Just Another White Girl

consider faith officially…restored.

I lumbered up the stairs of my 4th floor walk-up after a 14-hour day to be greeted by a torn up package sitting at my door. I sprung forward to get a closer look at the mangled trash, discovering it was a delivery of cabaret costumes. The package was supposed to contain 4 black derby hats, and now only contained 3.

Allow me to walk you thru the course of events following the theft:

A) I felt…

1) It’s bringing the cool factor to Broadway (and history class).  “Hamilton” took two subjects that tend to exclude all except the vehemently obsessed, and made them undeniably cool.  From the smart lyricism, to the color blind casting, and the layered symbolism within everything from the set design to the choreography, the show boosts a certain “IT” factor – sought by many, achieved by few.…

new york or nowhere

New York pulls you in with its buzz, there’s always something to notice…then let go. A group of tourists grinning after seeing a show. 2 more blocks to go. Star crossed lovers whisper with foreign accents into each other’s ears. A taxi honks. Keeps you present. Keeps you here. Sensations beg to be noticed at every corner. Hustle-n-bustle. Grind. Vibrating with excitement to get attention. It’s…

first day of my 20 min a day challenge done...#daywon

Day 1 –

20 minutes.  Shouldn’t be too hard to devote 20 minutes a day to myself.  Right?  Shouldn’t be if I’m focusing on something that’s meaningful to me. But I can NEVER find that 20 minutes.  It gets spent aimlessly scrolling thru my social media feeds or wandering around my apartment in a daze trying to remember why I got up in the first place. So I challenge myself to 20 minutes a day of…

7 things you shouldn’t say to a professional artist

I’m coming up on my 3-year anniversary as a professional artist and it’s been a rewarding and fulfilling journey to say the least.  99.9% of my friends and family have been extremely proud and encouraging with my professional choices, but you know what they say, “Haters gonna hate.”  Here’s a concise list of questions I’ve been asked over the years, or I’ve heard fellow artists get asked, that…

key to the city

  Key to the City

Scene 1

(Porto, Portugal)

(early summer of 2015)

(apartment interior, bags are packed, room is slightly disheveled, 2 ladies in their late 20’s/early 30’s)

Gloria: Did you check your coat pocket?

Andrea: (rummaging in bag) No, good idea though. (checks coat)  No it’s not in there either.  I only had it in my purse.

Gloria: What about in the blankets? (rips bed apart)

Andrea: No…

‘Scarlet Sin’

Now serving you some sexy jazz dancing to enjoy on this lovely Tuesday!  What we have here, is a piece from “Guilty Pleasures Cabaret” choreographed by myself and danced by Anjuli Bhattacharyya, Katarina Lott, and myself.  The music is by a local NYC band, Big Dog Run.

Enjoy y’all!!

Here’s to hair flips.

xx

A

  As stress, and cares, and worries melted away while I was away these past few weeks – I’ve noticed how much joy and happiness travel brings.  I believe a lot of it is because most people life their life vastly different while they travel.  But what if we applied these same simple concepts to our everyday life?  Perhaps it would make the everyday more of an vacation?  In my mind, it’s similar…

changed  http://wp.me/s2cH7H-changed

Embarking on another trip, I’m presented with more change than normal to sort through.  Plucking out the Euros from the Chinese Yuan and the Costa Rican Colones – my memory rushes to moments shared, both bad and good.  Greasy food that couldn’t be swallowed, endless car-rides thru lush tropical jungles.  Exotic Bahraini dinars brought me to that hot desert terrain filled with cheering audiences…

Just wanted to share a little piece of choreography that I created for Guilty Pleasures Cabaret.  I’m really proud of this piece because it’s so different than anything I’ve done before.  I wanted to create something that was a little bit sexy, a little bit quirky, and a little bit stylized.  Also I F*&%ing love this song.  Who here…

let’s share a Thursday night

https://youtu.be/gwXxlhlwICc

I know I sound like a broken record when I continually rant and rave to get everyone to my Guilty Pleasures Cabaret shows, but it’s all with good intentions.

You see, free time for me is a luxury almost as rare as getting a seat on the subway at rush hour.  And when free time is that scarce, finding quality time to spend with the people I cherish dearly becomes extra…

Day 1 – We left the frozen tundra better known as NYC and was welcomed to Costa Rica with sunny 90 degree weather.  Let the thawing process commence. We checked into our resort, Villas Sol, in Hermosa beach – which is on the Northwest coast of Costa Rica.  This is also where, upon checking in, we met our resort concierge, Jerry.  Let the Jerry-Brennan bromance commence.

