Birthday Girls!!!

Monday was Chanelle's birthday!! The day before ours! We all slept in, Lucy made us a nice brunch, then we went to Santa Monica for an afternoon at the beach! It was so beautiful and we got to meet some lovely people in the Academy at LACC that Lucy'll be going to school with.

For dinner we went to Bubba Gumps - it was SO yummy and our awesome waiter Nate made sure we had a really fun time!

Lucy and I decided to head home early to get a good night's sleep, so we headed back to the car park aaaaand, true to form, the car was broken! The battery had completely died - the engine wasn't turning over at all - so we called AAA and waited for them to come help us out. It didn't take long for the guy (Mark) to arrive and he told us the battery was still the original 2007 one from the dealership! It was completely out of juice, so he replaced it and we were good to go! 

We were actually pretty proud of ourselves for handling it on our own and also, we realized it was a huge blessing in disguise! Mark told us that even if he gave us a jump, the car wouldn't start the next time we needed it which would've been on the morning of our birthday heading out to Disneyland!! We were stoked to finally have the car in full working order, and we got home soon after - where MeMe and Emily had birthday cupcakes from Sprinkles waiting for us, yum!

On Tuesday it was OUR BIRTHDAY!!! YAAAAYYY! We got up early, got ready, and opened prezzies with Mum and Q on the phone. They got us such lovely things! Even though they couldn't be with us in Disney, they managed to make it perfect with gift cards for us to get food during the day and a special dinner at the Rainforest Cafe! We said goodbye and headed out to the Happiest Place on Earth for a magical 19th birthday.

Walking down Mainstreet on our birthday was so wonderful and surreal! We could just tell from the first moment that it was going to be a perfect day.

The first thing we did was get birthday buttons with our names on them which meant that everyone was wishing us a happy birthday all day! We were definitely feeling the love - not only from complete strangers in the park, but also from Dad, Claire, Eddie, and Will who called and Facetimed us! We also got the chance to talk to Tim, one of our best friends, and were showered with loving texts and facebook messages - so special!

We headed over to Adventureland to get FastPasses for our fave, Indiana Jones, then on to Frontier Land to go on Splash Mountain as our first ride. On the way, we bumped into a band of singing pirates who were so friendly and hilarious - they surrounded us and sang us the most ridiculous and funny birthday song, then graciously agreed to take a selfie!

After that we started on the rides! We went on Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, and Pirates of the Caribbean, then grabbed a churro and an iced coffee each for morning tea.

Next up we went on the Peter Pan ride - one of Han's faves - and looked wistfully at the streets of London, trying to think of a time and excuse to go on another trip to the UK! We had lunch at the Bengal Barbecue then headed over to Toontown next and went on It's a Small World and met Minnie!

The next couple things we did were completely new which was exciting! We saw a really well done stage show with little sections from all the best movies; it was a super fun concept and the singing was AMAZING. Then we went over to check out the Michael Jackson Captain EO Tribute which was too funny, ohmygod. The original music, costumes, and 3D technology from the 80's were hysterical and MJ totally rocked the space suit.

It was finally time to use our FastPasses, best ever!! We went on Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Indiana Jones - three of the best rides in the park! - then headed over to Downtown Disney for dinner. On our way out of the park we stopped to watch/listen to the Dapper Dan's and they were SO CUTE! They asked Lucy up to play this weird instrument and totally stole our hearts! A definite highlight of the day.

We had a pre-dinner dessert of warm, sugar coated beignets while we waited for a table, then went in to the awesome Rainforest Cafe! Dinner was great and we had delicious smoothies and birthday cupcakes along with to complete the experience! Thanks Mum and Q! 

After dinner we went into California Adventure to finish the night. We stopped by Ariel's Grotto then went to get the best spots we could to see World of Color. The show was spectacular - made ya laugh, made ya cry. It was the best end to the day we could've hoped for, and we left the park just as the fireworks started going off over Sleeping Beauty's castle, so magical!

