life. photos. scrapbooking.

HILARIOUS!

And I thought the K-Mart "Ship My Pants" commercial was funny....

This one had me howling in my seat!

Enjoy!

 

Welcome Back... and HELLLLOOOOO September!

Hey guys. Sorry I had to bow out last week. Nothing major happened. I just didn't have enough hours in the day. You know the drill. I just granted myself a week's reprieve from writing (but continued to jot down ideas for this week) and buckle down.

So.... that's that.

In other news..... Hi-ya hi-ya hi-ya September!

Anyone else excited? I love September and October... they are great months in my opinion. Perfect weather... lots of changes in routines. New TV shows hitting the airways (not that I watch much on cable)... I feel more inspired to cook and bake and generally be crafty. I just love fall.

Who's with me?

So... since I altogether skipped August - I figured I'd hit the ground running with a fresh installment of CURRENTLY LOVING.... September Edition. Mmmm-kay?

 

1 :: Yes, yes... trying the grow out thing again with the dang hair. My conundrum is this... I'm getting lots of grays... Sad, but true. So I know that COLOR is most definitely in my future. Therefore, I'm thinking I'll have to give up my beloved relaxers - lest I fry the living SH@T out of it trying to relax and color at the same time. If I can't relax - I can't go short... the short curly haired thing just doesn't become me.

I'm doing what I can to stay the course. To try to inspire myself with pins from Pinterest like this....

How awesome are those hilights right? I'm a good 8-12 months away from this length, mind you... But again... I'm doing what I can....

Conversely, I have to utterly abstain from pins like this one...

just makes me wanna snip, snip, snip.

2 :: Chobani Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Yogurt

Please tell me someone out there has had this. Wow - it's like having chocolate chip ice cream anytime of day and not feeling all that guilty. Thank you Chobani Gods.

3 :: Lululemon Sweater Top

Scored this puppy on SALE... Woot. Hellllloooooo fall. (In fact, it still on sale... 3 colors y'all. Click the pic to be taken to the link. :) - Yer welcome.

4 :: Pretty Little Liars on Netflix

The past few weeks of work have been a bit stressful so I've mindfully tried to set aside some "down time" to just chill out... Entre.... PLL on Netflix. I can queue up an episode anytime I wanna and it's become quite the little addiction. :)

I'm currently on like episode 3 of Season 2 (the first two seasons are on Netflix - and the third just wrapped on ABC Family - but I think the web episodes are still running online).

It's good fun. And Ian Harding - who plays Ezra Fitz is just sooo boy next door cute. :)

5 :: My Fitness Pal App

I've been on the LB gain train for a few months. I know its all the editing and grazing going on here at casa de la Pegher... Gotta move my hiney and shed the extra jiggle I've packed on this summer - or I know I'm going to have one of those "get the winter clothes out of the attic - and nothing fits" meltdowns in front of the bedroom mirror in a wee bit.

That just can't happen.

So... I figured there MUST be an app for that, right?

And here it is...

My Fitness Pal - I especially love that I can just scan the barcode on whatever I might feel like eating and it automatically calculates the calories, fat content, etc. into the daily food journal. It's genius. It also tracks - your weight gain/loss, exercise habits, water intake, food diary, and more. Totally check it out. It's free in the App Store.

6 :: Fleabags for JCrew

Coveting this marriage of two of my fave brands. I'm loving this bag.... like L-O-V-I-N-G it.

7 :: Bass loves Rachel Antonoff Flats

Speaking of amazingly harmonious marriages of talent and industry... Bass + Rachel Antonoff = LOVE

and here is the love child... which I ordered for just $55.00 via My Habit on Thursday...

8 :: Watermelon Tomato & Feta Salad

Been eating this a LOT... it's easy peasy to make. And has an incredible and unusual mix of flavors.

Just combine - chopped watermelon, crumbled feta, heirloom tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, cracked pepper.

9 :: Strawberry Big Bump Blanket from DivineKnits.com

Heading to photograph two little twin beauties today... can't wait to use my newest prop. Waited a good 4-6 weeks for this baby. Can't wait!

This photo is from the Devoted Knits website - and was taken by Rachel Vanovin

10 :: Perfectly Manicured Red Nails

I haven't had a good mani/pedi in a loooong time. Since vacation in early June. Ahem.

So I went for one last week. And now my nails are a perfect shade of red... this one from Sephora, in fact.

Hilarious.... the name of the shade is "High Maintenance" Maybe so... but not when it comes to my nails, sadly.

Now I feel that all is right with the world as my fingers peck down on the keyboard with these freshly polished tips :)

 

Hope you all are having a glorious Labor Day!!!

Welcome back!

xoxox

 

I just love it when this happens.

