The Princess Diaries

It's been a super chill and very fun week - we've really felt like royalty in the making, all we have to do now is make it big or book one particular gig (read on) so we can really live like princesses!

Friday night was a lovely Frozen movie night with mum and Q and the neighbors! Saturday was very relaxing too. We swam in the pool, ate delicious BBQ, and watched The Quest (we're sooo hooked!) all day long!

On Sunday we woke up super early and headed back into LA to work at Bronzed Aussie for the first time in AGES! The reason was....... Sunrise (the Aussie version of Good Morning America) was filming a segment at the bakery!!! It was a super fun morning and we got to meet Kochie! (Mid-smile in this pic but ahh well)

Here's a link to the segment: https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/24862423/aussie-bakery-in-la/

That night we went out to a stand up comedy show with Sullivan, Luke, and Greg and it was actually really good! Then the five of us, joined by Gerald, hung out at Sully's for a super fun night in because of the long weekend!

On Monday we hung out by the pool all morning then came home and passed out for the longest nap ever! 4 and a half hours later we woke up and, all plans of barbecuing for ourselves out the window, we went to In-N-Out! Most. Amazing. Burgers. And. Shakes. EVER! Yum! Such a great long weekend!!

Honestly though, the weekend kind of continued, through no fault of our own, all week long..! We weren't booked for background Tuesday or Wednesday, so we spent our time cleaning and getting ready for Dad's visit! Han also kept working on her script which has been really fun! On Wednesday we also went out to the new Dunkin Donuts that's just opened in Santa Monica - the first one in LA! It was packed! So yummy and such a blast from the past! 

We got dinner from a yummy Japanese place and went and ate down on the beach, so fun!

Yesterday was a little more exciting though!! We got glammed up and went out on a huge cattle call audition to be disney princesses on their cruise ships! 

Han asked Sierra, who works as a disney princess in Disneyland, for some audition advice and it sounded really manageable! Just smile, say your name, look pretty, can do! We show up, Han wearing jeans and both wearing flats, and everyone was in full on dance gear! Gahh! Well, maybe they don't know what's going on..... Unfortunately not. It was TOTALLY DANCE BASED! Yoikes! We decided to just go with it and give it a go and it was actually really fun! On top of that, we BOTH made it through to the final round of cuts! Luce was picked as a lookalike and Han as a dancer/lookalike (we think, anyway). Out of about 75 people, Han was in the top 15 dancers and Luce was one of only 5 other girls picked as a lookalike! We were SO proud of ourselves - Luce especially because dancing is waaayy out of her comfort zone. We won't find out until November though if we're chosen because they have some more rounds of casting before then, so fingers crossed!

Today we got all the last things ready for Dad to arrive tomorrow! SO EXCITING!! And we spent the afternoon with Sully then saw Brian and Brittany tonight. It's been a lovely day and we cannot wait for Dad to arrive in the morning!!! WOO!

Starting our 20's with a bang!

... Well, it was loud anyway!!

On Thursday we had a chill post-bday day and then went to a concert in Santa Monica that night! The event was called "Australia Rocks the Pier" and we'd been invited by a couple of the guys we'd met at the Aussies In Film event last week. We met up with them - they were both doing consulate related work, like minding the man in the koala suit haha - then grabbed a bite to eat and a great spot for the concert. There were two openers, Phebe Starr who had a really cool sound and was super fun to watch, and Lord Fascinator who was soooo weird! Definitely a total bogan, in a kinda-lovable-but-he-definitely-didn't-plan-his-act-before-going-on-stage kind of way, he was wearing a huge kaftan and a cap with googley eyes and mesh covering his face - very strange..! 

The main act was Jagwar Ma, a really cool Aussie alternative rock group with an awesome (extremely loud) sound! Not tooootally our cuppa tea but they were really good! And easy on the eyes which never hurts. 

It was a fun night out and we loved supporting our fellow artistic Aussies!

On Friday we were both working. Han was on Bella and the Bulldogs again, where she got to wear this suuuuper attractive top..

And Luce was on a pilot called Growing Up & Down where she got paid more than usual to just sit with 9 other people behind the monitor and laugh - not for the laugh track either, just so the actors would get the timing right for their lines. Haha only in LA..

On Saturday we had our third (we're so lucky!) bday celebration, this one with a great group if friends! We all went to the "Movies in the Park" double feature of Star Trek in Grand Park, Downtown LA. Sully and her friend Luke drove in with us and we scoped out a great spot while we waited for the rest of the gang.

They had a DJ playing music, a Star Trek impersonation competition, food trucks (we had some really yummy coffees and a  supah spicy/delicious noodle dish), and we took an amazing selection of snacks with us. So fun! By the time the movie started there were 14 of us there: us 4, Nick (our GoT friend), Sierra (Han's college roomie), Brit, Brian, and Schwartz, and Mike (our first friend from background) and his sister, Mandy, and their friend Lauren! SUCH a fun crowd! Star Trek: Into Darkness was great - especially with our newfound LOVE for Benedict Cumberbatch - and afterwards we all shared the amazing assortment of desserts that Mike, Mandy, and Lauren brought as a birthday present; so sweet (hehe no pun intended) of them!

It was a perfect night, exactly what we'd hoped for! It's such a hidden gem of an event in LA, we'll definitely be going again!

Yesterday was an action-packed day. Luce went to the beach with her friend Oliver and his mates - she managed to get terrribly burnt, but what's a summer in LA without a little sunburn? And Han had an audition that she spent most of the morning preparing for and 2 HOURS waiting for once she got there..! It went really well though, and we both ended up getting home right around the same time!

We went over to Sully's for dinner - her mum made BBQ ribs and veggies, yum! - and then went to church in the evening. 

The music was amazing, totally on point! Buuut we were hoping it'd be our favourite pastor, Hank, aaaand it wasn't. The sermon was a little intense/preachy but there were still a couple gems of wisdom in there - and it's such a lovely community that even just being there is always lovely!

Today Luce had a bunch if errands to run and Han spent most of the day reading - she finished her 900 page brick of a book, Shantaram, and it was really beautifully written and a great read! Would highly recommend it! Then tonight, Han babysat two adorable kids and spent a couple hours getting jumped on, pretending to be Captain Hook and Thor, going on a treasure hunt, and coming up with ingenious ways to convince 3 and 5 year olds to eat dinner (if you're too full to finish your dinner, you must be too full for dessert), get in the bath (the bathtub's like a pirate ship, right?), get out of the bath (Spider-man PJ's!!), and get into bed (story time!) - with actually pretty amazing success! They were such lovely kids and it was so much fun, looking forward to babysitting them again on Friday!

Tomorrow we're both working on the same set and it's only 10 minutes away, woo!! Then the rest of the week.. who knows? But so far so good!

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!