Cruisin' for a Burnin'

These last few days have been so, so cruisey. We've gone to the park, walked to Ralph's, gotten boba, become absolutely hooked of House of Cards, Han's cleaned the apartment and worked out, and Luce has cooked/baked some delicious food! Also, Luce's come down with a pretty bad cold so we figured that was a sign to go easy on ourselves! We haven't entirely known what to do with all this down-time but it's been a really lovely break - especially because the next few weeks are going to be extremely busy (in the most fun way possible, so no complaints!). We've run some errands too and worked on various lines and ideas for scenes and plays going on. We also submitted ourselves today for an audition so we'll see if we get asked in! The coolest piece of news is that, we found out yesterday, we're officially going to be performing in the HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL in June!!! Ahhh SO EXCITING!!!!! We're sure the time until then will fly by too!

The other highlights of the week have been:

1) A wonderful girls' night on Tuesday with Sullivan! She came over and we chatted, ate cookies, and watched an adorable chick flick :)

2) Yesterday the weather was AMAZING so we went to the beach! 

We laid out, read our books, and dipped our toes in the freezing cold ocean! On the way back, we opted for the scenic route and it was such a stunning drive! Winding through mountains and cute little shops and homes, so sweet! And the view was incredible!!

When we got home, though, we realized that - true Hannah and Lucy style - we'd both been fried to a crisp at the beach!!!

Hahahah it was pretty freakin hilarious, we couldn't believe it! Classic. We're doing better today though and now we've just got a head start on that LA tan! 

Today's shaping up to be another quiet, errands day. We're planning on going to see the LACC one act plays tonight, which should be a blast! We've been called in to help out at Chambers' bootcamp tomorrow, so we're finishing the week strong and we'll be all rested up and ready to go for this jam-packed month ahead! 

Another Opening, Another Show!

The shows this weekend went SO WELL!!! YAAAAYYY!! We couldn't be happier; all four shows sold out, we did our very best each time in our roles, we bonded heaps more with the amazing cast, and our wonderful friends and family came and supported us! Perfect!

Mum and Q came to our first show on Saturday and gave us each a beautiful bouquet of flowers (which are now on our table in a drink bottle and a travel mug, the best we could come up with far vases haha).

Before we knew it, we were shouting out "Great green gobs of greasy grimey gopher guts, and I forgot my spoooon!" And the first show was done! We'd officially made our professional, Hollywood debut!!! We had about half an hour off before the next show, so the gang all ran to subway for lunch and we were back at it! The second audience was even more responsive than the first! It also included JT who came and watched the show, so sweet! We finished the day feeling proud, content, and excited for Sunday! 

We went home, exhausted, and flopped on the couch to FINISH True Blood. Like, the whole show. 6 seasons. Hahaha we couldn't believe we'd watched so much but we're already looking forward to the 7th and final season! 

Sunday, yesterday, we woke up extra early to allow for daylight savings time AND the LA Marathon (which was between our apartment and the theatre). We have ourselves an hour extra to get to the show - and it's a good thing we did!!! We spent 45 minutes trying to battle our way around the marathon, getting a liiiittle nervous, until we finally made it onto Santa Monica Blvd with a straight shot to the theatre! We had our fingers crossed for a parking spot and we got lucky - we actually parked in the same spot as the day before, in front of the same car. We made it EXACTLY on time, down to the minute!! So crazy. We ran inside, warmed up, and we were good to go! The first show of the day went really well on the actors' side of things (we thought) but even though it was a full house, the audience was dead! You could've heard a pin drop! The second and final audience made up for it though, they were roaring with laughter!!! It was SUCH a great last show (well, last for now! We're performing at another venue in June!!!) and we all had an absolute blast!

We went home for a bit after the show then headed to our friend Sullivan's apartment for a little cast party! It was great fun and her place is beautiful! We spent a while in the hottub and then went to the home theatre they have in their building and watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We also ate SO MUCH amazing snack food, chatted non-stop, and laughed a ton. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the incredibly successful weekend of shows! 

The Big Lead-Up!!!

Ahh!! Our FIRST EVER professional show goes up TOMORROW!! Wooo! 

The last few days we've hardly been able to think about anything else! Getting our bios prepared, pestering everyone we know to come see it, remembering our blocking and lines; we've had a lot on our plates! 

Tuesday was a quiet day though. Our big outing was to IHOP at 9:00 at night after Han saw on facebook that it was national pancake day! (aka get a free stack of pancakes day) 

We each devoured an absolutely amazing stack of buttermilk pancake heaven, so good!

On Wednesday we had a big rehearsal to refresh our scenes. It was great to be back into it and we were happy to realize we had everything under control. It was all very surreal - it still sort of felt like Chambers' bootcamp! Wednesday was also exciting because Han went out on a date! Her first ever blind date at a cute cafe called Bricks and Scones and it was really fun and not nearly as intimidating as she'd feared haha.

Yesterday we set Greasy Grimey Gopher Guts aside, though, because Luce was performing her autodrama for the whole LACC theatre academy in TA (the class set aside for students to perform the best pieces from the previous semester). One really exciting thing was that it meant Han finally got the chance to see it! It was the first time Luce had been back since leaving, very strange. It was a bizarre mix of familiarity and separateness. Everyone welcomed Luce with open arms though! They were all so sweet and gracious - even grateful - about Lucy coming back to perform and it was great to see everyone/introduce people to Han. The performance went amazingly and it felt great to get the chance to perform on the big stage. Han was super proud and thought Luce did a rockin job, it was really very moving.. We said goodbye to the LACC crowd and headed home. Our binge watching of True Blood hasn't slowed and we're now on the last season!! Ahh! We had a pretty early night though in preparation for a big day today!

Today was tech/dress rehearsal for the show!!! Yeeeee!! It went so, so well and we're feeling really confident for tomorrow! The Lounge Theatre is super cool and it was such a buzz to be all back together again AND in the actual theatre we're performing in; it all suddenly seemed very real! Rehearsal couldn't have gone better and we laughed our heads off together, on stage and off, all day long!

We're extremely excited and a liiiittle nervous for tomorrow, but mostly we're feeling so lucky to be a part of such a fun, exciting show! Send good vibes and we'll update after we've made our Hollywood debut!

A Magical Couple Days!

We've had the most lovely visit with Ali! Though nothing could top the Harry Styles encounter, the last three days were completely wonderful! 

On Saturday we had a bit of a sleep in (still recovering from the night before) and made smoothies for brekky. It was absolutely pouring with rain all morning but that didn't stop us from going out and having fun! We went out for a walk down Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood which is one of the cutest streets ever with heaps of boutique stores and cafés. We looked at some thrift/antique stores, an old school makeup place with extremely glamorous merch, an INCREDIBLE candy shop that stocked our Aussie faves, and a beautiful vintage pinup dress store. 

We sheltered from the rain in one of NoHo's yummiest (and busiest!) cafés: Porto's. After sipping cappucinos and devouring a strawberry and cream cheese croissant, we went out to brave the rain for a couple more shops.

One of the last places we went was a true treasure trove of an antique store. Wow! It was a blast from the past in there! We found SO many cute things we liked for our apartment - tablecloths, cookie tins, etc - but ended up settling on a beautiful pair of hand painted wooden candlesticks with candles to match, so pretty! 

We went home after that, though, and curled up on the couch with cups of tea to watch What Maisie Knew. We gushed over Alexander Skarsgard, had a yummy salmon dinner and cupcakes for dessert, then settled in for another flick!

Our last movie was a Marilyn Monroe classic: How to Marry a Millionaire. It was so good! We've watched the most well-rounded and completely satisfying collection of movies with Ali - Argo, Pride and Prejudice, What Maisie Knew, and How to Marry a Millionaire!

Sunday was our long-awaited Disney day!!! YAY! We got up super early, had a HUGE cooked breakfast and packed snacks to take with, then hit the road! We made it to Disney by 8:30 and, probably because there'd been so much rain the last couple days, it was so quiet! But not too quiet, the perfect amount. We went on absolutely EVERYTHING we wanted to; Ali definitely got the whole Disney experience - and in only one day! Crazy! 

