Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time Flies :)

-- Hannah --
The last two weeks have flown by! I started off last week with a super fun Monday night - I sat around with JT, Laynie, and Megan, three of my besties at Chapman, and played guitar and sang (I mostly listened but still.. haha) it was so relaxing and fun, one of those really special ordinary moments. The week continued with the craziness of midterms, papers, a couple auditions at Dodge, and an acting workshop with one of the professors.
Friday night was great! After making it through a busy week, I went to a Greek life fundraiser called Air Bands in which all the sororities and fraternities team up to do dance/lip-syncing numbers. It was hilarious and there were a couple obvious standouts - one group did an exact recreation of the Thriller video clip and one fraternity that's not really a fraternity did this bizarre non-performance to What Does the Fox Say (they pretty much just walked/rolled around on  stage, ate some twizzlers, and played on their phones haha too funny). The frats and sororities get pretty into it, though, so it was fun to watch, and Sierra was in the dance for Gamma Phi Beta so it was nice to watch and support her! After that we went over to Megan and Laynie's room and about seven of us piled onto one bed and we watched Hercules. It was perfect!
On Saturday I caught the train to see Luce! YAY! We spent the rest of the weekend together and it was a really lovely getaway from some stress and drama going on on campus.

-- Lucy --
Ahhh what a busy couple of weeks! Last week was an onslaught of midterms, performances, and papers! Luckily, I did well on all of my tests - thank goodness! And in acting class I had my first run through of my "clone scene" - a two minute scene with no dialogue where everyone is split into pairs. The pairs then make a scene for one person and they split the stage in half so it's an exact replica on both sides, then when acting out the scene, one partner is on each side and they act out the scene simultaneously, making all the same movements - the main complication is that one side has props and the other doesn't! It's hard to explain, but it was really difficult - especially just getting in sync with my partner. Also because we had to be cloned down to the finest details - like how far apart our feet were on the floor and the tiniest of hand movements and stuff like that! Ah, it was crazy but really fun and my partner Marco and I ended up getting great feedback.
After a hectic week at school I did background work on Friday. It was on "The Middle" and I had a wonderful time! I saw some friends from background that I hadn't seen in a while and there was also some amazing food which I looovvveeeddd! :) Oh, and it was filming at Warner Bros. Studios which is always cool. After that I went home and chilled out, very excited to see Han the next day!

-- Han and Luce --
On Saturday we went to the Beverly Center which was the most beautiful shopping mall we'd ever seen! Luce got some glamorous Clinique makeup and a cute dress at Macy's and we both got our free Godiva truffle of the month and wished we could have a dozen more! After that we visited MeMe at The Grove and got a cupcake each from sprinkles to have for dessert later. Luce made THE BEST dinner for us when we got home - couscous, grilled lemon and herb chicken, and roasted sweet potato - and we watched Magic Mike before falling into bed, exhausted after a busy week. On Sunday, Han's friend Laynie caught the train into LA to come to Mosaic with us! We went and had lunch at Pink's before going to the 1:00 service.
 Mosaic was as wonderful and inspiring as ever, and the three of us got free fish tacos afterwards, went to boba, and strolled down Hollywood Blvd - we even ran into Meryl!
Luce drove Laynie and Han back to Chapman and we buckled down for another big week of schoolwork!

-- Han --
This past week was even more academically challenging than the last! I had three midterms and a performance in my acting class. A highlight amidst the craziness was a 1:00am trip out to get boba with JT after making the best studyguide ever for Performing Techniques. I felt great about all my midterms at the end of it all, so now I'll just have to wait and see what the results are! The other exciting news from the week is that I got roles in two different productions at Dodge! YAY!! I'm super excited to be able to get in front of a camera and, even though the roles are pretty small, I'm feeling great that I've finally gotten a couple after plugging away and auditioning for everything I can. I have a callback for another role tonight, so hopefully I can keep the momentum going! They film this coming weekend, so I'll write all about it in the next post! This last weekend was really lovely, too, because Mum and Q were here to house-hunt! Woo!! It was really great to be back together, even if only for a couple days :)

-- Luce --
Luckily in this past week I haven't had too much academic stuff going on - midterms pretty much ended last week! I did have the final performance of my clone scene and it was great! (and don't worry - the blood and black eyes were all part of the scene haha!)
I also had a little midterm conference with my acting teacher and that went really well too - he had nothing but nice things to say! Yay! Other than that, I've just been cooking up a storm making all sorts of yummy things! Spaghetti squash is my latest obsession :) Really, though, this week was all about the lead up to see Mum and Q on the weekend! Woohoo!

