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How to: Keep My 2012 Resolutions

Date: January 4, 2012 • By Erika • Comments 1

Each year, most people create unrealistic resolutions that they’ve already trashed by the second week in January (I’m guilty of it), but this year I’m determined to check all of mine off my list. Rather than the typical goals to “lose weight” or “get out of debt”, I’ve chosen 12 resolutions for 2012 (that just happened, I didn’t mean to choose 12!) that I can actually carry out if I put my mind to it.

And the first way to get them in my head: to see them…every…single…day…

I framed my 2012 resolutions!

I purchased a pretty frame to match my bedroom at Homegoods for $6.99 (this one is by Valerie Bertinelli), drew up my resolutions in Word and printed them on 4×6 photo paper to put into the frame. And not only did I frame them, but I put them on the bureau across from my bed, so that I’ll be reminded of my resolutions every day when I wake up.

My 2012 Resolutions are simple:

1. Learn how to play guitar – I’ve owned a guitar since 7th grade and learned to play a little in middle school, but not enough to count for anything…now I have to relearn everything again, but learning to play will taking my performing ability to the next level.

2. Start taking tap dance lessons – And while we’re talking about taking performing to the next level, my tap skills–or lack thereof–may be holding me back from my Broadway aspirations. Learning tap will give me the ability to audition for 75 % of the shows I can’t currently audition for.

3. Resume ballroom dance lessons – I took ballroom lessons for a year and a half during my freshman and sophomore years of college. I loved it, but the cost of classes was putting a dent in my wallet. I’d like to start going to group lessons or find a partner to dance with to offset the cost. Ballroom was the dance I enjoyed taking the most and was the best at! (I’d also love to become a certified teacher, but maybe we’ll save that resolution for next year!)

4. Resume voice lessons – I took voice lessons for over 8 years through middle school and high school to help develop my voice. With all the auditioning I’ve been doing, I’m running out of songs that are relevant for me to audition with, and I need some structure to help keep my voice in shape.

5. Acquire a legit agent to represent me - A “legit” agent is a talent agent who represents talent for live theatre, television and film. Finding one would make my life a lot easier and would probably lead to me booking more jobs.

6. Cut Starbucks habit to 2-3 days a week - Not only am I addicted to Starbucks “coffee beverages” that are full of calories and other crap (even though I take most sugar-free and skim), but drinking coffee at Sbux is costly in NYC, and apparently they’re raising prices 1% in the next few weeks. Cutting my habit from 7 days a week, and sometimes 2 times a day, to 2-3 times a week will save me over $1000 a year…and countless calories.

7. Exercise more - In high school, I played a sport every season and stayed in better shape than I’m in now; not having a “team” to practice with hasn’t done me any favors over the last 5 years. I resolve to make a team of one (and maybe grab some friends) to start jogging, hit those dance classes, and use the many workout tapes I own.

8. Eat healthier (less take out!) – Because I’m a pescatarian (I eat fish, vegetables, and animal by-products, but no actual meat) you might assume I’m “super-healthy”, but my restricting diet has become more of an inconvenience than something beneficial to me. I have no time to cook and have resorted to quick breakfasts (bagels and cream cheese, fried egg and cheese..etc) and frozen dinners (pizza and mac ‘n cheese) and way too much takeout…which equals lots of carbs. I resolve to start cooking, stop getting so much take out (and save money!) and seriously stop with the frozen pizzas.

9. Write more (blog and book) - In 2011, I pledged to write every day and broke my resolution after 3 weeks because I felt like I was creating content just to post it, and not because I had anything to say. This year I want to write every time I have something great to share–even if it’s a short post. I’ve also been working on a book for the past 2 1/2 years, that I’ve started, and restarted, thrown away, stopped writing, and restarted again 15 times. This year, I resolve to write the book…and finish it.

10. Stay positive, even when times are tough - Like I said in my Happy New Year post: 2011 wasn’t exactly the best year I’ve had. With social media to rant to 24/7, I had an outlet that let me pour my negativity into the world all the time and people at my beck-and-call to rant with me. This year, even when things get tough, I’m going to try to find a positive angle in every situation…and I’ve even started vlogging, turning my negative thoughts into humor…which is helping me to work on my comedic chops! And instead of the sparkling clean language that you normally get here…other than the title of this blog…you get to see a whole other side of my personality…the side a lot of my friends know.

11. Stop caring what other people think - I’m constantly worried about what people think about what I’m doing, how I look and how I’m acting. In 2012, I want to stop worrying about being an incessant people-pleaser. My friends don’t think I should date that guy because he’s a jerk? I’m going to go out with him, at least once and decide for myself. Everyone wants my hair darker? Well, I like my hair blonde, so it’s staying blonde. …etc.

12. Take a vacation - Last year I never took a single vacation…not even a weekend at the beach. Even though my actual “employment” was a little spotty because I changed jobs and then stopped working for the off-Broadway show I was in: I’m pretty sure I never had a day off in all of 2011. I haven’t been anywhere since I traveled to Paris and Madrid in March 2010, and this year I want to go somewhere else in the world I haven’t been yet…I’ve only hit about 15 spots on my list of hundreds, so I think the possibilities are pretty endless…and if nothing else…I’m taking three days at the beach with my iPhone off: non-negotiable.

