My Acting Debut and All Things LA

This week has been hectic but fun.  Cole finished filming on Tuesday and now has seven days hiatus until next Wednesday, when he's back on set to film his LAST episode!  It will be bittersweet for him because he has gotten so close to the cast and crew but I can see that "itch" in him to move on.

So on Thursday, Cole got invited to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios.  Why anyone wants to pay someone to scare them is beyond me but he went and had a blast!

They look cool here but this was taken right before some dude with a hatchet and a chain saw started chasing them!

While Cole was shortening his life span, I opted for a quieter evening.  My friend Michelle had asked me if I would be able to sit on set with her daughter Brooke while she took her son Brayden to an audition.  A couple of hours and no big deal was what she promised.  However, unbeknownst to either of us was the fact that the film crew was short on "background" people and when I arrived, the Director decided that I would make the perfect party person behind the main actors.  Brooke gleefully volunteered me and after I promised to come back and sit on her, I obliged and was ushered on to set.

I only have three words to describe my experience...NO THANK YOU AND NOT IN A MILLION JILLION YEARS (ok, that's more than three but I needed to get my point across!!!).  Seriously, I could NEVER be an actor.  "Stand here" he said, "and when I yell for the background, walk over here, get a plate and go stand by those people.  Talk but don't make any noise and don't eat the food.  It's a prop."  Uh, excuse me, I don't know how to walk without tripping, how to get food without eating it and certainly don't have a clue as to how to talk without making noise!!!  FIVE hours later we were released from set!  Within that five hours, Michelle returned from the audition and she, too was ushered on set as an extra.  Together, we "pretended" to talk, eat and have a good time but what we really did was snicker, try not to look at the camera and simultaneously agree that we could never be actors!  What a hoot.  I had ridden my bike to set but since we left at 10:00pm, Michelle and I wedged my bike into the back of her Toyota Camry and "tied" the trunk down and headed to our apartment.  Love, love, love that we never have a dull moment hanging with our friends.

Yep, the rednecks done come to LA!

Another year in LA for Halloween and I was surprised that Cole decided not to dress up; I really think if Spencer and Brad had been out here with us, he would have gotten into the Halloween spirit.  But as it was, we decided to do what we have done for the past three years and have dinner with Michelle and the kids and then pop over to Toluca Lake for some trick-or-treating through a neighborhood that goes ALL OUT for Halloween.  Honestly, I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.  You know they are serious about this "holiday" when they hire actors to play zombies in their makeshift graveyard on their lawn or hire 15 to 20 dancers who can deliver the choreography dance version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" perfectly!  Amazing.

Brooke was a Roman goddess, Brayden was a knight and Cole and Nate were there to keep up with the kids while Michelle, Jason and I took in all the sights.  I knew teenagers were good for something. ;)

Brayden could ask Cole to jump off a bridge and Cole would oblige, so when Brayden wanted Cole to sit in our "third" seat, Cole was happy to fold his fix-foot frame in half.  What cuties!

While most people look forward to sleeping in on Saturday, Cole and I were out the door by 7:45am and headed to Newport Beach.  What could bring us out so early on a Saturday?  Lamborghini's of course!  The first Saturday of each month, the Lambo dealership in N.B. has coffee and croissants and owner's of Lambo's, Ferrari's, Audi R8's, Porsche and Fisker all congregate to show off their wheels and talk all things cars.  I was in awe!

Cole's dream car at only $400K.

I could totally see us driving this from LA to Arkansas and screaming down the highway at 180mph in the desert!  The gas mileage would suck but we would certainly make it home in record time!

This one was a "steal" at only $243,000.  Ahhh.

After we finally pulled ourselves away from the amazing cars, we headed to Seal Beach.  It's called "Seal" Beach because of the sea lions.  Which were supposed to be out and sunning themselves.  Where we could see them.  All I saw was this.

Evil.

No sea lions to be seen, but we had a fabulous walk on the beach

Forget the outrageously expensive cars, I want a beach cottage with this view.

"But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment."

~1 Timothy 6:17