Ebay Addict

My heart starts pounding as the clock ticks down and I swoop in on an unsuspecting bidder. I have 9 minutes left on a Disney Princess Cinderella wig and my heart is pounding so hard in my chest I think it might burst...I hit refresh...8 mins... 26 seconds...and first time buyer maryz6363 has no idea what's about to hit her. I refresh again...7 mins. 45 seconds. Should I make my move? No not just yet. Wait Wait...patience....wait for the right second....refresh again...6 mins 54 seconds. Decide now....just how much will I spend? Is Mary online right now doing the same thing? Did she set her oven timer 8 hours ago to go off as a reminder to swoop in for the victory? Has first-time buyer maryz6363 ever set her alarm for 2 AM to play the same game? Is it sane to admit that I have? And oh so sad I am when I lose an item to a last minute bidding war....but oh so happy I am when I made the winner pay oh so much more for that day-of-the-dead dental chair figurine! Refresh. 5 mins. 4 seconds. Still too soon. Concentrate. Don't make any false moves....don't jump the gun. Refresh. Refresh! Refresh!! Pound! Pound! Pound! Be still my heart! I MUST have the wig! I know myladyfuzzy wants me to have it too! It would go to a loving home! Place Bid: $10.00. Confirm! YES! I am the current high bidder at $7.00 Refresh...48 seconds. Refresh 30 seconds....19 seconds, 14 seconds, 11 seconds, 4 seconds, 1 second.....YES! I have WON! I am the winner! Maryz6363 just learned her first ebaying lesson....sucker!

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Leaving on a Jet Plane

To steal Snarky's idea, yes I am leaving on a jetplane. Jetblue to be exact (at my request). I love Jetblue. And I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for a few days work, some shopping on Rodeo Drive (as IF I can afford anything there), and four nights at the Four Seasons.

I have stocked up my kitchen with Costco and Walmart groceries (hopefully the power will stay on), and bought a few new dvd's and toys for the kids to remain entertained while I am away. I have written the 5-page, single-spaced word document of how to take care of two children for 4 days, for my manny (see definition #3), little brother Sam. I have purchased a few magazines, and made arrangements to borrow A Tree Grows in Brooklyn from a friend, for DYM's book club.

I hope to see my friend tftCarrie while I am out there, but I think I will be at the mercy of her minivan and posse coming to get me, as I will be chauffered around by limousine. It is going to be a very swanky business trip and I am so totally excited to go, not only because it is a good job, but also because I will be away from my family for 4 days and nights. I love them dearly, and a break from them will be divinity itself. No dishes, no diapers, no waking up at the crack of dawn, no noise, no screaming, no talking, no hide and seek, no smells that I cannot identify, no sippy cups, no unidentified stains in the shape of handprints on the walls, no crumbs, no pbskids.org, no whining, no backache, no schlepping, no preparing meals... Oh I will miss them so much.

Thank you Nuvaring.

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Ursula, the Sea Witch

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Stars at Bedtime

Stars at Bedtime. Don't get the wrong idea. Ever since January I have had this idea that I wanted to perform for kids at area children's hospitals. I followed a few leads, and with no bights, got frustrated and let it go. Then I walked into an audition about 4 months ago and read a flyer about a tv show at the children's hospital at Mt. Sinai that was looking for performers.

So I rounded up a few friends and tonight we sang in the Mt. Sinai Idol Competition. We each took on a different character and sang songs and competed against each other. We each sang a song in the first round and then kids called in from their hospital beds to vote for who should move onto the next round. After a rousing rendition of SOAK UP THE SUN, I was voted into the second round.

Then it was down to two of us. I sang My Love is Your Love and my friend sang Someone Like You from Jekyll & Hyde. And who was voted the winner? My friend in blue won by about double the points...but I had a sweet little girl in the studio audience who was on my side the whole time.

One of us was the diva, the other was the country girl from Tennessee, and I was ditzy/unpredictable...but my husband says at times I looked like I was just a little off my rocker. We got a tape of our performance, so he was able to check it out. It was really good video quality (not so good with sound as we blasted out the mikes on a few high notes, woops, sorry), and there were 2 cameras, so we would have closeups and 3/4 shots...pretty snazzy. The whole Kidzone was so clean, beautiful and fun. Books, DVD's, Plasma TVS, and this tv studio.

Karen, the girl in charge thought we did great and apparently we got a large number of phonecalls compared to other nights. We were asked to come back again, and I think we will.

It was a nice way to end the evening after a stressful afternoon. I had taken the girls to the park with the waterspray and I got home with wet and tired girls. While I was gone a new door was installed in our building, and I didn't have the key. No big deal, I have the garage door opener, I will just let myself in that way. So I press it, and press it again and again and again and oh just for kicks, once more, and it does not open. I know it's not the power out again...I know that someone (probably the guy installing the door) has gone in and turned off a light switch which gives power to my garage door. So I am sitting in the hot hot sun, very upset, calling my husband and telling him to get a locksmith so that I can get in the house and get ready for Mt. Sinai Idol.

It all got fixed when my super answered my call and went through the neighbors house to their backyard, jumped the fence, opened my landlady's window, went into the garage, turned on the switch, and opened the garage door. I then immediately went upstairs, grabbed my duct tape, and taped that light switch to permanently (I hope) stay in the ON position. Once my landlady got hom, I had words. She tried to have words with me for calling the super and not waiting the (in her words) 10 minutes she had stepped out. Don't worry, I didn't let her get away with that either. I was outside my house 40 minutes minimum...without seeing her once. I am finally a grown up and able to stand my ground, that, and singing for sick kids who just want to feel better one day, is a good feeling.

