Day 3: Post-inaugural-show!

I am happy to report that last night's shows went AMAZINGLY well!!! Our first show at 8pm was completely filled – standing room only! It was a great audience, and they gave us a standing ovation at the end. Not a bad way to start off a run :) The show felt really good, and it was SO nice to finally have an audience after only doing it for our director and office peeps in LA for so long. The second audience was considerably smaller (we knew it would be, since it was a 10pm show and most of our passengers are, um, past their prime, so to speak). But, they still had good energy, and there were some officers there as well. A few of them gave us a standing O too! All in all, a very good night. We couldn't really go out after because of a 6:45am call for U.S. Immigrations...yay.

So, we all headed up to the crow's nest around 6:30 and sat there...and waited...and waited...until finally it was about 8:30am and still nothing had happened. So they rescheduled the Immigrations visit for the new crew members to 10am, which just so happened to be our rehearsal time. SO, we didn't start rehearsal til about 11am, and we somehow managed to block “Southern Nights,” one of our biggest shows, in 4 hours. It was quite an accomplishment lol. So now, we have some downtime! It might be about time for Nap #2 of the day (tends to happen when you're running on 4 hours of sleep). We have to go over some choreography later tonight, but other than that it's all ours. I'm kind of having a hard time knowing how to fill my time...now I understand why the veterans say they sleep so much on the ship, lol.

First post from aboard the Zaandam!

I have officially survived rehearsals, travel to Vancouver and am now on Day 2 of my first ever cruise! (I'm writing this on Oct. 11th, btw – just posting whenever I get an internet connection.) Rehearsals were great, but of course it's nice to have that part over lol. The flight from LA to Vancouver...not so great. Because I am the luckiest person ever, it just so happened that the baggage check-in system for Alaska Airlines completely shut down RIGHT as I got to it. The rest of the cast had gotten checked in, so they were all upstairs and I chilled downstairs by myself. Apparently it was a system-wide white out on the computer system, so no flights were taking off all morning all across the country. I waited at the check in for a good three hours, and let me tell you I have NEVER been happier to be at the beginning of a line in my life! As the morning passed by, hundreds of people were in line with their luggage waiting to check in. Once they finally started going through people (manually, which sucks for the workers), who was the first one through security?? THIS girl! Bwahahahaha. Our director felt so bad for me that he bought me two glasses of wine when I made it up to where they were waiting, so it wasn't all bad ;)

No worries, we did finally make it to Vancouver, which is GORGEOUS. I was so sad that we didn't have more time there since we were delayed, because I wish I could have seen more of it! Myself and a couple other cast members ventured downtown anyway, and it was so nice!!! The weather wasn't too bad (a bit chilly, obviously, but not freezing cold), the downtown area was clean and cute AND on the water...very picturesque. I was a little sad because I really wanted to see a couple of the buildings they used when shooting Smallville, but we just didn't have enough time. Next time for sure! And I would be forever happy if we get to see the Hatley Castle in Victoria when we go through there during this cruise, since that's the building used as the Luthor Mansion ;) We shall see – but my fingers are crossed!

In the meantime, we've been doing nothing but rehearsing and sleeping since we got on board. Tonight is our first ever performance! We'll be doing “Love Broadway,” which is definitely my hardest show and that makes it a little nerve-wracking, but in a way I guess it's good because I'll have it under my belt sooner rather than later. So, here goes nothing! Wish us luck!

Wrapping Up & Moving On

I just realized I never posted my RESULTS from this year's Iowa State Fair!!! How could I forget?? Oh yeah, I sold all my belongings and moved to a new state, that's how :P Anyway, this was my best year by FAR – I could not be happier with how everything turned out! So here's what went down, listed by Name and (Category), along with a few pics:

First Place:

Double Layer Berry Bars (Midwest Living Cookies – Cake Mix Fix-Up Bars)

Bees in the Herb Garden Dip (The Best Dipping Sauce Ever)

Granny Cake (Hy-Vee Smile In Every Aisle Cakes)

Pumpkin Patch Cake (100 Years of Honey)

Second Place:

Olympic Cake (Hy-Vee Smile In Every Aisle Cakes)

Brown Sugar Donuts (Casey's Doughnuts)

Honey Lemon Cheesecake (100 Years of Honey)

Gluten-Free Berry Almond Tart (Gluten Free For You And Me)

Third Place:

Bees in the Herb Garden Dip (100 Years of Honey)

Spice Cake (Hy-Vee Smile In Every Aisle Cakes)

