The Month of Male Attention Continues!!

We've had a great few days!! Earning money, lovely weekend, and a cruisey start to this week! Also, we've had more attention from gorgeous men this month than perhaps the rest of our lives combined and these last few days were no exception!

-- Han --

On Thursday I did background on a new MTV show called Happyland. I wasn't called until 2:00pm BUT I ended up being there until 3:30am!!! Woah! SUCH a long day, especially for my first day back, but it ended up being heaps of fun! I checked in then went to wardrobe where they paired my denim shorts with my denim jacket, eeeek! I tentatively changed into my double-denim ensemble and actually ended up rockin it in true '90s style! I met some lovely ladies that I spent most of my time with, chatted to BOTH of the reeeaally cute male leads on the show, chatted to some of the crew members, played the big sister of a couple cute and incredibly cheeky little kids, and then later became a teen-mum in a scene with everyone running around panicking! 

It was a fun day on set! We broke for "lunch" at 8:30 and had some yummy food - although the catering guys were being total nazis about the background not eating the cast/crew food, which wouldn't have been a problem except that by the time my girlfriends and I got through the line there was no dessert left! Noooo! We'd been hanging out for a pudding and we're pretty devo... So, I slapped on the Aussie accent and as much charm as I could muster, and went over to the other table where there were two pudding cups left and...... Success! With a slight nod from the stern catering man, I snatched up the chocolate pudding and four spoons, and rushed back to my table to cheers from the gals - best pud ever!

Over lunch I also chatted with some funny guys nearby (and threw Bronzed Aussie flyers at them) including one particularly cute guy who leant me his jacket when the temperature became arctic later on! At the end of the night I decided to pull a gutsy move and leave him my number - and it worked! The month of male attention continues!

-- Luce --

I had a leisurely morning and then it was time for work at Bronzed Aussie! My shift was 3-8 so it was my turn to learn how to do the closing shift, and after Han's report on how difficult it was, I was feeling a bit apprehensive! 

I got there just on time (I need to start giving myself more time with the LA traffic!!) and was straight to work making lamingtons! There was an order for 100 the next day, so I was racing the clock to get 'em done! Luckily my hilarious co-worker Michael was there to encourage me, singing "Luuuuucyy the laaamington ladyyyy" all day haha! So much fun. I also had my first bakery-celebrity encounter.. The Aussie guy on New Girl that plays CeCe's love interest came in and got a pie! So cool! I was pretty excited. Once I'd finished making all the lamingtons it was time to do all the cleaning and close the bakery and it was quite a daunting task..! Just when I was getting started, another coworker, Henry, showed up to do all of the manual labor and hard work! Awesome! I really lucked out. So I did an hour of cleaning and packing stuff up and then my shift was over and I went home, expecting Han to already be back when I got there.. Buuuut then she wasn't so I watched some tv, saw myself on episode 4 of Veep (woohoo!!) and then went to bed!

Neither of us was booked for background on Friday - which was lucky for Han after her 3:30am end time! - so we slept in, had a chill morning, and went to our usual spot for an afternoon hike.

Later on we met up with Tosh and Laynie who were visiting from Chapman for sushi!! It was SO lovely to see them again AND Tosh was such a sweetheart and paid for dinner! What a gentleman! We all hung out at our place afterwards, later joined by JT when he got off work, and had a lovely night chatting and laughing.

On Saturday we made the trip out to mum and Q's (with a boba stop on the way) for a lovely evening. We got there, walked the dogs and caught up with Mum, talked Game of Thrones and boys with Q, then went out to the Pechanga Casino for a buffet dinner and the Barenaked Ladies concert!!! We pigged out on dinner (and dessert!) and had a great chat before heading into the theatre.

The show was GREAT! It felt like one part stand up comedy, one part concert - so funny and SUCH a blast from the past!

We still can't stop singing One Week, soo catchy! (also, sorry the video's sideways but you get the idea...)

When we got home we had a soak in the spa then called it a night, thanks Mum and Q for such a great time!!

On Sunday we woke up early (or tried to, aimed for 6:45 but ended up getting out of bed closer to 7:30) because there was an Anzac Day ceremony and reception we wanted to go to in LA. We were sooo close to bailing on it, but Han insisted so Luce dragged herself outta bed, we threw on some clothes and ran out of the house! We made it with time to spare and we were SO glad we went! The ceremony was really powerful and we felt very proud to be Australian. We sang the national anthem and listened to some lovely words from the Turkish consul-general and the New Zealand consul-general. There was definitely a strong sense of community between the Aussies and Kiwis and it was great to be a part of.