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Riding with Mr. Schrute

A few months ago I was riding on the subway. I had my baby in her stroller, sort of faced away from me. This probably means that she was asleep, trying to fall asleep or being entertained by the passengers. Regardless, I was paying no attention to her. It was crowded, the train, and I was looking around observing the passengers. I spotted a very tall man right in front of me, with his back to me, who was built like my husband. I noted that he had on some really nice clothes, and took a mental note for future shopping trips with my DH.

I quickly became lost in thought again, when the guy turned around and did a very deliberate look me up and down and smile. It wasn't creepy, just kind of obvious. I got embarrassed because I NEVER get checked out, especially when I have the kids with me. In my neighborhood it's just full on "hit on". Faves include: some guy helps me parallel park and he leans in my window and says: "Are you in love?" And second fave is me walking down the street VERY pregnant, pushing a stroller and a guy yells: "Do you need a father?" Ha ha very funny.

I digress. I NEVER get checked out like that, so when it does it is a moment. I got kind of embarrassed and resolved to pay less and less attention, until he did it AGAIN. This time I got a good look at his face, and he looked so familiar that I thought: "Maybe I know this guy." Because of my profession, I pay attention to faces on tv, and I see a lot of different faces at auditions. I immediately pegged the recognition on something to do with "the business." Once I recognized a girl on a plane trip and I said to her: "We either audition together a lot, or you are on Law & Order: SVU" She said: "The second one." Woops. She was very nice.

Anyway, I was racking my brain trying to find the file with this guy's face on it, and I continued to look away, but started to listen to his conversation with two other men on the train. He mentioned a trip to new york, "the show" paying for it, the 40-year-old Virgin film...and then it clicked. I knew exactly who had checked me out, and I was suprised b/c he was very well-dressed, had curlyish reddish hair and no glasses...he was actually kind of cute.

Even though I was positive that I had made a positive identity, when he exited the train, I asked the guys he was talking to if it was him, and I was right. Now that I am a big fan of "the office", this story has a special place in my heart.

Oh, and I just followed the link and learned that he is married...tsk tsk.

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LA...here I come.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I booked Nuvaring. So happy. So excited to go on a business trip with no kids. My baby brother is going to come to NYC and take care of the kiddies while my DH is at work. Finally a booking after being the on-hold/callback queen.

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ConnEd

I'm learning more about the power-crisis as I now have my tv AND cable working, and can watch some news. This morning when I was at the gym, the newscasters told me that I could get reimbursed for groceries lost up to $350. I came home and went right to the website. To get the full $350 amount you have to provide proof of loss, which includes cash register tapes, store or credit card receipts, cancelled checks, clean identifying price labels or UPC bar codes from merchandise, and photographs of spoiled items.

Ok. First of all, I do not keep my receipts for groceris, and I never write a check at the grocery store. Secondly, I have groceries in my freezer that were purchased months ago. Third, why on earth in the heat and in the dark would I cut out UPC bar codes on my spoiled food, or take a picture. Even me, the picture queen, would never photograph my spoiled food. Now if I could have captured the smell, I would have sent that straight to the CEO of Con Ed.

So here I am wanting $350. I have no idea what my groceries cost, but even if they were less than that amount, it still cost me a pretty penny to go out for all these meals, and not to mention pain and suffering. My idea is that they should just give everyone free electricity for a few months, or put a credit on our account, but guess what? They have NO way of identifying who had their power out through any computer system. The workers were literally on foot walking the neighborhoods and noting which windows were dark, to identify who needed power back. Isn't that insane?

I wrote the email and first thanked them for restoring power, and then told them how ridiculous it was to expect me to have any proof of loss as stated above and how I expected them to reimburse me for the entire $350. We'll see what happens.

Above is a photo of what all the major avenues look like in Astoria. The live cables are not buried, but rather covered in makeshift wooden boxes, and then have these orange and white gates placed on top of them to keep people from electrocuting themselves. Our neighborhood wasn't beautiful to begin with, and this just adds to its charm.

I have a go-see today and an audition for EPT . What a suprise.

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Professional Arch Hider, or PAH

Those of you who saw the segment, I wish I had moisturized my feet a little more. And I wish the shoes they gave me weren't so scuffed up. I kept telling my feet to "smile". I think they did a good job. Charla was very worried about the high arches of my feet creating a black whole on the insides of my shoes, but I practiced very hard on how to stand so that my arches were concealed. If you missed it, and want to see the Shop Etc. magazine's most comfortable shoe awards, click here.

Today one of the models in the Today Show shoe segment was an older woman, probably in her 60's. It was so great to see a woman who had endured in the business for so long. She was joking that her goal was to get a commercial for osteoporosis.

After the show I took the kids to the beach and then came home to relax. I found out today that I was released from the Homegoods hold, but Nuvaring is still holding on. The same casting director for both of those is seeing me tomorrow for EPT. I am pretty sure that when my agent hears vagina, he thinks: Kristy Glass. I am flattered.

I found a snazzy little website that coincides with the Tide campaign. So far the ad has been spotted in Real Simple and Family Circle. I have seen the Vanilla and Lavender in O magazine as well.

And I need some help...if anybody spots the Hasbro Peek 'n Play Discovery Zone with my picture on it, not this girl, let me know. And if anyone stops by Walmart, ask for Baby & You magazine, and see if it has a cover like the polaroid above. I need a few copies. Thanks.

