Too Hot With a Chance of More Gratitude

So more being grateful! Here are my day 3 & 4 in my Month of Gratitude!

Here was my post from Saturday: Today I am grateful for the wonderful friends Joe made through his first play, Ghost Light. I am grateful to have a shared experience, theatre, with him now so he and I can talk about the love of my craft with mutual understanding. I am also grateful to have seen most of Ghost Light's production team do some interesting karaoke last night! Day 3 of my Month of Gratitude. I am so grateful Joey got to be an "actor" and got to see what I do from the inside. I am also glad that he loved the experience and that I now get to call him "The Diva". Such a hilarious process but he & I loved it and we got to share it with our family the night after our wedding and they loved it too!

Here is today's post: Today I am grateful to be on the set for 2 Hopeful Spinsters, doing the things I love to do with some flipping delightful friends & people! Day 4 of my Month of Gratitude. My 2 pals are writing, producing, and starring in this series. I get to be an actor, Head of Wardrobe & Hair Dept., and all around helper. It is a blast to be doing what I love with friends & a great crew. I am so excited to see how the pilot turns out. :D

Hope y'all are doing well dear chickens! 


 

Partly Cloudy With A Chance of Gratitude

So I am again doing a Month of Gratitude this year on Facebook & I decided to post it here on my blog too. To help remind myself how grateful I am for my life.

My day 1 post was that I am grateful for Halloween to be over and to be alive & safe. Boy is this one SO true. Read my last post if you don't believe me. So glad to be alive & safe. And so flipping glad that the b.s. of Halloween this year is over. May it never come back again!

Day 2 in the Month of Gratitude is that I am grateful to wake up in my snuggly, zombie blanket covered, Cali king size Tempur-pedic bed with my 3 loves: my husband and my 2 silly pups. I am thankful for that bed-it helps my back and makes me feel better and I am oh so thankful for Joe. He is my best friend and my home. He is also helping make me healthy. For 7 years he has supported and loved me and now when I need surgery he sacrificed a big to-do wedding to help me get his insurance (since mine sucks) so I can get my surgery. He is THE BEST. And I am so thankful for Colonel Mustard and Zeb. Those little pups are snuggle muffins and even though they've eaten my shoes & underwear, I love them for their puppy love, snuggles, kisses, and loyalty. They are the best baby bears in the world!

So that is what I am grateful for so far. I am trying to stay away from material possessions and focus on my intangibles and mostly have, but damn am I grateful for our bed. That thing is AMAZING. ;)


 

My LEAST favorite Halloween ever.

This is a rated R posting, please be aware it involves a description of an assault and a shooting.

 So here is the deal, this Halloween has been horrible. I am about to describe the horrifying incidents I have had the displeasure to be apart of this holiday season. And I don't mean horrible and horrifying in the spooky fun Halloween I mean horrible & horrifying in the very bad situation way.

This past Saturday I was subbing as a House Manager for the night. We had a great night and closed up shop. I then had to wait on Hollywood Blvd. for my husband to come pick me up (he was in a show and I needed to wait 45 minutes for him). It was Halloween party weekend. Loads of very scantily clad girls (i.e. girls in literally [and I am using this word very correctly] underwear and fish nets with either a bra or a corset or pasties) and drunk guys in either creepy masks, no costumes, or a something not remotely creative "costume". Whilst waiting I saw a drunk man grabbing at a gal in underwear, fish nets, and a corset. Grabbing her butt, her breasts, kissing on her face & neck. She kept pushing him away playfully. He did the same to a friend in her group who shoved him quite hard and told him to get the fuck off of her. He then went back to the original girl, picked her up & wrapped her legs around his waist, rubbed and pinched her butt, then ripped open her fish nets and shoved is hands into the the leg area of her underwear, he then began to shove his hands into her butthole and [I believe] vagina. She began flailing and yelling at the man. He kept putting his fingers in and out of her butt until she wriggled off of him, pushed him, shouted, and walked briskly into a restaurant. He began to say to his friends how he wanted to "get some more of that sweetness" and "wanted a taste". This man assaulted this girl. I have no idea if she knew him or not. Her playful shoving seemed to indicate so but I have no idea of knowing. I just know I witnessed an assault and I was NOT OKAY with it. I yelled. I wanted to kick the crap out of him. I feel traumatized by it, I hope she was okay and reported it. I want that man to be punished. SEVERELY. And I am angry that I didn't do something more. That I felt scared and didn't do something. That NO ONE did something. It was not okay.