Afterwards we went to a reception at the NZ consul-general's residence AND THEY HAD SO MUCH AUSSIE FOOOOOD! Haha we couldn't resist! Sausage rolls, meat pies, Anzac biscuits, aaaand ACTUAL real-deal Aussie sausage sandwiches!! Mmmm SO good! 

There was also an open bar of which we couldn't partake... Womp womp.. But it was also only 11:00am so that didn't put a huge dampener on things haha. It was very cool and strange to suddenly be in a place where the American accent seemed out of place! We met heaps of really lovely Aussies and Kiwis (mostly men, classic) and mingled for a couple hours before heading home, what a successful morning!

Later on Han helped JT do a self tape for an audition and then we went over to Nick/Mike/Eddie's for Game (of Thrones) night! Nick cooked up an amazing dinner of roast chicken and salad and we brought over cookies that Luce made. The episode was a great one, as always, and we hung out for a couple hours afterwards, playing taboo and chatting. We're loving this little tradition we've started up!

Yesterday we'd hoped to be working - as with today, actually - but things have been really slow for background recently and we're waiting to hear back from Samantha on the schedule for the bakery. It ended up being a great day nonetheless! Han went for a hike and lunch with Andrew who she'd met on Happyland on Thursday and had a really lovely time!

When she got home we cleaned the apartment a bit, hung out, had dinner, and watched The Way Way Back for the third time - it was just as good! 

Today we had a productive day planned - running errands, more cleaning, and taking a class at Central Casting for stand-in work - but it didn't work out quiiite as productively as we'd planned... We did get our errands and cleaning done, then we got a text from Q that he was going to be in LA around lunch time!! Yay! We met up at the 101 Coffee Shop for a yummy lunch and had a great chat, what a treat! After that we did our grocery shopping then headed to Central Casting almost an hour early to make sure we made it into the class. It was SO hot outside, and we waited and waited until finally someone came to let everyone in. As she got closer to us, the stack of entrance tickets began to dwindle until --- noooooooo!!! We were the second and third people in line after the cutoff and we were SOO ANNOYED ohmygod. She couldn't have come out an hour ago and counted people off?! Ugh. We ended up making the most of our night though, and we went over to JT's for dinner, watched Zoolander on the outdoor big screen, and listened to music until we had to call it a night - Han's working on a show called Mistresses in the morning! Gotta get that beauty sleep! 

Bronzed Aussies

Our Friday night ended up being heaps of fun! Although not exactly as planned... Han's date was lovely, but Luce's "party" ended up being really sketchy so she bailed on it and when Han got home the two of us, with no shame whatsoever, had a great little party for two!

Saturday was our first day working at Bronzed Aussie... Aaaand we had to be there at 8:00am, which meant very little sleep for us! We made it there on time and actually felt completely fine - built up some tolerance in Austria perhaps.. Anyway, we were only on for a 4 hour shift and it went really well! We started to learn the basics and get familiar with everything. It was actually surprisingly fun and refreshing to just a have a simple, straightforward job without the pressure and high stakes that seem to surround everything acting related. That and we looked really cute in the apron and caps!

We also got rockin perks like great coffee, caramel slice, and sausage rolls to go.
To go because we were headed out to Mum and Q's for an early Easter dinner! We stopped by Disney on the way and met them in the park for a signle ride - Splash Mountain. We. Got. SOAKED!!!

It was hilarious, but we were so wet - and tired after working in the morning - that we went straight back to Mum and Q's for a sit in the new spa, margaritas, and a delicious Easter feast!!

We couldn't stay long though, as we'd been called in to work at Bronzed Aussie on Sunday too! It was the bakery's 1 year anniversary so Samantha needed all hands on deck - including two cute, young Aussie lads, yay! Luce made the best batch of lamingtons ever and Han charmed some stellar tips out of customers - and besides that, Samantha asked us at the end of the day if we'd like to start working for her officially! Total success!

Monday was a more restful day, although we still kept busy! Han worked out in the morning - first time in three weeks, didn't go amazingly well.. - then we went on our hike and walked to Ralphs to grab groceries for the week. We're really committing to this whole active lifestyle thing and it feels great! When we got home Luce baked a batch of muffins and we went over to watch Game of Thrones with Nick (who we ran into at Central Casting the other day) and his roommates. It was so much fun!! We're hoping to make a bit of a tradition out of it. They were all so easy to get along with and we couldn't ask for better GoT viewing partners! We called it a night fairly early though because Han was starting at Bronzed Aussie at 6:30 the next morning and Luce had been booked for background!