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Good Fortune

Last night I spontaneously served my family citrus-flavored fortune cookies. This was the first time my daughters had experienced them. It was fun. My fortune is found above.

This fortune helped me to calm down and de-stress after a stressful power-less week. I will literally try to bury my worries by going to the beach tomorrow after the Today Show Taping.

As for today, I recorded for a few hours in the morning since my engineer is going out of town for a few weeks. Then I got in a traffic jam on the BQE and found a new way home (thanks GPS system!) Once there, I cuddled with the little one and grabbed the big one to get to a photoshoot for Nick Jr. Magazine. We had such a fun afternoon. It was a cover-try for me with several kids, including my own. The story is about Halloween Costumes made out of pillowcases. Very Martha Stewart, but Nick Jr.-style...very cool.

My daughter was dressed as Holly Hobbie. The entire shoot she kept chanting: "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, if you don't, I don't care, I'll put ___________ in your underwear" Frog, bracelet, hair, a human were some of the more memorable ones that she picked. Funny. When we were all done, she asked if she could go back tomorrow. I am glad she had fun. That is the point. And it was nice for us to have some (now rare) alone time together.

After a hotdog and ice cream for dd and a jamba juice and blueberry cinnamon roll for me, we mosied on over to Madison Square Park to count dogs, and then went to my 2nd callback for Nuvaring. Luckily after 2 auditions, you get paid for subsequent auditions, otherwise I would have been less than enthused. It was the same copy and this time the director was there live, which was so much nicer than a satellite conference. I think it went well, but there were still a bunch of girls waiting to be seen after me. Oh the suspense. Still now word on Homegoods. See you on tomorrow, on TODAY.

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Today Show

On Tuesday, July 25th, 7AM, I will appear on the Today Show in a Fashion Segment. I think it might be about shoes....not exactly sure. It will most likely air between 8 and 9 AM, but sometimes it gets pushed to the third hour between 9 and 10 AM. Enjoy.

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Wet Panties Girl

At the Homegoods callback, there were four of us in the room for a chat. I have been doing a lot of chat auditions lately. This is just a chance for the client to get to know you. It usually means that there are no lines in the commercial, just action or personality shots. The chat consists of you chatting with the casting director, on-camera.

For this particular chat the casting director asked us this question: "What is your favorite movie?" The first lady answered with a hodgepodge of favorite types or genres of movies. Nothing that I can remember, because I probably never heard of any of it. I felt that maybe she didn't have one favorite movie and so she was just making stuff up. The second guy named two distinct titles, one of them being What's Up Doc, which I found interesting knowing what my title was.

The third girl said she loved the Introducing Dorothy Dandridge film because she was a stand-in for Halle Berry. I thought this was a little bit lame. It was obvious that she was gorgeous, she didn't need to tell us that you know? I also thought the question was a little lame, it didn't allow for many memorable answers/moments for the client etc. to remember us by. I knew that by just saying my movie title, no one would remember me, so my answer to the question went a little something like this:

My favorite movie is Funny Girl (Barbra starred in both this and What's Up Doc). I really wish I could watch it right now, but I have no power, and I have not had power since Tuesday. This morning I managed to squeak out some power in my bathroom at 50 percent, and was able to blow-dry my hair in about 30 minutes. I was nice and dry and ready to go, and then I left my house to come here and the skies opened and I was rained upon. I became completely drenched. I got here, STILL wet, and luckily had an extra outfit in my bag, which I am wearing now, and realize is totally innappropriate for this audition, (it was a black cocktail dress-I threw my bright pink shrug over it), but at least I am dry and somewhat presentable, but my panties are wet. Is that too much information? Oh, and did I mention my favorite movie is Funny Girl?

I had most folks laughing, which is the point. And hopefully when they are deciding who to cast, they will refer to me as the "wet panties girl". That was the plan anyway.

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Sweet Relief

I, Kristy Glass, pledge to always remember the 5 days that I spent without power. I will remember the smell of HOT stuff in a cramped apartment. I will not soon forget the aroma of fast food on my children's breath. I will "fondly" recall the smell inside my refrigerator this morning when the last ounce of electricity said it's goodbyes. I will have a moment of silence on July 22nd of every year henceforward, in honor of my fax machine/phone finally dying.

I pledge to always appreciate my power and the conedison men and women who work their hardest to provide me with that power. And I expect them to refund me for groceries lost and in my wildest dreams, pain and suffering.

I will never take for granted my computer, television, alarm clock, toaster, refrigerator, microwave, oven, hair dryer, phone or fax machine. I will use each with a new respect for their power source.

Now, can anyone see about restoring my cable? The 4400 is on tomorrow night.

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SOMEBODY TURN ON MY POWER!!!!

It's been since Tuesday. No power. I am having computer/blogging/tv/ light/refrigeration withdrawals. I am literally having SO many misadventures and I have no outlet. I finally picked up a pen this morning and wrote long hand....UGH.

Here it is in a nutshell:
~Tuesday went to the Astoria Pool, it reached capacity at 2178 bodies. Say no more.

~Tuesday, Nuvaring callback. Spent all this time memorizing the beautiful Maya Angelou poem, only to be met with a poem about you guessed it.

~Tuesday night lost my power...fun for about 8 hours, then reality set in.

