March 2017 Recap

Recap time… here’s what I did in March!

I spent the first week working on the iHeart Radio Music Awards as a script coordinator. While the event took place at the LA Forum, we started working out of the Sunset Gower lot. My sister worked there on The Newsroom and I used to get a thrill out of visiting her because Scandal also shoots on that lot. Here are a few photos… including Viola Davis’s parking spot for How to Get Away with Murder, a colorful chalkboard wall in the commissary, and a blurry photo of our script team:

My friend Nancy told me about a nearby coffee shop called Rubies + Diamonds (#notajewelrystore) that sells the most delicious lattes and cold brews. I might go broke if I lived nearby. Over two visits I tried the salted caramel both hot and iced, and I’d happily work my way through their whole menu. Even their cups have personality! And on the right below, that is a very tasty burger from a food truck at the LA Forum during one of our on-site days.

Here is a shot inside the LA Forum during prep for iHeart Radio Music Awards:

And here’s the stage during dress rehearsal the day before the live show:

The show itself was really fun. Katy Perry kicked things off with a high-energy number, Justin Timberlake won the first award, Chris Martin and some cute kids accepted Coldplay’s award for best tour, Miley Cyrus’s little sister performed, as well as artists like Bruno Mars, Ed Sheehan, Big Sean, The Chainsmokers, Thomas Rhett, and Sean Mendez.

(image via)

Perhaps my favorite weekend of the month was Drag Weekend in Las Vegas! Good friends have organized this event for the past four years, and it was my first time participating (as Alexandria Hamilton). SO much fun. I already have ideas for next year. Here is a recap of the weekend, and here is a recap of our performances.

I love happy hours with my former Y&R co-workers. Here we are at Maggiano’s; more people joined after this photo was taken and then we migrated to the bar for the rest of the night.

Returned to H20 Poke Bar in downtown Burbank with my roommates Jenny & Ziggy for some raw fish — YUM!

I met up with my friend Brenda for lunch at Spitz — she is due to give birth this month and I can’t wait to meet this kid! And then for the first time I got ground coffee from my favorite LA coffee shop to bring back to Connecticut. My version of blueberry vanilla iced coffee isn’t quite as good as Priscilla’s, but I’m glad to have a taste of it on the east coast.

My uncle came to town for work! So great to catch up with him over a delicious dinner at an Italian place in Beverly Hills.

One day I walked up to Universal Studios and saw the movie Get Out. SO GOOD, right?

Afterwards I metro’ed down to Watts Towers for a tour — I’ve intended to check out this place for years. I’ll share photos in a separate post but here is a preview:

Then I hopped back on the metro and went to Culver City to see a play that night. I walked around first, pausing at Culver Studios, where they shot Gone with the Wind among other projects.

And there are Wizard of Oz trinkets in display cases at the Culver Hotel — that movie shot at MGM just down the street, the same year as Gone with the Wind.

I stopped at a new-to-me coffee shop called The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea, & Cocoa for a caffeine fix before the play. Also this month I finally finished reading The Sympathizer — loved it. Highly recommend.

I stopped at Seasalt for poke nachos — major thanks to Elena for sharing this spot (and this dish) with me last month!

I saw the world premiere of Good Grief at the Kirk Douglas Theater, written by and starring Nigerian writer/actress Ngozi Anyanwu. It was quite good and I’m glad I caught it.

Other theater moments from March… I saw Sunday in the Park with George (starring Jake Gyllenhaal) on Broadway. That teal wall is at A Noise Within theater in Pasadena; I saw an excellent production of Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness there. The wall of notes below that is from Good Grief — audience members were invited to share how they will ‘stay remembered’ (the play deals with death) and someone posted, “As a world traveler and theater lover.” So I didn’t have to add my own; that sentiment was already up there. And that bottom left screen grab is from a composer / actor who starred in a musical at The Geffen last month — he somehow saw the kind words I wrote about it on my blog and sent me an email! What a nice surprise to find that in my inbox.

I moved up my flights to arrive back in Connecticut the day before a snowstorm and got to enjoy a whole day playing games and hanging out with my parents, sister, and our dogs. It was perfect. The next day I went into the city to see two shows and paused outside Lincoln Center for this snowy photo:

That week I went into NYC three times to see seven shows (reviews coming soon); here are photos from walking around / various meals I ate. I was especially happy to stumble across The Bean as there is a delightful coffee shop vibe inside and they are welcoming to people with laptops.

Guess what happened this month? My sister wanted to see a musical with me! I thought this day would never come. We went to Assassins at Yale Rep.

Since I share a birthday with renowned composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim (and Andrew Lloyd Webber too!) it was fun to see TWO Sondheim shows — one on our birthday, the other the night before.

Speaking of my birthday — since I was in NYC on the day, I celebrated with my family the following night over pizza and cake. My mom makes the most delicious lemon cake with homemade lemon cream cheese icing — it has been my favorite since childhood.

We went to Cape Cod the following weekend for some cold beach walks, more board games, and puppy cuddling time.

And I had the best time catching up with my cousin El, her husband Pete, and their two adorable kids over dinner one night. Lots of great conversation. Love you guys!

And at the end of the month, I went to Austin, Texas for the first time ever and proceeded to eat all the food! I had just over three full days to explore and I can’t wait to share photos in a future post. Major thanks to my friends Michael & Chris for hosting me.