(on right: us crammed into what was really meant to be a two-seater hahah)

We felt so honored/lucky to be able to show her around for her very first trip. There were a few definite standout moments, though:

1) Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ended with us getting hit by a train then going to HELL! Umm what?! Absolutely terrifying.

2) Speaking of terrifying, Ali has quite a strong fear of characters dressed up with the full heads on (aka most of the characters in Disney) so when we got front seats for the parade there were some definite mixed emotions..

The genie was particularly terrifying. Also, we got ambushed at one point and Ali instinctively RAN from Mickey, Donald, and the gang hahaha.

3) The Jedi training academy was the cutest thing EVER. One little boy really fought off Darth Vadar like his life depended on it.

4) In the middle of the day it started bucketing down rain!! We all threw Lucy's scarf over our heads and, in tandem, ran for cover! We found refuge in the Tiki Room and the irony of this moment when we were waiting for the show to let in was too much to handle hahaha

5) We met the princesses! We asked them to do silly/ugly faces with us hahaha hysterical! Ali made up this stellar story about how it's a tradition because the first time she met a princess she accidentally made a funny face. Meet our friend Ping!

Ariel went for a cute fishy face:

Aaaand Cinderella flat out refused! But really, who looks like the idiot in this photo now? 

6) The most magical moment was when, after a delish fried chicken dinner, we bumped into a guy we'd seen earlier at the restaurant and he gave us each a beautiful red rose! So sweet!! 

The best part was, though, that after that we each gave our roses away to little girls dressed up as princesses. Each time the dialogue went exactly the same way:

- "Excuse me, are you a princess?"

- "Yeah..!"

- "Would you like a rose?"

*eyes light up, huge smile, huge nod* 

- "Yes please!!!"

So freakin cute!! AND in a true stroke of magic, the mum of little girl Hannah gave her rose to mentioned afterwards that it was her birthday! So, so special.

We ended the night with Indiana Jones and Fantasmic and headed to Mum and Q's to watch the Oscars! We'd avoided all social media all afternoon and, miraculously, hadn't had anything spoiled when we started watching! We sat down with ice cream and got drinks for Ellen's delightfully funny hosting, lovely acceptance speeches, gorgeous gowns, the world's best selfie, and a couple great messages from winners promoting equality. We were getting down to the wire, with only the Best Actor/Actress, Director, and Picture to go when... NOOOO! Damn you Time Warner Cable!!! The recording ended, so sad! Hahaha kinda funny too.. We looked them up online, though, and although Matthew McConaughey gave the least likable speech in the history of the Osacrs aaaand we were really rooting for Leo, we were thrilled for all the winners!

Yesterday we had a very chill morning in Corona until... Gregory called letting us know we had an audition!! Yay! Our first professional audition! Buuut it was in just a couple hours! Gaahh!! We rallied and ended up driving straight to the casting studio in Beverly Hills. The audition went really well!! Yeeee! It was very low key, we didn't have to read sides, just answer some questions about ourselves and tell an embarrassing story. We both felt great about it and, whether we get the roles or not, it was a pretty huge milestone! Once the audition was finished, we went to an amazing and super cheap sushi place for a celebratory dinner with Ali! After cramming in as much tempura shrimp, teriyaki chicken, and California roll as we could handle and a phenomenal dessert of tempura ice cream and ginger creme brûlée, it was time to drop Ali back to her friend Jen's house. It was so sad to say goodbye, but we know we'll pick up right where we left off next time we see each other. These last few days really have shown us that Ali's one of those friends who's really more like family; we love her to pieces and we have SO many wonderful memories of our time together!

That time we met Harry Styles..!

We went to the Groundlings theatre to see the improv show there and it was SO hilarious!! We loved every minute, and our cheeks hurt from smiling/laughing so much! 

As we were walking to the car, we walked by a tall, thin, cute guy with his hood up and head down... Internally Luce thought "Is that Harry Styles?! It can't be.. He's completely alone with no fans, entourage, or even his 1D pals!" Then Ali saw him and immediately said:"Hi!"

Harry: "Hi"

Ali: "You are awesome!"

Lucy: "Have a great night!"

