last day of my 25th year!

Is it sad that I am probably not going to be awake at midnight when I officially turn 26? Does that mean I am old? Hopefully not... just tired from a long but extremely satisfying day.

Thanks to generous donations from so many of you wonderful people, some of my equally-as-driven peers and I were able to shoot about 90% of the footage for the short film we are producing! It was an exhausting day because I got stuck at work til pretty late last night-- but you know you're living out your passion when you feel completely thrilled to be doing what you're doing on 4 hours of sleep.

I won't give you too many details since I don't want to spoil the film itself for you, but I will tell you that I transformed from a 20-something waking up after an encounter with an old flame, to a high school graduate packing up to head off to college. We've got a bit more of the fun little pieces to film in the coming weeks (which should only take about a half a day in total), and then we will begin the editing process and get this thing up for all to see! I am trying to maintain a reasonable expectation for this learning experience and what the outcome will be, but in general am just happy and proud and thankful to be gaining knowledge about this process and having a really fun time along the way!

Tomorrow will be a pretty packed day too, and though it hasn't really hit me yet that it's my birthday, I'm excited about it. This year I decided to do something a little bit unconventional and host a Sunday Funday Fundraiser in lieu of a traditional birthday party. The acting teacher I have mentioned in previous posts (who has become a mentor and friend of mine) owns a bar, and I've organized an event to raise money for his sister who is battling stage four lung cancer. We arranged a deal with the bar to offer drink specials to anyone who is wearing a wristband, and we've been selling them all week for $5 each. In addition, my boss from Oscar's (along with some other generous sponsors) have donated gift certificates and prizes, and one of my co-workers (a pastry chef) is doing a special birthday cake and edible party favors as a donation. I am so pleased with how quickly we were able to pull this together, and again feel overwhelmed by the generosity I see from so many people around me. It is truly inspiring.

 

So here's to a new year here in LA. I'll be sure to stop back in for a more official "birthday" post in the next few days-- but now I'm off, with hopes of pleasant end-of-25 dreams. Oh, and fingers crossed for a Steelers birthday win!

xxo.