This Thesis is Done

Mr. E keeps telling me he can't believe that he's done with his thesis.

Okay, technically, he's not even really DONE, he's just done shooting. So the part he was most involved in is over.

And he can tell me that all he wants, but I'm of two minds.

Dude. You're DONE. You can be home now and not catering to your other wives' needs (his editor, his producer, his cinematographer). I've had to share my husband's attentions long enough!

And then, a bit more forcefully...

Are you KIDDING? You will never be done with this project. This is your baby, your first and your biggest. You will hover over the editor's back (as he does his own movie, mind you) until YOU may as well edit the damn thing. You'll foley and find a kickin' soundtrack better than when you had to do our wedding. You'll fundraise to send this thing to festivals and you'll brag to all your family about how AWESOME it looks. 'Cuz it does.

It may not have hit you that shooting is done (all two weekends and 66+ hours of it), but I am personally gearing up for another step in the long process of film-making: post-production.

Here's to making it through to the thesis showing in April.

Best Friend

You know that feeling you get when you can be with someone and just let your hair down? You already know how they'll respond to your jokes and your stories so you don't have to impress them anymore and you just tell it like it is? When you feel so free to be YOU and not politically correct you or polite-but-distant you, but YOU to your bones?

This last week felt like that.

We decorated, we cooked, we played at Disneyland, we talked and chatted and gossiped for a full week. And it was awesome.

My best friend moved to the east coast almost exactly one year ago, and while I would like to visit, it just hasn't been in the budget. So when she offered to come out for a full week I had no qualms asking for a couple days off (for family reasons).

I had been sitting on my hands the week after Thanksgiving, itching to put up Christmas decorations. But I told myself it would be more fun to do with my best friend, so I waited. Impatiently. And allowed myself to at least take down my fall decorations. 

She came in on Friday night, and we immediately whisked her off to In n Out like a true Californian. Saturday Dan was on set all day (thankfully with reasonable hours) and Genna and I brought out all six boxes of Christmas decorations (packrat, much?), blasted Christmas carols and sipped apple cider. 

Because that's not enough of a project, I was also slated to cook food for Mr. E's 30 person set. Let's be clear: I cook and bake and I love it. Dinners, desserts, meals; I love feeding people. I don't think I'd make a career out of it, but there's something wholesome and right about serving home-cooked meals. 

However, cooking for 30 people and transporting said food? With a puppy in the car? Not as fun. Stressful, even.

I thought that I would take the easy way out and cook breakfast for dinner: pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs...we made a mess out of the kitchen. However, because I wanted everything to be hot (looking back, I would rather everything had been COOKED then reheated as opposed to hot) I waited until the last minute to cook everything...which resulted in mostly pancakes (easy) and half the bacon and sausage. 

They had barely gotten through half of the line (talent first) when the meat disappeared. Of course, with mostly guys I should have known bacon was a MUST. Thankfully, Mr. E's producer came to the rescue with a few pizzas...lesson learned. 

Sunday we drove to my parents house in Ramona: mountains, horses, more Christmas decorations. I was so happy to be able to decorate with my parents and my siblings (even sans hubby)- it's one of my favorite memories of each year to put the tree together, remembering each ornament and story.

We loaded the car again on Monday and day-tripped around San Diego, hitting Balboa Park and Oldtown. Poor Ripley was awful on her leash all day- too long in the car, then too many new things outside to sniff and tug and see. Genna and I took it in stride, though, take pictures, admiring the Christmas decorations and generally enjoying each others' company.

Riplicus Maximus at her finest.

This puppy has the worst case of camera-shy-ness.

Tuesday, of course, was a time-honored classic. We live only 4 miles away, and Genna said the past year had been the longest time she's ever been away from Disneyland. Poor thing. So we partied it up- Disneyland proper and California Adventure: rides, shows, churros (it was too cold for Dole whip). Fairly sure this was my first time actually riding the Haunted Mansion when it's decorated for the holidays...(blasphemy). 

Eventually I did have to go back to work, but after such a long "vacation" it was nice to be productive again. I was able to wrap presents AND get Genna addicted to Once Upon a Time . Vacation well-spent. We exchanged gifts the night before she left (at 6:30 in the morning: boo LA traffic) and we received this beautiful handmade tree skirt (by her mother, as Genna is not quite that crafty).

Freakin. I love the holidays.

Under the Tree

This Christmas I gave you my heart I did something I've always looked forward to doing.

I coordinated my wrapping paper.

Yes, I am geeky like that.