Ali: " Oh my god!"

Lucy: " You are really great!"

The shock of what just happened almost made us crumple onto the rain-soaked pavement! Hannah and Luce thanked God that Ali said something - especially because until she did, Han was completely oblivious haha. After the shock wore off a bit we all regretted that we didn't take a photo with him.. So we got in the car and, feeling a bit stalker-y, drove up Melrose Ave in the direction he had been walking.. We saw him, (ahh!) parked a bit ahead of him, and then tried to casually walk back towards him..! But then, just as we were about to reach him, he crossed to the other side of the road! Nooo! We (Ali mainly) called out and asked him to take a pic with us - "please can we take a picture with you?" "Please?!" And he heard us and stopped walking! OMG! We tried to cross the street but there were cars zooming by, eeek! He put his hand out, basically telling us not to risk our lives crossing the road, and he started to step out into traffic! What a sweetheart/gentleman! We yelled things like "Please don't die for us!" "Oh my god be careful!" etc. After he crossed the road we were still on the street between two parked cars and amongst all of our "thank you's" and Ali's "My campers love you!" (To which he replied "Your what?") he very kindly herded us off the slightly dangerous road and introduced himself!!

Harry said "Hi, I'm Harry," shook each of our hands, and stared into our souls with his beautiful green eyes as we introduced ourselves! AH! Han (in a strange moment of clarity) said "G'day" as he shook her hand to let him know we were Aussies. That, to all of our surprise, ended up being pretty much all she said!! With Han completely speechless and star-struck, Luce and Ali did most of the talking after that!

After the wonderful hand-shaking business was over, we took pictures with him! He had his arms around Luce's shoulder and Han's waist, practically hugging us! Ahhhhh! Look at that skin-to-skin contact!!!

We also said a ton of embarrassing things, like:

Ali: "Of your songs that I've heard, I liked them!"

Lucy: "I really love you!!! But not in a creepy way, in a normal way - like, it's a normal amount of love."

Ali: " Are you the Lead singer?"

(To which he replied, "no, we all are")

Hahaha oh my goodness... 

Then Ali asked if Harry would sign a card for her friend's birthday and as it took her what felt like forever to find a pen, two other kind of sketchy/thuggish-looking people started walking towards us and Harry... We all went into protective-mode and made a little circle around Harry - we would've felt bad if he suddenly had a bunch of people crowding him after he was so nice to stop and talk to us!

Ali finally found her pen and Harry wrote a lovely message on her card. We said that it was nice to meet him, thanked him for stopping and talking to us, and told him to have a nice night and he was gone! Wow. What a lovely guy! We were honestly in shock of how kind he was to take time to meet us and talk to us! And we just couldn't believe how lucky we were to run into him walking alone, not busy, with no one else around to mob him haha it was just too perfect to be true! We spent the rest of the night on a cloud and were jittery and adrenaline-filled for a couple hours afterwards. SO surreal, wow!! Ahh we love LA!!!

Exploring LA!

This week has been much more relaxed - which was strange after the busy, turbulent few weeks preceding it! It's been nice, though, and we're finding time for some things like reading for pleasure and going on walks that we haven't really done much of in the last, well, few years! 

Monday through Wednesday we walked to the local library and checked it out, walked to Macy's nearby because Luce was out of makeup, went to the Samuel French Bookstore and read plays for hours, had plans to go to a workshop with Central Casting but had to bail when we turned up almost an hour early to find a line around the block! We also, of course, made some very yummy brekkys and dinners, had boba, and went out to brunch at a great cafe called Crave with JT!

We've got a couple little projects we're working on - the main one being the show with Chambers! We've written bios, done publicity, and brushed up on our lines; we're looking forward to rehearsals starting back up this week!

We're also trying to get a group together to work on a couple plays to push ourselves and keep on our toes.

The real highlight of the week though, far and away, has been seeing our wonderful friend Ali!! Ahh! We're SO lucky she's visiting us and couldn't be happier showing her around our city!

We met up yesterday in Santa Monica and after a hilariously long run into a huge group hug on the street, we strolled around, looking into shops and taking in the cool, beachy vibes. We walked down to the pier too and it was just so surreal to be seeing each other on the opposite side of the country!

