Decision 2011: L.A. or New York

   Settling in. So, Eric and I have spent a lot of time mulling over the possibility of staying in LA for a while, when the tour ends. It seems that Eric has some excitement about his availability for working with his agents out here. We did the old fashioned pros and cons list. Then we looked to our gut. In this business, there is no guarantee of work wherever you are, so we just are trying to make the best decision based on projections. My agent in NYC had just began calling me about auditions, since the baby, and with knowing we were to be returning to NYC in a few weeks. Her excitement felt good to me and like a fresh start would be waiting. My first call was to come in for Bring It On. The popular movie, turned musical was beginning a tour that was to begin in LA for a long sit down and then headed out on the road. This led us to the realization that our criteria for touring was now extremely different than ever before. The money had to be good enough that it was worth it to bring Soph. The thought of a lifestyle that had us not seeing each other that much was why we toured together with Shrek. Secondly, Eric needed to really work off of the steam that he had from doing Shrek in L.A.. As most mommies find out and cannot predict, going back to work has different stipulations than you can imagine. You have to factor in the cost of childcare, the emotional cost of being away, and how much you will actually be bringing home. I called my agent and told her what I had recently discovered about myself...I was no longer interested in touring. Touring is what makes up half of our viable jobs in the theatre world, but now was just not the time. Soon after, Eric was met with the same question concerning Les Mis and came to the same difficult conclusion. If we hadn't just come off of over a year if touring, we would all feel differently about it.

   One of the main factors for our decision was the thought that the springboard of Shrek would only happen once in LA. Eric had always wanted to try LA and it seemed as if all signs pointed to now being the perfect time. Eric was set up with meetings with casting executives from almost every major network, as a result of playing Shrek and playing it well. His agency was bi-coastal, so he already had a team of guys in place working to get his career off the ground here.

   I felt a bit sad myself. Just as I had finished the commitment to tour for a year with a newborn and was ready to make a comeback after losing my baby weight and spending the first year as the primary care-taker. It looked as if we I was going to have to rethink my plan. My agent was only in NYC so I was left with no representation on the West Coast. The difference is in NYC, there are auditions you can go to without an agent and here in L.A. you can't get into an audition without representation. It seemed as if my career was starting back at square one. Theatrical credits don't mean as much in Los Angeles.

   I did decide that if this is what Eric wanted and if his dream to be a series regular on a sit-com was to ever happen, we needed to be here. So, I retained my realistic outlook on what my situation was, but decided to look to what I needed to do to get things rolling for me.  I took registered for some imrov classes and reached out to the few actors I knew to get representation. My friend Jane, from Mamma Mia recommended me to her agent and we began a series if meetings. I was told by a huge agency that they only work with celebrities and another big agency that they work only with people with reels. We'll, the LA experience just wouldn't be complete without a touch of rejection. Here we go!


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The Dating Game

The Dating Game

    Eric and I held to each other a little tighter as we chomped popcorn and listened to the horror stories of our friend's big city dating lives, as if they were brilliant works of fiction.  We moved to NYC together and avoided the online dating that our friends had became subject to.  We couldn't believe our luck...that we had somehow skated past the awkward intros and getting to know you's that remind us of those gangly legged, crooked teeth years of changing into a teenager.
Well, I'm here to tell you mommies...It ain't over yet!

    We were the first of our friends in this city to have a child.  Having spent the first year on tour.  I found my mom friendships thru blogs, stories...a virtual world.  As Sophie's 1st birthday came and went, I began to realize the need for socialization among other mom/kid pairs.  I put my self respect, judgments, and reservations on the shelf and put my fingers to the keyboard.  There were more than a few "groups" on line for moms in the L.A. area, but they dwindle down to 2 or 3 once you factor in location and age of your child.  Some mom groups were for parents over 35 or 40, which I understand wanting to be with people that have your age-experience, but I felt so isolated and outcast.  So, I finally found a group to join.  The way it works is that you request to be a part of the group and wait to be accepted. I poured over a message to the group leader explaining how awesome we were at participating and planning.  ..... Days went by...Accepted!  Phew.

