I'm Back

Hey there,

I am back, it's Sunday evening at 8:15pm and i am awaiting my asian food delivery for dinner.  Last night at this time i was playing flip cup (beer drinkin' games with 8 of my lady friends) and jumping in the pool cause i broke a sweat by drinking.

Oh man, we had such a great time.  i love my friends and i feel very lucky to have them all (and you all) in my life.  I am so tired, i must drink water and eat food.. i will get on this picture posting business ASAP.

and i gotta spend a some time catching up on your blogs (and many others of the people i have never met)  Sounds creepy... haha..  tomorrow i go back to reality.  booo.

Next trip.  Mexico in September for Holly's bachelorette party.  She does shit right ya'll.

xoxo

I'm off!

Hey! Sorry i have been M.I.A- but i have been real busy packing and cleaning and shopping for my Annual Girls Trip!  wooooooot! 
Today is my final day of work for the week, and i the time can not go any slower. 
After work, i am leaving to pick up my friend Jess, then going to my house and loading up the car - and off we go to Wisconsin! (most of the ladies will be there already)
I'll have no internet, no computer, prob. a bad phone connection. It'll be lovely.  i'll take lots of pictures.

In the mean time, please send good, positive thoughts that this work day goes by very quickly! i am so anxious to get there and get in a pool! 

But for now i gotta go do work...   Submitting on this today...


THE PLAYBOY CLUB, Episode #101, "The Scarlet Bunny" (Chicago)
Episodic
20th Century Fox / NBC
One Hour
AFTRA

check out the trailer:  I booked a guy in the pilot, super exciting! (not seen here)

Horray for tv shows shooting in Chicago!  Now to book more peeps on it!  gotta go, so the day flies by and i can go relax in a beautiful log house with my lady friends.

xoxox 

Song of the day...

Band: Faces
Song: Ooh La La

I can't get this song out of my head, after spending the morning  (in between working) catchin' up on blogs, one of the blogs i follow posted a video with this song.   I was reading the blog Bluebird Vintage . Do you guys read her?  She is so pretty, and stylish, and her kids are just the cutest!!- Found her through reading other blogs.. don't know her ;) 

Anyway.. .she posted this song on a video she made and i can't stop hummin' it!  I know the song from the movie Rushmore.

Let's watch the trailer shall we?

I love this movie a little too much!   But I hope you enjoy my choice for Song of the Day. 
I'm not gonna lie, i had to google... who sings... "i wish that i knew what i know now, when i was younger"...
haha!  what did we do before the interwebs?  Remember stuff?
overrated.

ps. oh yeah.. it's real hot here today, and thank goodness my landlord fixed my AC. Hooray!! Girl's night tonight... drinkin' wine with my lady friends.. nice little Wednesday. 

xo

Heat Wave

I know you Texas folk are dealing with MUCH worse, but the Midwest ain't used to 90 degrees- consecutive days in a row...... And my AC Broke!!!  hopefully it is getting fixed as i type.. fingers crossed, good thoughts, good vibes sent to Winchester! My poor Chai is sitting in that hot apartment panting i am sure.  poor baby!!  Let's look at her.

Sweet puppy face.  We have like 15 fans going all pointing at her, so hopefully she will be ok for the day.  

So yesterday Andrew had the day off- and that is the day the AC decided to die.  So we went downtown to Millenium Park to see a free show and have a picnic!  It was real nice (and HOT).  We stopped at Subway on the way got a foot long to split, and brought a 6 pack of beer (of course).  It wasn't as crowded as i thought- but such great people watching! 

Took a few iphone photos: (naturally)

view from the grass, love this little girl in her bathing suit!

Moved up to the front to see the band: Blonde Redhead- so good! (and free)

beer/ coozie

gotta get the bean shot!

on our walk home from the train, these guys were jammin out doing some great blue grass.

Sorry for the blur on that last photo- i caught this photo from my phone while crossing the street.. pretty slick, but blurry.  These guys sounded awesome!

