To "Being the Best" in 2011

Back to the "be the best" motto. I thought I'd explain it sooner than later because having "be the best" as your motto can get a bit misconstrued. As the year begins most people have goals, dreams and resolutions that they're working towards. This is great, for most people, but it really doesn't work out for me. Let's be honest how many of us actually follow through to the end of the year? I know I don't, so to not feel like a total loser by mid January I decided not to resolute. Instead I decided just to "be the best" I can be. I want to be the best wife, step-mom, daughter, friend, employee, actor and of course love Jesus the best that I ever have.

It's kind of weird because it's actually working. Every time I find myself wanting to say or do something that maybe I shouldn't say or do, I stop and ask myself "is that remark or action or sarcastic comment "the best" thing right now. And the answer is usually NO!

So this year I want to give my best, be on my best behavior, love my family & friends the best, be the best employee I can be & workout and eat healthy the best I can.

This year I want to hear more laughter in my home. I want to share more delicious meals with family & friends. I want to smile more, love more and be more. And of course a couple MORE commercials wouldn't hurt either.

-to being the best :-)

Quick recap: I shot a Walmart Christmas spot in November that never aired. Sooo bummed because I was really excited and proud of that spot. It was a two year contract so there's always a possibility it will show next Christmas. Anna's Linens came out in December, that one was neat because it was both an English and Spanish spot. And last but not least I shot a spot for "Got Milk" in Spanish. This one should be coming out soon. So all you Univision watchers keep your eyes open.

Coming Soon!

Wait for it, their might be a blog post soon. All this New Year's resolutin' has kind of gotten me in the mood to blog. I need to clean it up a little though. I have so much I want to say but don't want to bore you or myself to death. In a nutshell, it's the usual look into 2011 and what I want to do and what I don't want to do this coming year. I'll leave you with this, I guess you can call it my motto for 2011, "Be the Best".

To spend or not to spend that is the ?

All this revamping and celebrating has me thinking it's time for some new headshots. Only thing is headshots are expensive but I read somewhere that as an actor that is NOT the place to try and save money. That's the first thing a casting director sees and the casting director pretty much calls the first shot and decides if I'm going to audition for the project or not. Bummer because pictures can be really expensive but i'm feeling so figity right now. I feel like I'm twitching constantly and thinking what I can do to get this show on the road. The one thing, well there's two things, but one of the the things that keeps going through my mind is headshots! So I'll keep you posted and let you know what I decide because this will definitely hit the pocketbook pretty hard. Till next time :)

Missed blog-aversaries and a revamp

I was looking through my blog archive, if you can call it that, and I realized that I started writing on Sunday July 5th. It's been over a year since it was born but I can't say that it's a very big feat considering there has only been about 40 postings. That comes out to about 2.5 postings a month but I'll take it. Why?? Well because it's actually something I haven't quit. Let me rephrase that, I did delete it once or twice, had a couple of break downs and some cupcake binges, but I'm still here. Anyway, I thought a little revamp was in order, something to help celebrate my one year 2 month anniversary (because I didn't realize the one year ann. had passsed). Something to keep me excited about coming back to share with my dear dear friends that come back to read this madness. I totally appreciate the fact that you all actually come back to visit and some of you even comment. That is totally awesome!!

This past week was a little difficult for me. It was a bit quiet on the audition front and then throw in that my hubby filmed his commercial. Don't get me wrong, I was and still am super excited for him, I just can't believe that he actually got to experience what I go through. It also took me to a very strange place. I began to wonder what this all means for me, what's the lesson here, how does he book a SAG National in a second and I'm going on 3 years my second time around. Why am I not hearing anything. Jesus where are you?? Well very quietly I came across this, Isaiah 43:18-19, "Forget the former things, do not dwell in the past. See I am doing a new thing". Wow!! It helped me realize that something new is on the horizon it may seem as dry as a desert but I just need to be patient and not give up. I also came across a tweet by @revrunwisdom, "Nothing great has EVER been created without enthusiasm". End of Story!!

p.s. I'm brainstorming on a slightly new direction for the blog. Maybe a little something for my actor friends to exchange some good and much needed info. Not to sure yet. Any ideas??

