May 15th-May 30th - Test Shoot, Birthdays & Volunteering!

Tuesday I took the train back to the city and then from Penn Station I ran right to work. That night Rachel Ray came in again which was nice to see that she really enjoyed dining with us.

The next day I had set up a test shoot with a photographer that I met at work named Philippe Reynaud who was a model for years and is now mainly on the other side of the camera. During the day I got some wardrobe together and blow-dried and straightened my hair to make it easier for the hair stylist. I arrived at the studio and when I walked in I was shocked. The studio was huge and so beautiful and on top of that there was a wardrobe room filled with high fashion clothes and a rack of shoes!

He could not find a makeup artist available for the shoot so I did my own at the makeup station. Afterwards the hair stylist asked if my hair was naturally wavy and curly, which it is, and it turned out that he wanted it wavy so we wet my hair for the first look and diffused it for the next look. While he was working on my hair I got to talk to Philippe's girlfriend Karli Karissa who is gorgeous and has been modeling for years.

In total we did about five to six looks and they varied a lot. I have not seen the images yet but the feel was some were simple yet confident and others were very cool and a bit funkier. That was very nice of Philippe and his crew to do the shoot and he offered to work together again so we will see!

The shoot went until after midnight and I had work at 7:30am the next morning but I did not mind at all. Friday was my mother agent Chantale Nadeau's birthday, yay Happy Birthday! I worked during the day and we had actress Jennifer Tilly whose voice is Bonnie on Family Guy join us as well as actor Christopher Plummer again who is so nice, this time smiled and gave me a nice pat on the shoulder when leaving. The next day when I was working I saw Uma Thurman and her family leaving the restaurant, I did not even know she was dining with us because she arrived before I began working.

  

May 21st was my kitty Cookie Dough's 15th Birthday!! I remember the day my kitty Sasha, who I miss dearly and is always in my heart, gave birth to Cookie Dough and ever since she has been a part of so much of my life and is always there for me. Growing up as an only child Cookie Dough is literally like a sibling to me and my family and I feel so blessed to have her. I wish that she could live with me in the city but I know that she would not be as happy as if she were home so I want to do what is best for her. Happy Birthday to the most beautiful and sweet kitty on this earth, I love you so much!

Tuesday I had off from work so I went around the city shopping to get Dennise presents her birthday as well as look for a dress to wear to attend Miss USA 2012. I found a cute outfit for Dennise at H&M but I went to several stores to find a dress and they either did not have my size or were too pricey. As soon as I got back to the apartment I ordered three dresses online and hoped that they would come before I left the city!

Each month my work, Maialino, sends food to the hospice patients at the Beth Israel Medical Center and they find volunteers to bring and serve the food for an evening. I have been wanting to volunteer but I was working or had conflicts until this time I was free! A co-worker Carrie and I brought food to the center and went to each room and took orders of everyone and their families. There were some rooms that could only have clear liquids and I saw some people in conditions that I have not seen before. In one room there was a woman who was 104 years old which I thought was very cool. Overall it was such a great experience and I was so glad to be able to go and have a smile on my face and show them that people are here who care and want to make their lives better. It was so great to see them enjoying the food and apple pie dessert!

Afterwards Ritz asked if I wanted to meet up so we ate at Angelica Kitchen which is a great vegan restaurant and got to catch up. Then she told me about a place called Veniero's Italian bakery that has great desserts so we went there and got iced cappuccinos with chocolate gelato and we shared a slice of tiramisu. It was so delicious I want to go back and try more sweets! It was very nice talking with Ritz, she is always fun to be around!

The next morning I got an e-mail from my agency in Singapore saying that they wanted to submit me for a very well paying job to be on the packaging for soap. They needed me to send digitals of me posing just like a picture the client provided. I had to run to work but I told them that I would send them as soon as I got home.

That day at work we had Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield come in to have a lunch meeting with someone about The Amazing Spider-Man! I really like Emma Stone she is beautiful and seems nice. I did not know that her and Andrew were dating (not up to date on my celebrity gossip) but I figured it out when I saw them leave holding hands.

 

After work I rushed to the apartment and had Sarah (thanks again roomie!) take pictures on my phone of me just like the example picture and I sent them to the booker. The booker heard back from the client saying that I was shortlisted which was exciting! Even though I was one of two chosen for Phantom I knew that the client was looking at agencies in Thailand, Hong Kong and all over.

That weekend on Sunday the 27th Dennise and I decided to go out to eat and it turned out being an early birthday celebration since our birthdays are both on June 2nd! Dennise came home with Happy Birthday balloons and she curled my hair for fun. We walked down through East Village and found a cute place to eat outside. It was a Mexican restaurant and we ordered a few small dishes which were great. One of Dennise's friends joined us and he surprised us by telling the waiter it was our birthdays and when our desserts came out they had candles in them! We had such a good time together :)

Monday was Memorial Day which is a great day to remind us to be thankful for the people who sacrificed their lives to serve and protect our country even though we are thankful every day. It was a beautiful day outside so I laid on the lawn in the sun and was nice to relax.

On the 30th I had a volunteer orientation for Gilda's Club that I had been waiting a couple of months to attend. The meeting went very well, it was great to learn even more about how Gilda's Club helps people living with cancer by providing so many great programs and activities! It is such a great community of people with all different reasons for being there but with the same purpose of having social and emotional support. I am excited to be able to volunteer for them in any way that they need me to.

Later that night I stayed up to watch the Miss USA 2012 Preliminary Competition! I was so excited to be going to Las Vegas to see the Miss USA 2012 live telecast but I could not make it there earlier for the preliminaries so I was glad that I could watch the show online! The contestants were all beautiful and I loved seeing the different gowns. It was exciting to see a preview of what was in-store for the final show!