What are your 2012 resolutions? How do you plan to keep them?

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How To: Cut the perfect snowflake

Date: December 9, 2011 • By Erika • Comments 2

Growing up, snowflakes were pretty much my favorite symbolization of winter, and trumped just about every other holiday decoration I could get my hands on. (I have more snowflake-shaped ornaments than you even want to know). But as a kid, I was given some really crummy explanations of how to cut my own snowflakes and gave up early on, giving way to the over-priced, boring, silver and white ones they sold at the party store with the string already attached.

In decorating my new apartment this year, no matter how much green, red and glitter I spread, something was missing. One night, I was going through Pinterest, when I spotted a snowflake cutting tutorial that was pinned from Life is Sweet via Vintage Junky. I didn’t think much of it until about two days ago, around 1am when I suddenly realized that a big empty overhang between my kitchen and living room could house some dangling snowflakes! I had already made a promise to myself that I was not purchasing anymore Christmas decorations (I may have gone a little overboard at Target), so cutting my own snowflakes seemed to be the perfect compromise of fulfilling my nostalgic love for them, while making my apartment feel a little more wintery!

Believe it or not, cutting your own snowflakes is so much simpler than anyone ever bothered to teach me as a kid, and the trick is really all in how you fold the paper. (I’m convinced that neither my parents or my teachers knew the paper trick, or else they would’ve indulged my love for them.) I used Vintage Junky‘s guide to folding just once and within minutes I was creating tons of snowflakes, all unique and far more beautiful than anything you could buy at a store.

What you need:

How To: fold the paper (crucial!)

1. Cut a standard 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper into a square by trimming 3 inches from either the left or the right side when the paper is held landscape.

2. Fold into a triangle diagonally.

3. Fold diagonally again into a smaller triangle.

4. Mock fold the two longer ends of the triangle toward the middle, for placement.

When both sides appear even, tuck the side of the triangle with the open edges into the middle, and the side with the closed edges on top of it.

5. Flip the new triangle over and trim the tails at the bottom. You are now ready to begin cutting your snowflake!

How To: Cut the snowflake

How you want your snowflake to look is really 100% up to you, but I used Vintage Junky‘s and Life is Sweet‘s designs to help get me started before I made up any of my own.

Things to remember:

The open edges of the triangle represent the inside edges of the snowflake. If you want you snowflake to all stay attached as one piece, you should trim/design this side sparingly. If you want the edges of your snowflake to be separated, cut away!
The closed fold of the triangle represents the inner parts of the snowflake, so anything you want to be mirrored in the middle should be cut here.
The tip is the very center of the snowflake, you can either leave it whole, or play with cutting different small patterns into it.
To flatten my snowflakes, I stuck them under a heavy book for about 20 minutes.
If you ever want to recreate a snowflake you’ve cut, just fold it back up and copy the design on to a newly folded sheet.

In the time I spent cutting my snowflakes, I kept track of a few of my favorite designs, which are here for you to try as well:

After cutting my snowflakes, I glittered some of them with Martha Stewart fine glitter (white, silver, turquoise, aquamarine, and smokey quartz) using Martha Stewart’s Glittering Glue and let them dry (it takes about half an hour).

Next, I attached hemp string (a little rustic) to them and hung them from my empty overhang at different levels…and voile! My decor finally feels complete.

Looking for more fun things you can with your freshly cut snowflakes? Experiment! Cut snowflakes out of vellum paper for a translucent effect, cut them out of heavier stock and use them as doilies, mod-podge them to hurricanes, mason jars, etc. and make them into luminaries…the possibilities are endless!

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How to: Fall Decor DIY on a Budget

Date: October 17, 2011 • By Erika • Comments 2

When I was a kid I used to deck out our entire house, lawn, and both front doors and stoops with Halloween and fall decorations. Our rooms were covered in faux spiderwebs, complete with those gross-looking plastic spiders; our lawn was filled with ghostly gravestones; our lamppost and stoops were adorned with leafy garland, cornstalks, bales of straw, pumpkins and gourds, and we even had a little ghost to greet people at the door. One year, under my dad’s direction, my birthday guests and I enjoyed a fall DIY—we made our own scarecrows! Undoubtedly, this is my favorite time of year.

Since then, my taste has become slightly more refined and much more grown-up. My apartment is not longer covered in spiderwebs and I have no lawn for the gravestones. Last year, I had minimal decor because the apartment I was living in belonged to my roommate (who had excellent taste, but wasn’t really into seasonal decorating), but this year, my apartment is all my own. Because I went most of the summer without a paycheck (I quit my job when I was doing Sweet Charity) I’m still trying to do everything on a budget. Even though I have a fabulous job now, I’m still only working part-time, but I wanted to make my apartment as fall-inspired and cozy as possible without spending more than $100. Let’s see how I did…

The decor: