on my forehead. Night time…is a different story though. I rarely wear makeup to work, but unless I shower before bed (a new habit I’m trying to develop) I usually forget to wash my face! When I do, though, I use the Ponds Crema S for dry skin. It’s ridiculously thick and I joke with my boyfriend that my face smells like a grandma, but there’s a reason that Ponds has been around as long as it has. I get the tiny travel jar of the cream and it lasts for literally months because you don’t need much of it.

-hand sanitizer and lotion. I keep hand sanitizer everywhere! This is a year-round thing for me. I spend all day touching stuff after other people- steering wheels, headsets, stroller handles, push buttons, handlebars. And that doesn’t even count for how dirty the entire attraction! Everything is covered in a thick layer of dirt. So to stay clean and germ free, I keep Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer everywhere, especially in the side pocket of my work backpack and on a loop on my water bottle. (Right now I have Twisted Peppermint and a blue summer scent; I have several aromatherapy scents ready to go as soon as they run out.) But that dries out my hands, so I carry around a tube of hand lotion as well. I have literally a box of mini hand lotions (thanks, Ipsy and Birchbox) but right now mine is…well, it’s from our resort room from the time my family got a surprise upgrade to a villa in Saratoga Springs. It’s the H2O Marine Sea Salt scent. It’s more summery in scent, but it’s very thick and smells amazing. (Also apparently people are selling the resort freebies on eBay for like $15?? Wow, what a market.)

So that’s a few of the things I like to do to keep my hair and skin in shape during the winter! What are some products and tricks that you recommend?

OOTD: The Last Jedi (again) and Orlando Fringe

Posted in fashion, outfit of the day by

Yes, I totally saw Last Jedi again. My friend Bri is visiting from out of town so a group of us went to see it together. Honestly, it was even better the second time around. But it was cold!! Florida has been in the 40s and 50s and it’s been nuts. I wore my favorite shirt jacket and I unearthed my convertible glove mittens. We grabbed pizza from Blaze afterwards, and then I headed to the theater.

For the past few months we’ve been rehearsing our Fringe Festival show off site, so we only had a few hours in the space before our first performance. We got there at three thirty, did a run with the tech added in, and then ran the costumes changes. We also had an interview with Fringe, so we ran over to the Shakespeare to do that before the first show. I’m so tired and I definitely ate my weight in Taco Bell when I got home.

Top: Disney

Skirt: Forever 21

Leggings: No Boundaries

Boots: Target

Purse: Betsey Johnson

Coat: Converse

Gloves: Claire’s

Glasses: Eye Buy Direct (Sophie frames)

Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers

Posted in cosplay by

I have to preface this by saying that I was Tina Belcher when I was a child. For proof, please enjoy this photo of me as an eight year old. I’m at a petting zoo. Petting a goat.

When I was getting ready to attend my first Akaicon, I wanted to bring an easy but recognizable costume. Tina Belcher was a no brainer! I was already most of the way there.

I didn’t make any of the pieces for this costume. I got a light blue tee shirt and black knock off Converse sneakers from Walmart (both from the little boy’s section) and pulled a navy Forever 21 skirt and white knee socks out of my closet. The big yellow barrette was ordered from eBay and the black wig was a gift from my sister (she’s a semi-professional cosplayer and this was one she didn’t need anymore).

I also carried around a composition notebook to be my “erotic friend fiction” book. Oh…and the glasses were my own. Because of course they were.

I also might have worn the cosplay again the following year…this time for the risqué competition. That’s a whole ‘nother story (comment below if you want to hear it!) but I switched up my look to be more like Tina in the episode where Tammy gives her a makeover.

Products I’ve Used Up: Part I

Posted in beauty, Birchbox and Ipsy, haircare, product reviews, skincare by

(Disclaimer: none of these products were given to me and I was not sponsored! Everything was purchased with my own money or came as a sample from a subscription service.)

