NOTE: In order to leave a comment, please click the title of the blog and scroll down to the bottom of the entry. Thanks!

Contrary To Popular Belief

5

Posted by Erin Renee | Posted on 21-08-2010

Category : Blog

Tags: , , , , ,

I am not dead. Sometimes, like tonight, I feel that way. Summer was not some kind of wonderful. I mean, it was. It is? Summer isn’t over yet but it’s about to be and there’s a part of me that hopes it will end NOW (will explain this following) but then there’s the part of me that is dreading when school starts again because I remember how elated I was to have summer start. As Michael Scott would say, Catch 22.

Uh, yes, I just went in that direction.

This summer in a nutshell (and the reason why I was better off dead and wasn’t even updating my Twitter, let alone my website): I have been working my three jobs and with the manager gone from my makeup artist gig, I have been working 25-30 hours for the past month and a half. It’s had its ups and its downs based on the fact that with all my jobs combined I work about 60 hours a week and all jobs are high energy, draining positions that are all high-stress, catty, and competitive. I hit my low point this summer when I had two nervous breakdowns, and I just came off a two week streak of not being able to go a day without bawling at least once. I average about four hours a night in sleep and I work on average, a typical day, is 10:00am to 9:30pm. Depending on the way I am scheduled between my jobs, I might get an hour or a half hour for lunch but I was even going for a little while of having absolutely NO breaks for the whole 12 hour day. I haven’t had a day off since the beginning of July. It’s been a little ridiculous. This is why I wanted summer to end.

The perks, however, are seen to the left. July was incredibly stressful as were the first two weeks of August so I took all my extra earnings (and I had a handsome sum of extra money this month) and invested it in something I wanted, something that was so unbelievably frivolous and girly and unnecessary. Indeed, it is so unnecessary that I would never ask, dream of, or want anyone to buy me this bag. Ever.

Internet, meet Louis.

My best friend in the entire world came to visit. Her name is Kristie and I haven’t seen her in two years since oceans have separated us. Finally, she came to LA and we were reunited for the very first time ever on non-UK soil. It was glorious. I managed to get time off between jobs so we could hang out and have fun like we used to. Well, back in our glory days of London (some of you remember our antics and our shopping sprees), we spent a great deal of time wishing that we could buy lots of expensive things and pretend to be, like, Boston housewives or something. It was a very entertaining phase. Anyway, so when she came, I knew I had to take her to South Coast Plaza, and when I did, we found our way into the Louis Vuitton store, where I had been a long-time wishing for this bag, and then it happened. I bought it. And by “it” I mean the Damier Ebene Speedy 30. I just had to. I was going to go insane otherwise. Now, every time I think of how hard I work and how tired I am and what in the WORLD is all for, I think of that bag and realize, WOW, shut up. If you didn’t work this much, you would NEVER own this bag. Be quiet.

And it’s been working. I’ve been a quiet, arduous little worker and will offer to come in whenever I am needed and rack up my hours and go between jobs without complaint. Sometimes I still get tired. Like tonight when I fell asleep after I got off work at 8 and stayed asleep until 10:30 when my third boss had been calling me to come and pick up my costumes from her house for the weekend jobs. Whoops.

Let me tell you something, owning a Louis Vuitton bag is an experience in itself, but purchasing one in a Louis Vuitton boutique is even more extreme. I will gladly write on that little adventure for anyone who is interested in how that went down. Slight preview: It ended in a sales associate in a suit handing me his business card and saying, “for when you are ready to buy the wallet.”

Other than that, working this much has enabled me, for the first time ever, to buy and comfortably pay for all of my textbooks at once from the bookstore well before the school year starts and before financial aid comes in. That, I think, was my biggest triumph. I felt so good about that I texted my mom all proud of myself. It’s the little things, man.

Now I’m off to try and sleep because tomorrow is another day full of working a party and then working at my other job until 10 and I know that if I am sleepy than it will not make anything easier.

Goodnight, everyone. It was really nice catching up and being online again.

Mango Smoothie FTW!

4

Posted by Erin Renee | Posted on 17-07-2010

Category : Blog

Tags: , , , , , , ,

This was the greatest idea ever. It tasted so wonderful and was so refreshing, that I have to share the very simple “recipe” with all of you.

Ingredients

1 Fresh mango, diced
2 cups and/or “handfulls” of ice cubes
3/4 cup of orange  juice
1/2 cup of milk
4 tablespoons of sweetener or sugar

All you have to do now is throw it all into a blender and whip up your smoothie. It turns out smooth, creamy, flavorful, and ever-so-healthy. It’s my new favorite thing this summer.

I recently watched Disney’s The Princess & The Frog. I finally got around to doing it because I realized last week, as I was sitting with my boss listening to her book jobs, that Princess Tiana is the most popular princess at the moment. She is definitely blowing all the other old school Disney princesses out of the water, let me tell you. I am spending my weekend playing Mother Goose and a clown, as a testament to that fact. I just had to know what all the fuss was about.