We made it home with no trouble and in really good time, so we decided to finish off the night by watching The Bachelorette finale, and even that ended up perfect! It was an amazing day, one we'll remember for many years to come, and it feels SO GOOD to be 19!!!

Living the Dream

Oh man! So much to catch up on, so little time!! We've had an AMAZING but exhausting few days, makin it happen in LA!

On Wednesday we made it out to Burbank early and signed up for extra work. Within a couple hours of signing up, just as we were walking through the front door, Han got a call from Central Casting about a job the next night! We called back a couple minutes later to check if there was another opening for a "female club goer" and they said they were all filled up! Oh no!! We were super bummed cause we'd really wanted our first day on set to be togeth -- the phone rang! It was the casting director and she said someone else had cancelled so she wanted Lucy to take her place!! Yeeee! We got pumped, chose options for wardrobe, set alarms, and listened to the info tape about 20 times before calling it a night.

We slept in Thursday morning because we knew it'd be a late shoot, then got all dolled up - the closest we'll get to clubbin until we're 21! We left plenty early to get to set and made it to the studios with time to spare! It was such a cool, surreal experience! We had to check in, then went to wardrobe and showed them our options for their approval, then on to makeup where the really nice makeup artist did touch ups, then on a van to go to hair across the lot, and finally back on a van to holding.

We met this really great guy, Mike, while we were waiting and bonded over our New England roots. It turned out that he was booked for the same job as Lucy the next night! He offered to give her a lift so our car logistics troubles were sorted! We hung out with him and had a huge buffet meal provided by catering - so good! Then we all hopped back on the vans to head to location.We were shooting in a nightclub (kind of obvious) but we can't say much more than that! It was a super fun night, though, and we met some awesome people, laughed a lot, got sore feet, and learned the ropes of background work! 

We got home around 3:00 and fell into bed, loving the excitement of the LA life! We had different call times yesterday so Lucy got her best attempt at 40s clothes together while Han ran out to H&M for clothes to pass as a waitress.

All ready, Mike picked Lucy up to go to the set of Mob City and Han left shortly after for Revenge... 

--Lucy--

After a couple wrong turns, a complicated parking lot, and a long walk through the train station we were filming in, Mike and I made it to set just in the nick of time! As soon as I checked in it was straight off to wardrobe to get my first outfit! Then it was time for hair and makeup back at base camp. It was really cool to get my hair and makeup done by the professionals - I felt like a celebrity!Once hair and makeup were done with me they hurried me across the street to the set for my first scene! Very exciting! I met some really lovely girls and we snapped a quick picture in our costumes!

 Straight after that it was back to wardrobe to get my second outfit and then hair and makeup again! At this point it was around 7:30 - three and a half hours after I'd arrived - and I was starting to get hungry! But all the extras went into the train station and prepared for more filming. 

The train station scenes were crazy! Extras were walking everywhere and it was a constant flurry of activity. I got to know a few of the other extras and everyone was so nice! There were also periods of time when it was only the principal actors being filmed, so we could sit and watch them act which was amazing! So interesting to see such skilled people and try to pick up on what makes them so great. After what seemed like only a few minutes, it was 12:00 and my feet were aching and my stomach was rumbling! Finally they let us break for half an hour to get a nice dinner. Mike and I made sure to get a photo in our 40's costumes before we went back on set!

We kept working on until the wee hours of the morning when they dismissed some of the extras. At 5:00 in the morning I hobbled over to wardrobe with Mike and we returned our costumes and signed out. Mike drove me home (very nice of him!) and I managed to cross paths with Hannah just as she was leaving the apartment! I got into bed as the sun was coming up and fell into a deep sleep...Three hours later I woke up with a terrible cramp in my calf muscle! Oh. My. God. I guess wearing heels for 12 hours straight isn't the best idea haha. It was pretty intense. But eventually it subsided and I fell asleep again. 
The rest of my day was very relaxed! I slept until 1:30 and then spent the afternoon trying to recover from my crazy all-nighter on set. Eventually Han came home and we finally got to tell each other about each of our wonderful experiences! It was kind of surprising how much I missed her after not seeing her for a day and a half! Makes me a bit nervous for when she leaves to go to her college but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! 