~Wednesday, babysitter cancelled at 7 AM. No power. 2 kids. Hot. Cried. Left kids with husband and went to wrangle all day. Had fun. Came home. No power. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

~Thursday. Had a bad attitude. Hot. Sweating. Realized I had no power for hair dryer. Luckily I realized this in time to have my hair air-dry for the go-see. Went to go-see. Went well. Found out today I booked it- an editorial for Nick Jr. magazine, and as an added bonus, my four-year-old was booked too. And it is for October which is some of my favorite stuff to shoot.

~Thursday. Unexpected surprise, the Shop Etc. folks called me in for a fitting for a Today Show segment. It is airing Tuesday morning at 7 EST. Good news. That night I bought and played Boggle with my DH, as we had little else to entertain ourselves. We don't really own games.

~Friday. That is today. I had to move my car because I cannot get in my power-operated garage, and it was alternate side of the street parking day. I waited until the last second: 9:28 AM and it was at this exact moment the heavens opened and rain like I have literally NEVER seen before, downpoured on my head. And guess what? I had actually gotten my hair dryer to work at half power, and I was nice and dry and beautiful. Not for long. Callback for Homegoods went well anyway...it was a good story to tell. I will save that for another blog.

~Looking ahead. Tomorrow. Recording the kids voices for the album. Audition. On a Saturday? Are they crazy? Oh well. If church gets canceled because of no power, I am thinking about driving to the Hamptons and checking in to a very expensive hotel with built in electricty. Imagine.

~"They" are saying it won't be fixed until Monday. Yee-ha.

~PS. Using my friends computer to post. Thanks Z.

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The Way We Live Part III

Georgiana Deming lives in this 3 Bedroom Railroad Apartment in Woodside, Queens. For those of you that don't know, a RR-style apartment is a long apartment where the rooms are lined up one after the other, like railroad cars. This means that whoever is in the last bedroom has to walk through every room to get to it, and in the middle of the night if you have to use the facilities, you have to walk through all the rooms to get there. This apartment has a separate entrance for one of the bedrooms, so that at least allows for more privacy if you have roommates.

I love Georgiana's room because she has made so much of such a small space. She built this loft bed, clothes shelves and suitcase coffee table with her own two hands. She covered all the books on her desk shelf with white paper so that they wouldn't be a distraction. The day before the shoot she dumpster-dove for that bike, and she plans on restoring it.

In the main room of the apartment is a great old couch that she picked up at the Salvation Army. I love the photo of her sitting at the table in front of the kitchen view. See the scalloped edge? It is ONLY there in the apartment. NY apartments are full of random chair rails, edging, doorbells, and light switches that used to have a purpose, but are a mystery now.

I admire Georgiana so much because she is an independent woman who has literally MADE her living space a peaceful haven in a city and lifestyle of tumult.

For more THE WAY WE LIVE click here and here.

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Simple Pleasures

I just got a random phone call from my gal pal Dorothy from Maryland. She was so excited because she spotted me on page 127 of REAL SIMPLE magazine, August issue in my Tide Simple Pleasures Ad. Coincidentally I had just emailed my contact for the Tide job today, to see the status of that job. After a little searching, I was able to find this image at this website.

Wow...they made my eyes very blue.

In other news, I had my first Canal Street experience today. Most people come to NYC and visit Canal Street to get their imitation purse. Today a cute little tote caught my fancy and I bought it. I know Canal street is the place to bargain for better prices, and the little lady selling it made it so easy for me. She approached me and said: "It's 23, but for you 20" I said, "I only have 15 dollars" She said: "I'll take it" Great.

Years ago my friends and I had a stoop sale in our neighborhood. I was selling a guitar. A man approached me with a wad of cash and said: "How much?" I said, "15" He said: "50?" And I said..."no, 15" and then of course in my head I hit myself smack in the forehead and said a brown word: CRAP. So, I am not the best at bargaining.

Back to Canal Street...I am SO not into having the "it" bag, so imitation is fine with me. Maybe I will visit Canal street more often. Why was I near Canal Street you ask? I had a go-see for THE NEST magazine. Looks interesting. I hope the casting director had some imagination as I am far from a newlywed. I walked in with full posse today, and tried to look unharried and glowing with new love...hope she bought it.

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Lettuce up my nose

Is it bizarre that I do not recall that the lettuce portion of this sandwich was literally up my nose in this photo? Is it more bizarre that I even attempted to eat this giant sandwich? For the record, this was a photo op. When it was over, I took about half of the lettuce, tomato and turkey off the sandwich, and ate the rest. I didn't even touch the other half. I wanted to save room for a giant piece of cheesecake, but my kids were too rowdy, and we ended up eating Mr. Softee in Central Park.

Yes, I actually WENT OUT on Saturday night. My family and I met up with my husband's aunt and uncle at the "famous" Carnegie Deli. I told my friends this plan while at Book Club yesterday afternoon and they all discouraged me from going because the food was bad. I actually thought it was good and fun to boot. And it was the perfect setting for my baby, as by the time we were finished there was more silverware on the floor than on the table, and many many maimed sugar and sugar substitute packages all scattered about.

The Central Park idea was a good one, and the baby was oh so entertaining to watch as she devoured her vanilla cone from bottom to top. Yikes. The girls were pretty good last night despite the late hour. We paid for it a little at church this morning, but now the girls are sleeping soundly.

Last Sunday night I had the chance to direct a small choir of missionaries from my church for a patriotic-themed meeting. They did a really great job singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. A bunch of them coordinated their outfits by wearing pink ties and blouses. I think it was an ode to my love of pink. Anyway, this evening I am grateful to be done rehearsing with them...I am hoping to do a little bit of relaxing in between visiting teaching, baking cookies and photographing my next installment of THE WAY WE LIVE. I have had to change around my subjects because the family I was going to photograph lives on the fourth floor and their elevator and air conditioner is broken, so I was ok with postponing...maybe until the winter!