     Now to go to our first outing.  There was a group date in a park that was a few minutes drive away from our place.  Sophie and I packed up and headed out.  We were early, so I set up the blanket that they suggested to bring and and began to play with Soph.  I looked at the other moms, eager and open, trying to see if anyone else looked as lost as I felt.  Nope.  Everybody seemed to be in there element, with their clique, and not wanting any part of our blanket.

     Finally, there she was... In slow motion, she approached, my new best mom friend.  She was kind and smart and sweet and her baby was sweet too.  Never mind that we were the only two to show up.  The organizer never even came.  We were both a little tentative, but decided to meet again at a Mall for music time.  She was going through the same thing we were...being new to town for her husband's work.  We met a few more times, but the relationship sort of just dwindled away with changing nap times and schedules.  But what more can be expected of two...moms, drawn together by the internet.  It was a fling.  Nothing more, nothing less.

   

Pukeville

Well, I guess it's a right of passage, as a mommy. The entire family has the pukes and poops. I came down with it first and I think that was good. While Sophie can't express herself with words yet, at least I knew how she was feeling, when she started her round of it the next day. I spent the first night puking and the second night with puke all over me. You come into the power of not giving a care that your baby is just clutching you and puking directly onto you. In theory, that would bother you. When it's actually happening, you just want to take the sickness away from them. It's just so sad to see them struggle with sickness like that cause they just don't understand. The next morning, just as Soph was coming out of the darkest part of it, Eric started feeling it. He made it through his morning audition and called me on the way home. "This road is like really winding,"he said, referring to the highway on which he was driving home. That was my first clue that he was headed to Pukeville. He made it home, but quickly spiraled into sickness. I had already let my class know I would be missing, as we were supposed to go to a dinner with friends, but now would be manning the sick ship instead. There was no going anywhere. An already spent mommy was now taking care of sick daddy and Soph. We have all been in that slow-mo, moving-thru-water after sick mode, but forget how miserable it is until you are in it once again. Now, on the other side of it, I feel a strange sense of accomplishment. You sort of think for a minute of dramatics that you're doing something terribly wrong, you're the worst mom, it's my fault, and I don't know what to do, but you have no choice but to just figure it out. I'm sure many years, sicknesses, and broken bones later I will laugh at the triviality of our first family stomach virus crisis. For now, I'm just grateful it's over. Phew.


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Disney Days: 1st of Many

With our plans leading us to stay in L.A. for a while, we decided to go the annual pass route for Disneyland. Best decision ever. Maybe not ever or best, but definately a good call.











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This ride seemed like a good idea. All babies Soph's age in line and riding. However, when you take a close look to the actual ride, it looks like she can barely keep her head up. This is no Dumbo, people.



Had the most fun at the live Disney Junior show! She loved seeing all the characters in person. She laid a giant kiss on Mickey's nose when we saw him. Good thing Minnie wasn't around.
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Happy First Birthday, Sophia!

We were so excited about Sophie's 1st birthday. As most of you know, Sophie loves Winnie the Pooh. Inexplicable how babies are handed so many options and gravitate to one thing. Sophie's one thing is Winnie the Pooh. They are best friends. So, her party has all her favorite things...Winnie the Pooh decorations, strawberries, milk, and funfetti cupcakes! Now that's a party!



We got our first taste of Christmases and birthdays to come as we put together toys and set up decorations into the wee hours.
Eric's parents flew out for Soph's birthday, to see Kyle (Eric's brother) and to see the show one last time. They arrived the night before and it was so great to have them. Soph was excited to see them too!
Sophie had a ball. She loved having everyone around. We had read a lot about being careful not to overload your child's party with too many guest, but our social butterfly wouldn't have it any different. She thrives around people. The more, the merrier! We put her in the highchair to open presents and she had a ball.



Once she started getting the hang of it, she would open one present, throw it over her shoulder, and reach out the next. Everyone laughed uncomfortably as she chucked their carefully chosen gift over her shoulder. We paused for a minute to try to get her to play with each gift for a moment before moving on to the next, but...alas, she is 1, so.... Soph wasn't into eating the cake really, but enjoyed playing with it and squishing it around in her hands. It almost looked like she was washing hands with it.
A big group of the cast had come for the party, but everyone had a huge press event at The Grove (A huge outdoor shopping/nainsook street USA/ LA's answer to Time Square) in LA. If you know anything about these actors schedule, its backwards from most people, with late nights and late mornings, so we were so happy that so many of them showed up for Sophie's party. Eric had to be there at 11, so we wrapped up the party in the morning and headed over to support the cast and crew. Soph loved seeing them perform and loved seeing Daddy Shrek.