--Hannah--
I rocked up on set way early but I was glad not to have to worry about being late to check in. There were only a couple extras there when I arrived - one lady who was super nice and gave me some tips on waitressing (for which I was feeling a little unprepared) and a guy, Nick, who was so cool! He was a regular stand-in so he knew all the crew and he was super friendly and easy to talk to. I ended up spending most of my holding time with him and a fellow waiter, Marshall, who was really nice as well! 

After I got my hair/makeup/wardrobe checked out at base camp, we all drove to location! I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to give away, but it was a really classy restaurant and the set was really professional, definitely the real deal. They were filming two scenes and I actually got a fair bit of screen time in the first one! All day I had been playing over and over in my mind my worst nightmare of having a huge tray of drinks and dropping them everywhere, so I was hugely relieved when they gave me a jug of water to walk around with! I had heaps of crosses, the AD remembered my name, and I spent a lot of time up close to the principle actors - they were so good! It was awesome to just watch them and try to learn as much as I could. I was feeling pretty spesh and I couldn't have hoped for a better second night on set! Watch out for me on season 3!! Ahh it was such a surreal and incredible experience, I'm still on a high from it, and the people I met were all so friendly and supportive and fun! 

I got home around 2:00am which wasn't too bad, except that I had a 7:30 call time for this morning on another set - this time for a Christmas movie! That meant leaving, camera ready, by 6:30! I pushed through the tiredness and had another fun day today. It wasn't tricky work and I was there for 10 hours so I made good money too! I'm ready and excited for a good night's sleep tonight, though, and another day on the same set tomorrow!

Soaking Up the Sun!

On Sunday we had a lazy morning and hung out by the pool in the afternoon, so nice! That night we went out for fro-yo with Emily - on the way we saw heaps of balloons floating off in the sky, so cool - and saw The Wolverine. Hugh Jackman has only gotten better looking since his first appearance as wolverine (over a decade ago!) and he's so cool he made us proud to be Aussies trying to make it in Hollywood.

 Yesterday we went out to Glendale to get the car fixed once and for all! We knew there was a Homegoods nearby, so we decided to go for a walk. We ended up in the most INCREDIBLE shopping area - Americana at Brand! It was like the Disneyland of strip malls; there was jazz music playing from speakers, glorious fountains all over the place, a chandelier strung over a street, and every store we could have hoped for! It was a little dangerous, but we were very responsible and left with just a couple purchases and a Jamba Juice each. 

That night we had a fun girls' night! We went out to an authentic Italian restaurant for dinner and saw The Way Way Back again - just as good the second time. We also said hi to our man Hugh while we were there ;)

Today was our last day before we're working girls (haha just kidding), so we wanted to make it a good one! We got up pretty early, had free Dirty Iced Chai's from Starbucks (thanks MeMe!), and set off to hike Runyon Canyon. It was a great workout and the view of LA was spectacular! The white blur in the background of the second pic is the Hollywood sign! It looked better in person, though, trust us.

We had a quiet night in, getting paperwork and outfits ready, made brownies, and watched Horrible Bosses. Now it's time to get some beauty sleep so we're looking our best for tomorrow!

Acting and Exploring

Yesterday we had another early morning because the acting coach we work with needed us to come in and help out! It was great to catch up with Chambers; so much has happened since we last worked with him! It was also fun to be in more of a mentor role this time around and help out kids in the same position we were in a year ago. We got some great info on how to get extra work, so we'll hopefully be starting that next week - so exciting!

It was a pretty full on day so when we got home we made dinner, watched The Avengers, had cups of tea and shortbread, and passed out for the night.