The story was cute, Tiana’s character was nice and contemporary, a balanced combination wishing-upon-a-star, which all Disney princesses do, while touting the virtues of being self-made. The prince was charming but not so chivalrous and reminded me starkly of every guy I encountered through college. Seems like Disney is clearly trying to work against the fantasy complexes so many people blame them for bestowing upon the general public.

The movie was, I felt, a little scary for young audiences. I got mixed reviews on this fact though. At one birthday party, a little girl told me the end was really scary because “a lot of ghosts come up from the ground.” This was why I actually sat down to watch the movie. Call it my nanny instincts kicking in–if a child gets scared, I investigate. Again, I was just at a preschool yesterday where all the kids were talking about Avatar and the new Alice In Wonderland (duly noted: not the Disney version). They seemed unphased by the goings-on of Princess & The Frog, especially the part when all the dark spirits come and drag the voodoo shadow man to hell. I mean, COME ON. That whole part creeped me out!

And oh, the tears. The death of Ray, the firefly had me sobbing. But I mean, who didn’t see that one coming? Disney, you kill me.

All in all, I can see why every little girl in the Los Angeles area wants Princess Tiana at her birthday party. I laughed thinking of all the things the kids must ask her. In light of the fact that when I was Belle, I was asked, “do you have an evil step-brother?” and as Jasmine, I was given the third degree on the whereabouts of Aladdin and my magic carpet, I can only imagine.

To end, since we’re talking about all things Frog Princess-related, I have a little story. (YES, I know we ALL love my stories, LOLz). I’m at my desk, which is in the kitchen, and my boyfriend is at the counter making dinner. He turns around and shows me a plate full of finely chopped vegetables and goes, “LOOK, I MINCED!”

It was freaking the cutest thing. I leapt up from my chair and went, “Oh, Price Naveen!” and then we both laughed our heads off. The neighbors love us.

A Whole New World.

2

Posted by Erin Renee | Posted on 12-07-2010

Category : Blog

Tags: , , , , ,

Another weekend, another weekend full of parties. I absolutely loved it! My new character was playing Jasmine for a graduation party. (Don’t worry. That bare belly was just for photo purposes! I was fully covered for the party–that was the only part of my character the little girls criticized. “Jasmine’s not supposed to be wearing a shirt underneath!”) I have to say that not only was this my best performance, it was my favorite party, by far. I had so much fun playing with the kids. They all participated with zeal in all the games and played so respectfully with each other. I didn’t have to referee them like I usually do, continually reminding them to make “little waves” on the parachute when little ones are playing–they did it themselves. And when the little kids were having a hard time completing the task in the game, they would halt the parachute until they were able to finish. They were then extra-enthusiastic and applauded them loudly when they were done.

They also did the impossible: they lined themselves up by age for face painting so the littlest kids went first. I have never, ever seen such patient, generous, and well-mannered kids with that much respect for each other. They were also so grateful for the opportunity to play around with a Disney Princess that it made my job so easy. Sometimes, I end up at parties where the kids have seen this kind of entertainment so much, they aren’t phased by the “special”ness of it at all. This wasn’t the case here. They absolutely bought into the magic of the moments we try to create. I truly felt lucky to have been there.

In light of my two other jobs, where I wrangle with difficult customers and am consistently disrespected my full-grown adults day in, day out, this job is a blessing. This is a job I love with every ounce of my being and would readily and willingly do it for free any day of the week. My mom was right when she said that with character performing, I had found my niche.

Little Beauty.

Posted by Erin Renee | Posted on 09-07-2010

Category : Blog

Tags: , , ,

This weekend, I played Belle for the very first time at my very first birthday party. I’m not going to lie. I was s0 incredibly nervous, just as is expected. I totally got to the party an hour early and then sat in the car and observed a legitimate cat house on the corner of the street, a fact which I have to dwell on just long enough to tell you guys that, yes, it was everything I ever wanted it to be.

Tons of cats. Everywhere. Cats lining the windows, cats lying in the sun on the driveway, cats sitting around the tires of nearby parked cars. It was a little intense. For Vesper’s sake, I opted to not get out of the car in front of that house. I would have brought her home a nice host of fleas.

So, about the party. It was so much fun. It was my chance to do everything I had been learning to do for the past month all by myself. It was up to me that the party flowed for that hour and I think I did a pretty good job. The birthday girl was very sweet. She was dressed like Belle, too, so we matched! Adorable. The little girls there were veterans to characters coming to parties and that intimidated me a little bit, but once I got over it, I was fine.

All in all, I enjoyed it so very much and always, always leave these jobs with a huge smile on my face and such an appreciation for what I have the ability to do in my life.

Previous