Most people are still amazed that seeing Daddy as Shrek and going to him lights her up. It's leaving him that sends her into a frenzy. That was the only birthday meltdown she had though, so I feel it was an overall success.
We went to the theatre to see Eric before the show and so his visiting family could get some time with him.



Finally, we were headed home, after a long day out, and Soph was able to play with her new toys. We had turned our living room into a children's museum and she couldn't ave been happier.


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Location:Los Angeles, CA

Hooray for Hollywood

The last three weeks in Los Angeles were every bit as exciting as we hoped it would be. We knew the first week would be intense and we were going to need a babysitter for opening night. Again, not knowing anyone available to babysit in L.A., we called on my mom to come out from FL. She was a lifesaver, as she bought all Sophie's 1st birthday party decor in FL and brought it with her, cause she knew our time was tight here.
Los Angeles was a big stop for the tour! There was so much publicity. Big banners lined Hollywood Boulevard and billboards and flyers were all over town. Eric had a ton of press in addition to his show schedule, so it really helped to have an extra set of hands. He was in the final stretch and it was back to the ole 24/7 schedule. Eric was in a mental, emotional, and physical push as he was tired from over a year on the road, but wanted to go out with a bang. L.A., being the home town of producers Dreamworks, was one of the most important cities on the schedule. It was a three week roller coaster. The anxiety of not having work to do anymore, the sadness of leaving a job and company of people you've grown to love, and the push to "make it count" and enjoy the ride. No one could have handled it all better than Eric. Not only is he an exceptional leader for our family, but he also was a great leader in his company. I'm so proud of him.
The company housing had us in an apartrment in Burbank. Again, this was an Oakwood housing complex. They specialize in company housing and do pretty awesome corporate living. We were in a two bedroom town home that was so awesome for Sophie. There was plenty of room for her toys AND room for her to run around. Over the three weeks, you could see her settle in and become comfortable with her new home. She was thriving in a setting that was more like a home. It was definitely time for us to be done touring and staying in hotels. Like I've said all along, she did great in hotels, cause that's all she'd ever known. However, we were all ready to have some space.
We had barely unpacked a suitcase and it was time for the opening night and the opening night party. Eric and I were looking forward to a night out. With my mom there, I was able to run to the store easily for last minute things and go on quick errands for Eric. You really take for granted the brevity of a drugstore pitstop, until you have a baby and realize that where you used to be able to make 3 stops and get errands done in a set amount of time, you now could do 1 stop. I guess this is why people like Walmart.
Opening night was so fun!



I got to see the show again and Eric and I had fun hanging out with friends afterwards. With the show still running and everyone having a 5:30am press call in the morning, it was a fun, but relatively short night out.
During the days, my mom and I took Sophie to shop for her presents. When we went into Potterybarn, Sophie's life was changed when she met her new best friend, the arm chair for babies. Once she sat in that chair, she did not want to get up. It fit her perfectly.



She made he way over to the children's kitchen set and another love was born. Tearing her away from that kitchen was nearly impossible. We left with the arm chair, but that kitchen was a staggering amount of money. I could have bought the child an actual working stove for that amount of money. So the answer on that was to get a toddler kitchen set, just not THAT one. We found an awesome one made by Fischer price that starts out small and grows with your child. It's called....grow with me kitchen. Highly recommended. Another highlight for us that week was finally choosing a high chair. Sitting in the stroller to eat at home just wasn't going to cut it anymore. She's always loved sitting in high chairs in restaurants on tour, so you can imagine her excitement at getting one of her very own. If you can't imagine it...here's a picture to help you go there with us.







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Stay Classy, San Diego

San Diego was our favorite city. The weather was beautiful. There were a million things to do and we had a good time there. Point Loma was our favorite excursion. We rented a car and drive out there to get the most beautiful view of San Diego, the bay, Navy ships, and the ocean. Just beautiful .