Not pictured, our trip to get Frozen Yogurt after getting off the train...Anything to get cool in the Midwest Heatwave.  Let's call it:  Summergeddon... not to be confused with Snowmaggedon aka Snowpocolypse

Nothing but extremes in ole Chi-town.

xo

It's a boy!

hahaha, No... not me.. BUT my sister is preggers! and she just found out she's having a BOY!!!

that was funny huh?  the title?  Right?  

My Brother has a girl:   Olivia almost 11 years old (WHAT?!?!  I'm old)

My little Liv, not so little anymore!

Olivia was the first grandkid, first niece, first everything, and we love her so much.  Olivia will be 11 in September and i can't even believe she is growing up so fast!  

And it also means in September- Andrew and I will celebrate our 11th anniversary of dating.. That is crazy too.  Right?!?  

Then my sister had a baby who will be 4 in december.. time flies!  Another girl!  This is my sweet baby Simone... or as i like to call her.. my simonzies.. 

My Simone- (sorry she's wearing a longhorns t-shirt Cortney) haha!

I love these two little girls so much it hurts, but i can't wait to see a boy in the Thomas family!  horray!!  New baby boy Crutchfield (sister's married last name) is due in December, so when i come home for Christmas- there will be a new little boy there!  Oh man, i can't wait. 

Here's a cute little collage i made of my sweet nieces from a skype chat i had with them.  They are the best!

xo

Pinterest

So thanks to Cortney & Marcy talkin' about Pinterest, i have joined and i am hooked.

Take a look and play along! I'm just getting started, have a lot more internet time to waste!


Happy Friday folks! Hope you have a fabulous weekend.  I plan on gettin' lots of rest and sun.
xo

busy, busy, busy

hey there.  I have been real busy over here with work... and LOT'S of  personal things too.. (of course!)

We are having our annual girls trip in TWO weeks!  I can't believe its almost here!  Back in march (with snow on the ground) my friend Hayley and i went to find the house, and now here we are July and it's time to start shopping folks!

So i  have  been organizing a list of groceries we need... want to see some of it?  I am VERY organized people and i started throwing this shit together.  We made a meal plan for every day then the grocery List.

Here is some of my section:

Jess & Mary do Costco

Costco:

la croix

2 head of broccoli

5 18 packs of eggs [thats 90 eggs, thats 2 each every day]

30 or more [1.5lb] slice of cheese[swiss and cheddar]

3 packages [4ish lbs] ground turkey

3 cases of Miller Lite

3 cases of Bud Lite

pita chips

Lettuce (salad)

3 lbs of deli lunchmeat [ham turkey][ham for burgers and

sammies]

Salsa

1 big trail mix

4 loaf of bread [sammies/toast][72 is 2 slices each a day.144 slices would be 4 each per day]

3 burger buns [24] [grill night][egg sammies]

3 hot dog buns [24] [grill night]

that is just ONE section of my list.  There are 6 Chicago girls that will be doing the shopping.. (2 girls flying in from LA).  I am so excited and there is a lot to do in 2 weeks.. Weeeeee! 

Here is the house for our Annual Girls Trip!  There is a BAR, and a POOL, and a POOL TABLE!  haha. i did a blog post about this prob back in March, but i am so excited it's here so, i am doing it again!!!

Also... the other thing i am doing (read: stressin' about) is: finding the CHEAPEST, QUICKEST way to get a bridesmaid dress for my Best Friend's Wedding... haha no really.. 

Wanna see the dress? 

Ask and you shall receive.  This is for Holly's wedding in November, it's real pretty and the Dallas folk found it pretty cheap but us 2 chicago bridesmaids are on the search (read: I AM ON THE SEARCH).

So hopefully, we can go get fitted, order it and have it back in time to get any alterations.  

Oh!  And i cancelled my yoga membership. I feel pretty good about it.  Thanks for talking me through it blog-o-sphere. must SAVE money....

What did i do before this blog?!?!?!? 