-- Han --
I had a great day at the bakery, learning the ropes and working my butt off. My 4 hour shift turned into a 7 1/2 hour shift and I ended up being there from 6:30 until after 2:00!! It was a pretty quiet day though, so Samantha had me cleaning, then I learned how to make various foods (still haven't graduated to coffees, but hopefully today!), and THEN she sent me to Restaurant Depot to do some shopping!! Eeeeek! My domestic blindness was NOT instantly cured and it took me ages - and quite a bit of help - to find everything.

I managed to wrangle everything into Samantha's car (that I was driving, also terrifying) and made it back to the bakery for the lunchtime rush! It was a great day and when I got home it was still only 3:00! Such a good feeling! It really is nice to be making regular money again.
I had planned on going for a hike or working out but I was buggered so I just sat in the hot tub (which became very eventful upon the arrival of a man who allegedly had just pulled his groin. Lucky for me he didn't attempt to show me the injury!) and snacked more than I should've while I waited for Luce to get home. 

-- Luce --
It was an uneventful but fun day of background for me! I was on the set of a new MTV show and the setting was a theme park on the 4th of July which made for some interesting costumes..! I wore jeans, a patriotic crop top, and a backwards cap and was feeling pretty badass! I walked around with some extra swagger in my step and said things like "Word" and "fo shizzle" hahaha... And despite me acting like a total idiot, I actually made friends with a few really nice girls! So fun. The scenes took a pretty long time to film though, and by 6:00 I just wanted to go home and have dinner! We were fed around 7:30 and we're finally wrapped at 10:30..! Such a long day! I was completely exhausted and not looking forward to waking up at 5:00 to do the morning shift at Bronzed Aussie!! My mood improved a lot when I got home, though, because Han and I split a delicious custard tart and filled each other in on what we'd been up to! Then it was off to bed to try to get some sleep before work in the morning.

-- Han & Luce -- Today Luce had the early Bronzed Aussie shift and Han's working the closing shift tonight! Looking forward to being all trained and on payroll - then it'll be easy to pick up shifts here and there working around our background and auditioning schedules. Lovin it!

Back in touch with nature.. (and reality)

We were back in the US! It was certainly bittersweet - we were feeling motivated and ready to be back and make stuff happen but, at the same time, we would've gone back to Europe in a heartbeat. We took a couple days to recover from the trip (and do piles and piles of laundry) then headed back to the apartment from Mum and Q's. We stopped at Chapman on the way to see a few of Han's friends in the show Machinal and they did SUCH a great job!! Afterwards we grabbed boba with JT and Tosh (who Luce finally got to meet!) and then called it a night. We were finally home! It felt amazing to be back in our lovely apartment :)

On Monday we woke up early and decided to go to the park for a walk and to start writing something to turn into a web series or play. We were still on a high from the holiday, so it really didn't faze us that we had a maaajor struggle finding/getting to/parking at Griffith Park haha. But we got there in the end! We made progress writing, called and emailed a few people, and enjoyed the sunshine.

On Tuesday we went and updated our photos at Central Casting to refresh ourselves in their system. The process took waaayyy longer than expected BUT, on the plus side, we ran into Nick Lee who Han had become friends with on Revenge! It was great catching up with him and it turns out he and his roommate are huge Game of Thrones fans, so we lined up a GoT watching party for the next episode.

That night was the lunar eclipse which was kind of exciting. We went over to see JT's new apartment then went together to a great spot on Mulholland Drive to watch it from.

We had a really great chat, filled him in on all our shenanigans from Austria, and heard what he's been up to here. The eclipse itself was beautiful and it's always lovely hanging out with JT.

On Wednesday Han signed back up with Extras Management and went for a hike/read her book at Wilacre Park and Luce did background on the set of Pretty Little Liars!! We both had great, productive days AND we came home to a really sweet thank you present from Izzy for having her over spring break!

Slightly embarrassingly, all we have to say about yesterday is: Orange is the New Black is SUCH A GOOD SHOW! Also, strawberry, banana, spinach smoothies are delicious!

Today we went for a long hike together at Wilacre park. We were a little bummed not to get booked by Extras the last couple days, but with Easter things are really slow, so we figured we'd make the most of it! The walk was lovely absolutely lovely and we're feeling all inspired to get out and exercise whenever we're not working!

(Luce was feeling particularly in touch with nature haha)

We're going to Mosaic tonight for the Good Friday service, then Han has a date with a really nice guy she met on Wednesday - they're going to a UCB improv comedy show and coffee afterwards, exciting! Luce is going to a party that a friend from her CSI background gig is hosting and Han might join later, so it looks like it's going to be a great night! Yay!

Das Ischt Good Times!