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Kristy bein' Kristy

My friend sent me a snapfish album with this photo and the caption: Kristy bein' Kristy. I am pretty sure I embarrass this friend often. I don't mean to. I'm just a weird egg. In this particular moment I was trying to get rid of sand that had ended up in sensitive places, you understand.

Today was the most perfect day to go to the beach. So, I was determined to go. I crossed my fingers all day yesterday that no agents would call me. Well the first ones did around 2:00 for a job for the baby this morning, and I turned it down, I wanted to go to the beach. Then while I was AT the beach my agent called with an audition TODAY. Ay ya ya. We spent 3 beautiful hours and then the mad dash started. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the terrible traffic on the Van Wyck and the accidental JFK airport detour.

I got good news on the way home, I am on hold for the Nuvaring audition I had on Wednesday, with the poem copy. Happy about that, even happier that it shoots in LA...so cross fingers.

My girls were such good sports. We got home with 30 minutes to get us from sandy to gorgeous...we all jumped in the shower and tried to DE-sand. Then the girls stayed in their little ikea tub for a few minutes while I got dressed, and of course the baby pooped...in the tub. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh. By some miracle we were all ready to go and out the door in the allotted time. We rushed to the city to get to the audition just in time.

As we got off the elevator at the audition a nice man said: What a beautiful family, and I said THANK YOU, but in my head was saying: What a beautiful career you have had. The audition went well, we were in and out (thankfully) and then hurried home so that I could make a date with my husband. My apartment is an absolute wreck, but what a great day we had.

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Project Kageway

In honor of the premiere of Project Runway: Season 3, I would like to report on some Project Kageway items of note. I will begin with the irony of who I met today. Just the DAY after the season premiere of PR3, who do I meet but Robert Plotkin of Season 1. I was waiting for the slowest elevator in the city at about 9:02 AM and I hear voices the entire time getting closer and closer and closer. And when the elevator finally opened, who walked out? Robert. I stopped him and asked if it was him and it was. I then asked if he was sewing or designing upstairs because the location of my shoot today was near the Fashion District. He said no, but his baby was doing a modeling job. What a coincidence...I was wrangling that job.

Anyway, he was very nice and gracious and way cuter in person, especially since he got rid of the long hair. I met his girlfriend and their truly adorable son Maxim. She is a beautiful girl, named Natalia from Russia who looks a little like Heidi Klum.

So, my other "Project" is Halloween Costumes. I ebay-bought my husband's costume (ah the thrill of the auction), and will probably do the same for my older daughter, but I am attempting to "make" mine. (I know it seems early to be thinking about this, but October is a cursed month for me, so I have to start early...I of course will blog about why October is cursed, in October). There will be little sewing involved, but mostly a lot of hunting and gathering. So far I have black thigh-high boots and the red unitard. I will reveal who I will be at a later date. Those of you who know...no spoiling it...everyone else can take a gander.

And that concludes this episode of Project Kageway...no eliminations this week, but watch your back, there may be some in our next installment.

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The Tale of Yesterday

Since I am wrangling today and praying that nothing eventful happens, I will blog about yesterday. Yesterday was HOT. I decided to sweat yesterday. And sweat I did. I barely even had to try. I had a good workout at 6:10 AM and sweat a lot. I think more than usual because of the heat (even though I was in the air conditioning). Have I mentioned that it is hot here?

I did a commercial audition for Nuvaring. It was actually really nice, this was my copy:
PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

What a refreshing change. I let the baby come into the room, but she had to remain secure in her stroller. She was wiggly, but quiet.

After that we stopped by the Container Store for a little somethin somethin I am working on for an upcoming gift, and then stopped by the Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory to pick up a poster that they so graciously saved for me. I saw a mouse there. It is the second time I have seen a mouse in NYC. I never saw the mouse that lived with me for a month (only his droppings). I handled it very well, merely shuttered instead of screamed.

After a trip home and a restful nap (for the baby) we headed back in for my casting for a segment on the CBS Early Show, which I know I did not get....just stating it hear and now, ya'll as my witness...didn't get it. I just know.

As we were walking home the sweet relief of rain finally came flooding down. AAAAAAAAAAAH....goodbye heat. I was wearing flip flops, it was slippery...I knew this. I concentrated on not falling or slipping in any way.

Got to the Astoria Blvd. platform, made it down the first set of steps. Then the marathon super-long flight of which my older daughter nearly bit it when she was walking up and a man in a hurry got his tripod or umbrella or something stuck in her hood and started bringing her down the stairs with him. Thank goodness I was holding her hand.

I digress. I looked at the stairs and that rain and my flip flops and I held on for dear life. I ALMOST made it. 4 steps to go and BAM...down I went. I think I only thudded for 2 steps, but man did my left butt cheek hurt. The baby cried but I think more for shock then harm. I just sat there for a minute, even though I know there is risk for a citation if you do...but I had to collect myself. One man asked if I was ok...that's all. I was too embarrassed to look at my butt, I waited til I got home, took off my shorts and took a picture. You can see there is more dirt on the left. Glad I'm ok.

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A Letter to my Fans

Most of my "fan" mail is asking me about my haircut, but there have been a few less complimentary critics out there.