We came back to our apartment, proudly gave Ali the tour (which didn't take too long haha but she gushed exactly as we'd hoped), watched Argo for the first time, had a delish dinner of orzo pasta salad, grilled chicken, and feta cheese, and stayed up chatting till 1 in the morning! Absolutely perfect! 

Today we slept in a bit because it was absolutely POURING with rain! And in LA, that's a big deal. When we got up we made our sweet breakfast quesadillas (whole-wheat tortillas with peanut butter, cocoa almond butter, strawberries, and bananas) and got ready for a day of exploration - rain or shine! 

We spent the day in Downtown LA, which the two of us really haven't explored much, and we found some absolute gems! First we went to the LA Central Library and it was incredible! So beautiful and the absolutely perfect place to be on a rainy day. Han got a library card and checked out a book and we spent almost an hour browsing and looking at the lovely artwork they have on display, very cool!

For lunch we took Ali to Bronzed Aussie to try our favourite foods from home! After gorging ourselves on the finest meat pies, caramel slice, custard tarts, and lamingtons LA has to offer, we headed off to our last activity for the day: a thrift shop crawl! We started on Melrose Ave, one of the coolest streets in LA, and ended up spending hours in the very first shop we found! It was SO COOL! Great clothes and great prices! Luce made out like a bandit and got so many nice things - including  her dress for Ehren and Nadine's winter wedding in Austria - and Han found two really pretty dresses too that she just couldn't resist! 

We went it to two more stores after that and headed home - via Ralph's to pick up ingredients for cupcakes! 

Luce and Ali are baking up a storm and when the cupcakes are in the oven we're going to watch Pride and Prejudice - which Ali has never seen! We've also got tickets to the Groundlings improv show tonight at 10:00 which is another awesome new experience we can't wait for! It's been the most PERFECT day and we're so, so happy to have Ali here with us.

Success and Taxes... Wait, what?

Dinner at The Macaroni Grill was great! So nice to celebrate such a big achievement with Mum and Q.

We also looooved having proper TV and caught a little more of the Olympics, yay! 

Saturday morning we had yummy waffles - mum's trying to fatten us up haha but no complaints from us! - watched TV, did laundry, chilled out. Han had her last day of filming at Chapman too, but wasn't called till 2:00 which was very civilized.

-- Han --

Filming was heaps of fun! I had a couple lines in the scene and it was nice to see everybody again from last weekend. At the end of the night we all did a dance that'll play in the credits and it was just so silly and fun! I had a really lovely time. Afterwards, I popped over to the Chapman Theatre because it was intermission of the show and all my friends were there watching or on crews!! It was SO great to see everyone, I've missed them all more than I realized.. JT was there too, so it was a real reunion! When intermission ended I was nowhere near ready to say goodbye, so I snuck into the show and watched the second act! It was very strange, Classical Japanese theatre, but quite powerful and mesmerizing to watch. I hung out a little afterwards too then headed back to Mum and Q's for the night.

-- Luce --

While Han was at Chapman I had a very relaxing day! I caught up on some tv shows, ate a lot of food, and just hung out with Mum and Q. Then that night, on a bit of an impulse, the three of us went out to see Gravity and it was so amazing! I was so glad I could see it in 3D at the movies because it was such an immersive experience! Gotta love Sandra Bullock too - so freakin' talented :) then after the movie we went back to Mum & Q's and Han got back shortly after us..!

On Sunday we headed back to LA to do some adult/actressy things! First on the list: filing our tax returns. Woahh!!! We're really adults now! It was pretty easy - borderline enjoyable - and for some reason a very cool milestone. We also worked on our personal websites (we'll post links on the blog when they're done) and watched some more True Blood - on the actual TV because Q spiffed up Han's computer and now it does all sorts of awesome stuff INCLUDING cooperate with the HDMI cable!! This was more exciting than it sounds, we're really stoked about it. 

Today we're getting down to business: memorizing lines, organizing rehearsals, reading plays, and working on audition submissions! Look out day, you're going to be productive whether ya like it or not!