Here are some pics from the "undisclosed shipping company ad" ;)

A little project update!

So enough about Jeremiah's rise to stardom in 2.5 seconds. Let's go back to the long and emotional journey we've been going through together. Ha! Just kidding. Kind of.

Anyway, last Thursday I was on set for a small internet project. Not really sure what it's for or where it will run but I had fun and was at two great locations. Griffith Park Merry go Round and A small cove in Palos Verdes. My partner and I enjoyed the beautiful sunset on a makeshift dock looking out into the sunset. Totally beats a day at work. As soon as I get my hands on it, I'll post if of course. A little pic of the "set" will have to do.

I also have a little something something to share. I'm never contacted when projects that I do come out. I usually have someone tell me they saw me on tv or I have to hunt for them on my own. I found this during one of my treasure hunts. Enjoy!

By the way, Jeremiah shoots his commercial tomorrow. So excited and so proud! As soon as it comes out I might be nice enough to share some blog time so he can post it for y'all!!

Funny Story!

So about 12 days ago, Thursday around 10 am to be exact, I was looking through my emails and project notices that I can submit myself to when I came across one that read something like this. Seeking real people, not actors, that fit these descriptions. Lab Technicians, Teachers, Environmental Bloggers and real blue collar/construction workers. At this point a little light bulb went on, so I yelled for Aliyah to ask her if she had a picture of daddy that we could use. Then I remembered that we had a couple of pictures in our computer file. So I tell her, "babe, I'm gonna submit daddy for this". So I do, not really thinking anything of it because after all, this is a SAG National and well only experienced actors like me get these (riiiight) so I didn't' think anything of it, so much so that I didn't even tell Jeremiah that I had submitted him.

Later that day, I get a call from him asking me "who is this lady calling me asking if I want to audition". Oopsy! So I explained myself and to make a long story shorter, he auditioned and the feedback he received was pretty positive. The funny part of the story is that when I audition, most of the time I'm a bit of a mess after. I make sure I have my phone with me at all times waiting to see if I'm gonna book it. You begin to question your talent, and if you really did good or you're just telling yourself that. Well, every time I go through this Jeremiah tells me don't worry, stop thinking about it, basically leave it at the door and move on. So you think Mr. Figueroa would heed his own advice. Wrong! He was a mess people, calling me and texting me to ask me why they hadn't called him. He was nervous waiting for the phone to potentially ring. I laughed and gave Jesus a big thank you for allowing him to feel what I feel and go through what I go through. Sweet poetic justice. By the way, He promised me that he would never tell me that again.

So what happened you ask. Well, the kid booked a SAG National!! Yes, he booked it. He got the call today and just about keeled over. I am so excited and so proud of him. You need to understand, in my eyes he can do anything, he is my Superman and today he proved that to me once again.

*I will be supersizing this picture and hanging it over my mantle because it's the one that booked this thing!!*

And the Emmy goes to...

Ok, so I think I can officially say that New York is not happening but while that was NOT happening something else was. I think it was back in April that I had auditioned for a commercial, I think I even had a callback but didn't hear anything after that. Until last Friday that is. I got a call saying that I was put on avail and the next day I was told that I had booked the job. So basically while I was sitting there waiting for New York to happen, or not, there was something else brewing. I'm going to be honest, it's no New York but like I've said before the fact that I continue to audition and book gigs is definitely good enough for me.

So that being said, on Thursday I had the privilege of being on set with a totally cool crew of ladies, sitting around for 10 hours to literally shoot our parts in 10 minutes! The fact that neither of us went nutso was a total miracle. The fact that I sat around for 10 hours and totally enjoyed and appreciated every minute of it was even a bigger miracle. I realized that I absolutley love doing this and the fact I get to see it begin to unravel and come to fruition is a total blessing and quite surreal if I do say so myself.

So am I bummed about NY, ummm, not really, seriously! I just want to keep working, I want to work my way up, I want to continue to learn and soak in every second of it so that when NY, or a SAG National or the Emmy's do happen (I'm watching the Emmy's so I thought I'd just throw that in there) It'll be that much sweeter. Then I'll be able to stand at the mic and thank all the little people that made this all possible ;)