I didn’t really get into the beauty product scene until I was out of college. My beauty routine in high school didn’t really go beyond showering every morning and occasionally dabbling in some (terrible) makeup choices; in college I occasionally used a hair or face mask and stuck to minimal makeup (usually concealer, mascara, and cherry chapstick). When I was out of college, I started teaching at a K-12 school, and because I was super young and looked even younger, I decided it was time to really start wearing makeup. That led me into YouTube beauty vloggers, and not only did I start trying out real makeup looks, I also started taking much better care of my skin and hair. I’m still not perfect at it (hello, forgetting to take my makeup off at night) but it’s made a huge difference.

At this point, I never purchase new beauty products without looking up their reviews on the internet. I’m not going to invest my money in something just to find out it was a waste, right? So I thought I would review some of the products I’ve used up (or gave up on) recently!

-Garnier Micellar Wipes: I rely on cleansing face wipes for a lot of reasons. I use them before bed to take my makeup off, I use them in the morning to clean my face if I showered the night before, and I use them before and after performances. I really liked the Garnier micellar wipes. The wipe itself has a very soft texture but a strong weave, so it didn’t tear up my skin or dissolve in my hands. My skin felt very clean afterwards, with no sticky reside. I’ll buy again!

-Pantene Detangler: Full disclosure: my hair is the worst. I have baby-thin hair but it’s very coarse and dry (also, I desperately need a new hairstyle and a great haircut, so any recommendations would be welcomed) and because my hair has that weak, stretchy feeling, I use detangler to minimize pulling or breaking more hair than normal. The Pantene detangler is okay. It did its job preventing breakage, but I felt like my hair was kind of coated afterwards. I also didn’t really like using it on dry hair. I need a detangler, but I’m not sure I’d buy this one if more options are available. I’m on the fence!

 

-Dermalogica Age Smart Daily Super Exfoliant: This was a sample from a Birchbox. It’s a very unique product- it’s actually a mildly abrasive powder that you mix with water to create a paste. It’s a little messy, but as an exfoliant it worked great. It wasn’t so abrasive that you can’t use it every day, but not so gentle that it doesn’t make a difference. As a higher-end brand, it’s not currently on my radar as a product that worked so well that I could justify the price, but it is a very good product. I’d buy again if the price is right!

-St. Ives Apricot Oil Scrub. Here’s what happens when you don’t check your reviews ahead of time. I only used this scrub two, maybe three times before I tossed it. It was awful. The oil base is thick and syrupy, and the apricot flecks were far too hard on my skin. Luckily I used it in the shower, because using it at a sink would have caused an oil-based catastrophe. The residue never completely washed off either; I had a little bit of stickiness for the rest of the day. I didn’t end up wasting too much money. I had a coupon on the Target Cartwheel app and it was an item on Ibotta as well…plus the scrub was already on clearance and I haven’t seen it since. (That should have been a sign.) I’m not going to buy this again!

-Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara.I got this as a sample. I had gotten recommendations for this mascara all over the place, especially from my friend Bri, but I didn’t get around to trying it for ages. I absolutely loved it. It made my lashes look very thick and very long, and it lasted for a decently long amount of time. This is why I always prefer sample size mascaras. I can pay ten dollars for a full size drugstore mascara or ten dollars for a sample high end mascara, and in either case I’ll end up tossing them in 3-6 months (I know, I know, I hold onto my mascaras a little longer. But I know I’m not the only one.) I’ll buy again!

I hope these were helpful! But I’m always on the lookout for new things to try. What are your all time favorite and all time worst beauty products? I want to know!

OOTD: The Last Jedi

Posted in cast member life, Disney, fashion, literally me, outfit of the day, theme park life, work by

Shane and I finally went to Disney Springs to see The Last Jedi. Finally. I don’t know how I managed to avoid spoilers for nearly a month, but I did it and boy howdy, was that a great movie. It’s not my favorite Star Wars film, and it made a lot of risky choices, but overall it was a really strong movie and I had a great time.