We also did the Old Town trolley tour from downtown.



That took us over to Coronado, which is an absolute must. Walking around the famous Hotel Del Coronado was such fun, as you can see the movie "Some Like It Hot" reminiscent in every corner of this historic, family friendly, beach hotel. The movie was filmed there and being there makes you feel like you are on a magical MGM movie set.







Had lunch at a place called Burger Lounge that was super yummy. Friends had raved that this would be the best burger we ever ate. High expectations were hard to exceed, but that being said, I'd go back. In the afternoon that day, the trolley brought us to the zoo. The highlight of that trip was the Panda exhibit. It's a narrated exhibit, where the Pandas seem fairly close. Sophie loved seeing the baby Panda so much that she cried, when our turn in the line was over and we headed away from the baby Panda.



The Children's Museum in San Diego was the best one we'd been to.



There were plenty of areas for toddlers and then designated areas for older kids. I found out that some parents don't always pay attention to that direction. Sophie was playing in the "For children under the age of 2" area and there was a young buy about 5 or 6 who had walked over to explore. I quickly spotted his parents having lunch in the adjacent area and took note that his play was getting wilder by the second. Sophie and another 1-yr-old were playing with cardboard blocks and mini grocery carts when Wild Child picks up a cardboard box, says to the boy passing by, "Watch this," and kicks said box directly at Soph's face. Thanks to my ninja skills, I stopped the box with my hand, to the little twerps surprise. As I pointed my figure at Wild Child and firmly said 'you have to be careful when babies are around. You cannot kick blocks at them." As he walked over to a chair and sulked, his parents made their way to him, asking if everything was okay. His response was a silent sulk I was poised, ready to tell them everything was NOT okay until I realized that they really didn't care. They sat down in the beach chairs for parents and Dad got on the phone and mom opened her magazine and Wild Child geared up for more. As separate group of children gathered for a birthday party near us, Wild Child made his way to the corner and talked to himself about how he was sad that no one invited him to a birthday party. It was so sad, as I looked into his future and saw him as the classic school bully who acted out to desperately get the attention of parents who had more important things to do. The lesson I took away was to always be ready to use mommy ninja skills and all parents do not think like you would, so be prepared. All that being said, sometimes you just can't avoid your children getting hurt. You can hover all you want, but it happens. Later that night, Soph was working on picking up speed in the hotel, she face planted, bit her tongue, and blood came out of her mouth. Blood!!!!! I, admittedly was super freaked out. My hands and voice were shakey as I told her it was ok and held her tight. She was freaked out and so was I. However, she was just fine. Fast forward to Monday, when we were all set to leave with the company on a bus to LA at 10:30 am. Soph and I headed to the park across from the children's museum around 8:30. The squishy ground there and low ropes and spinning toys hooked onto the structure made it a perfect place for toddlers. There was another toddler, 16 month old, Devon, and his dad there too. Devon, just a few months ahead of Soph was a runner. You see where this is going. As I stood behind Soph, as she played with a rope hooked onto a metal pole. Devil, I mean, Devon, came out of no where and pushed Soph hard. She fell to her hands and knees and her head conked hard against the metal pole. I picked up a crying Sophie and could see the bump beginning to grow. Through Sophie's screams, I could hear the dad behind me telling his son that he couldn't push people and that he had hurt Sophie. As I grabbed the stroller and headed to the first open place for ice, I could hear the dad apologizing from the park. Once I got ice and she had calmed down a bit, I was able to see better. The bump was getting bigger and turning blue. The main thing that worried me was that she seemed dazed and was closing her eyes like she was trying to go to sleep. I asked for a cab and the company I called said they weren't sure how long it would take to get a driver to me. I said forget it and headed in a full stroller sprint to the hotel, where I knew a cab would be. I called Eric and told him to meet me in the lobby with a car seat. We left immediately for Hillcrest UCSD ER. If you need a great ER close to downtown, this is it. The doctors were so great and got us in right away. The long and short of our hospital visit was that after a few hours of evaluation, they and we decided that she was fine. We proceeded to rent the smallest car we could find, pack luggage into every nook and cranny, and head to L.A. Last stop. We made it! A few bumps and bruises, but we arrived safe and sound.


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