Wild Ride

In the past three weeks I've managed to be in four major cities, three states, got to hug most* of my best friends and family, and have had the words "I love you" come out of my mouth, as well as said to me, literally at least 350 times. Crazy, yet amazing, right? Here's my story.

So, a few weeks ago, I trekked my little booty the six hours up to Burlingame, CA (For those who don't know - Burlingame is just south of San Fransisco...it's actually where the San Fransisco airport is) to attend a Zumba workshop so that I could become certified. Why did I make this journey by myself? Because it needed to be done. Something was telling me to go, the exact amount of money I needed fell into my lap as I was about to sign up (which was, of course, a huge sign), and so I went. The workshop itself was fun and rewarding and great and everything. However, I pretty much knew everything already. Now, I am licensed and can work more, etc. The real reason I think I was meant to travel up to NoCal was to free my mind. Has your mind ever felt so cluttered and full that you feel like it's one of those old school metal filing cabinets that have manila folders and papers squeezed inside and falling out the tops and sides because there's too much in one drawer? That would be my life at that time. The six hour drive was a freeing experience. It's a beautiful drive through mountains, through vast open air, through weird towns; it had it all. I sang at the top of my lungs. I caught up with some of my friends over the phone (Thank the Lord for the sync system in my car. I'm in love.). I danced. I laughed. I cried. I lived in the moment. I allowed my mind to clear. As you know, I love to overcome challenges, no matter how hard they may be at the time.

(Pic taken on my drive to Burlingame)

I feel like on my way home, I was living a literal metaphor - you have to get through the storm and face your fears in order to become a stronger individual and get to the successes. I faced A LOT of my fears on that journey home. 1. I don't like driving at night, especially when I don't know where I am. 2. I get nervous driving in rain because it reminds me of my horrible car accident. (RIP 2006 Cobalt) 3. Driving on mountains scare the crap out of me. 4. I don't like fog. These four bulletpoints = my drive home. I had HEAVY rain, many mountains and curves, fog, and dark, dark night since I was in the middle of nowhere. Although my face was practically on top of the steering wheel and my hands were white from gripping the wheel so tight, I made it home...and I actually felt a sort of accomplishment by making it through...Another transitional phase in my life - overcome.

I went to New York City two weeks ago to perform with my "Tuesdays at 4" group. It was so amazing to be with my best friends there. And to see all of my beautiful and amazing seniors. It was an emotional three days because I was just so happy to be there. Have you ever felt so much love that all you can do is be brought to tears? That was me. To hear over and over and over again by about 150 adopted grandparents "I believe in you and I can't wait to see you on the screen" "We pray for you everyday that you will get that big break!" "I love you! We miss you!" is an overwhelming and pretty unexplainable feeling. Your body feels light and your mind is clear because it is full of warm and peaceful thoughts. It's such a great experience to be around amazingly positive people...and that is all I surround myself around. On that note, I laughed so much those few days. It was so great to catch up with my friends and reminisce, share new stories, laugh, be goofy, and ultimately, be in each others' presence.

Marnie, Julie, Danielle, and I wrecking havoc on the streets of NYC.

Clearly, when you're best friends, you dress the same without trying. Whit and I.
Martha and I with our standard Times Square picture

The "Tuesdays at 4" performance was, once again, a huge hit. The doctor for all of the Brookdale communities flew to NYC to see the performance. The board of directors for NYU's Rusk Institute were in attendance. The floor of the theatre was completely full. The audience laughed. They cried. They experienced it with us. At the end, compliments were pouring out. Audience members said they weren't scared of aging anymore because anything is possible. (I mean, let's be real, when you see a 100 year old woman shaking her booty on a stage - anything is possible.)
I visited Margot, one of our performers (99 years old) in the hospital before I left. She went in a couple of weeks ago because of some heart problems that can't be fixed because of her age. She was thrilled, overjoyed, and surprised to see me. She said that the night of the performance she was watching the clock and saying "They're at the theatre now." "They're getting makeup on and eating now." "They're going on stage." "They're performing now." And she lived through the performance in her hospital bed. That's the kind of impact this class has on its students and the people that come see it. Remarkable. We gave her a recap of the performance, talked and laughed, gave our kisses, and headed out. I'm so glad I was able to stop by and see her...

I went to Vegas last week to meet up with Mark and Julie. What an experience. Vegas is insane. Two nights was definitely enough. I don't know how people can stay there for an entire week and gamble. Crazy. I had an amazing time with Mark and Julie, though. We laughed. We talked. We experienced Vegas. We went and saw the Treasure Island pirate show, which was pretty neat. What I loved about it was that it got so many audience members standing outside this casino. This just goes to show that even people who say they don't live "theatre" or whatever, love to be entertained. I mean, who doesn't love singing, dancing, a little acting? It's such a part of our everyday lives, yet people want to automatically turn themselves off to theatre because it has a stigma? Weird. Everyone loves to be entertained, and they need to embrace it. Look at the old movies with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland - everything was a musical and they were AMAZING. I think it's slowly making a comeback...Anyway, Vegas. Yes. I wont $15 my first night. Whoo. The next day we roamed around the strip and took in all of the crazy and amazing architecture. It's so crazy to say in the same sentence "I'm standing at the Brooklyn Bridge an staring at the Eiffel Tower." Even weirder that I've been to both of those places. Being here made me realize just how much I've seen in the world, and I haven't even seen that much! Being able to recognize firsthand the things in the New York casino as well as the things in Paris casino were pretty amazing feelings. I am definitely a traveler; I'm meant to see the world. Whenever I think of that, I think of the story that grandpa always tells me that never gets old - I love hearing it. He always talks of when I was born. How I looked right up at him and took him in. I was observant and took the world in, trying to understand it all. I'm definitely still that way, and I really think it's one of my greater attributes.

Can you see Paris behind us?

I came back to LA to find my friends and second family that I love and truly missed. They, too, were excited to have me back and hear my stories. It's so nice to have that in a brand new place. It's crazy to think that in November I knew one person here. Now, I have an entire second family. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Mattie, TJ, Lo, Jonathan, Matt, and I hanging out on Venice Beach last night.

Smile. Live. Laugh. Love.