englandsword

Sorry to miss a couple days of posting -- I was busy enjoying DISNEYLAND! On Thursday morning I drove to Anaheim to meet my aunt, her husband, and my cousin for some Disney fun. We went to both parks - the Magic Kingdom and California Adventure. We went on the rollercoaster and the Tower of Terror a few times in a row, getting a Fastpass as well as waiting in line. Tower of Terror: Our insane rollercoaster picture: My cousin and I were making our constipated faces. After a while we just made silly faces for each picture. For lunch on Thursday we went to the Italian restaurant and wine bar on the California Adventure side, where we all happened to get something vegan! My aunt and her husband ordered pasta with broccoli and my cousin got pasta with tomatoes. I got the vegetable salad, which came with lots of grilled veggies, including eggplant and zucchini, and I got the fig balsamic dressing on the side. It was really delicious! For dinner that night we ate at the Hyatt restaurant, and ...

I am really proud of my recipe today, even though it is incredibly simple. I am sure other people have done this before, but I feel like I invented it. So I'll just continue to pretend I did. I finished off my big bag of moong beans. I started out by making some moong bean soup with dry beans, frozen corn and artichoke hearts, kale stalks, carrots, and garam masala, kind of based off my Indian-Spiced Yellow Split Pea Soup. Then after I ate it all, I wished I could make more but I was out of most of the ingredients. So I created this super-awesome recipe that I shall call "deconstructed soup." Deconstructed Moong Bean Soup Soup: Dried moong beans Water Seasoned salt Optional -- garlic, curry powder, garam masala Raw spinach Raw broccoli and cauliflower Nutritional yeast Cook moong beans until soft, about an hour. Cook longer than you think you should -- they'll get cooked, but then add more water and keep cooking so they really break down and get creamy. Make a bed of ...

Today was really fun. I Skyped with my mom in the morning and in the afternoon met my aunt, her husband, and my cousin at the Beverly Center, LA's fanciest mall. I actually hadn't been there before, so it was fun to just walk around and look at stuff. We went to the Beverly Hills M Cafe for dinner and it was great! I snapped some crappy cell phone pics of my dinner -- curry tempeh salad, maple roasted veggies, and celery root remoulade. It was all absolutely amazing and filling enough that I brought back at least a third of it. I also tried my aunt's Bi Bim Bap, which she used to eat when she lived in Korea. It was amazing and I might get that next time I go to M Cafe. I saw this "ABC's of me" on Maryann and Gabriela 's blogs and thought it was fun. I'll play along! A. Age: I'll answer this my actory way: I play 16-20. B. Bed size: Two twins pushed together. Is that a quing? C. Chore you hate: Cleaning, all types. D. Dogs: Require love and affecti...

I had a busy weekend! On Friday I Skyped with my mom for three hours (yes, really), went to acting class, saw an improv show with a friend, and then busted out the big jewelry for a night of really insane dancing. Before I left my apartment I took a photo with terrible terrible lighting -- I was in a hurry and just took a really quick picture. So I had fun in iPhoto, used every filter possible, and turned it into this: I had multiple dance-offs and got insanely sweaty (and took off my long-sleeve shirt in the bathroom). I even had multiple people come up to me and tell me how much they liked my dancing. And even though I pretend it's because I have mad skills, I wasn't break-dancing or anything. Just being ridiculously confident (while completely sober BTW). Yes, this is a good reason why I'll be single forever and I sometimes embarrass the people around me, but at least it was fun. On Saturday I helped a friend of mine cast a short film she wrote and is directing. Wow, wha...

Thanks for all the feedback on my new headshots . I'm going to try using this one for a while and see how it works: Yesterday I had a very intense improv in acting class -- this other guy was playing my ex-boyfriend and I had to come over and tell him I was pregnant... but it might not be his! Dum dum dum. I got really stressed while doing the scene just because I was so into it and my teacher said that it was some of the best work he's seen me do. Last night I had my first cast meeting for a new sketch comedy troupe based on the website SomebodysBasement.com . It's going to be like the first few seasons of SNL (irreverent and raunchy) and I'm getting into the Screen Actors Guild because of it! Yay! If you're not familiar with the acting business, then you probably don't know much about the acting unions (and have no interest) but let's suffice to say, it's difficult to get in and I'm very excited to qualify. After the meeting I went to the bar Three...

I had an audition today then drove across town to pick up the CD of pictures from my headshot session last Friday. Then I Skyped with my mom and went through the 130 pictures over and over, narrowing down and trying to pick a good one. Picking a headshot is really difficult because it's tempting to just find the prettiest picture of yourself, but that isn't what a headshot is all about. A headshot is a marketing tool, so you need a picture that looks like you and shows what type of characters you play. I play rebellious teenagers, so that's what I need to come across. After looking at pictures of myself for so long, I feel like I have the dumbest face in the world. It's like I have an allergy to making normal facial expressions. Here are a few that are front-runners: And possibly commercial: See? I'm a goob. Here's my old headshot, for reference: It's a lovely picture, but I was told that it made me look older and didn't show my personality, and that...