 

I got goose bumps! Did you?

Feel good Tuesday :)

Free Passes, Good Tunes and Hugging the Toilet

Pardon my absence folks. Last week was just... oh geez. It was utter banana sandwiches. I was barely getting by so I just sorta checked out and granted myself a "free pass" away from the blog.

Sorry about that... I hate goodbyes. Even the short term ones.

Don't hate me forever.

What the heck DID happen last week? It seems all a blur now.

Let's see... I got back from my sister in law's on Monday. Little bug had a very weird and mysterious and ridiculously high (like 105 sustained) temperature for 48 hours... which turned out to be something called Roseola... Fever followed by a little belly rash by Friday... but not before we were in and out of the Dr's office a few times.

I vacuumed out my "Grocery Getter" for the first time since.... well - I dunno. It was too long ago. Dum-Dum lollipop sticks were stuck in places you can't imagine. And - I can't believe I'm admitting to this - but when I removed the little bug's carseat to vacuum underneath - a fairly decent amount of a mystery liquid came draining out from the hard plastic frame... all over my shoes and the driveway. EWWWW.

What brought on the sudden urgency to clean said vehicle?

Well... I had a photo session on Thursday morning and thank goodness the client was a friend - because when I rolled up and parked my "grocery ghetto minivan" next to her shiny new "not-so-grocery-getter-urban-mommy-SUV" that Adam Sandler song from back in the 90's entitled "Piece of S*@t Car" queued itself up in my brain and begain to play on repeat for the remainder of the day.

HOW's THAT for motivation?

It was such a bloody mess - it took me all evening just to get the inside under control.

Clark - bless him - took care of the exterior over the weekend.

Somehow, I'm convinced, the baby girl's random illness - did a quick change body snatch because on Thursday night in the middle of the night I found myself unable to sleep with a terrible stomach ache. Inevitably, I wound up hugging the toilet many times - while sleeping on the bathroom floor in between.

Nice.

Clark brought me a blanket. He has incredible compassion for the ill. :)

Nah - just kidding honey - you were a good nurse.

The next day - I just can't even talk about here. It's just T.M.I. T.M.I. T.M.I.

It was Saturday before I was even vertical again.

And even now - I really am having a tough time eating without getting a horribly upset stomach aftward.

Last week.

It was not a good one.

But - today's MONDAY (I say aloud with a vigorous CLAP!)

And it's a brand new week y'all.

I'm ready.

Are you?

One little bright spot last week I thought I might share with you....

Have I ever told you guys about our Australian neighbors? Yep - family of 4 just like us... moved into the house across the street for a year and a half. Husband is here on a long term work project. Anyway - our families have really bonded... kids are close.... we are close... have dinner together at least once a week normally... you get the idea.

Well - one night last week we were hanging out and chatting and listening to music and I happened to tell them about this great new song I'd heard...

WE ARE YOUNG.... by FUN featuring Janelle Monae.

 

Weird video... Bodies flying in slow motion? Hey... not trying to put a cap on artistic expression... Not at all... It's just a little weird for me. 

Just sayin'.

Anyway... Sometimes I check in on the iTunes store to see what the most popular/downloaded songs are just to discover new stuff... and that song was one of my recent finds.

Apparently it's not so recent to the general public... If you watch GLEE you probably saw the song there...

 

Mr. Aussie said he liked it and it for some reason it reminded him of this singer, native of his homeland.

GOYTE - "Somebody That I Used To Know"

 

Has that same kinda FUNK as the old Aussie fave "Land Down Under" by Men At Work, right?

Wait... story gets better...

apparently a band called WALK OFF THE EARTH - covered it and made it even more popular than the original...

 

just watch it - it's AMAZING!!!!

 

Soooo much cooler to watch it rather than just listen... I know I wouldn't have appreciated it as audio only.

The blonde chick looks like Scarlette Johannsen and the guy on the far right with the beard was my FAVE. I have no idea why.

 

Happy MONDAY guys!!!

And welcome back!

xo

The Final Frontier

Thought I'd tease just a bit on the final reveal.

iMovie is totally new to me - and totally rad. One more reason to love Apple, I guess.

Enjoy.

 

Super Bass

I don't really watch TV all that much. When it's on - it's usually Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or something to that effect.

I miss a lot of really good stuff!!!

 

Thankfully, I have girlfriends who pass things like this on via email.

I couldn't quit giggling.

 

When it was all done - I clicked on another on You Tube here...

 

Oh - ok - one more. Too Fun.

 

How awesome is that. Have a great Tuesday!

:)

The Skinny...

Like I said, Tuesday was totally cool.