Drive my husband crazy that's what.... oh, don't worry- i am still doing that just fine. 

xoxoxo 

Blog Lovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Just testing some things out over here!


xo

Reporting to you live from....

Tri Cities Tennessee...

What?  You never heard of this place?  Welp.. neither had I.  I am here on business.  Yes, in my business we get to travel around and scout new and up coming talent.  My boss and co worker normally do this sort of scouting (small town, first time in front of an agent, or first time on stage...)
But my boss and said co- worker were busy doing a different event this weekend and he ask me to do it..

Boss:  Want to go to Tri Cities Tennessee on Fri. July 8- you'll be back Saturday.
me:  Does it pay?  How much...
Boss:  Yes, you'll get a check.
Me:  (looking at my bank account)  OK!  Why not...

I guess now is a good time to explain- exactly what i do for a living.  I am a Talent Agent, i have been doing this for 10 years, and i love it.  and i am good at it.  I have been at my current agency for 2 years in October, and let's just say.. i really don't get paid what I am worth.  Not to toot my own horn, but i was unemployed for 9 months, and i took a salary that was pretty low because i AM a talent agent, and i needed a job.. (not naming any names on this post).

So, i represent actors and models of all ages and sizes.  But my love is actors.  I love a good, well trained passionate actor.   Models.. (not as much)..

Sometimes I have to do these events where I travel around and scout for new talent.  

I got here last night, direct flight in from Chicago, took a shuttle on the way to the hotel.  The pilots that just flew my plane were in my shuttle.  Talk about a small airport folks, i have never seen anything smaller. (and i have flown into Harligen, TX.)

On the drive to the hotel, we almost killed Bambi.  Forrealz ya'll.  This little baby deer was in the MIDDLE of the highway... i was looking around and enjoying the nighttime drive... and driver slams on the breaks.. oh man.  at first i thought it was a coyote, but nope... bambi!  I'll tell you what, i now understand the meaning of a Deer in Headlights.. that little bugger didn't move an inch... just stood there right in the line of fire. Thank god my old guy hotel driver spared the deers life, and OURS!!  A guess that's a good thing about being in a town with NO drivers on the highway at 9pm. I'm a  long way from home.

Anyway.. The hotel was really nice, i went to the hotel bar, got a beer- then another to go! Went back up to my room took a bath and read my book (still reading The Help)  I missed my little family back in Chi-town, but I sure do love a KING size bed and a fancy hotel all to myself.

Today we had the showcase, first the runway show, then commercial auditions, then the monologues, then more runway.  Some of the kids were pretty good... some... well, let's just say their mom's were more excited then they were.

NOW i am at the airport. I was the ONLY person in the line at security. There is ONE flight leaving this airport now (3 all day)... they said.. "oh! it's slow on Saturdays"... uh huh.  I have a lay over in Charlotte North Carolina.. oh what i would do for a transport to take me straight home!  But it's an experience. And of course in all my little experiences, i take pictures for my blog!

Here's the little plane I took from Chicago, we had to climb down the stairs... Entourage style.

King Size bed, all for ME!

Had a beer and walked outside to find this nice little fire going... nice little Friday night in the Tri Cities

Here is some shots from the balcony of my hotel room.  Pool, rolling hills, golf course, my little out door seating. 

here's me now, typing away- waiting for the one plane outta here.

My view, at the Empty airport.  

There are about 12 folks here waiting for this plane outta here. haha...
Hope everyone is having a good Saturday!  Thanks for sharing in my little business adventure.

Jess and a moment of Zen

So,  guess what i did tonight?

P90X !

uh huh... do you know what this is?  Well i didn't really.  I had heard of it, that it was "crazy, super hard, intense workout"...  and so on.
I am not really sure how it works there's like 12 sections to the workout.  I am pretty sure you just do one each day for 90 days.... hmmm.

Andrew got me a copy of these dvd's from a friend, so we didn't buy it and i don't have all the directions (or the vitamins or books..)  I did one section of it tonight it was good!  I did good!

