Impromtu NYC Trip! A Novella for you :)

(Waiting at the John Wayne Airport for our flight to Newark. B got a new camera.)

Hiiiiiiiii, Babies! So, I just got back from an amazing impromtu NYC trip. We were originally going to check out a room, but it turned out it wasn't a prime location for me :(

Buuuuuuuuut, we went anyway!

It was only my 2nd time in the city (the first time I went was in February for my Columbia callback, and THAT was a crazy whirlwind and I hardly saw anything). I went with my stepmom and my stepsister, Brenna. None of us had any commitments, and because my amazing dad is a pilot, we can fly for free (it's not as easy as it seems though, we fly standby...not complaining though, it's such a blessing!) We flew out of Orange County on Monday and made the first flight to Newark.

(Brenna's pics. On the plane to Newark, and on the train from Newark to NYC)

We crashed in Newark, and took the train into NYC the next day. Then we met up with my amazing, generous friend Marianne's little girls (who're the most grown-up, well adjusted tweens you'll ever meet). The girls led us to their place, which Marianne let us crash at her place on the Upper East Side while she was visiting Chico (that was the greatest gift we could've been given). We were so grateful to have that place and their hilarious cat was fun to come home to each night.

(We literally pissed our pants, during this cat photoshoot!!!!!)

So the first night we were there, we went to Big Daddy's Diner with Emily and Audrey, then returned back to their apartment to eat a huge piece of chocolate cake and watch their new favorite show, Pretty Little Liars. We had such a great time talking to them about their lives in NYC and their plans for applying to high schools. I'll be praying for them to get into the perfect, most fulfilling high schools! :)

The next morning (Wednesday) they left bright and early and made it all the way to California that day (which was wonderful because they fly standby too!). Meanwhile, Laura, Brenna, and I walked all over and ended up in Central Park. Then we took the subway up toward Columbia. We made it to Columbia (after a brief stint in Harlem, my bad...yeah...I got us lost a lot, but it was a great learning experience). We walked around campus, and admired it's beauty. It still so surreal.



Then, I got in touch with one of my future classmates, the wonderful Mr. Bill Coyne, and we met him for coffee near Times Square/in Hell's Kitchen. It was awesome because I had never seen that crazy, bustling area before and it was so exciting! Bill was so great to talk to and soooooo helpful. He's already all up in the business, and he's been in the city for a while, so he was able to answer so many questions and offer so much insight! He told us how to rush a show and showed us where some of the cool theatre sights were. I look forward to working with him next year!

Then, the rest of the day we sort of meandered around the Theatre District, walked down 5th Avenue, and all that jazz. By the end of the day though, we were a little overstimulated, and we had put in what felt like a 10 hour Disneyland day, so we perched at The Hard Rock Cafe for a snack (which was a little touristy, but fun). Then we headed back home to rest up for the next day. We were craving something sweet, that night, so we went out in search of ice cream and discovered the amazing Emack & Bolio's, which is def not on the west coast. We got hooked real quick.


(Hard Rock Cafe: the 3 of us with Janis hahahahaha, and Brenna and I cracking up at something with matching body language)













Miss Marissa Wilhelm paid a visit to Marianne's place that lovely, rainy night on her way up to New Hampshire for her Shakespeare gig. It was cool to see her and I hope you're having a great time in rehearsal, Miss Thang!

Thursday, we were going to get up early and try to get rush tickets, so I could see my first Broadway show, but that didn't happen. We ended up getting a later start. (I was beyond excited to receive the e-mail with my summer reading list and class schedule, and other info regarding school in the fall that morning). We got our morning coffee and headed toward The World Trade Center (after stopping in the East Villiage for lunch). Brenna, saw it a few years ago, and wanted to see it again after watching a documentary about the tragedy in school. There's really not much to see anymore though. It's all construction.

After Wall Street and all that we decided to take the train up to show Brenna NYU (she loves New York too and has considered moving out there for school, which I would LOVE!). We checked out some of the buildings, of course you can't really go in without a school id, and the area around it. Then we went back up to the Upper East Side, had an amazing buffalo chicken pizza for dinner, and headed back up to Marianne's to nap. When we got up from our nap, and got ice cream AGAIN!. That night, I go a text from my amazing Columbia "big sis", Dani Faitelson. She and some of her classmates invited me to go out in the meatpacking district. SO, I brought my little sis (shhhhhhh) and we took the subway down to meet them (after I got lost again, and my phone died of course, see imagine what would've become of me had I not brought the minor out) at this bitchin club, called The Griffin. I got to hang out with the lovely ladies: Kate Flanagan, Melissa Pedro, and Dani too! We had a great time dancing (it was so cute to see Brenna dance all night! She is such a good, fun girl. She never drank one sip of alcohol. She kept it legal with H20 and danced all night!). Dani, Mel and Kate got me even more excited about school next year! They were so real, and down to earth and it's exciting to meet new friends! We stayed out hella late...rolled in at 4 am and cracked up when we were going to sleep and the cat took a gnarley dump that stunk up the place. Goooooood times!

(And I thought Chico feet were bad...)

The next morning (Friday, our last day) we get a late start, due to post-going out fatigue. We had a small brunch and headed back up to Columbia to meet with Julie Rossi, the Director of Academic Administration for Theatre Arts at Columbia, who kindly showed me around the Theatre Office. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get much info about housing and fin. aid due to limited summer hours, but all in good time. :) Then, we went to the bookstore and bought my dad a hat and a shirt and thumbed through books. After campus, we went to this Thai place that we really liked, called Lime Leaf. It was right by the school and we went twice! LOL.

After our second visit to Columbia, we headed down to Soho. Brenna wanted to go to Forever 21 (which was a nightmare, hot and waaaaaaay too crowded) and we wanted to see the infamous hotspot. It was so cute and I thought to myself, when it's not so touristy, Psquared would have a great time here! We got hot and tired of shopping so we got out third and final Emack and Bolio's ice cream, and took the subway (during rush hour, which was crazy and left us with numerous, people watching induced, inside jokes) to Central Park again. We sat and did more people watching, then we took the crosstown bus back toward Marianne's, had a nice dinner, tidied up our mess in the apartment and packed up to go home.

(Our last day: we were friggin' BEAT and PUNCHY, while people watching in the park)

We made it back home Saturday night, in time for a lovely Father's Day yesterday!

The trip was great. Even though, I'm still in the dark about a lot of things, it was great to explore without much of an agenda, get used to public transportation and spend time with new friends (not only will I have my Chico in NYC network, I'll have so many great Columbia/NY friends). I feel soooo much better about going out now. The excitement is outweighing the fear (just found out that Dianne Wiest will be filling in in September for Andrei Serban in our Acting Studio I class! :D) . Although, the fear is good. If this weren't scary, it wouldn't be worth doing. :)


Welp, there's a book for you about my NYC trip. It was a blessing, and I'm so excited for what's next! Dreams, dreams, dreams.

I love you all so much! Chico people, I miss you much and think about you all every day! Enjoy your summers and believe in your dreams, and I'll try to do the same! xoxoxoxo

Here's some inspiration for you:

Taylor Swift - Fearless

Finding Inspiration in Taylor Swift

So, I have had lots of free time on my hands lately. I'm home for the summer, chilling with my family, resting so I don't have summer sickness anymore (who gets a throat infection in June!? That noise is for the winter!). So I've been using my free time to:

1. Make lots of cool new earrings, and making my parents' cats go nuts over the feathers (which I need to put up on Etsy, taking the photos and doing all the posting is a process)
2. Read (my Mom got an ipad, so she gave me her Kindle as a belated grad gift and it is AWESOME! Thanks, Mom)
3. Spend FAR too much time on the internet. LOL!

So, the first two are obviously productive, great things to do. The third, however, can sometimes be a little iffy. Sometimes it's a little too much of aimless browsing through facebook. (Yeah, I'll be honest, even though I'm sure lots of people are like, ew facebook stalker...get a life, you do it too, and if you think you don't you're in denial, Dolls!) Other times, though, I like to do my usual researching. Researching the careers of actors I admire, researching theatre history and current theatre news. Researching fashion from previous decades. Researching the birds who've lent me their feathers to make crafts and accessories...LOL! You know, just researching. Sometimes sitting on the internet can be as informative and well-spent as trip to the library. It's just not as aesthetically pleasing...and you don't have to be quiet.

Another thing I like to do on the internet is frequent People.com, perezhilton.com, and read celebrity blogs. Now, this is just a guilty pleasure, and a little trashy, and I'm sure than many people would say that young people like me are what's wrong with America today, we're obsessed with the media and celebs, blah, blah, blah. Well, those people are probably right, but they can still shove it because I've been watching Entertainment Tonight since age 2 and I'm never going to stop being interested in celebrity news and "who wore it better" and all that crap! LOL! I love Pop Culture and I don't care who knows it! Maybe, if I become a celebrity someday, I'll care less about it...but probably not...

Anyway, Gossip and Entertainment News Sites aside, the tidbit that I was getting to is that I like reading celebrity blogs because blogs are where celebs write from the heart, talk about their inspiring, charmed lives, happenings, friends, family, etc. I mean, there are totally those diva celebs out there, but I adore the ones who're funny, generous, and REAL. Like Taylor Swift, for example!

I was reading Taylor Swift's journal on her website, and I decided to read her bio. In it I found a quote about her hot album title, "Fearless", and what it means to her and it gave me some peace of mind:

“To me, fearless isn’t not having fears,” explains Swift. “It’s not that you’re not afraid of anything. I think that being fearless is having a lot of fears, but you jump anyway.”

Isn't that great? I totally loved it because, as I prepare for this big move to NYC, and grad school, and the next chapter in my life. I find myself bogged down my fears. I know that my fear won't stop me from going out there and doing it, but when I'm sitting home, under the weather, missing my friends, without a job (for the first time in years), unsure of so many crucial components of my situation next year...I forget that I am a pretty strong young soul and I KNOW I'M GOING TO JUMP ANYWAY!!!!!! :) What else would you do Paige? Housing will work out, finances will work out and I have the most amazing network of friends and family anyone could ask for, and lots of drive. It's all good. :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, and feeling healthier than I am. I love you and stay fabulous, All!