Italian Cream Cake (Hy-Vee Smile In Every Aisle Cakes)

Kentucky Butter Cake (Hy-Vee Smile In Every Aisle Cakes)

Chocolate Mint Crinkles (Midwest Living Cookies – Chocolate Crackles)

Honey Nut Spice Drops (Midwest Living Cookies – Health)

Raspberry Hazelnut Brownies (Midwest Living Cookies – Raspberry Brownies)

Honorable Mention:

German Chocolate Cheesecake (Knapp's Build Your Best Cheesecake)

And here's another that came SO. CLOSE. to placing!!!  Argh!  It was my Tangy Mango Chicken :)

I believe I entered a grand total of 31 entries over the course of 13 days, and got ribbons on 16 of them, so I technically placed on over half of the entries :) I had so much fun with competing this year and really tried to make the most of it, since I'm not sure when I'll get another chance to do it.

It was nice to have such a positive note to end the Fair on, since I knew I'd be going into overload mode soon after. I spent the next week and half running errands, posting ads on Facebook and figuring out what to pack like a crazy person. It's a little funny looking back on that now that I'm in Los Angeles, because a) it seems like forever ago and b) it all seems like not such a big a deal now. But in the end, the crazy paid off. I got all of my stuff sold, even my car (which was quite a process!), and tied up any loose ends. I also wanted to make sure I got to see all my friends before I left, of course! A house party, a trip to Miss Kitty's and a night of karaoke at Billy Joe's later, I think I managed to get that taken care of :) It was a little odd for me, in a way – I expected to get emotional and choked up, and it didn't really happen that way. I think I was too excited for what lies ahead, you know? So to my friends, if I seemed uncaring or apathetic, I apologize – you know I LOVE all of you and you mean so much to me!!! I think part of it was also that I didn't truly see it as “Goodbye,” but rather a simple, “See you later.”

Now, my time in Los Angeles is nearly wrapped up as well! How crazy is that?! One minute I'm prepping ten cakes for the Fair and the next I've learned four full shows and getting ready to hop on a ship. Life seems so unreal sometimes. But, rehearsals have been AMAZING. Our cast is great, everyone is extremely talented and we all get along! Lol. I'm super grateful, and I think we'll have a great time on the ship ;) I can honestly say I have nothing to complain about, which is a great relief considering I was coming into this blind with no idea what to expect. Needless to say, I have enjoyed my time here and I'm sure the ship itself will be even better. I have NO idea what to expect from that, either! No way to learn except do, right?

Lastly, I want to extend a huge thanks to all of my friends and family for the love you showed me as I prepared to leave and that you continue show me even though I'm away.  Unfortunately, I will only have access to phone and internet when I'm in port, but as promised I will do my best to stay in touch as much as possible.  Lots of love, and best wishes to you all!!!

Catching Up: Food Photos

I have SO MUCH to catch up on here!  I have been practicing different baked goods over the past few weeks and that, along with my cake decorating class, has brought about many pictures that I haven't had a chance to post!  So, here goes!

It all started over 2 months ago when I made a cake for a coworker.  I have a book called "The Well-Decorated Cake" that details how to do all the fancy schmancy cake decorating.  Of course, it's difficult to pull these skills purely from a book, because there is so much in the handling technique that has to be learned by doing and can't be relayed in a book, no matter how well-illustrated like this one.  But still, I managed all right!

The cake itself was DELISH.  I alternated chocolate and strawberry layers, and it was divine.  My frosting was, uh, not very pretty, as you can see lol.  Nobody seemed to mind, but it definitely bothered me personally, and was part of what prompted me to sign up for the cake decorating class I ended up taking in July.

This is the Danish Lagkage med Romcreme or Rum Torte test run I did for the Danish Desserts category.  You can definitely taste the rum, but nobody was complaining ;) 

This is my Mai Tai Cheesecake.  I accidentally let the batter sit at room temperature for too long so it ended up being a bit soft, but overall it turned out pretty well.  I made candied orange peel and placed it in a flower pattern on top as my decor (well *I* thought it was clever lol).  Not quite good enough to use for competition, but good nonetheless.  Still haven't quite figured out kind of cheesecake I want to try, but German Chocolate Cheesecake is definitely on my radar.

These are from my very first cake decorating class.  Started out simple, just working on frosting stars.  They're basic, but look good in so many different patterns! 

Here we have Key Lime Cupcake with White Chocolate frosting.  I got lots of compliments on them, and on the frosting in particular, so they're definitely a keeper! 