BUT i don't have a bar to hang from in my house (nor can i do pull ups on said bar) and my apartment is too small to be rolling around and jumping like a crazy lady.
So we shall see what how much i can do with this...

I have been feeling a bit.. blah, lately. I wanna get fit and loose weight and be toned!!  What lady doesn't, right?
I have been conflicted with paying so much money a month for my beloved Bikram Yoga. I haven't been going enough to make it worth it.  And lets face it, i really should be saving money!!

Summers can be difficult... you go out of town, you drink on porches, you bbq and eat tons of good stuff....  the thought of going to a HOT yoga studio on a summer night is just not my idea of fun.

So, i think i decided i will do it for ONE more month.. then stop the monthly automatic payment.  Right?

Summers can also be pretty easy to work out for FREE...you can run outside- ride your bike- go for walks.... yeah, so i'll be ok if i quit yoga and i can always go back and pay by class.......
(UGH!) i hope....

Hopefully, i'll start waking up early- and go for runs (i did it on Wednesday!) Then go to yoga at night for the next month..(fingers crossed)

So- where does the title "Jess and a moment of Zen" come in you might ask....

 When all of this craziness going on in my head today I get an email from my sweet husband. It was of a video that he took of me in Brugges.

He called it "Jess and a moment of Zen".  - (side note:  You can click on the upper left hand corner of Andrew's Mobile Me on the word "Gallery"  and see some more of our Europe pictures/ and Electric Forest pics that andrew took)

I decided i will watch this video- when my mind begins to wonder and i need a moment of ZEN - when i am thinking about the what if's, working out (or lack there of), or any of the million other things....and i can take a moment to enjoy the peacefulness we experienced In Brugges.

xo
jtc

Electric Forest

Happy 4th!  I had the best weekend!  I went camping with 12  friends in Rothberry Michigan.  Thanks to my friend Grant Simmon (and his lovely wife Nicole- Hi colie!)  We got to camp in "The Good Life" section of a huge 4 day music fest.  Not only did we have a prime camping spot (near the air conditioned bathrooms and showers) we got VIP "Artists" passes.

A brief explanation.. this festival used to be call Rotherberry Music Festival- but this year they changed the name to Electric Forest Festival.
Grant staged managed one of the main stages and was able to get us all free/ vip/ artists/ passes for the weekend.  It was awesome.

We all took off on Saturday morning with 5 cars and camping gear in tow.  Each car had a walkie talkie in their car (thanks Tony!)- we caravanned about 4 hours north.

When we got there we set up all our tents and got our camp site ready

Margo and Heather with their pop up tent

our location 

Colie, Jesse, and Tony

Nick and Jess

Snacks!

our awesome set up

Grill Master- Andrew

Comfy

Re-Think Crew

Then we headed out to the festival to check it out.. When we got to Grant's stage (short walk thru the woods)  REO Speedwagon was singing their greatest hits. It was awesome and a sight to see.

REO SpeedWagon

Andrew and a camera

Some of the ladies

Then we went to the "Artist" section... you know.. where REO speedwagon hangs out...
There was a pool... we could swim in the pool- and drink FREE beer and wine... Heaven!! On the 2nd day there was a great pool party with a dj (andrew has those pictures... i was in the pool!)

Pool in the daylight day one

Pool at night..

At night, is when the forest comes alive. I really can't even explain the forest.... There were so many art installations/ lights/ hippies... here are some shots...  Really doesn't do it justice.

The entrance to the actual Forest

all the trees lit up

Installations in the trees

See what i mean... Andrew took a million great pictures that i can't wait to get my hands on-
Here are just a few more shots in the "Good Life" area in front of the stage watching "Pretty Lights" - a great DJ that really worked the crowd.

Lots of Pretty Lights

Back Stage- load out.

We really had such an amazing time, one that i will never forget!  Thanks to all that made this weekend so wonderful.. I love my friends!  And Happy 4th again to you.  Yay Summer!
xoxo