On Amazon.com I found the following review of Eebee's Adventures:

"1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

extremely annoying, September 8, 2005
Reviewer: LMM (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
I had high hopes for the DVD, as we love the AHA classes, but the DVD is really rather strange. The "parent" is wearing false eyelashes! It might be of use to someone who has no ideas about what to do with a baby, but it is very strained and contrived. Worst of all, my daughter was furious that the scene pictured on the box did not appear in the video."

Dear LMM, I am sorry that you were so distracted by my eyelashes that you felt that was a criticism for the entire DVD series. For your information, I was not wearing false eyelashes. I guess you can attribute them to an amazing makeup artist and tube of mascara...or maybe just genetics. For tips on how to get similar looking lashes, you can read some here.

And just FYI, taping this series with these babies was the most natural "acting" I have ever done. I am a mother of two, and I behaved with those babies and that puppet, exactly as I do with my own two children. There was nothing strained or contrived about it.

I am sorry that your daughter is apparently a spoiled brat if she was "furious" about a scene on the box not being in the video. I am assuming you are speaking about the cover photo. Maybe you should tell your daughter that the puppet on the cover was all over the video, and that the bowl with the shaky eggs in it was featured as well. While you're at it, you can explain that cover art for a DVD cannot be captured scenes from the dvd. You can make a game out if it. I am pretty sure that every movie poster/DVD cover is something contrived to "sell" it. You could take all your favorite DVD's and see if you see that exact cover at any time while you watch it on television.

Thank you for at least taking the time to watch it. Any publicity is good publicity. Cheers.

Another time, a viewer of Primetime Live saw my segment of That was the Week that Was, and emailed me the following:

"Please don’t ask me why I feel compelled to write – I can’t explain. I’m just a working Mom who every now and then gets to watch a minute or two of tv. You are clearly a very pretty, extremely talented lady, and I enjoyed your “The week that was” segment on last evening’s PrimeTime Live. However – I have to assume you are a smoker as I was so surprised by how yellow your teeth were! Obviously – whether you smoke or not is completely your business. I just hope you might find a whitening product of some sort that would make it much less noticeable. Unfortunately, I found it distracted me from more fully enjoying your performance.

Like I said – I can NOT explain why I was driven to find your e-mail address and write. I certainly do not want to hurt your feelings. It’s probably because you have such a wonderful voice and project such a nice personality that I’d hate to see something minor like this detract from your overall performance.

Best wishes for great success."

Dear Viewer, I too was extremely distracted by my appearance on Primetime last night. I thought my makeup looked too dark and teeth too yellow. This is a result of extremely poor lighting. I love my lighting guy, and in the past he has done an amazing job, but last night he did not deliver, and this is why everything looked off-kilter.

Thank you for the compliments. I want to assure you that I have never put a cigarette to my lips. I detest cigarette smoke, and would never put that into my body. I HAVE however knocked my two front teeth out, and the crowns that I have in place are not the brightest white, nor will they ever be, because you cannot whiten porcelain. This is usually fixed with VERY good lighting or photoshop (in the case of print ads). Thank you for your concern, but I am smoke free, and I will get on that lighting guy asap. Cheers.

To see a clip from TW3 (not the bad lighting one), click here.

To read more criticisms click here.

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The Way We Live Part II

This apartment is a basement near Vernon Blvd. in Astoria, Queens. It is occupied by my cousin who recently moved here for a job opportunity. It is his first apartment, but he decided he would move out when he awoke one morning to a garden of mushrooms growing in his bathroom.

I love this apartment for several reasons. The first is that it is small. It feels like you have been enlarged in an Alice in Wonderland land. In his bedroom there is a door, and behind it, a stairway that leads to nowhere. Some might rent this out as a second bedroom. There is a random cube in the corner. My imagination goes wild thinking, what the heck is that cube doing there?

I love the words imprinted on the wall. It says GYPSTEEL right side up and upside down. There is a light switch, the top one has been taped and painted over. Whatever it goes to is ALWAYS on, and should NEVER be turned off. The bathroom has a frenchdoor. What a quaint detail for this non-quaint "bunker" as cuz and hubby coined it. The refrigerator is so mini...it looks so interesting next to its tenant.

Everything is painted white. Maybe the landlord thought the obvious piping, words and mysterious cube would blend in, and the prospective renter would not notice.

There are no closets, so really clothes are the furniture for this apartment. And there is barely any natural light. Might be ok for a day or two, but I would have a hard time living there day after day. Cuz says that when he wakes up in the morning it is as dark as when he went to bed.

There are no outlets in his bedroom, so he has to wrap the cord around the door frame and plug it in next to that mysterious light switch located in the family room, or for cuz, the ironing board room. And one gets all this luxury for close to a grand. Anyone want to move in August 1st?

In case you missed the post on NYC apts, click here. And if you want to see part I, click here.

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Summer in the City

Today was a satisfying summer day in NYC, and I didn't have to work out because I lost 3.5 pounds in sweat (only an estimation, did not actually weigh myself). I dropped the older one off at school and then made the bus and subway JUST in time (love that) and made it to my Vicks Vapor Rub Casting just after it had begun. I then treated myself to both a Dr. Pepper and 3, yes 3 butterscotch krimpets. Ok, I gave my baby a few bites. This is rare for me...usually I would go with one or the other, but I worked out 3, yes 3 times last week, so I was allowed

I then stopped by this beautiful boutique called Peanut Butter and Jane and got my sister a sweet little must-have for her baby girl who is arriving in 3, yes 3 months. (Lindsay, don’t click on that link or else you will know what you are getting). Then I was off to find Trader Joes. It has been around Union Square for a while, but I hadn't been yet. I stocked up on my new favorite drink and of course some pirate's booty.

