Photo Friday

Cloud heart. :)

I haven't updated in forrrrrever. Here's an update:

1. I replenished my paint trove earlier today due to Michael's having a .33/bottle sale.  Yes!
2.  I'm now 28.  This has made me think about the past, what could have been, what is now, etc.
3. Nostalgia like crazy.
4.  I've been listening to a lot of music I listened to years ago.  Dashboard, NFG (Always listen to them, though :D), Starting Line, etc.  This probably contributes to my heavy case of nostalgia.
5.  Did I mention nostalgia? Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever been decent friends again with people, or persons, I once called my best friend(s). I'm trying to be vague here.  I honestly don't know. I don't even know if such a thing would be good for either party.

This weekend we're doing a reshoot for the movie I worked on all summer. Well, I guess it's technically not a reshoot since we never shot it in the first place.  The original scene was cancelled.  I'm pumped because it's at a local giganticcccc music festival.  I didn't buy a ticket this year since I had just purchased tickets for Sigur Ros in October and New Found Glory in November, but now I'll get paid to go. ^.^ I have no idea how they're going to film in a sea of random people, but it should be interesting none-the-less.  I don't know how much actual standing-in I will do, but we'll see.

Mewwwww

I adopted a new family member last Wednesday...

Her name is Zillah, she's 1 year, 4 months old, and she's still a complete kitten.

She has a little clef palate, so if she looks up at you her teeth are visible.

She's a petite little thing and completely terrified of my dog, Zanzibar, but I think she'll warm up soon.  Baby steps.

I was gone pretty much all of last week shopping, looking, and eating a portion of the 600 mile yard sale/127 sale.  I'll write about that later.

I finally was able to finish a project I started awhile ago.  It started with my local Lowe's having a 75% off sale on some of their succulents.  I purchased/saved a bunch of them and purchased three fish-style glass bowls from Michael's using a 50% off coupon, of course. :)

The result?:

Gorgeous, easy-to-care-for plants for my porch!

I bought a few normal-priced succulents to add color, but most of them were 75% off.  I also added a few plants I already owned (ex: Jade), and they seem to fit right in with the new-comers. 

Just one more step closer to having a finished porch. I still have a ton of other projects to do to the porch, but I'll get to them eventually. 

The weekend:

Zan knocked out on the couch. 

New succulent bowl.  I'm going to make 3 different displays for one of my side tables in my living room. 

New betta habitat on my coffee table. :D

Spied this guy at the petstore.  It's a ghost catfish.  I'd love to have one of these one day, but until then my new Betta, MG, will suffice.  

Photo Friday... late

I posted this yesterday via my phone, but it apparently didn't feel like posting.  Here's Photo Friday... on Saturday.

Heart in the clouds. :)

Now that the production I was working on ended, I finally have time at home to cook!


Breakfast: Oatmeal with bananas, a tbsp of Sunbutter, and cinnamon.  I switched to Sunbutter since I'm allergic to peanuts.

Random snack: Kale chips seasoned with garlic and parsley.

Lunch was a basic sandwich with veggies on it.  Nothing to write home about, but for dinner I made 4 Bean Chili! 

The chili really surprised me.  It's a really simple recipe, but SO good.  I'm planning on freezing the rest of the chili and making it often once it gets cold. :)

Photo Friday

Only on a movie set.  Dirt paint in a can.

Ever since cutting out the foods I'm allergic to, I've realized that I eat a lot less junk this way.  No cookies.  No pizza.  No unhealthy granola bars.  No chips.

My snacks have consisted of the following:

I feel healthier and overall better after eating these snacks as opposed to a mini bag of chips or pack of cookies.  I think I just got stuck in a rut concerning junk food.  It's abundant on film sets.  Since I don't buy it for my home, it's easy to eat since "I only eat it here", but I'm also on set 12-14 hours a day. That's a problem!

My lunch consisted of mashed potatoes, cheese, fruit, grilled veggies, two hard boiled eggs, and a salad with chick peas, mushrooms, sunflower seats dried cranberries, banana peppers, with red wine vinaigrette dressing.  I used to eat ranch, but after some research I realized that ranch dressing contains wheat.

Towards the end of the day Crafty, or craft services brought out 3 huge platters of sushi... which I didn't partake in.  Honestly, it was really hard not to take a few pieces, but I'm allergic to rice so I passed.  Yesterday was especially hard since the only snacks I could eat were the apples and yogurt in the morning.  Hopefully today will have a better selection since one of the crew members made a request for veggie straws today. 

We have a later call time today, so I plan to walk around the outlet malls nearby and hit up some thrift stores. :D

I've been filming out of town this week on a lake. 

A gorgeous lake at that.