It took me about two hours to get there. My call time was 7am which means I was up EAAARRRRLLLYYY. Dark of night early. It was all good though... I was hardly sleeping anyway. Too nervous my alarm wouldn't go off at 4am to fall "really deep" asleep.

When I pulled into the neighborhood I couldn't believe how many cars were pulled down the street going away from the house.

Here's a shot of the house. Ritzy, eh? (all the shots were taken with my phone - forgive!)

Oddly enough - I wasn't nervous one bit walking in. I was much more nervous walking into the audition... There were people EVERYWHERE! A nice guy came right up to me (I'm sure I looked lost) and introduced himself. When he said his name, I knew from the call sheet he was the producer. He was YOUNG, I thought... Wow.

He told me the "talent" was downstairs and escorted me to a big staircase. Hee hee hee... that's me - the "talent." Gitoutoftown!

SO, downstairs I went where I met the sweetest lady in charge of wardrobe. I had spoken to her on the phone a bit and exchanged a few emails last week. Confirming my sizes, etc. Right away she got to work deciding on my outfit. She had a few choices prepared and asked that I bring some things from home. I tried them on for her and when she was satisfied with a base outfit she took me upstairs to let the director have his say.

Once all that was sorted out, my castmates and I watched the "composite" (a bit of footage shot at rehearsal the day before) on a laptop as the director began explaining the concept for the commercial and what each of our roles would require.

Next I had hair and makeup. The makeup artist was super nice too... and I have to say... Having someone come and "touch me up" on set in-between takes just "felt cool." I felt "important." Which was nice. In my typical days, it's the kids that are important... and their needs. Especially if you ask Macho. He's VERY important. The kid's a high roller, what can I say?

I was cast as the decorator - and would be in two scenes with the homeowner... played by my castmate Nancy.

This is Nancy.

Lemme tell ya about her. She totally made my day. I was pretty candid with folks that I was a complete rookie and had no business being there in the first place.... Well, Nancy, she just scooped me up under her wing and said, "Girl, you're gonna be just fine. Everyone is super nice at these things." And she was right.

Everything was fine. Great actually. Everyone was very sweet and encouraging - but still very professional - and down to business when it was time to be down to business. Lots of respect for one another floating around the room. Respect for each person's role to play - from the lighting guys to the director, producer, camera guys and us, the actors. Surprisingly, there were no "egos." None that I could detect anyway. Which was a blessing and a fear put to rest.

It's a lot of orchestration - and it's all very time consuming. But really cool to see it all come together.

Here's a random - totally blown out shot of the set.... You can't really see much... The equipment was really impressive. An amazing camera set up on a huge dolly and track system operated by a guy on a laptop. A very in depth lighting system... and lots of people with technology all around.

My segment began shooting around 9am and went until we broke for lunch at 12:30 or so. I was asked to stay through lunch so the director could review the footage and make sure he got what he needed before letting me go.

And just like in the movies - there's a particular order and cadence that you go through on every take.

Director : "back to one" (back to the beginning)

Director : "rolling"

camera operator : "speed" (camera is recording)

followed by "camera moving, now"

And on "now" - we began acting out our scene.

Because this is a voice over commercial - the director would give us audible que's throughout the take by saying our names or using other words we had planned out in advance.

Finally, the director would call, "Cut! Back to One" and we'd do it again... after he gave us or someone in the crew some pointers, of course.

I have to admit, being on a film set like this for the first time ever, these words gain a sort of magical feel, I was kind of holding my breath waiting for it all to begin. After a few takes, I was settled in and "working." Being professional about what I was doing. Focused. Happy.... and having FUN.

There were screens like the ones you see below in a couple of rooms for us to watch the playback as they began splicing things together... creating an all new "composite."

The director is the guy just to the left of the screen.

Here's a shot of the clapperboard, or slate, or marker or whatever you want to call it.... classic piece of filmmaking ephemera I had to document...

So... the commercial will only be shown regionally because Next Day Blinds is only regionally marketed. But - maybe, just maybe, they will put it up on their corporate website or YouTube... and if so....

You bet your bottom dollar I'll post it here.

I was pretty stoked as I was driving home. I had a great day. Met some great people. Took a risk, and crossed off number two on my 33@33.

Bada bing.

 

It was cool.

So cool. And I'll tell you all about it. Took some pics with my iPhone... but kids - I'm just soooo pooped. Getting up at 4 am and a long day and a long drive home wore mamma out.

More tomorrow, I promise!

Insane.

Today I'll be rising when it is still clearly nighttime to get in my car and drive to a film set where I'll likely have someone dress me and do my makeup and hair... and I'll get bossed around and do what I'm told as best I can... and above all else - try not to make a total fool of myself - or worse - get kicked off.

And... there won't be a two year old throwing a fit anywhere near me for at least 8 hours. THAT'S gonna feel weird.