This is my 171st post, which makes this blog equal in number with the blog I kept while I lived in China. Just something random I noticed today. My weekend was pretty low-key. Yesterday I had a workshop and acting class, and last night I hung out with some friends in Hollywood. Today I slept in, relaxed, cleaned my room, and caught up on some reading. Chill to the max. I have an amazing recipe to share today. It's so good, it might just blow your mind. Golden Beets and Apples 4 golden beets 2 small baking apples (I used a cameo and a pink lady) 1 yellow onion 1 tbsp mustard 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp gyoza dipping sauce (sub with Asian marinade or smaller amount of soy sauce) 1 tbsp raspberry vinaigrette dressing 1 tsp dried basil Peel and cut beets. Cut apples and onions into large pieces. Mix together dressing ingredients to taste, thin with a little water if necessary, and coat veggies. Cook in a casserole dish at 350 for 30 minutes, 425 for 15 minutes, and 500 for 15 min...

I got new headshots taken today, and I was going to do a Fashion Friday based off them but I found out I won't get the photos until Monday so I'll just postpone and do a recipe post instead! It's a big day in Egypt -- Hosni Mubarak stepped down! Now we'll see how much change actually happens and how democratic the military will be. If you're interested in a "Cliff's Notes" version of the Egyptian revolution (like Lynn said in her comment), check out my blog post ! I've been eating very high raw the past few days, with tons of green smoothies and some salads. For something new I made a half-raw hummus. I like zucchini hummus but raw chickpeas are gross so I cooked the chickpeas. I will warn you, though -- this hummus does taste "green." It's healthy-tasting, not oily and restaurant-y. Green Hummus 1/2 cup chickpeas 2 small zucchini, sliced 2 tsp garlic 5 sundried tomatoes 1/2 raw tomato 1/2 tsp spirulina 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/2 tsp papr...

We're in for a little change of pace today -- this post is about the recent revolutionary uprisings in Egypt. If you're not interested, feel free to skip this post, but I hope I can shed a little light on the subject as well as share my opinions. I'll also share some links throughout that I hope will be helpful in giving you a decent overview and balanced perspective of the recent events if you're feeling a little behind. I was a Political Science, International Studies, and World Languages triple major in college, and one of the languages I studied was Arabic. I considered studying abroad in Cairo before I picked Beijing instead, but the Middle East has still been an area of great interest to me. Plus, my best friend's family is from Algeria, which gave me a personal connection to the region. Tunisia The story of the recent uprisings really starts decades ago, but for simplicity's sake, we'll say it started with Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Dec...

My first contribution is up on Chic Vegan right now! I originally titled it 5 Tips I Learned from my Free Facial and it's under the title 5 Tips for a Perfect Complexion. Please go check it out, and leave a comment if you find it helpful! http://chicvegan.com/five-tips-for-a-perfect-complexion/

I knew I was going to be gone for most of the day today so I made myself a big smoothie to serve as breakfast/lunch. I worked out in the morning and then (after showering, etc.) headed to Power Group from 12:30 to 2:30 -- that's my monthly meeting at The Actors Network where we go over our career accomplishments for the past month and goals for the next month. I drank part one of my smoothie on the way there and part two afterwards. I had an audition at 4:30 for a short film. It went well! I felt good about it. The smoothie has: 5 kale stalks and about 1 cup kale 1 cup frozen mango chunks 1 cup frozen strawberries 1/3 cup frozen blueberries 1/3 cup frozen cranberries 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp spirulina Maybe 3 cups of water? It was still pretty thick even though I felt like I added a ton of water. Tip: If you have a low-powered blender or you just want blending to go a little faster, prep your smoothie first thing, then go get ready. Come back and blend it right before you eat breakfast...

On Friday I went to acting class and in the evening I hung out with a new actor friend at her apartment in Santa Monica. It was really fun and we had some real girl time. We ordered Italian food from Rosti, a nearby restaurant that has an entire vegan menu. I ordered the roasted vegetable salad for pickup but once we got back I realized... they put cheese on it! I was very sad so I called them and they apologized and send a delivery guy with another one for free. I tipped him but besides that it didn't cramp my evening. Terrible blurry picture. On Saturday I went to acting class again (fourth time this week!) and in the evening went out to a bar with my friends, where I got hit on by all the weirdest dudes there. And exclusively the weirdest dudes. I am totally a weirdo magnet, and I have no idea why. First, a man who appeared to be homeless asked me to dance (I politely declined). Later, a Hungarian wearing a suit (in a sports bar, mind you) attempted to twirl me around and talke...

Outfit post today! I wore this last night to a workshop with an agent. And while I was waiting to go in the room, a very pretty girl told me she loved my style. What a great compliment! The agent meeting went really well, and she totally "got me" as an actor. Plus, she said she would have believed I was actually 16 or 17, which I like to hear. Everything in this outfit is second-hand, except the accessories. Jeans: True Religion, $50, bought at Plato's Closet Shoes: Converse for Target, $35 Long-Sleeve Shirt: Derek Heart, $7, bought at Plato's Closet Short-Sleeve Shirt: Grane, $7, bought at Plato's Closet Watch: $13, Target Jewelry: gifts The True Religion jeans were still $50 at Plato's Closet, but that's because they're originally over $200. You saw them before when I wore them on New Years Eve: And I wore them last weekend tucked into these new boots: Except I learned... don't wear jeans tucked into boots if there's any chance you might be g...