After the first filming day on Monday, I checked into my hotel and found out that this was all mine! My bag even gets it's own bed. ;)

So the room above is my home away from home for the week.  The days have been nice, but hot.  Lots of beauty to look at and take in.  I haven't had much time to paint, unlike at some of our other locations, and I'm usually too tired to be productive once I crash at my hotel room. 

The lake really makes me want to go swimming, preferably in a pool since I'm not a lake person. I did make the discovery that my slightly tan arm looks really tan next to my transparent leg. :)

Hopefully I'll be able to stay out of the sun more as the week goes on.  My goal for this summer was to not to get a tan, but that has gone out the window and is pretty much impossible on this production.

I've also decided to challenge myself and not eat any foods I'm allergic to to see if I notice a different.  Today was day two and so far so good.  I should mention I'm allergic to soy, wheat, rice, cantaloupe, peas, all nuts aside from cashews, and more.  PLUS I'm a vegetarian. Blah. 

Soooo.. I'm horrible at posting in here.. It's hard working 5 days a week with 12-13 hour days.  I've been standing in full time (again) for the lead actress in a will-be-in-theaters movie.

Also, I found out that a project I worked on last year will finally be airing on Lifetime on June 29th.  It's the Anna Nicole Smith Story and I stood in for Agnes Bruckner who played Anna Nicole.  That was definitely an interesting set... Lots of memories made.

The reason for the post is this:  I need to paint, draw, create art more.  Art is the only thing I've ever been sure of and I need to make time for it.  I've been doing a horrible job at that as well.

Bleh.

My mom is having major surgery today. Right now, actually. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. :)  I went up to NC to visit her this past weekend since I work during the week and will not be able to see her until after she has her surgery. :(

This is a sunset progression I took on Saturday evening from my parent's house in NC. :)

Aaaaand here is a photo (outtake) of us trying on her horribly hilarious wigs.  She decided not to use either of these post-surgery for good reason. Hehe

Last week, I started working full time on a new production. Woo!!, but full time in the movie business means 8-16+ hour days. I've been averaging 13 hours a day, 5 days a week which leaves little to talk about and even less time to post. Most of my activities happen on weekends, so I'll try to put in extra effort to get something on here. 

I spend most of my free time on weekends trying to get my yard into shape.  It has already come a long way from when I moved in two years ago.

In the image above, the top picture is from when I moved in.  The paver stone area consisted of a line of pebbles, which were cute, but really not functional. The bushes and knock-out roses were overgrown, and that horrible monkey grass lined the walkway. 

The bottom image shows how much it has been cleaned up.. I removed the pebble path and added a layer of paver stones and trimmed the bushes and rose bush. 

Speaking of paver stones, I realized that one layer wasn't exactly cutting it.  The pine straw mulch spilled out over the pavers. Recently, I worked on a small flower bed near my garage and added a second layer of paver stones.

I continued the paver path down the front of the house, but ran out.  you can see the gaps towards the end of the row in the picture on the right. I'll post a full picture once the project is completed. 

I absolutely love holiday and three day weekends.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Groupon to pick strawberries.  I already knew that I wanted visit an orchard this spring and the Groupon just so happened to be for my favorite orchard in Blue Ridge, GA.  Mercier Orchards has a U-Pick program where you can pick strawberries, peaches, cherries, apples, and other fruit at various times during the year.

The Groupon could only be used on a Sunday and last weekend was a huge failure due to monsoon-esque weather all day Sunday; however, today was beautiful and I'm glad we made it out since strawberry season will be coming to an end soon.

 

The store at the orchard is overwhelming. Apple bread, cider, jams & jellies, apples, tomatoes, hard candies, and even strawberries for those who don't feel like venturing out into the orchards.  I personally don't see the fun in that, but to each their own. :)

There is also a small bakery.  We ended up getting blackberry, apple, peach, and lemon fritters. It was a perfect way to end the visit.  It might become a tradition since we ended our last visit (apple picking) with a few fritters.

Friday Photo

Foggy, early morning commute at 4am. 

Friday Photo

After living here for two years (TWO years!!!), this is the first time I've seen this dogwood bloom. :)

New Mirror

New antique mirror for the guest room thanks to my mom! Only $20 at a library yard sale in North Carolina!

Friday Photo

                        Progress. 

Last weekend C and I drove up to check out the Asheville Herb Festival.  I've wanted to check it out for yearsss, and I mean YEARS, and I finally made the trek up there!

The herb fest part was filled with vegetable plants, herbs, flowers, trees, and bushes.  The permanent Farmers Market area had jams, jellies, honey, fudge, plants, and more.

I ended up getting 5 types of tomato plants, a loofa plant (I'll be able to grow my own loofa sponges!), green pepper, lavender mint and peppermint.  We also picked up some cider, fresh cut fries, salt water taffy, and fudge. Yep, self proclaimed fatty right here. :)

It was a perfect weekend.