Friday, January 30, 2009

Encouragement


Remember that restaurant commercial I did back in December with the 5:00 AM call time? Remember how I wrote on this blog that I saw the commercial, and was disappointed to spot a split-second of the side of my hair? Good news! I have seen a new edit of the commercial and I saw my sleeve and right at the end of the commercial, I turn my head so that viewers can see half of my face! Yay! Okay, it's a tiny thing, but it's SOMETHING ENCOURAGING.

A few weeks ago, some sweet friends said they saw me on Friday Night Lights. They gave a glowing review, and gave me a DVD of the episode. It was really weird to watch myself, but also kind of cool. The episode is Season 3, episode 7. In the show, I'm listening to character Billy Riggins talk about a house he's trying to sell. I'm there for a good twenty seconds, totally recognizable. Again, it's a tiny thing, but it's a prime time network television show, and my sweet, admittedly partial friends liked my performance.

I am encouraged.

I <3 Studio Ghibli


I know where I'll be on certain Saturdays at 2:00 for the next few months. Wanna come with?



Saturday, January 24, 2009

Dressing Room!


We previously had a guest room with a queen-size bed in it. Only my mom has ever stayed with us, and only for three days out of the nine-hundred-forty-nine days (thus far) that we've lived in our little 1952 house. Chad & I concluded that the guest room was not an efficient use of the precious square footage or of the even more precious storage space in our cozy, old house.

Over the holiday break, we rented a U-Haul and took all the guest room fittings to the Salvation Army for donation. Then we drove up to IKEA and loaded up the truck with PAX Wardrobe Units and an ottoman with a washable cover. (Washable covers are a necessity when you have four furry children.) Behold, the Dressing Room! I can actually see all of my clothes now that they are not stuffed into a tiny, dark closet. My shoes (hi, my name is Jennifer, and I have a lot of shoes) all fit into the wardrobes, and no longer have to live on rickety shoe racks on our bedroom floor. Chad has full use of his closet
, which is also in the dressing room, since I moved my overflowing stash of dresses and theater costumes out of his space. Now we can both get dressed in the (wait for it...) Dressing Room!

As the guest room before:


The cats enjoyed the queen-size bed, but they'll sleep anywhere. Mostly, the furniture just took up space and was very seldom useful.

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As the lovely, useful Dressing Room after:







As you can see in the photos, the kitties still like to hang out in this room. The nice glass doors on the wardrobe units keep their pretty fur off of our clothes.

If you (Mom) ever need to stay with us in the future, we saved a set of queen-size sheets and blanket for an air mattress. You'll just have to let us in to grab some clothes.


Sunday, January 11, 2009

Office Organization

Chad and I just can't leave well-enough alone. After two-and-a-half years in this house, we decided to rearrange and completely reorganize the office. Then we decided that since no one (except for my mom) has actually ever stayed in our guest room (and even when Mom stayed, it was only for three nights) that we should make that room a more useful place in the context of our daily living.

The office project is officially done! I'm happy to share before and after photos.

Before: We didn't own as many books back then. The office closet was a complete mess... complete with mini-avalanches every time we tried to retrieve anything.

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After: We rotated the desk so that Chad and I can both use it at the same time. The desk is huge, so there's plenty of room for his-n-hers Mac laptops. We also added lots of storage for files, wrapping paper and office supplies to alleviate the crazy closet situation.



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The guest room turned dressing room project is 90% finished. I hate to show rough-drafts, so you'll have to wait for those photos. The rug I ordered for that room is running late of the estimated delivery date thanks to Pottery Barn and their spotty service record. Plus we still have a little arranging to do.

I dropped a very heavy door on my big toe during the assembly of a wardrobe storage unit. Apologies if you happened to be in the neighborhood and heard my string of nonsensical ravings as I hopped around on one foot wincing in pain.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

In Flux


Chad and I used our time during the winter holiday break to completely dismantle the office and the guest room. We're rebuilding and reconfiguring the office to be better organized and more useful than it was before. We're turning the guest room into a dressing room complete with big wardrobe storage units from IKEA, a new rug and a new ottoman. Tune in next weekend for before and after photos... hopefully!

Disappointment


About an hour ago, while watching Samantha Brown's Weekend in Paris show, I saw that restaurant commercial that I shot back on December 15. I was able to pick out two of the ladies I sat with during filming, one of the handsome young men from my day of filming, the chef who made the impressive skillet flames and the side of my hair -- not my the side of my face, just my hair.


My mom keeps asking me when I'll be on TV so she can watch. I'll probably just be a blurry profile in many projects.

I remind myself that I just started doing film and TV projects this summer (after many years of stage work). In only six months, I've been involved in three commercials, four feature-length movies, six episodes of Friday Night Lights and one sitcom pilot. I have high hopes for the future despite the disappointing blurry profiles.