We were sobered up by the next morning, that's for sure - so sad to say our goodbyes! We'd only known the guys for a few days but already felt like good mates, and who knows when we'll next see Ehren, Nadine, Brendan, and Sharon! :( It was a wonderful few days and we weren't ready for it to be over. But over it was - and we were on to more lovely times and fun adventures in Munich!

We drove to our hotel in Munich and completely crashed out for a nap (which was merely an extension of the nap that lasted the entire car ride) and only woke up about half an hour before our dinner reservation at Haxnbauer. We had pigs knuckles, potato pancakes, mushrooms in cream sauce, aaaand the best crackling EVER! Yum! Then it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

The next morning Q had to head back to the US (such a bummer!) so it was just us gals left to explore the city! We had a massive sleep in, but made up for lost time with a great arvo walking all over the city. We started at the Glockenspiel - the first ever clock with the figurine thingos that spin around - and had crepes while we waited for the hour to tick over.

We made sure to get a pic doing the blockenspiel in front of the Glockenspiel as requested by Russ (who coined the term "blockenspiel" to be awarded to particularly epic blocks of any kind).

The hour turned over aaaand... Fizzah! Nothing happened! We learned later that it only goes at 11, 12, and 5, so we ended up seeing it in action on our last day, very cool!

We spent time in the main square, Marienplatz, had lunch in the slightly creepy but also amazing restaurant below the Glockenspiel, found a few places to go back to that weren't open on Sunday, walked around a magnificent church, and went up in the bell tower for a spectacular view of the city!

We had dinner in the oldest beer house in the city - Han tried the beer despite still feeling slightly queasy after Austria, so worth it! Delish! - and then headed back for an early night's sleep. 

We'd all come down with the flu, as had many of the other wedding guests, so we were trying to go easy on ourselves! 

The next day we went on a tour of two absolutely stunning castles about an hour outside of Munich, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, with a stop in between at a lovely little town called Oberammergau.

(The original swan lake!)

(Mum and Luce in Oberammergau)

Both castles were incredible but WOW! Neuschwanstein was truly spectacular! The king who built them, Ludwig II, was a totally extravagant recluse who desperately wished he was living in medieval times and had a strange obsession with Louis XIV. The castle had a very Harry Potter feel and was gorgeous inside, both were, but we weren't allowed to take photos! Pics of the outside - and us looking exhausted - will have to suffice!

We slept the whole way home (we really were wrecked from the jam packed days in Austria) and fell into bed after a quick dinner at the hotel. 

The next day was a rainy day, so we had a later start then rugged up and headed back to Marienplatz for some shopping! Luce found overalls and a pair of jeans she's been wanting for ages and Han got her dream khaki jacket (worn the next day, see pics below) that she's been pining after for 2 years, success!

The real triumph, though, was trying on dirndls and lederhosen!!!

(Hehe "No Fotos".. As if!)

No pics of the lederhosen (which we squeezed into about two sizes too small) seemed quite fit to be shared on the blog.. We, uhh, described ourselves as looking like "hookers that no one would pay much for" hahaha SO not a good look! But funny nonetheless - and we are definitely coming back for Oktoberfest one year and buying those dirndls!!

We saw the clock go, carboloaded on yummy pastas and Wiener schnitzel, revisited the outdoor markets, the Viktualienmarkt, that had been closed on Sunday, and grabbed some strawberries and sweets to take back to the hotel with us! What a lovely day!

On our last day we did another tour, this one of Harburg Castle and the Romantic Road! We (lucky for us!) had the same tour guide as last time!! She was so lovely, describing everything as "a dream" or "a paradise" - she totally made the tour! The castle had a very different feel from the others as it's purpose was to be a fortress as well as a palace. We (dorky though it is) were extremely excited because it was exactly what we'd imagined the setting in one of our favourite books to look like! It was like we'd stepped right into that world and we absolutely loved it!

The Romantic Road was beautiful too, a historic road that lead us to the beautiful medieval-style city of Rothenburg.

We had a few hours to explore (and eat) our way around the town, and we did just that!

It was unlike anywhere we'd ever been and we had heaps of fun walking the streets, taking in the view, and eating the pastries!

We hopped back on the bus for the trip back to Munich, drove past the Allianz Arena which was pretty cool, grabbed a quick dinner of fish and chips, then went back to the hotel for our last night in Germany.

We were up early the next morning and at the airport by 9:00 (thanks to a very keen cab driver who took us through all these back streets to make it there in record time) and we made it through security without a hitch - although Luce seemed to be public enemy #1 and got pulled aside frisked at all the checkpoints because of the buttons on her overalls haha. We did one last glorious shot of jäger before hopping on the plane.

(Lucy's new overalls!)                                      

Goodbye Europe!! Thanks for having us! We had a fantastic time and we hope we'll be back soon!!!