Then I decided to give my little munchkin a break at the playground. I was dreading this because the playground is always so big and high, and she OF COURSE climbs straight to the top and I can't sit back and relax and just watch her. I decided to walk around the Union Square Park on the East side today (instead of my normal west), and I stumbled upon a separate, teeny, tiny playground with only one island of equipment that was not higher than 4 feet high. Hallelujah. A playground just her size. She had fun....I didn't get to relax quite as much as I wanted to, but at least I found this little gem.

After a quick stop at Barnes and Noble to pick up our new summer reading chapter book, The Tale of Despereaux, (thank you Holly for your guest post on Tales), we headed home.

I then finished my book, Devil in the White City, while riding on the subway. This was my first history book, and it was so great. I love Chicago though, and psychopaths, so it was a great match for me…highly recommend it. Oh and I got home to see that my super-hero Mrs. Incredible thigh-high black boots had arrived. October is a cursed month for me, so I am already planning my Halloween costume.

This evening I watched The Closer (of course) and did a few scrapbook pages, then began a new hobby/habit....I call it a HOBBIT with my husband.....crunches. Hopefully I won't be sore tomorrow.

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I live in NYC because of Days like Today

Among other reasons (career mostly), I live in NYC for days like today, and last weekend and a few days before that, when Italy won their futbol games. This year my husband decided to institute "World Cup Fever" in the household, and as a result, I began documenting the crazy Italians in our neighborhood through the lens of my camera.

It started when they won a few matches ago and there was a string of cars running the stop sign at my corner....probably 30 in a row, all waving their Italian Flags and honking their horns (even the firetruck participated). I hung my head out the window and snapped some shots. A few minutes later, from the other direction came a parade of people ON FOOT, taking up the entire street, carrying a 30 foot Italian Flag. Incredible.

The next time they played it was the 4th of July, so on our way to our friends gathering, I stood up through the sun roof of our car with my camera and snapped some photos while my husband drove around the block a few times. This was exhilerating.

Today I decided I would do my documenting on foot. As soon as they kicked the last goal, I ran outside and to the busiest street I could find. I just followed the noise of celebration. I was only out about 20 minutes (had to get back to my garlic mashed potatoes and chocolate chip banana cake), but I had a great time and got some great shots.

Why was this experience so compelling for me as a person and a "photographer"? (because it certainly had nothing to do with soccer) A few reasons:

A. My husband and I have very little in common as far as interests, likes and hobbies, so I wanted to show interest in his "World Cup Fever" in my own way.
B. I have a new camera
C. The unity that this event has brought for not only the Italians, but the entire neighborhood (although I didn't see many French folk out).
D. The mystery of the effect that this Italian Soccer Team has on one small neighborhood in 1 of 5 humongous New York City Boroughs.
E. Capturing people in the thrill of the moment. This is something they are stoked about, and who doesn't want a piece of that?

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Let's go ride a bike...

Today I found the August 2006 Issue of Parents Magazine...and inside on page 32 I found the photo that I have SO been looking forward to. It is my baby and me on a bike.

This shot was taken in May at the peek of my most terrible allergy season to date. In this photo one half of my back is in a LOT of pain from a sprain from coughing SO much. And my eyes are actually feeling pretty itchy, chest wheezy...thankfully it doesn't show. I went to the ER that night for shortness of breath and back pain. Thank you Central Park pollen.

This was my baby's first time riding a bike (and my first time in a LONG time), and I was just aching (literally and figuratively) to see her face...and well, it was worth the wait. I think she loved it. I can't get over that very large helmet on her head.

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Fried

I am about to collapse. No, I have not been out in the city, running for the bus, chasing my kids around the park, running a bazillion errands. I have just been sitting here at the computer for the past several hours trying to get a cd cover, booklet, back cover, etc. put together. And I am not even the one putting it together, I am just getting it organized for my graphic-designer friends to help me out.

Do not underappreciate those albums in your collection. Have you ever noticed how many WORDS there are? Yes...a ton. And do you know how difficult it is to figure out just which words are required to be there? I hope that there are no word police who are going to scrutinize my album, because that would just put me over the edge.

As for the recording itself, I have 6 tracks laid down and so I am just about half way done. And now the doubts start to creep in. I listen to it and sometimes it jars me like nails on a chalkboard. It is really difficult to listen to yourself. I heard once that Barbra Streisand never listens back. Well I guess she is good enough that she doesn't need to, but it is HARD to listen to yourself...I am telling you. I think I am terrible, that I should not be a singer, why does anyone ever want to hear me sing ...the track plays over and over again, and my husband just thinks I am nuts...but that's nothing new.

I told my mom today that at least the photos turned out nice, maybe my pretty gold dress can fool people into thinking I am good enough to be a singer on her very own album. She thinks I'm nuts too.

I guess all I can do is carry on...but maybe I will carry on tomorrow, right now I need to consume a handful of Hershey's milk chocolate coconut cream filled kisses. Okay, maybe two handfuls, and a rerun of Oprah.

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The Way We Live

There are too many images out there in the media that depict NYC as a hip, sexy, modern, sterile, lofty place. The reality is that we are all living in cramped quarters because we love our families and our books. So, the following is a new series on this blog of photographs of the way we REALLY live here in NYC. The first subject: The Stewart Family.