Yep. Today is going to be insane. I think I'll try to tweet as often as I can like I'm some "real" movie star and you all care what I'm doing. :)

P.S.

Today's Official Memo ::  You need to pass along yesterday's "mega sale" info to a friend. This has been a public service announcement. Thank you.

 

Holy Cannoli.

I'm going to tell a story of a very random nature today.

My neighbor, Dave is a husband, professional, all around nice guy and a sometimes actor. He takes classes and goes on auditions and has even landed a few cool parts. On occasion, he will forward a casting email to me from "his people." One that naturally he wouldn't be a fit for... ya know - 30ish caucasion female. Not really his gig.

I've never taken his encouragement seriouisly... and never felt I had anything worthy of submission to boot.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I got another forward from Dave, again asking for a 30 something caucasion female... suburban mom type. And I thought, aw hell. Ok. 

So I sent in a photo that I took of myself with my self timer in my kitchen (hardly a professional headshot) - actually the one just on the left here... under "About." I included some basic info with the photo...name, height, weight, eye color, hair color, phone number. That's it. I had no clue what I was supposed to write.

Out of the clear blue, a week later, I got a call from the casting office asking if I would come in for an audition. The casting call was for a TV commercial for Next Day Blinds and they needed someone to play a decorator and someone to play a suburban mom... two roles up for grabs. I stammered my way through the phone call, trying to keep my cool... all the while thinking "WHAT THE HELL? This is SO random!"

Once I collected myself, I thought, well... this oughta be fun. I'll drive into the city with no kids, fumble my way through the audition, maybe grab some lunch and come home. Not my typical Wednesday of changing diapers and running around after a 2 year old human hurricane. A fun little break from reality.

I was nervous when I arrived at the casting office, but just tried to keep quiet and pretend I knew what I was doing. I was lead into a small room with 15 people sitting in chairs against three walls with a tiny video camera on a tripod in the corner, a blue screen behind me and a big duct tape "X" on the floor.

They gave me a list of 5 or 6 questions... and asked me to pick one and tell a two minute story about it, and to make one part of the story a believable lie.

I chose the question... "What was it like the first time you met your inlaws?"

The hardest part of my whole schpeel was that I was told to look into the camera and forget about anyone being in the room. When I went on to say that Clark told me in the car on the way there that he had, in fact, NEVER brought a girl home before (at a ripe old age of 30)...everyone laughed... and that this layered the pressure on thick as anything... or that I came to find out later his family was more or less relieved to see me because they had begun to suspect that maybe Clark was.... ahem, gay? These anectotal remarks had them laughing which naturally made me look away from the camera. My social instinct was to acknowledge their response... and in essence, I failed the acting test. LOOK IN THE CAMERA DUMMY!

I walked out of the building about 10 minutes after I arrived (after an hour and a half of driving) not feeling deflated, but not feeling like I aced the test in any way. I just felt like... hey - that was fun. Nothing ventured nothing gained, right? Then, I noticed that there was a Panera across the street and thought.... Oh well... I'm kinda hungry... I guess I'll go have a salad. Which I must also say was eerily weird... eating lunch... ALOOONE. Nobody yelling at me... "MOMMY!!! I NEED THIS OR THAT!" or put the fork down and come wipe my bum!!!! Strange... indeedy.

The shoot was scheduled for March 1 or 2... a week had gone by since the audition and I never heard anything... not that I expected to.

Then, on Monday my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and almost didn't pick up.

The conversation went something like this...

"Miss Pegher?"

Yes?

"Um, this is Nick calling from ______ _______ Casting office..."

Yes?

"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you. You got the part!"

Huh?

"Yes, you got the role of the decorator for the TV commercial..."

Huh?

"Yes, are you available for shooting on March 8-9?"

"Huh? Ummm... I mean... are you sure? You are calling Katie Pegher, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Congratulations. Are you available? The shooting days have been changed."

Uh... yeah I'm free...

"Ok, then! The production office will be calling you with all the details."

Uh ok. Th-thanks.

And then I asked him all sorts of silly questions which I'm sure gave my rookie status away big time... but he was nice enough and then said goodbye.

Holy..... cannoli.

I'm gonna be on TV.

Actually, they'll probably throw me off the set before they have a chance to start filming on account of I haven't the faintest idea what I'm doing.

I just stood there with the baby in one arm and my phone dangling in the other... cross eyed in the middle of my living room. I don't know exactly how long I stood like that but it seemed a little while.

O-M-G

And then I called my neighbor, and Clark... and my mom.

The end.

 

I'm sure I'll have PART TWO of this tale to tell next week so standby... I'll be filling you in on how I'll manage to put the official Boob in "Boob Tube."