Hello!
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I definitely did! Saturday dawned bright and early. Jessica was working a 1920’s themed event in the city so I helped style her hair in a braided Gibson half-tuck. Then I made myself some breakfast and headed to the gym.
Now let’s be clear: I am not a gym rat. This is quite clear from looking at me. My idea of a good time is curled up with a good book or asserting my intellectual dominance in board games and trivia. Not squats. Not treadmills. And certainly not yoga. (My disdain for this particular activity deserves it’s own blog post.) But y’know, I want to be an actress. And I need a body that is up to the demands of physical roles. Also, I love sweets, and eat way more than any reasonable adult should. Therefore, I try to go to the gym when I have a chance.
Afterwards, I showered and got ready and made myself a super yummy lunch. Then I packed up all of my stuff and headed for the train, ready for my first full day at my weekend job.
It turns out living in New York City is hella expensive. And I know, I know, everyone says that, why beat a dead horse, but guys. I was in no way prepared for the level of poor I would be. It hearkens me back to my Pizza Hut days my first year of college, except now I don’t have a meal plan and if I don’t make rent my ass is out on the streets. (Kidding. Kind of. Not really.) And while I’ve been with Loft for almost three years, my store has recently cut hours to the point that I was having an increasingly hard time making ends meet. So in stepped Blue Balloons.
Blue Balloons is a children’s birthday party company based out of Queens. We serve parties throughout the tri state area and provide a myriad of services such as face painting, balloon animals, magic shows, and character visits. I really started last weekend when I rode along and observed a birthday party in Osining. It was Mario Kart themed, and at the very end I got to dress up in a giant foam Luigi costume. No pictures, sadly.
But Saturday was my first full day. I met my partner, Afa, at an apartment building in Brooklyn, where we jumped in the company minivan and took off for the next party. The birthday girl had requested a visit from Princess Jasmine, and for some reason, it was assumed that I would be the clown instead of the beautiful Arabian princess. Weird. But it was a lot of fun! And the clown costume is decently cute and hella comfy.
The second show was a 40 minute meet and greet where I was dressed as Minnie Mouse. And let me tell you, those kids LOVED Minnie. It was quite the ego boost. But the weirdest part was after I took it off and put my clown duds back on and was loading up our stuff. I couldn't help but smile at all of these small children who I felt like I had a connection with and they were just like:
So that was cool. When we pulled up to the third party, I (for some unknown reason) offered to park the minivan while Afa took all our stuff upstairs. I foolishly thought that I would drive around the block a few times and snag a spot.
Hahahahahahaha I couldn't have been more wrong. I ended up driving around for over half an hour. Afa had to do the majority of the party alone. And even once I had cursed the parking gods and accepted my fate of having to use a paid parking lot- they were all full! Then, miracle of miracles, I found a random spot, that wasn't even metered. I have never felt more accomplished than I did getting out of that mini van, lime green pants and all.
I was abruptly presented with a second problem: I had driven around for so long that I had absolutely no idea where the party was. I was by myself, in the middle of Harlem, dressed as a clown, missing out on work. I frantically tried to text and call Afa, but seeing as she was entertaining 15 4-8 year olds, she didn't answer. Right as I'd almost given up hope and accepted that I was probably going to be fired, I remembered that I had called the birthday girl's mom off of my phone! So I called and she answered, and by some small miracle, the parking spot I had finally found was just three blocks away. So I ran there, pigtails blowing in the wind, getting catcalled in the process (Seriously buddy? I couldn't look less cute.) I ran up the six flights of stairs, practically dove into the Peppa the Pig costume and finished up the party.
All things considered, it was a hectic but enjoyable day. I made decent money while getting to do a job similar to acting.
Sunday was a spectacular day. got to sleep in, exhausted from my party duties. Jess went to brunch with a classmate and our third roommate Leah went into the city to pick up a package from her old apartment in Washington Heights. I made a batch of pancakes (and ate all of them by myself 😅 Woops!) while watching 1950's etiquette videos on youtube. One of my favorite vloggers, Ingrid Nilsen mentioned in a recent video that it's one of her favorite past times, and man. They did not disappoint!
Then I took the bus to meet Jess at Little Zelda on Franklin Ave for coffee and walked to Prospect Park. It was such a beautiful day, with the sun finally making a shy appearance over Brooklyn. We laid on the grass then walked over to the pond, even helping a tiny friend along on our way.
It was especially nice to have such a wonderful, relaxing day with such a great friend because it happened to be my 8 month anniversary of moving here. Time has flown by so fast, I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was starting at Loft and attending my first few classes at Stella, but I've been here for two thirds of a year. Not all of it has been easy. I am permanently exhausted, and I never quite feel as though I fit in, and honestly the dating world of NYC makes absolutely no sense to me. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I'm where I'm supposed to be.
Comments
Post a Comment