It has been absolutely freezing in Florida. Freezing as in I was standing at the merge point at work and watched flurries falling. It’s a terrible time to work a completely outdoor attraction. They had to pull most of the animals off the reserve, but on the upside the park was super empty. I layered the crap out of my costume- leggings, thick fuzzy socks, and a sweatshirt under my work shirt and pants, and then my work coat and a white knit hat. But I can’t find my gloves, so my hands were so cold. I couldn’t even signal my row numbers with my hands while I was loading!

It was still cold for the movie, so I got to dig my rarely-worn but much-loved winter coat out of the back of the closet. And my favorite boots! These Blowfish boots literally feel like slippers. I need to see if I can find more pairs in different colors. I’ll only be able to wear them a couple of times a year, but it’s worth it, right?

But now I need to see The Last Jedi again.

Top: Forever 21

Jeggings: Target

Boots: Blowfish

Coat: Forever 21

Glasses: Eye Buy Direct (Sophie frames)

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Posted in books by

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book read very much like a novelization of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, and the further you get into it the more Village-like it got.

Honestly that’s the best summary for the book- The Village, but with zombies. Lots of zombies. There’s a heavy religious aspect to the story that works really well; it’s just Protestant enough to seem realistic but unique enough to not be overly unsettling (a la The Handmaid’s Tale). The protagonist, Mary, is also much more likable than most first-person female protagonists I’ve come across in young adult novels as of late. I genuinely wanted to see where she was going to end up in this saga.

That being said, once I reached the end of the book, I knew it was the set up for sequels…but I’m not really that interested in reading them. I liked where Mary’s story was, and I didn’t really want to jump into the new characters and new environment in the next books. The new setting for the follow up books is very different, and I wanted to see more from where Mary came from. But I still very much enjoyed the book itself, and I’ll read it again.

View all my reviews

upcoming shows for 2018: Legally Blonde, Little Shop of Horrors, and more!

Posted in sewing, theatre by

It’s only January 2nd, and oh boy, is my schedule already filling up with theatre! That’s not a bad problem to have though, right?

If you follow me on Instagram, then you already know about what’s happening this weekend. If you don’t- well, I’m making my debut in the Orlando Fringe Festival! Usually Fringe happens in the spring, but they’re doing a winter mini festival of the top twenty-five shows from the previous spring. I was not part of the original cast, but I also I kind of was? Okay, it’s weird, here’s the explanation.

Last winter I did my third show with Playwrights Round Table, which is a really great local group that produces new (usually short) plays by local playwrights. I played the role of Peggy in Welcome to Intercourse, a sweet and sassy ten minute play about two girls stranded on the side of the road who get rescued by a pair of Amish boys. It was a lot of fun, and when the full version of the show was accepted into the 2016 Orlando Fringe, I was offered the role, as well as two other roles since the show is made up of four short plays. But I had to turn it down- I was going to be a bridesmaid in my friend Song’s wedding, and her wedding weekend overlapped with the Fringe schedule. Womp womp. So I wasn’t part of the show in the original Fringe run, but when the show was accepted to the mini festival, the actress who originally performed in the full show couldn’t come back, so I was asked and I accepted!

I’m playing three roles in three of the four short plays- Peggy in Welcome to Intercourse, Alex in Meet the Pets, and Grace in Buried. It’s been kind of a whirlwind getting everything together, but the show opens this Friday and I’m really excited! I’ll do a full recap post when the show is over, and you can always keep up with my adventures on Instagram and Snapchat too.

After that, I’m working on the costumes for three shows…all in the month of May. Yikes! But at least none of them overlap, and I’ve already gotten a head start.

First coming up is a production of Legally Blonde with Brightstage. I’m super excited about this one; my friend Taylor (the Horton to my Gertrude in Seussical and my director for Heathers) is the executive artistic director for the company and is directing the show, and he brought me on board as the costume designer. I’m even going to have my own team! It’s the inaugural production for the company, but the production team is fabulous and I’m really thrilled to be working on the show. We’ve had our first production meeting already and auditions will be coming up in late January, so I’m ready to get started.