This was from my second cake decorating class.  I tried doctoring up my buttercream by adding a strawberry paste, since I made a strawberry chiffon cake, but it ended up messing up the consistency and I couldn't do much with it in class.  It's still kinda cute though :) 

I sat down one day spread out ALL my cookbooks in front of me and pored over them  - found some great recipes I hadn't run across before. 

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Seafoam Frosting.  It was such a weird frosting - I didn't really care for it, but the cast of Romeo & Juliet seemed to like it.  To each his own! 

 Below are some pics I took in my cake class:

Frosting flowers 

Rosettes 

Shell border (surprisingly difficult!) 

 3D Frosting flower

Leaves (ridiculously easy!) 

Professional cupcake frosting ;) 

Prepping the cupcake to become a "flower" by adding leaves 

The finished product - a shaggy mum cupcake! 

 From the final class - a buttercream rose

Aaaaaaand...*drumroll please*...THE FINAL CAKE!

I decided to commemorate it to the State Fair, because what else could be more appropriate?

It's a "Snickerdoodle" cake, aka cinnamon cake with brown sugar cinnamon frosting.  Mmmm...

And now, more trial runs

Granny Cake - it turned out so good I decided to go ahead and freeze, so it will go straight to the Fair! 

 Golden Peach Pie.  Turned out pretty well, but definitely going to buy less soft peaches next time (they were pretty difficult to cut into solid slices)

Chocolate Mint Crinkles, a copycat recipe of Panera's seasonal crinkles, which are my ABSOLUTE FAVE.  They turned out really well, so I froze most of them and they will make their debut at the Fair 

And my latest endeavor, Lamb Kebabs with Spicy Mint Yogurt Sauce.  The flavor was good, but the lamb was a tad undercooked.  Grilling is definitely not my forte, but I tried!  And I'll try again for the Fair!

Sometimes life changes when you least expect it

Here it is - my first post of 2012!  The Iowa State Fair is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY!!!  I've started my preparations: I have done a few test runs of some items, plus I'm taking the Wilton cake decorating class at Michael's to help hone my decorative skills.  However, something has come up that makes this time of year even more exciting and crazy than it already is...

I have accepted an 8 month contract with Holland America Cruise Lines to be a Lead singer!  The offer came in from Stiletto Entertainment, the casting company, a little over a week ago, and I COULD NOT believe it.  The reason for my overly exhaustive disbelief is that I auditioned for Stiletto over two years ago, when I was in my last semester of college.  The audition went very well and I made it onto their "hiring waiting list" of sorts and, well, I have been waiting ever since lol.  I continued to live my life - took an internship, moved to Missouri, disliked Missouri, moved back to Iowa, worked for a newspaper, and now work for a marketing firm - all with it still in the back of my mind that someday I might get that job.  Well, it's better late than never I always say :)  It is also a testament to the fact that persistence and patience do, indeed, pay off.  So, there's a little moral lesson for the younguns out there.

This new development rather changes my approach to this part of the year.  I will be blogging this year not just about the State Fair, but my preparation to leave behind the life I've cultivated here in Iowa.  So far, I am in the "planning" stage of everything - I haven't acted on anything as of yet (I don't leave until Sept. 7th, so I've got some time).  Hopefully I will be able to balance the State Fair chaos with the moving chaos without losing my mind...hopefully.

SIDE BAR:  I entered the "Oh Say Can You Sing" contest for the Des Moines Register, and could REALLY use everyone's help with the voting!  You can go to the contest at:

http://desmoinesregister.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=63266&s=22006284&i=1&m=X&sort=SORTORDER&#SD

You do have to register to vote, but it just takes a minute (you can use your Facebook account to expedite it), and it would REALLY mean a lot to me!  First place gets to sing the National Anthem on opening day of the State Fair AND a pair of tickets to a Grandstand concert!!!  Now what better going-away present could there possibly be??  ;)  Thanks in advance for all of your love and support!

Less Than Ideal

We're about down to the end of the wire for this year's State Fair.  Just a couple more days left - it's gone by so fast, I feel like I haven't had time to do everything I want to!  Then again, I feel that way every year!