-- Han and Luce --
We looked at houses all day Friday and Saturday and ended up finding the most PERFECT home! Yeeee!! Now all we have to do is get it - no small task, but fingers crossed it all goes smoothly! We also revisited the delicious Thai restaurant because we just had to share it with Mum and we went out to Olive Garden on Saturday night. It was a really easy going couple days and it was veeerrryyyy nice to sleep in the lovely hotel beds! On Sunday we had a lazy morning and went to lunch at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. It was such a tease not to be able to go into the parks all together but we're looking forward to next time when Mum and Q are out for good and the Christmas overlay is up, so magical! We all went back to our separate places and Luce and I had homework - Luce also had a performance to prepare for today! So exciting! Han gets an extra outing with Mum today, so lucky! They're getting sushi and potentially shopping for a Halloween costume, can't wait! It was a great weekend and we know the time's going to fly by up till Thanksgiving then Christmas!! YAY! We're over the halfway point of the semester and looking forward to some wonderful holidays and relaxation in the not-too-distant future!


Monday, October 14, 2013

Spoils Week!

-- Han and Luce --
This week at Chapman was "Spoils Week" for all the girls in sororities so they got presents every day from their Bigs, but man, they don't even know what spoiled is! We were spoiled rotten this week and are feeling so lucky and loved! We had the most lovely week because Qee was in town!! It was so great to reunite the "Goober Gang" (potentially renamed the Goon Squad..) for some laughs, adventures, and soooo much yummy food! 

Monday started off on such a sweet note because we both got care packages from the Larsons! It was the best surprise and it got even better when we opened them up - the most incredible, chocolatey, gooey brownies we've ever had in our lives! Ahh exactly what we needed! Love you guys, thank you SO SO much!!
That night we we drove out to Corona to check out the area that Mum and Q are thinking of moving to!! We went to the Lone Star Steakhouse for dinner for some well needed red meat, YUM! Ahh how we've missed steak! It was great southern comfort food and combined with getting some quality family time, we were feeling very looked after. Q dropped us back at our schools and we were ready to face the week!

It was business as usual Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Great classes, Han had an audition at Dodge, we hung out with friends, and Lucy was on TV twice!! First on The Mindy Project, and then on CSI! Very exciting!
Wednesday night the three of us went out for another delicious dinner! We had pizza at an authentic Italian restaurant and the food was AMAZING! We ate way more than we should have - Han no joke had seven slices of pizza... seven. We rolled ourselves out and back home where we had to knuckle down and do some homework! Eeeek! Classes have been ramping up and we both had papers and midterms looming. It wasn't too hard to get work done, though, because we knew we had a fun weekend to look forward to!


Thursday was a bit of a stressful day. Han had a paper due and a midterm to study for, and Luce had the same in addition to an unexpected issue with, surprise surprise, the poor Subi!


-- Luce --
Oooff Thursday was rough! I got a puncture in one of the tires on the Subi on the way to school and I didn't even know until I was in the parking lot! Ahhh I was so stressed! And I was also late to class for the first time :( I figured that I wouldn't be able to do anything about it until I was out of school for the day, so I tried to push it to the back of my mind so I could focus on my midterm! I ended up doing really well on that test so that was a huge relief! But as soon as school was over it was time to figure out the Subi situation! When I got out to the car I saw that someone had left a note telling me to be careful because my tire was flat - so sweet! I proceeded to call AAA and they were there quickly and put the spare tire on for me. Then the AAA guy suggested that I go to an autoshop close by to get my tire fixed and I'm glad he did because the guys at the autoshop were so nice! I ended up having to replace the tire and they gave me a good deal so I drove home very carefully a little while later. It was quite an ordeal but everyone was incredibly helpful which was lovely and made me feel confident that I could handle a situation like that again in the future - even though I hopefully won't have to!!