It doesn't bother me that presents are mismatched with whatever paper is on hand. I like to see all the different colors and patterns- the goofy reindeer and the mature glittery damask. It all has its place and time. 

One of our Christmases at home I remember my mom bought a huge roll of brown packing paper, rolled it out down the hallway and painted our hands blue and red (and white?) to decorate all bajillion yards. Not only was this a fun experience for us as kids, but watching the presents underneath the tree magically grow in size, decorated with our handprints was nothing short of inspiring. I can't wait to do the same with my own kids- one more way to include them in helping and learning about the winter holidays.

I did not have the time (or patience or space) this year to do that, but I've noticed similar trends popping up in magazines and on Pinterest. So I thought I'd take a crack at it.

My very own "brown paper packages tied up with string"!

The packing paper was 3.99/roll at CVS ( yards?) and is pretty thick. Next year I'll try and find something a little thinner. I was grateful I didn't break down and buy the special baking twine (100 yards or so) online, because the next day I found these at Target in the dollar section! Since I'm going basically reds, whites and silver in decorations, wrapping in green helped me differentiate between what was gifts for US and what were gifts for THEM. Plus, If I'm really on top of it this year (fingers crossed) I can save my string for next year. Just a few dollars, but it'll feel good to recycle.

Simplicity was key- I didn't want big bows or floofy ribbons, garish snowmen or cute little Santas. There are just too many choices! I'd always regret buying one roll when the next I found was even cuter. So I'm good to admire. I might feel adventurous enough to save some wrapping paper scraps to frame as Christmas decorations around the house though! (omg....epiphany!)

So I just wrapped to the best of my ability (while attempting to be frugal). I used the tape on hand (which is opaque and NOT clear) and some pieces weren't quite big enough. That's alright, we'll put them behind OTHER packages and no one will notice once they're open. :)

I wrapped some of the packages with twine: red for Mr. E and me, green for siblings, parents, nieces and nephews. 

And then the tags. I figured the wrapping was signature enough, so we don't need no stinkin' "From"'s here! And in keeping it simple stu- ah, we just did first initials. In lower case because I break all grammar rules when decorating. I used a book that I have no intention of reading and free-handed a bunch of letters in different orientations. So we have a lot of D's (handy since lower case D's and B's are just reversed) so Mr. E has some "tags" handy also!

The result? I love. Plus a close-up shot of that fabulous tree-skirt...handmade by my grandmother! All in blues and silvers, with sweet little bows. It's the perfect pop against our other decorations.

Makin' a Movie

Making a student film is like...

Baking cupcakes at the last minute for your kid to take to school the next day. Only your high hopes of showing off to all the other parents/teachers/volunteers by making treats from scratch is subject to things like reality and high expectations when you realize you need these cupcakes NOW and it's 10:30 at night but you have no ingredients. So you have to run to the store (Wal-Mart, because what the heck else is open?) and even though you attempted to make this a productive trip and wrote down a list and shit, you definitely forgot that in your car.

So you're cruising down the aisles, trying to remember what you wrote down, avoiding eye contact and worrying the whole time that you are losing SLEEP (you know, that thing you've looked forward to all day?) and spending MONEY despite a budget you've set yourself. But won't it be worth it? Won't your kid love you even more and look back on memories like this thinking, Gee, my mom loved me so much she spent the time to bake me special things. 

So you're all high on visions of grandeur, but really its just the smell of the person in front of you who has dandruff halfway down their back and you realize you completely forgot frosting. While you were willing to bake these mini cakes from scratch, you draw the line at frosting because those 7-year-olds won't even appreciate true buttercream frosting and besides you're already at the store. But then you realize that all the crap in your cart costs more than you expected and all you have is a ten dollar bill.

When you finally get home you're exhausted but you whip up a quick batter, pop those babies in the oven, take one look at the mess you've made in the kitchen and slide it all into the sink. That's clean enough. Who's really going to fault you except yourself? It's the cupcakes that are the priority, not the clean counters. Yeah, that's some first class justification you just dealt yourself, but it's 11:30 at night (much later than you had initially _wanted_ to go to bed) and some things are expendable.

Sadly, you spend another 45 minutes waiting for the cupcakes to cool so you can frost them and dammit if they don't frost properly. So then you have sugar all over your fingers, sprinkles between your toes (because of course you spilled) and your expectations for these glorious cupcakes are quickly dropping. You spend another ten minutes hunting for the tupperware you know will fit all of these damn cakes, only to realize your husband used it to put away leftovers (for once). 