I had hoped I would be able to update throughout the Fair, but baking every day + driving out to the Fair + coming down with a nasty cold = mucho exhaustion.  I got sick at what is possibly the most innopportune moment of the year, literally one day before my biggest entry day on the second day of the Fair.  I was able to get through everything pretty well and I didn't feel like it affected my ability/coherency to bake all my items, but it was once I got out to the Fair and was ready to leave that the exhaustion hit me like a brick wall.  Driving back home seemed like an eternity, and as soon as I was through the door I was passed out on the couch.  Which, of course, led to starting my next batch of baking later and staying up later, which isn't exactly ideal either.  But if I didn't sleep, I'm positive I would've passed on the stove, which is, ya know, probably a little worse.

This year has been pretty rough in terms of placing.  I've placed in three out 25 classes.  Of course everyone tells me congratulations on placing in the ones I did, which is great and of course I'm glad I placed in those, but with more strike-outs than home-runs it gets pretty depressing.  Mainly because of all the money that has been spent on making/entering all of these items.  Also bear in mind that there were three or four dishes I made that didn't make it to the Fair.  Now, it's also important to know that it is IMPOSSIBLE to make back what you've spent (unless you win Tone's Cinnamon Rolls, which has a hefty grand prize of $3,000 - good luck getting it when there's over 100 entries though!).  It just would've been at least a little more gratifying to place in something with a prize, whether it was monetary or not.  To sort of clear things up on how my particular wins didn't get prizes, the ones I did place in were individual classes, and the prizes went for the overall winners, which I didn't place high enough to be considered for.

I don't want this to come across as me being a "sore loser."  It just gets a little frustrating, is all.  This has definitely been my worst year in terms of placing, though.  There were a couple of items I made - my Double Berry Entremet and Butterbeer Cupcakes, both of which I've documented in past blogs - that took quite a bit of work and I had hoped that work would pay off.  The Entremet was in the top 5 for one of the classes I entered it in, but it didn't place, and that was the closest I got to a ribbon with those.  Is it disappointing?  Yes.  Is it the end of the world?  No.  I decided to eat my feelings by eating one of my cupcakes though :P

I have at least one, maybe two more entries I'll be taking in tomorrow.  I don't necessarily have high hopes, but a couple more shots at a ribbon is hopefully worth it!  I'm feeling MUCH better now, which will help.  I did the yodeling contest yesterday, which I've done for the past three years, and the fact that I could phonate clearly and perform was a huge sign that I'm definitely on the up and up!  I got second place, btw, and you can see a little bit of video of it here.

Who knows?  Maybe tomorrow will bring better things!  At the very least I'll get to spend a day at the Fair, which is never anything less than awesome :)

And so it begins!

It is now official - I have entered my first items for the Food Division of the 2011 Iowa State Fair.  Yesterday I took in my dishes for Suzette's Candies, which will be judged on Wednesday - I had to take them in early since I didn't take the day off work to enter them the day of.  And the burning question: What did I enter??  I ended up making 7 dishes: Vanilla Vassar Fudge (extremely old-fashioned style of fudge), Peanut-Peanut Butter Fudge, Kahlua Mocha Fudge, Turkish Delight, Dark Brittle, Bavarian Vanilla Almonds and Irish Vanilla Caramel (Vanilla caramel with Irish Cream Liqueur!). 

I snapped a shot of me entering my candy on Sunday.  I didn't quite get in time before they started taking them, as you can tell my the hand carrying away a couple of them up in the corner lol.

 
I can honestly say that I'm proud of all of the things I made, which isn't always the case lol.  I don't like to get my hopes up too high for any competition (it just makes it more depressing if you don't end up placing), but I truly hope that at least a couple of them place well.  I worked on my fudge and candy-making technique more than ever this year, and I really feel like it paid off.  So, here's hoping!!!



And as always, as one day is finished another day begins.  My next big judging day is this Friday, with a plan of making 8 entries.  The great thing about the candy division was that I could make my entries in advance with no worries of them spoiling, because if there's one thing candy's good for, it's lasting a good long time with very little attention.  This week isn't quite as easy to get done early.  I have this complex where if it's not totally freshly-made, it's going to lose its taste.  I know this isn't true for most baked goods, since you can easily freeze cookies/breads/cakes/etc. without losing any integrity, but I just have such a hard time thinking it will be as good as when it came out of the oven.  I'm going to fight that at least a little bit this week and try to make at least two things before Thursday.  Right now I've got my White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti in the oven, just about to ready to be taken out and cut.  I've only made biscotti once before so we'll see if this one's any good :D

White Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti before putting it in the oven

Aaaaaand out of the oven!  (Can't find my digital camera, so lackluster phone pictures have to suffice for now)