30 days later....and I'm in Chicago!!!

I booked a Graduate Student Film here in Chicago!!!

I found out Monday, April 26th when the director e-mailed me that he'd like me for the role of Jess in his short film called "Vestal Awakening." I was excited as all get-up!!! I booked my ticket for Chicago (My plane took off at 3:33!), hotel, and a car And, to my surprise, I got everything at an extremely great deal (THANK YOU HOTWIRE! I would love to do an Ad for you, just putting that out there!).

I got work figured out, which was good--I worked 14 hour days so my paycheck will be good enough to pay rent and bills. Early Thursday, I packed my clothes and camera (to document the events here) and I drove up to Denver to drop off my doggies. I hung out with my daddy and had some good IHOP and got to the Airport. For the first time in my shortly-lived flying life, I didn't get inspected and they let my make-up through! Maybe they've learned no body is going to kill somebody with Victoria Secret Lip Gloss.

My first stop was in Memphis, TN, where it was 81 degrees at 6PM and so humid the scent was amazing. It was only a short layover (45 minutes). I really would like to check that area out again. There were lots of trees and greens and the smell of BBQ was all through the airport. Yummy!

Then on to Chicago. I had a cool seatmate! His name is Kevin and he works at a consulting firm and was flying to Chicago for business. We talked Hollywood Gossip. I gave him my card and we got in touch through facebook (makin' friends and fans all across the US!). Now, when I think back about it all, it was an amazingly long travel day. I did 4 cities in 24 hours (Technically more, because I drove from ABQ to Denver,). But this is where the excitement starts.....

I got off the plane and off to my rental car (yay for being 24! But since I'm still under 25 there's an additional charge for "piece of mind" for the rental company). The cashier got me all taken care of and I was waiting for the car they assigned to me when he looked at me like I was blonde and he said, "You just grab a car, the keys are in the car..." Okay, fair. So I went out to the lot and found this cute little Dodge Avenger. The next car I want (beside the hybrid) is the Dodge Charger. So I was like, "Yeah, I get to check out what a Dodge car is like!" I hopped in and it is a really nice car. The gas pedal is really slick though--not good for me being a lead foot. I got lost getting to the hotel. And found that at 11PM in Chicago the highway is terrible (Worse than LA!). I still have no idea why, but it took me nearly 45 minutes to get to a hotel 5 miles away from the airport.

I crashed upon arrival to my bed in the hotel. And when I woke up, there was a voice mail from a Student Director in LA calling me for an audition in LA! Oh my goodness! Usually, my phone wakes me up so I must've been really out of it, and I was shocked that this director got in touch with me. It was from another submission I sent through ActorsAccess.com. I called him up and he ok'd a taped audition. I'm glad I listened to my intuition and brought my camera.

Then Day 1 of filming started. I drove out to the bar location called "Exit Chicago."
I passed by some river and it looked so pristine and calm to one side. Then I looked over the other side and saw this huge (And I mean HUGE!) pile of trash right along the riverside. It broke my nirvana. I couldn't believe that people would just let that sit there. But I guess in such an industrial city as Chicago, this would be life.

The bar was really cool. I wish I would've brought my camera and had tapes to take pictures. It was a Gothic bar with all the accessories. They had a stripper pole, motorcycles, bras hanging from the castle-inspired chandeliers. I was talking to the bartender (who is quite the guy, he's worked in the Bar/Nightclub industry since he was little learning from his dad and has kept going), apparently they have true dominatrices that come in and entertain the bar guests. The whole place is illuminated by red lights. For it being a student production, they were very well organized and knew their stuff! They had a 35 mm Arri-flex camera (if you'd like a picture, lemme know and I'll text it to you!). That thing was huge and must've been one that was used ages ago when film started. They did multiple rehearsals before they filmed it. It was interesting working with the camera in general because they measure the distance of where you stand to where the film is in the camera and focus the camera from there. So if I didn't make my mark, I'll be out of focus. I think I did pretty good on that. The director didn't have to make too many corrections so. We'll see how it looks. I'm excited. I spent the majority of the day inside the bar, but when I went outside it was so warm and humid. It started raining at night.

I went to K-mart to get tapes because I found out we were going to Gary, Indiana. I get to see 2 states in one trip! Woo! For the first time, I noticed the affect of the economy when a lady couldn't purchase 6 dollars worth of cake mix and icing. I know personally I love cake, I loooove chocolate frosting. So I helped out and bought it for her. The lady looked at me as if she was going to cry and said, "thank you." It was a little thing that really helped her out.

I got back to the hotel, it was 9PM. I commandeered a friend of mine, Kasha, to help me out with my taped audition. It came out amazing!! Thank you so much Kasha for helping me out with that. I really appreciate it. I sent off the audition to the director and I'm excited to hear back.

Now for Day 2 -- Gary, IN. I'll have some video so stay tuned!!!