Day 2 – We spent the better part of the day at the Cima – aka hospital.  Jerry arranged everything for without hesitation.  He seemed to sincerely care that Brennan was sick.  You see, Brennan had the flu prior to leaving and his symptoms were not lessening.  We felt it was best to have it taken care of right off the bat.  Based on my previous travels, I find that experiencing a country’s healthcare system first hand is an excellent way to get acquainted with your surroundings.  And maybe feel a little less gringo.  Just a little though.  I’d also like to note, the hospital blankies are especially soft and cuddly in Costa Rica.

A dramatization of Day 2.

Day 3 – A beach day was long overdue and it was time for the SPF 70 sunscreen to be used and abused.  After some beach naps, we decided to *gasp* go against Jerry’s advice and purchase a ghetto snorkeling tour.  He specifically told us NOT to take any tours sold on the beach by locals in swim-trunks, and what did we do within ten paces of stepping onto the beach?  We bought a tour sold to us on the beach by a local in swim-trunks.  The tour cost us all of $25 each and included a janky boat ride, snorkeling, quality time on a white sand beach, dolphin spottings, and a sunset cruise back to the resort.  Come on Jerry, that wasn’t too bad.  You need to cool it.  We capped off the night with a poker game lead by the resort activity dude.  I won the tournament, so that just shows you how fierce the competition was.

Our forbidden sunset cruise.

Day 4 – We got a rental car.  FREEEEEDOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!   The resort was cool and all, but these youngsters can only take so much watered down all inclusive cocktails and timeshare sales pitches.  It was time to see what Costa Rica was made of.  This time we actually took Jerry’s advice and visited Cortez Waterfall – tucked away right off the Panamerican Highway.  The sign was so discreet that we drive right past it.  Once we found the road, it took us down a bumpy dirt trail to a humble parking lot that didn’t seem too promising.  We paid the $2 parking fee and bought a fresh coconut to sip from before hiking down a rocky trail about 200 feet down – where we found the gorgeously random waterfall.  A tropical oasis we didn’t expect.

On the way back we stopped and bought fresh pineapple from a vendor on the road.  It was so sweet and juicy it was practically candy.  By far the best pineapple I’ve every had.

We drove for another 90 minutes and tried to get into Rincon National Park, but didn’t make the final 3PM entrance time.  Instead we drove into Liberia, the ‘major’ town, and had an early dinner at a steakhouse called Toro Negro.  For a mere $20 each, we had amazing steak dinners.  Brennan had filet minion and I had fajitas.  Delish.

Upon finding out from our waiter that there wasn’t much to do in Liberia, we headed to Coco Beach – which is like the Jersey Shore town of Costa Rica.  We had some drinks and gambled at the local Casino – which had a handful of slots and TWO tables.  One poker table, one blackjack.  I brought in my birthday that night by winning almost $200 on the blackjack table!!!!  Am I 21 or 30?  Who knows.

Day 5 – My birthday!  We spend it on Tamarindo beach – which was amaze-balls.  It reminded me a lot of San Diego: super beachy, tons of surfers, chill vibes, and awesome waves.  Based on our last surf experience in San Diego, Brennan and I opted to rent boogie boards instead of surf boards.  After about 30 minutes we were basically pros.  Brennan even broke his in half because he was such a beast on the surf!  We finished the night with yum-o drinks called ‘witches tits’ at a place called Witch’s Rock Tavern.  Yes they were fruity and sweet, but bitch I’m on the beach and it’s my birthday – I’ll drink all the fruity drinks I want!  We wonder if we might run into Jerry while out and about on the town.

Day 6 – We checked out of our resort and thus Brennan had to say goodbye to his bro, Jerry.  We loved Jerry, he was so helpful – even if we didn’t always take his advice.  We decided to drive to La Fortuna, which is the city near the infamous Arenal Volcano.  On the way there, we planned to ‘swing by’ Rio Celeste – a crystal blue waterfall, but we quickly learned that we drove in the completely wrong direction and that our ‘swing by’ would cost us an entire night out of the way.  Instead we continued our trek towards La Fortuna.  Along the way we stopped for a bomb-ass lunch at a little hippy joint called Casa Delagua.  We got some sound travel advice from the owners while watching toucans eat from a nearby tree.  We continued to make pitstops with a break for pastries at a little German bakery, and souvenirs at a shop that sold South and Central American apparel.