Today we did a little exploring around Beverly Hills! We walked down Melrose Avenue, this really cool, funky shopping area with vintage stores, lovely cafes and some very tempting window shopping! At one point when we were waiting to cross the street these two really cute guys pulled up at the light and were just being so sweet! They told us our smiles had made their day and that "If I was traffic I'd stop for you." And then they drove off into the distance... Well, up to the next traffic light anyway. It was such a nice little boost, LA life is totally agreeing with us!

Next we went a few streets over to Robertson Boulevard, the (supposed) shopping area of the stars! It was more of a reconnaissance mission than anything, because we really weren't there at the most strategic time, but we're hoping that next time we go we can spot some celebs! It was a really nice area to walk around anyway, and we stopped for a cupcake before heading back to the car.

We went to Ralphs - yet again - and got the ingredients we needed to make nachos - so yummy! We watched Pride and Prejudice while we ate dinner and swooned over the gorgeous Mr. Darcy, *sighhh*. It's been a fun couple days and we have more adventures in store tomorrow!

The Happiest Place on Earth

The two of us were up at the crack of dawn this morning, wide awake and excited to go to DISNEYLAND!! After an amazing effort, we managed to get ourselves showered and ready, pack lunch for in the park, and make a cooked brekkie all in time to leave by 7:00! We filled up with petrol and got on the road. With little traffic, we made it to the park at 8:15, feeling pretty proud of ourselves and ready for a big day. 

We set up our "Annual Passports" - an INCREDIBLE graduation present from Mum and Q, thank you! - and went into California Adventure! We'd decided to save Disneyland itself for our birthday in a couple weeks, so we concentrated our effort on doing everything we wanted to in California Adventure. 

First off, we went and got FastPasses for Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land, then hit up The Little Mermaid, Toy Story Midway Mania, the Ferris Wheel, and Monsters Inc. On the Ferris Wheel we shared a compartment with a friendly woman and her adorable little daughter who squealed and laughed the whole time, so sweet! 

Since we hadn't been very strategic about doing things near each other in one go - and subsequently walked back and forth across the park a few times - we got hungry pretty early and decided to stop for lunch. Our packed lunch of apples and PB&J sandwiches was inexpensive, yummy, and pretty healthy, and it gave us the boost we needed to keep running around.

Next, we went on Soarin' Over California which is one of our faves! We met these two really nice Kiwi boys in line and had a good chat, not envying them the winter they were about to return to. They'd never been on the ride before so we told them all about it and how awesome it is when you get the front row. When we all got up to the front of the line, we were told that two of us would have to go in row one and two in row three, oh no! Since we'd been on before (and undoubtedly would be again soon), and just cause we're awesome (just kidding, although we did feel pretty warm and fuzzy about it), we insisted that the boys take the first row. It was such a lovely ride - even from row three - and had even greater meaning now that we've moved out to Cali. A little teary-eyed afterwards, we bumped into the guys again and they'd loved it too! The whole experience was one of the highlights of the day.

We had an hour to go until our FastPasses for The Tower of Terror became valid, so we went into the Art of Animation building to check it out. It was so cool! We hadn't realized before, but there were all these awesome interactive things to do - like finding out what character you're most like, or acting/singing a part of a movie and hearing your voice blended with the character's in the clip - and a huge room with screens everywhere projecting images and clips from songs in all the Disney classics. We spent ages just sitting and watching the highlights, rediscovering some childhood favourites. Also, we saw the magic mirror from Snow White! Pretty cool...

The Tower of Terror was calling our name, though, so we left Art of Animation and crossed into the Twilight Zone for a bit of an adrenaline rush. After that, we treated ourselves to ice cream at the Crazy Cones in Cars Land, watched a parade, and went on the Tower of Terror again before heading in to see the Aladdin stage show. We got great seats and were really glad to be off our feet. The show starts and before we know it, this gorgeous Aladdin with a great bod and heaps of charisma comes out on stage! He had a serious Darren Criss vibe about him and he totally stole the show! We were very impressed.