Then I’ll be working on a production of The Wedding Singer with Melon Patch Players in Leesburg. It’s a little far, but I’m looking forward to it for a couple of reasons.

#1: I’ve costumed the show before, on a significantly smaller budget (that blog post is coming soon!)

#2: the director, Tad, was my director in Evil Dead so I think the production team aspect is going to go just fine

#3: the Melon Patch theater has a full costume shop I can pull from

The Wedding Singer is a complicated show to costume- not only do you have four wedding dresses, plus their wedding guests, but also every ensemble member has multiple characters to play, not to mention the celebrity impersonators- but it’s a truly delightful show. It’s still one of my bucket list shows to perform too!

The other show I’ll be working on in the spring is Little Shop of Horrors with Celebration Theatre Company. Not only did I perform with them twice last season (in the summer cabaret and Heathers) but this is my second year as their costumer in residence. So basically, I’m not fully costuming the show, but I’m there to assist with the production. I’m also most likely going to audition for the show. Audrey has been one of my dream roles since high school, and it’s one of the roles that people kind of assume I’ve played before because of my voice (along with Adelaide from Guys and Dolls). It’s going to be pretty competitive, but I want to audition for the show- I’ve got my song picked out and everything.

 

There’s a couple of projects that might potentially come down the pipeline later in the year (several auditions, more costuming….maybe even directing??) but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, you know? In any case, the productions I’m already committed to doing are going to be great, and I can’t wait to get started!

so what are your goals for 2018?

Posted in health and fitness, home sweet home, literally me, writing by

Every year I read a million articles about how New Year’s resolutions don’t matter, they never work, a certain day to start doesn’t matter…all that stuff. But I like it. I like that January 1st feels like a reset button, a “new [year] with no mistakes in it,” to paraphrase Anne Shirley. And I’ve got a lot to look forward to this year! I have four confirmed shows so far, a new role in my career at Disney, and maybe even an engagement ring coming my way (Shane says that’s his goal for the year and he asked to see my Pinterest boards, so you know it’s real.) So here are my goals this year!

Make changes for my health. “Lose weight” is always the most ubiquitous New Year’s resolution, but I don’t want to just lose weight. I mean, yeah, obviously I want to lose weight. But I’m terrible at food. I make tremendously poor choices, and I need to change that. And I’m so out of shape. Working at Great Movie Ride kept me active, but I was still not doing anything to benefit my body, and at Safaris I’m practically sedentary. I’m nowhere near as flexible as I used to be, and I need to be in better shape to dance in shows. And if I lose 60 pounds? That would be awesome. I know 60 isn’t necessarily realistic for one year’s time, but I’m aiming for at least 30 pounds down, as well as bringing down my measurements.

Blog and vlog regularly. I have a tendency to post a lot of posts at once, and then disappear. Oops. I’d like to make daily posting a thing, and I really want to post more videos. I am trying to save up money for a real camera (I’m currently using my old iPhone 5 with the shattered screen for all my filming) but I also want to develop my filming and editing skills. Daily posting is a lot, yes, but I think the consistency is good.

Write! I used to write all the time. I wrote copious amounts of fan fiction in high school and college, and at one point I even wrote a novel (that I promptly stuck in a drawer). I miss writing, and I have some ideas that I’d really like to work on. Even one sentence a day is still progress!

Improve my living space. My current apartment no longer suits my needs. I do enough alterations and sewing jobs that I need more space to work and meet with clients, so I want to transfer to a new apartment in the same complex that has a little more space. I also want my place to feel more homey and more like me, rather than a hodgepodge of mismatched furniture and random plastic bins for temporary storage that somehow became permanent. It’s a lot of hoops to jump through but I really want to move!

So those are my big goals for 2018! Comment below with your goals; let’s keep each other motivated!