During the drive we saw the terrain quickly transform from beachy-desert to tropical rainforest.  It was the environment that one might typically picture when they think of Costa Rica.  Vast and luscious jungle spreading for as far as the eye can see.  Heeding the advice of our pal at Casa Delagua, we stopped by the first hot spring spa we passed.  But instead of going inside the fancy and expensive spa, we hopped a fence across the street and hiked down to the natural hot spring river.  It was nearly sunset, but we didn’t worry and quickly found a cozy spot under a hot waterfall to hang out under for a good hour.  As the sunlight faded, the fireflies appeared and candles were lit by other, more prepared, folks.

After our hot springs meditative moment, we needed to find a place to stay – stat.  But oh wait, our car broke down.  Not quite how we pictured our night ending after the magic of the hot springs, but just another twist and turn in our journey…

Day 7 – The rental car company was actually super awesome and came to our hotel and swapped out our car – freeing us to spend the rest of our day exploring the area.  I was adamant on zip-lining through the jungle, so we did just that.  And I’m so glad we did because it was an experience like none other.  Soaring thru the tree tops, over waterfalls and under the canopy of the jungle.  The view were incredible, albeit somewhat terrifying.  We also made friends with a super sweet couple who were also from New York City.  We ended up running into them later that evening and had great convo while sipping on the Costa Rican brew of choice, Imperial, and watching a good ole soccer game.

Brennan and I ended our evening with a friendly game of mini-golf at a course that might have been constructed for a middle school science experiment.  The course still whooped my ass.

I must also note: Brennan is fully having separation anxiety from Jerry.  I must admit, I feel a little lost without his guidance.  I wonder if he misses us?

New friends, Ariane and Chris.

Day 8 – Seeing that we had an early flight the next day and we were 4 hours from the airport, we decided to drive back to Tamarindo to be closer to the airport and for one last beach day.  When we were there days before, Brennan made ‘friends’ with a dude selling horseback rides.  This is also a dude who wore a t-shirt as a hat, bragged about his beer/cocaine binges, and lectured people who ate and drank too much.  Hmmmmmm.  I swear he was a character straight out of a movie.  None the less, he sold us on the horseback ride and we took him up on the offer.  He shoved his beer in his buttcrack (nifty holder I must say) and escorted us to his cousin’s car.  His robust cousin drove us in his dusty Honda Civic up to the mountains, where we met his Uncle Mario – a modern-day cowboy.  Mario, Brennan, and I mounted our steeds and took a beautiful sunset ride through the mountains – waving to locals, getting barked at by too many dogs to count, and listening to howler monkeys screech in the distance.

When we got back to the beach, we ran into our NYC friends, Chris and Ariane.  You know, the ones from the zip-line tour.  Again we shared more great conversation – this time drinking fruity drinks on picnic benches on the beach while bats zipped back and forth over our heads.  A great way to end our amazing tropical trip.

(SIDENOTE – I didn’t know how to insert this into the last paragraph, but when we first pulled into the parking lot in Tamarindo that last day we totally saw a dead body near our car.  It must have just been discovered because it was only partially covered by a tarp and two cops sat watch on their motorcycles while they sipped from straws sticking out of coconuts.  Such a bizarre scene that kinda shook me up.  Still wonder what happened…maybe Jerry knows.)

#gallery-0-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Getting back to the coldness of NYC was a bit of shock for me and I’ll forever be thankful for my birthday trip to Costa Rica.  It was full of adventure, highs and lows, wildlife, beautiful scenery, and of course interesting characters.  Brennan and I agreed that all the little things that cost us only a few bucks were the most fun.  So lesson learned: if the parking only costs $2 or the ice cream is under $3 – go for it.  I think even Jerry would approve.  Oh the joys of traveling.

Here’s to the power of escaping.

xx

-A

home for the holidays

WARNING: If you dislike cuteness in any of the following forms I suggest you stop reading: chubby babies, arts and crafts with the family, dance parties in bars, couples who pose in front of the Christmas tree, snuggling with a glass of wine in hand, and general merriment.

If you can handle all that cuteness.  Read on.

I was fortunate enough to head home for the holidays this season, and while…

last last weekends recap

Guilty Pleasures Cabaret

  Life happens, then you realize you haven’t blogged in years. Well weeks in my case, but might as well be years. And to be honest, the past two weeks have been relatively mellow – probably because they’ve served as recovery time from last LAST weekend’s events.

Allow me to elaborate.

As you know I’m in a Bollywood show. You might also know that I’m in a Cabaret show.…

let the laundry hit the floor

Doing laundry in NYC is the absolute worst. I mean doing laundry when you live in a normal house or apartment that has a washer and dryer sucks, but doing it in NYC adds an extra element of sucky-ness to the chore. And of course because I hate doing laundry so much, I let it pile up until it reaches a minimum of what surely seems like 75 lbs of dirty clothes. I then lug that heaping pile of…