Last on our agenda, and the perfect way to finish the day, was returning to Radiator Springs to use our FastPasses. The stand-by time was 180 minutes!! OH my God! Three hours?! We were so thankful we got to head straight to the front. It was such a fun ride and the cherry on top of a wonderful day! We left the park knowing we'd be back soon and already excited for the Disney extravaganza we have planned for our b'day. 

The drive home was long and Han was super tired, but we made it without any issues - and actually dodged, surprisingly easily and safely, a tire that flew off the car in front of us! We had a quick dinner and fell into bed, exhausted in the best possible way after a great day of Disney magic!

Getting Our S**t Together

We are so productive!! The last few days have been extremely busy but so worth it! On Monday we went out to Ikea in Burbank and the drive was so pretty! We had the most magnificent views of the mountains and went past all the film studios; it was one of those "Oh my god, we live in LA" moments.

We spent an absurd amount of time in Ikea but ended up choosing some really lovely things - a really pretty lamp, little purple boxes for storage, and a bookshelf!

Next, it was time for committed effort at Ralph's, the grocery store. We got great deals, healthy food, and points toward making petrol cheaper! It was actually heaps of fun and we made it home exhausted but inspired to eat well and organise our stuff. We also, somehow, made it home without the loaf of bread we had bought... Bit of a mystery...

That night we realised the second amazing perk of our lovely roommates - the first being that Meme works at Starbucks and brings us free coffee! - which was that Emily recently started working at a movie theatre and gets four free tickets every day! So, Chanelle, Emily, and the two of us all went to see The Way Way Back. We cannot recommend it highly enough! It was SUCH a great movie; it made us laugh and it made us cry. It also didn't hurt that the cinema was beautiful! It was so glamorous, we felt like we were at an actual theatre.

It was a late movie but when we got home, probably because of the jet-lag, we weren't tired. We stayed up chatting with Chanelle until past 3:00am about anything and everything. It was a wonderfully ordinary day.

The next day, yesterday, was even more productive! Job number 1) Laundry. Not too difficult! Definitely a milestone, though. We did three loads and had clean underwear again! Yay!

Job number 2) Assemble the bookcase. Quite difficult... We started off slowly, with a not-quite-right screwdriver - but still, it was almost fun, then we got all hot and bothered, and lost patience rapidly from there. We'd had great intentions of taking pics along the way to show the process, but around the hot and bothered point, we stopped with the documentation - so here's the beginning and the final product:

It really wasn't that bad, once we got going, but with two huge jobs done it was time for... A nap? An afternoon by the pool? Nope, job number 3) Walmart. Lucy, overtired and overheated, decided it was time for some more practice behind the wheel. It was terrifying. Like, actually, truly, all-joking-aside, very frightening. But Lucy kept us safe! And it was really more of a scary start (running a very red light) than anything else. Thank god for Walmart. Within a couple minutes, we had found everything we went to buy: clothes hangers, a drying rack, and a shoe rack - the last one there - the EXACT dimensions we needed it to be! Ahh it was so much more exciting than you would expect! We were on a bit of a high, to be honest, and, so as not to kill the happy feeling, Han drove home.

And by home, we mean Ralph's... For the bread that we left behind the day before! They were so nice and gave it to us free of charge when we explained what had happened. After that we really did go home and had yummy salads for dinner (made by Luce), organised all our stuff (mostly done by Han), and watched the Bachelorette in a perfectly tidy room with tea and shortbread for dessert.

Today was a bit of a fizzer as far as getting errands done goes - we didn't accomplish what we set out to at CVS, Bank of America, or Rite Aid - but we DID get a random assortment of things at Ralph's: a bottle of water, 2 punnets of strawberries, glue, milk, and a USB. We also sorted out our Disneyland passes!! YAY! So, uhhh, guess what we're doing tomorrow?!

We had another night out to the movies and saw Girl Most Likely - really funny! Kristen Wiig was hilarious and Darren Criss was so sexy! It was just what we felt like - although if we were recommending one over the other, The Way Way Back was still the winner.