-- Han and Luce --
We made it through the week's challenges and on Friday morning we met up to go house hunting! We started off with some of the best donuts we've ever had then set off to explore Corona! The area is absolutely beautiful and exactly what we had hoped for. The views of the mountains are spectacular and it's still not too far away from LA, and quite close to Orange County! All we could do was look up houses online and see them from the outside, but it was great to get a sense of the area and we found a couple we definitely want to go back and have a proper look at! 
We had an early dinner of yet another thing we've been missing, Thai food. We went to this dinky little place Sierra had recommended and it was SO GOOD! We pigged out on green curry, pad see ew, fried rice, shrimp spring rolls, and satay chicken. 
Another fun thing about Friday was that we got Halloween themed care packages from Mum! So cute!! We put up the decorations as soon as we got back to Han's room that night. 
Luce stayed over at Chapman for the first time, so fun! We had planned to go out and stay up late, but we were both so tired that we ended up just hanging out for a bit then went to sleep. We discovered the next day that there's a hole in the air mattress, yikes!! Poor Luce woke up and it was completely deflated :( that barely put a dent in our excitement, though, because we were going to Disney with Q!!
We got to the park around 8:30 and made it into the best parking lot for the first time. We walked through Downtown Disney and got beingets on our way in. Luce, in a bit of a special moment, forgot her pass, so we had to go to the ticket booth and get her a temporary one - but then we were in! Q used his brand new Annual Passport for the first time, so exciting!
We ran and got fastpasses for World of Color and Radiator Springs Racers, then went on Soarin' Over California as our first ride of the day. After that we headed into Disneyland and did all our faves - including finally going on the refurbished Haunted Mansion ride! So cool!! 
We also went on Star Tours, the line up for which was a bit of an experience...We were waiting behind this mesmerizingly odd group of women, kind of gothic, a bit dirty, one of them kept coughing on Q, and about 10 minutes into the wait we saw one of them take a pill of some kind - and it definitely wasn't a vitamin. She started swaying where she stood, eyes all droopy/fluttery, really weird... But luckily where the line splits we got separated from them and didn't sit next to them on the actual ride! Phew! They at least distracted us in the long line, oh man...
After that, we saw Mickey and the Magical Map which was as great as ever, had a seriously yummy lunch of fried chicken and veggies, went over to CA Adventure to see Aladdin, did Tower of Terror and Radiator Springs Racers, then went back to Disney to do Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy with Qee!
 It was a long wait but SO worth it! Q loved it and it was fun to go on as our last ride. It timed up perfectly for us to head over to watch World of Color too! We found an awesome spot to watch from and the show was incredible! We were all missing mum, though, and wished she could've been there too - next time though! We called it a night after that and Q dropped us back at Chapman. Again, we had plans to go out but bailed, completely exhausted from a wonderful day in Disney.

Sunday morning we went to an open house for one of the homes we liked for Mum and Q! It seemed great from the photos online and outside, but when we got there it was a bit of a disappointment. BUT it was okay because we ended up stumbling upon another area with some new construction homes that were absolutely beautiful! We got to walk through the model home and fell in love, so fun! Can't wait for mum to come out and have a look!!

We drove back to LA and had a coffee together before Q and Luce dropped Han off at the Cirque du Soleil tent where she was meeting up with her theatre class to watch the performance! It was a bummer to say goodbye, but with Mum and Q moving out, we know we'll be able to see them soon!

-- Han --
The show, Totem, was awesome!! Ahh it's just indescribable how amazing the performers are at what they do. It was heaps of fun to go see the show with all my friends and it was truly an inspiring show to watch! 
I went back on the bus with everyone, and on the way back I got a text from Mum that she was watching Revenge and I was all through the episode! YAY!! I was on TV! Haha it was so exciting to know that I'd made it into the episode and I can't wait to watch it myself!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Livin' that Cali College Life! :)

-- Hannah --
These last couple weeks have been crazy busy! I've gotten into a great routine and the time's flying by. Some days I sleep in, some I go do homework by the pool, I've been auditioning at Dodge - I got my first callback! YAY! I didn't get the role but it was a step in the right direction! - and I'm learning heaps in my classes. Two weekends ago on Friday night I watched Present Laughter, the first play of the season at Chapman, and it was really good! The acting was great and the show was super funny. Sierra and I went out to a couple parties afterwards and had a great time with some of her sorority sisters. On Saturday, there was a Cirque du Soleil acting/dance workshop on campus which was awesome! We learned about the give and take of energy and being connected to your scene partner - and we also clowned around a bit and played with slapstick comedy. There are just so many cool opportunities here! Sunday was a lazy morning, and I had every intention of doing homework and being productive before a spontaneous Disney trip beckoned! I went in with a few friends and it was a great afternoon! 
We rocked out to ACDC in the car on the way there, did all the big, thrilling rides, hoped to see Steve Carell cause he was there that day (but didn't), and finished the arvo off with Indiana Jones - so cool! It was my first time in Disney without Luce, though, which was a little tough. Two weeks was a long time to be apart! We got back to Chapman around 7:30 and I left for church at 8:30! It's such a great group of people that go and it seems to grow every week! This time Sierra and Matthew came with and it was so nice to share the experience with them.
I had a pretty uneventful week, gearing up for midterms and writing papers, then last Friday night I went to a Delt party with some theatre and dance friends at "The Bayou". 
I learned when I got there that the house got its nickname because the pool is so terrifyingly dirty and murky, with leaves and random objects in it (I'm pretty sure a chair was lost forever in there...), that it looks kinda like a swamp and everyone's afraid to go in it! Haha at least they have a sense of humor about it! It wasn't a super late night, though, because the next day Luce and I were hitting up, you guessed it.... DISNEYLAND!