♥
Paige
xo

Peachy in Business!

Hey, Honey Loves!

Well, today was fairly productive even though it feels like it was unproductive...

Winding down after 4 years of pretty busy college life is awkwardly hard. It's tough to just relax. More crazy grad school dreams, and random stress. My body is convinced that it has 50 papers to write or something...maybe it's refusing to relax because it knows better than I do the ways in which grad school is going to ravage me...muahahahahaha.

Anywho...hellllllllooooooo tension tangent...

On the bright side, today I finally got my Etsy account stocked with accessories for sale! Yay! it actually took quite a while, but it feels great to have that started. So, now all of you who have been so supportive and interested in my earrings and accessories can buy them/refer friends to:

www.etsy.com/shop/paigeisapeach

Yay!!!!!! The shop is still a little plain, but I'll get it together in time. I spent a lot of today making more earrings too. Once I commit to sitting down and creating, I could do it for hours. I love making earrings and other accessories because I totally don't judge my work while I'm doing it. I just keep my hands going and I'm always so amused when a pair is finished. They have so much personality. They're all precious little weirdos. In fact, some of them even remind me of specific people (don't be pissed, precious little weirdos are my favorite kind of people!), so don't be shocked if I name a pair after you on the Etsy listings. :))))))))
(I named one for my Grandma Pennie, and I was so suprised to see that she had bought them. Yeah, that's right G-Ma was my first Etsy customer! LOL!)

I also ordered a bunch of really cool cruelty free feathers in bulk and I can't wait for them to get here, so I can get to creating some mooooooooore!

Welp, yup, that's my nerdy little life right now...feathers...and the Kardashians...and SoCal heat...and a hankerin' for some library time. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well, Goodnight, Sweet Spirits.

Sleep well, and know how much you are loved!

xoxoxoxox

-Paige

oh: p.s. I miss you Chico Babies!!!!!

Home. Sweet, Home...well, kind of...

So, I made it home to Menifee!!!! Weeeee!

My amazing friends, Skylar Shea Young and Cindy Kay picked me up from my amazing Aunt Lesa's house on Sunday. We loaded up that gold Taurus (it was so weighed down that you couldn't see the top of the back wheels) and rolled with the three of us in the front seat. Skylar and I took turns riding bitch and we made it to Menifee on Sunday night! Yay, what a blessing to be moved home. May the marshmallow car rest in peace.

Monday, we went to Disneyland, which was super fun. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't that crowded and we did quite a bit (the girls even humored me and went on It's a Small World), we screamed and cracked up! Cindy got to ride Splash Mountain for the first time...she sat in the front and got soaked and it was HILARIOUS!

The girls left late yesterday afternoon and both made it home safely. It was a really fun mini trip and I'm so grateful to be home. I talked to my brother for a little while yesterday! He's still in Germany doing the army thing (freedom aint free ya'll, Happy belated Memorial Day!). It always cool to hear his voice.

Now, I'm organizing my mountain of possessions and prioritizing...it sucks, but it must be done. The things I can't take to NY will just pollute my parents' house...sooooooo...looks like I'll be getting rid of more stuff. Garage sale up in heyah! I have so many great books and movies, but I can't keep all of them.

Amidst all of the organizing, sorting and giving away, I am attempting to:
1. Get my finances and housing in order for next year (which is pretty difficult because Columbia takes like a century to process applications and issue assignments and packages)
2. Finish all of my thank you notes for all the nice grad cards
3. Get my Etsy shop up and running and sit down and make some gems (spreading the accessories by Paige all around the www)


4. Plan my In the Heights/Bay Area/Janelle's UCSB graduation weekend, Paula's socal adventure and another Vegas trip and
5. relax a little and enjoy family time with both families, delicious food and cable while I'm at it...BAHAHAHAHA!

Oh summer...it's always such a brief period of transition...the dreams I have during summer are always crrrrr-a-ah-zyyyyy. Already dreaming about being lost in NYC, forgetting to pay tuition and massive viewpoint sessions. Neurotic much?

Even though it's a little overwhelming right now (awww, who am I kidding? It probably always will be at least a little bit overwhelming, that's life), I'm juiced for the summer and know that there is so much to look forward to.

I have a feeling 22 is going to be a good year.

Happy Birthday to all the Geminis!

My cousin turned 20 yesterday (I remember watching his little newborn self squirm around on a blanket at my 2nd birthday...it's one of the earliest memories I can recall), and my little sissy will be 17 on the 5th (I remember meeting her when she was eight years old and rocking heelies and a spongebob retainer). They've both become the coolest, kindest, smartest young people and I hope their b-days are special!

xoxo, Dollies!

Hang in there if you're still in school/finals!

Love you all!

Don't forget to wear sunscreen, count your blessings and savor the good times and I'll try to do the same!

K, byyyyyyyyyyye!