In the morning your kid has those friggin cupcakes, proud as can be, maybe not for the reasons you envisioned, but they're made, they're frosted and they're out of your hands. Now it's up to someone else to enjoy them.

Yeah, making a student film is kind of like that.

Cater to Your Every Whim

I think I may have lost my mind.

In an effort to cut costs and support Mr. E on his student film, I offered to cater food for 3 of 5 days. 

Let's be clear.

I cook. Pretty well too! Pork chops with peaches, Meatloaves, burgers, mashed potatoes, etc etc.

I bake. Pies, cookies, homemade breads, etc etc.

Because I do these things, and I enjoy doing these things, and I've heard praise for doing these things...I thought helping Mr. E out would be useful. Fun, even.

And then I realized that I need three meals on different days for 30+ people. 

Pizza is frowned upon for SAG actors because it's too "cliche". Though I could probably swing it if I wanted (hello? pizza and salad and apple crisp? that's not your average college set, now is it?!)

So I need to get creative.
Pasta and meatballs...with salad and garlic bread.
     Meatballs are easy enough to make ahead of time. The pasta dried out by the time I transported it to set last time, so we'll see if we can think of something sneaky to keep it slippery and serve-able.

Carne Asada fries
     French fries, carne asada meat, refried beans, cheese, guacamole (optional) and sour cream (optional).

     I loved getting these at theatre rehearsals- everyone loves Mexican food and these are SO EASY to whip up. Mr. E requested these the last day due to bean content.

My coup de grace? Breakfast for dinner.
     I'll cook dozens of pancakes and just fry up sausage and bacon! Who doesn't eat bacon? Plus, I've already made lemon bars for the masses, so we'll call that their "fresh fruit" for the day, yeah? 

We can all ignore the three sticks of butter I added, mmkay?

Coming Home

There are few things more ahh-worthy than coming home from an extended stay to a clean house.

The stress and worry of your (relaxing) weekend melt away to the sight of your perfectly plumped, extremely inviting couch. Oh and that already-made bed? Begging you to jump in and sleep, please.

I love visiting family. I love seeing everyone, cooking, baking, watching movies, playing games- it's great. But there comes one night too many when you realize you would LOVE to sleep in your own bed instead of the couch. 

But possibly the most excited of all of us? Ripley bee-lined inside the house exactly to where she left her poor mangled Hippo, carried his pink pelt to her favorite chew spot and went to town.

She even forwent her new bone for that stuffed animal. 

Thankful.

In the last few years I can truly say that my cup runneth over with blessings. Most notably:

1. My husband. Of course, so much of what I have and look forward to having is because of this man.

2. My wonderfully supportive family. I am absolutely enveloped in love and understanding each time I see them. I am so thankful to have such a great support group behind me.

3. My job. I have struggled- and often still do- with what I want to do with my life. I've always had part time jobs since everything took a back seat to school and while graduating has cut down on some of the stress, I find it strange to adjust to ONE job ALL the time. But having a job that pays well not only sets me up for a career but bolsters my self-worth: I work full-time. I am useful and I am using the knowledge that I struggled through four years of school to get. That makes what I do a million times more fulfilling.

4. Our home! We live in Orange County and I can't tell you how thankful I am that we pay what we do. I've looked around at other apartments, townhouses and condos and we are far and away getting the best bang-for-our-buck. We are in a nice neighborhood within walking distance of school and groceries, we have a small yard and a garage plus our utilities are paid for. 
     You know that saying, "What if you woke up with only the things you thanked God for last night?" I would never lose this house!

5. A few of our "things" (though not for reasons you would think!)
 Our car: this clunker has broken down on us twice, but I am so thankful to have a car to rely on when we need it. We've found other ways to make-up for any mishaps, but having a car has really given us the independence to be able to do the things we want together.
 
Our Kitchen-aid: This handy machine has not only helped me with cooking, but it's useful as relationship glue too! Cooking is a way of reaching out to people, sharing and enjoying memories with others. Yes, I could do do the same thing without it, but it's certainly a luxury I enjoy.

 Our TV: This might come off as a little indulgent, but as Mr. E is a film student, showing movies in the best quality is really important! When it's basically your job to KNOW why movies look the way they do and each time you sit down is a chance to study lighting, effects, cinematography, etc, it's helpful to have a nice TV. Someday (when we're feeling even more indulgent) we'll work on the sound too...

 Our Ripley: I'm glad we waited to get her, but having a puppy has really kicked our butts in to gear. Sad to say, but we were getting pretty lazy at home looking after only ourselves- having a puppy motivates us to get things done more often. Plus, she's pretty cute, so there's that. ;)