-- Luce --
Oh my goodness it's been a crazy couple of weeks!!! In the last week of September I did my final performance of my Autodrama and it went well - I got a really good grade and was voted one of the best in my class! :) 
The day after that was my first time ever seeing myself on tv!! It was on the second episode of New Girl and I was so excited!!!!! Ah!

On the Thursday of that week I ushered for the show that my theatre program was putting on and I actually had a really fun time! It was kinda cool to be the person checking tickets and showing audience members where to go! I also had some time to bond with some of the people that I hadn't talked to very much out of class which was lovely.
The night after that I went to a friend's 21st birthday party in Hollywood! He rented out a hotel suite on Hollywood Blvd and invited heaps of people! It was really fun for a while until hotel security showed up because there had been noise complaints! Oops!! So they proceeded to kick everyone out of the room which was pretty stressful.. We all hung out by the pool for a bit and then decided to go our separate ways. When I left I went out and got some calming tea with a friend and then went home around 2:00 in the morning - it was a great night!
The next day I had to wake up at 5:30 to get ready to be on the set of Veep by 8! Oh my gosh I did not enjoy only getting 3 hours of sleep! I was exhausted but it was still an amazing day on set!! The cast of Veep were so funny and I think I definitely made it into the shot which is cool! I also got to shake Julia Louis-Dreyfus' hand like 10 times in the scene! Ah it was so awesome - I was starstruck! Another cool thing was that I made friends with a guy who looks EXACTLY like young Leonardo DiCaprio..! I literally couldn't stop staring at him haha :)
Then on Sunday I went to church and MeMe couldn't go which was sad but I organized to meet some of my other school friends there.. But just as I got to the church my friends texted me saying that they actually had to stay home and study that night! Oh no! So I was there alone!! Usually I would have completely freaked out, but I just took a deep breath and decided that I was going to be okay! And, as luck would have it, I was getting some coffee and a nice guy started chatting with me and it turned out that we were both there alone so we decided to sit together! So everything was fine - phew!! I got home that night feeling ready to face the week and also feeling very confident and independent! Yay!
The next week was really rough for both Han and me because we were having some serious separation anxiety! We decided that 2 weeks is far too long for us to stay apart!!
On Thursday Emily, MeMe, and I all went to see the premiere of Don Jon and it was hilarious! Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great and a bunch of scenes were filmed at my school!!! It was crazy!! The girls and I were so excited! The next time we got to school we went to all of the places they had filmed at!! (This was one of them!)

That Friday I ushered again and had some great girl talk with my friend Alicia - it was very therapeutic! :)
Then it was the weekend and I saw Han again!!!!!! Woohoooo!!!!!!


-- Han and Luce --

Saturday was another fun Disney day! It also happened to be Gay Day, which was unexpected, so everyone was wearing red for LGBT pride/awareness. We watched this cute Tangled show with a guy who looked EXACTLY like Flynn Rider it was crazy - unfortunately, he was a bit of a mumbler or maybe drunk? Hopefully not haha but his performance wasn't super compelling. The two narrator guys were hilarious, though, and Rapunzel was perfect! We snuck away from Disney for a couple hours to have lunch at Chapman (including the world's most amazing peanut butter-banana Jamba Juice creations) and do an open call audition together at Dodge.We went back to Disney, we're terrified on Space Mountain again, and - because we just love it - watched Aladdin. We sat right down the front, swooned over Aladdin, and giggled at a hilariously inappropriate moment when one of the guards meant to push Aladdin's shoulder but actually just slapped him right on the man boob hahaha. After that we decided to do a late night Grizzly River Rapids! Apparently 5 years is about long enough to forget how SOAKED you get on that ride!! We were in a raft with this group of Portuguese people, all of us shrieking and getting sloshed with water - too funny. Luce then made quite the fashion statement and changed into Han's sporty shorts she was wearing under her skirt with her cute black blouse, kind of two worlds colliding, but it didn't even matter. We left a little later and crashed at Lucy's place.

On Sunday we had another photo shoot which went really well and was super fun! We'll post pics once he sends them to us. The best part of the weekend, though, was going to Mosaic. The pastor, Erwin, talked all about happiness and how to become happy and it was just incredible, exactly what we needed to hear! Feeling inspired, we drove to Chapman and said goodbye - which wasn't a terribly sad one because we knew we'd be seeing a lot of each other this week because Q's in town! YAY!! This week's excitement will be in a new post, though, and (G'pa, this is for you) we promise to try to be better about updating more regularly!

xoxo