Then I was working a  House Manager again last night at Second City. We were seating for our 10PM show. We heard *POP POP POP* at about 10ish. Then there was a massive panic on Hollywood Blvd. People ran up our stairs hysterically screaming and crying. Our Stage Manager yelled everyone on the floor and away from the windows, someone is shooting! We (the staff & interns) got everyone into the hallways & back rooms, turned off the lights, and began to try to quiet the hysterical teenagers from the street down. We also tried to clear the stairwell where people were like fish in a barrel if the shooter came by. We called 911, we quieted those who were panicking and screaming, we held the doors closed against a possible shooter heading our way, we held our breaths and hoped we wouldn't have to be brave. We had people choose to leave the theatre out towards the chaos after we warned not to. We saw a young boy sitting across the street with his foot shot writhing about. The news said he was 14. We also saw a young man put into an ambulance (17 shot in the chest in critical condition). We found out a 25 year old was shot in the butt. I was in the store it happened in/in front of just an hour or so prior. I sincerely hope everyone involved ends up okay and I hope that the man shot wasn't one of the store clerks that I talk to all the time. We had one of interns need to lock herself in the bathroom downstairs in the box office until the chaos calmed down. We also locked down the theatre when we were able. We turned away some shady people who tried to get in at the tail end of the big panic. We then let people leave through our back door only in groups. The shooter/s was/were not apprehended. Needless to say the street was closed down, things were crazy, we all felt lucky as hell to get out of there okay, and when I got home at 12:15ish AM I was so glad to get into a hot shower, my pjs, and my bed with my pups and husband. I was scared and angry and shocked and proud I did do something. That I kept cool on the outside despite my internal panic button screaming in my ears. That I stood up and was brave and helped keep people safe. It was not okay though.

This holiday & these two incidents has made me dislike Halloween quite a bit. A holiday I used to love [since I got to play dress-up and watch spooky movies and hang up fun decorations for] has become a day/night/weekend where people hide behind masks and alcohol and do TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, AWFUL things to other people. No one wanted these things to happen. No one asked for or deserved these things to happen. And whilst Hollywood Blvd. has its everyday "characters" to be aware of, none of this is normal or okay. None of this will ever be okay. I am angry and scared and quite a bit scarred. I am glad it is all over and I walked away mostly okay. But I have to say I am exceedingly sad that my childhood is completely stripped from this holiday. It has become too much about horrific events like this. I am now spending my Halloweens at home safe with my family watching scary movies. I want the scary things I see to be on my television in a made up film NOT on the street in front of me.

 

Petey & Pal

This has been a rough week. I have been recovering from this post wedding cold and then Monday morning I got a call that our family dog, Petey, had stopped eating. Let me explain that he had a tumor in his throat, it came on quickly and out of nowhere and he deteriorated over a short span of time. So at 7am Monday I learned that at 1:30 PST he would be put down. My heart broke. I've been a wreck. He was an amazing dog, a stinker, a snuggler, a food from the table stealer, an all around good dog. I miss him so much. I'm glad he isn't suffering anymore but my heart is busted open. And I'm grieving. I know this is what I'm supposed to be feeling and I'm sitting in it but it's been very difficult.  Needless to say I'm not quite up to blogging very much so my super awesome wedding post will have to come later. For now I'm grieving my puppy-bear Petey. He's now hanging out with my first pup Pal, snuggled in blankies and sneaking food from the table. Love and miss them both.


 

Sunny With A Chance of MARRIED!!!

So I got married...WHAT?! It was wonderful, it really was. Joey and I had a blast. I can't get in to too many specifics because I'm super sick & really exhausted but I want to show you some pics and later I will tell you all the wonderful specifics!

 

Sprinkles & Glitter

ARGH! My back is killing me. It was my first day outta bed after my second round of epidural injections this past Thursday. It was a rough one. Sitting at work hurt, going to Improv class hurt, sitting in the car hurt, laying down now hurts. Blerg. I am over this. Again. Broken record I know. Just a rough day pain wise.

In other news this baby came in my email today:

It's almost perfect, couple things to tweak but man am I excited! The large stone is the heart shaped diamond & the 3 stones in the crown are little blue sapphires. I think it will be gorgeous after the tiny revisions. The day is approaching! Here is our little Knot website, I have a photographer lined up, we are still working on getting the ceremony at the Beverly Hills courthouse (closer to our home), and we're looking into getting a mini-cake to act as "wedding cake". Vegan of course. I might just figure out how to make my own vegan funfetti cake-mmm! Sprinkles make everything better, like glitter! To prove it here is Joe & I making Vegan Cake Batter Ice Cream:

It was super easy and required pretty much no effort. We followed this recipe and it hit the spot on these 100+ degree days in L.A.

I also saw Ms. Fiona Apple in concert and it was AMAZING! I took my MOH Heather as a present for being an awesome friend and MOH & helping me with all this shotgun wedding craziness. Here are a few pics from that:

It was a hard day for both of us and it ended amazingly with Fiona singing our souls to happy. Heather hadn't really listened to her music before but fell in love with it so that made me really happy. I was glad to do something nice for her, she deserves it! And I love me some Ms. Apple! :)

Oh and I got these babies in the mail-they're my wedding shoes! EXCITING. I tried to break them in sitting at the concert but when we walked up the canyon to Heather's car I tore the crap outta my heels so I've had to take a pause on breaking them in. But they're so glittery & cute so I love them. Glitter & sprinkles does make everything better!

That's all for now. I can't fall asleep and my back is on fire so that means it's time to go back to watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix. My youth reclaimed! So much Savage Garden music, it is making me laugh and get nostalgic all at the same time. Delightful!



