Diva Las Vegas Baby

I've been so remiss in keeping up with the blog. Daily life has taken over and I guess it is time to update, and fast!! My husband is back at work, after his car accident put him out of the show for 3 months, and it is great to have him back because the show isn't the same without his energy and presence and playing. And I mean no disrespect to anyone who plays the same role as he does, we all bring something special to the table, it was just that my husband's absence was definitely felt. We renewed our lease for another 6 months, hooray, because I was afraid that we were going to have to look for new digs, and that is just not fun. It is getting hot out here, only April but feels like June in NY. Not looking forward to the debilitating heat, I can tell you that. If you're looking for me, I'll be by the AC. Brooklyn is fabulous, she's got a pre-summer cut, and she's mellowed out a bit, but still has her dynamic and playful personality. She's reall...

I wrote a couple of drafts, one in January and one in February, to cope with the difficult time I've been having out here in the desert, but for some reason, I couldn't finish either draft, and by the time I sat at my desk again to continue my diatribe, weeks had passed. I've re-read the drafts and I don't feel the need to publish them: in a nutshell, both drafts just elaborate on my disappointment in Vegas as a city and the fact that 2008 has proven to be a difficult year, with my husband's horrifying car accident, my Dad's show closing, and just good old stress. I think it may be time to usher in a truce with Vegas - I think. Or at least I'll try. And I want to remember and share a wonderful morning I had not too long ago. I had just finished registering our new car and I decided to take the local route home instead of the highway. It was unseasonably warm (although maybe for Vegas it was seasonably, I still think I'm in NY sometimes when gauging...

I was straightening up the kitchen counter, which gets cluttered in record time whenever I enter the house, and I made a pile of magazines, which grows exponentially every month because I can't seem to catch up on reading them. On the very top of the magazine pile, I placed, with a smile I might add, the latest copy of Ladies' Home Journal (LHJ) that I purchased to entertain me during a plane trip. And it was that small act that confirmed it for me: I am almost 40! My magazine collection no longer resembles the me that I remember. For me, magazines have always been junk food for the eyes, and I would either subscribe to or purchase individual copies of fun, trendy, sexy magazines. Cosmo, Elle, Marie Clare, Allure, Jane, etc. When did Ladies Home Journal become fun, trendy or sexy!?! But I loved the issue, it was the only magazine in a long time that I was able to really read cover to cover. I tried US Weekly or some garbage like that last week, and while there is a sick fa...

I've been remiss in my blogging! In all honesty, not much to report. Life in Vegas has become somewhat routine - I walk Brooklyn, I work, I walk Brooklyn, I sleep, I walk Brooklyn...you get the idea. I am loving driving, and I even managed to get up the nerve to go on the freeway by myself two times last week. So that's a step in the right direction. Shows are good, houses are getting better bit by bit. Brooklyn has a hair cut because she was so matted, thanks to our grooming negligence (guess we've learned our lesson). She has an extensive winter wardrobe to keep her little body warm on walks (a faux-fur-lined hooded coat and two knit sweaters). I love picking Brooklyn up and out from the bushes that she inevitably gets swamped in during our walks, because she smells like rosemary and lavender - the landscaping around the complex is great, with aforementioned rosemary and lavender bushes, strawberry and blueberry bushes, roses and other flowers I can't identify. ...

Okay, do yourself a favor and learn a new language! You don't even have to achieve fluency, just pick up a couple of phrases. I am realizing that since I was about six years old, it has been my dream to be bilingual, at least. Determined not to be restricted to only English , I set out to create my own language when I was about seven years old. I managed to create a vocabulary of just one word: "bilaca" (buh-LAH-ka), which means "melted ice cream spun until creamy with a spoon" (to this day, my Mother and I still use it). That's pretty much where my own language started and ended. I guess the task was too overwhelming. I then, around age 11, took up Ubby-Dubby like my life depended on it, and taught it to my partner-in-crime, so that we could gossip on the bus undetected. I now live with the deep desire (and complete impatience) to learn, oh, about ten languages, fluently, right now, instantly!! To sample the menu of global tongues, I've found the...

I have finally found an accessible rotisserie chicken joint in Las Vegas that is so tasty. El Pollo Loco is a chain here in Vegas, and the chicken is scrumptious. It was highly recommended by comedian George Wallace during his show, and he was not kidding, it is one of the tastiest rotisseries I've tasted (and I am keeping in mind that I've been rotisserie-deprived for months now). There was another small chicken joint we tried months ago, I cannot remember the name of it, but there was literally a man cooking chicken outside the store, right to the left of the entrance. And his chicken was also yummy. But the sides weren't as palatable. At El Pollo Loco, the sides matched the chicken in tastiness , especially their BBQ Black Beans (a culinary first for me!). Finally, another take-out dining option that doesn't involve frying (or fries!).

Well, it has been over a year now since I started this blog and moved out to Vegas, and what do I have to say for myself? Hmm...Well, I love driving. That's been an amazing development in my life and I look forward to getting better and driving on the freeway. I do love using my brain and consequently, I've enjoyed the rehearsal director aspect of my job, I am good at it (particularly the administrative part of it). I love our apartment, I love having my own office space. I enjoy the ease of life out here - I just go to work and come home, that's all I have to worry about, pretty much. I love our puppy, she's a very special dog. On the flip side, I do feel isolated sometimes, I don't do anything else other than work, I don't like the night life here, which sometimes leaves me out of the loop with castmates, including my husband, and I hate having asthma and allergies. I feel boring and old out here, and perhaps that's all my fault because I haven't...