The Stewarts live in a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 kids. I find the matriarch of this family to be such a great mother and housekeeper and she is very creative with the space they have. Case in point: Their Master Bedroom has no closets, so she has put up racks in their bedroom. Also, in order to create a third "bedroom" she has moved her dresser drawers out from the wall, and snuck a pack and play in there. She even put wallpaper on the back of her dresser so that the baby would have something to look at, and a giant lady bug on the wall to go with it.

The 3 kids sleep together in the second bedroom where they manage to fit in bunk beds, a crib and a set of dressers. They are totally living the New York Life...make way for baby #4! (this is not an announcement)

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Now that's what I call fireworks

Admittedly, we were a little blah about the whole 4th of July thing this year. And the weather reports did not help. All afternoon we were given a severe thunderstorm warning, and this made a nap on the couch look more and more appealing. Finally some friends shook us out of boredom and after a fun evening at their home, we decided to try to see the fireworks, at the last minute.
Growing up we would have driven to a grassy field a few hours before the works, had a picnic on a blanket, watched the works and then gone home. I would have been slightly miserable because of my terrible allergy to grass. This is why I don't golf, and in general detest picnics.

Last minute in Queens it is a whole different ballgame. We drove to the East River first, and then kept driving south for as long as we could. Apparently the rest of Queens had the same last minute notion to find the fireworks...there was a lot of car and pedestrian traffic. We heard the fireworks were supposed to start at 9:00 PM so at around 9:03 we tuned into the local station to have a listen to the broadcast. Around 9:15 they still hadn't begun but I felt that we were cutting it frighteningly close, so I hopped out of the car and grabbed our 4-year-old and started power walking. I was surprised at my strength, I guess I am not as out of shape as I thought. About 10 minutes later I found what I thought was a good spot (46th Ave & 5th St and NO grass in sight!). Turns out it was a view of only 1 of 3 barges that were igniting the works from the East River, but my daughter was so happy.

While I was carrying her and we were walking she was making up a song with these lyrics: Follow us, to the fireworks...and there was the sweetest commentary throughout the show...my favorite line: "Now that's what I call fireworks!" About 5 minutes into the show I felt a tap on my shoulder, and since it is NYC I braced myself for what the tap would reveal, only to see my sweet sweating husband and baby girl, who had made QUITE a hike to find us. Next year we will plan better, but it was still fun and worth the crazy effort.

As an added bonus, on the way home we saw a variety of different people in various garb, relationships and ethnicities (we do live in the most diverse county in the USA), and this was a great visual lesson for what America represents. We also saw into a bread factory that smelled SO good, witnessed a woman finishing a pee against the side of a warehouse, her male partner kindly "guarding" her from view, though not doing a great job: she was wearing a black thong. We saw several vehicles break the traffic laws, including I think my husband at one point, and a man wearing a large Italian flag like an open bathrobe still glorifying in Italy's win this afternoon. Now that's what I call America.

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SAHM

Sore and Harried Mother
Silly and Hyper Mother
Scattered and Hurried Mother
Smelly and Hellbent Mother
Stay at Home Mother

Though I have been all of the above, today I was sort of close to a stay at home mom. I began the day by feeding my children breakfast, and having them dressed by 8:30. We walked to the gym where they went to the playroom and I worked out (holy squats).

After that we took a little trip to Stew Leonards (a crazy grocery store/petting farm/destination/theme park (simply because there is a singing chaquita banana and poland spring tree)place) in Yonkers, and then came home where the baby had a nap and the toddler watched some television while I cleaned my whole house (apt). I was so happy that my husband forgot his ipod today, because I had a delightful time listening to Ray Charles Genius Loves Company Album (which I TOTALLY forgot I even owned, and was on my husband's ipod) while I scrubbed the toilet, and I was able to completely tune out Sponge Bob, Square Pants.

Upon completion, I washed my hands and prepared a dinner in which I engaged my toddler to help (It's Shake N Bake, and I helped). My husband than waltzed through the door around 5 (which never happens), and we sat down and ate a meal together. It was amazing. We even had time to have a Family Home Evening with all four of us present, and fit in a little Coldstone.

It was like the perfect mothering stay at home summer day. It felt oddly satisfying...now when are my agents gonna call?

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3 down, a gajillion to go.

I am learning that recording an album takes TIME. I really do KNOW this, but it always seems to take just a teensy beensy bit longer than I want it to. I get ready to go to my recording session with goals in mind of how many songs I want to get done, and I am usually shy 1 at the end of the day.

This bothered me a lot at the beginning, but I am slowly becoming more patient with it. It's a process. I want it to be good. I don't want it to be bad. This past Saturday I spent time doing one of the most daunting pieces because it has a lot of vocal layering. I was singing SO out of tune. I was starting to get concerned with just how out of tune I was singing, and my engineer reassured me that everything that goes into recording makes bizarre things happen with the way you sing sometimes. The studio, earphones, microphone, repetition etc.

I think my main problem is I am learning how to hear in a different way. At times I would take one of the ears on the phones completely off my ear because I am used to hearing myself that way. Sometimes wearing the earphones made me sing in a key that was literally on another planet. Weird and scary. Hopefully it hasn't psyched me out and I will be able to continue.

It is a good feeling to have 3 songs done, but I feel that the road is still quite long. I still have to get the kid singers in there and get my 4-year-old to work her sweet little voice magic. In the meantime, I have booked several appearances in my home town and the photos for the cover have been done...a sneak peek is above.

Also, if you want a sneak peek, I put one track here.

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