 

Deleted but Re-blogged Just for Yous Guys!

 Let's start with the fact that I already posted and managed to delete it because I suck. I really don't like this new look of blogger, grrr! Maybe it's time for me to get web savvy and just start my own web page for this blog. Oh and my new one. I have a new blog. It's to help me frame out my idea for my series of movies or books or tv episodes that are all about my adventures in surviving being a bridesmaid. The good, bad, and the super ugly side of it all. I have seen it people, all of it. Weddings are scary sometimes.

Speaking of-my shotgun wedding is in full swing baby! Less than one month away-AHHHHHH!!!! So weird. It's feeling real now though because Joey and I are getting rings! Let me explain why this is a HUGE deal for us: we couldn't afford to even get me an engagement ring back in December, nor should we probably be getting these with my impending surgery coming up, but damn it-this gal wants him to put a ring on it! We are getting me a custom designed Claddagh wedding ring from Brilliant Earth, there will be a heart shaped diamond in the center as the heart (representing love) of the ring, a platinum band for the hands (representing friendship), and 3 blue sapphires in the platinum crown (representing loyalty), doesn't it sound like the bee's knees?! Joey wants this band for his ring. He's all nervous it will feel weird and that he'll fiddle with it a lot, which I think is adorable. We've booked the restaurant for our dinner after, I'm working on the photographers, we'll have the aforementioned rings, I have my dress, shoes, veil, Joe needs a suit still, we have the bouquet and boutonniere being shipped (hint it's not made of flowers!), and my folks are booking their flight to LA. It's shaping up pretty well here. And even though this is just our "paper work so I can have surgery" wedding and even though we're having the big to-do (complete with wedding gown, real vows exchanged, and a big rowdy brawl of a party), this feels real now. This feels like I'm about to marry the most amazing person. I am flipping excited people!

I am not excited though about how much all of this and my back bills are rapidly depleting my already very low bank account. I mean I live pay check to pay check here so this is putting a cramp on the $300 I had saved and the extra $500 limit bump I begged for on my Visa (Oh yeah my limit is now $3500!). Times are tough! It's all worth it though if this time next year I can dance around at my big to-do and really enjoy myself! :D

I just really want to be healthy NOW, not in a couple months but right flipping NOW. Can the surgery just be done and I be recovered already? I want to be able to walk normally (aka fast-I have long legs I want to use them), I want to be able to start swimming again, I want to work out and not have pain and really lose all the weight I was shooting for, I want to be able to lift a bag over 2 pounds and not need help. These are pretty basic things and I don't want to wait anymore. It's been seven years, I am ready now! This is where my impatience is really starting to make this impossible for me to chill out. I am trying to be patient, I really am but my brain keeps screaming now, Now, NOW. Don't get me wrong, I am scared as hell about this surgery. I will be sliced open from above my belly button in a diagonal to just above where my uterus is. My intestines have to be moved, major vascular things need to be moved, my discs have to be sliced out on 3 levels, 2 metal artificial discs need to be slipped in and the third area needs to be fused together with metal. Believe me I am scared; I still want it all done now. I want to skip through these next few to six moths to healthy and start living it up. I want to think about anything other than all this back crap. Blerg.

I know I am running on, just so much! Good and stressful. Oh and sad-I finished Buffy and almost done with Angel on Netflix. Now what?! What do I watch now? I am almost done with Cheers and Jem & the Holograms as well. I still have She-ra but what else?! I need suggestions. I have no cable so it's all Netflix & Hulu Plus & Project Free TV for me so what should I be watching whilst I am stuck in bed? HELP, I'm a TV addict and I need more TV! Haha. Or some great films would work too. I do love great films, especially Classic Film! So good.

And of course I am currently babysitting a film crew at one of my restaurant locations. And as an actor who has done extra work I just want to scream at these actors-SHUT UP. Stop arguing with your AD and me and please do what you're supposed to do; e.g. your job! be courteous, be quiet, be out of the way, go where directed, don't argue with your AD or site manager (ME), just do your job! PLEASE! I don't think it's that ridiculous to ask that. Apparently to some of these people we are asking the world. Get some priorities people, you get to play on a movie set all day watching some pretty famous folks do hilarious work on a funny movie set. Please be kind, courteous, and professional-NOT HARD. UGH, people can really frustrate the hell outta me.

Okay chickens, that it. Oh and about how I started another blog, it's not really for anything other than helping me to chronicle my adventures & misadventures in bridesmaiding and how I survived. I really want to turn them into a series of movies &/or books so I'm using that space to help me out with all that. If you want to help me out and ready it and leave comments it would be greatly appreciated-I will send you the address if you email me (alex.sedrowski@gmail.com). YAY for writing. Plus it's supposed to be silly and funny but also a real how to on surviving some major b.s. that can be weddings. I'm super excited about it actually. I kinda hope it gets a lot of positive response because I think my idea on this would be AMAZING for movies &/or books. I think we need more funny women in the box office and on the bookshelves, I just hope I'm one of them and that I'm right about this idea. :)

Okay, that's a wrap for me for now! Peace out my chick-a-dees!