Since getting back we've been chatting away and it's taken so long to write this post! We want to get straight to sleep, though, so we have loads of energy to wake up early and enjoy the day tomorrow! Ahh, SO EXCITED!! Oh, and p.s. our blog reached 2000 pageviews! A bit of an achievement - thanks to everyone who's reading it, we're having such a fun time documenting everything :)

Night!

A Perfect End to a Perfect Trip!

Wow! We've had a busy few days with a lot to catch up on! On Thursday we went to the Canberra zoo and aquarium which was so much fun and very exciting!

We were there early and almost all of the animals were being interesting - which is a first in our zoo-going experience. We saw two gay lions getting it on (also a first...), a sun bear playing and trying to scratch an itch that it couldn't quite reach, King Julien from Madagascar, a big brown bear like chewy awwwww, and a lot of Aussie wildlife: dingos, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, and emus.

Will recently decided that chameleons, or "camouflage lizards," are his favourite animals. He spent the whole time in the aquarium pointing out the animals blending in, and told us: "I'm a pretty good camouflage spotter." 

We went to the zoo sausage sizzle and had the classic Aussie sausage sangers we've missed so much! Yum!

We had a quiet evening at home and delish salmon risotto for dinner.

Next day we had one very last surprise in store for grandpa... We'd secretly organised with grandma to come over for lunch and the surprise went perfectly! We saw uncle Matt too while we were over and it was lovely to catch up with all of them.

We had driven to their place and on the way back we got a little turned around, yikes! We went the wrong way and were trying to turn around when we found ourselves in the left lane (good) of two left lanes of oncoming traffic (eek! Not good!). Han did a quick reverse manoeuvre and got us back on track but it was slightly terrifying... 

When we got home Phe came over for one last visit. Eddie suggested that we show Phe the finished dance as a dress rehearsal before we perform for the whole fam on Saturday. Mid way through "I Would" by 1D, though, Eddie had a bit of a mishap!

It really was hilarious! Once we knew Ed wasn't hurt we all had a bit of a laugh and had another (more successful) crack at the dance. So here it is, the long awaited, umm, masterpiece...

--- eeeek! Just kidding! It won't upload right now so we'll try again later ---

The next day was Saturday, our last full day in Aus! We got up early to watch the kiddies at their swimming lessons - they did SO well and were absolutely adorable!

After that we went out for a coffee with our childhood friend Nick. It was so great to see him after about 8 years! We've all grown up but none of us have really changed all that much.

We had a lot to catch up on though, and it was awesome to hear all about Nick! He'd just come back from field training with ADFA, so he was considerably more badass than he was the last time we saw him!

Nick dropped us home in time to help get ready for a big Sunday roast with the whole fam. Lucy helped Eddie and Will ice/decorate cupcakes - this is the pose Han got when she asked for "nonchalant."

The lunch was perfect and it was great to catch up with the fam! Sue also brought a tin of our favourite shortbread over for us to take back to LA, so sweet of her! We've already started on it since getting back and it's seriously helping with the homesickness for Aus.

We got absolutely destroyed in the cricket that night, which was entirely depressing, and watched some of the Tour de France before packing our bags and going to sleep.

Yesterday - if it even counts as yesterday, so confusing - we had a yummy breakfast, watched Han's ballet recital dvd, and did early birthday prezzies before heading to the airport. We had a bittersweet goodbye, sad to leave after such a lovely visit but excited to head back to LA. Part of our b'day present was a countdown timer to our Chrissy holiday in Thailand, only 150 days until we see each other again!

The flight was entirely unpleasant :( neither of us slept and a baby a few seats away cried for all but, I don't know, about two hours, ugh. We made it, though, and knew Ollie and Wyatt would be at LAX to pick us up... They weren't. Haha we gave them a wake up call and they left soon after to come get us.

We made it back to the apartment and on the top of our to do list was catching up on The Bachelorette! Tonight is the second last episode and we're glad to be caught up! We're pretty into it...

We have a big day of unpacking, errands, grocery shopping, and laundry planned for today, so we'd best be off! It feels great to be back in sunny LA, the city of angels.