Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

What a blast this weekend was! As if the SoBro CrossFit Bronx Brewery Competition on Saturday wasn't enough, today I got to attend my first New York baseball game!

We had tickets for the afternoon Mets game against the Reds. The surprise though, was that because the game the day before had been rained out, we got to see a double header!




The game from the day before went to 13 innings! The Mets won 2 to 1. 

Our gorgeous view of Citi Field!

The second game was a huge win for the Mets, with a 7 to 2 win, and a record for Steven Matz! He became the first MLB pitcher to record four RBIs (runs batted in) in a debut! His parents were there and so proud! What a fun moment to witness!

Derek, Josh, myself, Alan, Amanda, and Jan!
Citi Field through the afternoon, evening, rain, and during Steve Miller!

I attended the game with some of my favorite CrossFit Queens friends. We had such a blast through the rain and sun! 

Steve Miller Band! Is this real life!?

Then, as if a double header wasn't enough, the Steve Miller Band performed! The Joker, Abracadabra, Jet Airliner, Keep On Rockin' Me Baby... So many hits and he still sounds incredible!

I'm so grateful to have such wonderful, adventurous, dear people in my life. Life could never be dull with these humans!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Meghan

Remembering the Reason

Happy Memorial Day!

I don't have much to share with you today other than an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I am so grateful for all the men and women who have fought for my freedom so I could experience gorgeous days like today. I was so lucky to be in the sunshine in New York City with beautiful people from everywhere in my life. If you had told I would end up surrounded by these people, I never would have believed you.

Sending so much love to our military today, thank you for all that you do!

CrossFit (Or How I Joined a Cult)

One day after being frustrated from not seeing any progress from my gym time, I called my best friend. "Joooosh! I'm just so frustrated because it feels like I'm doing all of this work with no visible progress." To which Josh simply said...

"CrossFit."

Now, I know you're skeptical. I was too. Perhaps even more than most considering my dance background, but Josh reassured me. "Just try it."

Famous. Last. Words.

I stood up, brushed myself off, and dove in head first.

I was SO nervous about my first CrossFit class- I have no upper body strength! How am I going to lift barbells and do pull ups? As a competitive person, I was prepared to fight to the finish, but I had no idea what that entailed.

My first class was amazing. I had never felt so good after a workout. The box (CrossFit gyms are called boxes) was so welcoming and so helpful. Everyone wanted to do the work, no one was slacking off, and while it was competitive, everyone was so supportive of one another. I wasn't an individual at the gym anymore, I was part of a team.

Now, I clearly waited to post this, unsure if my initial reaction to CrossFit was just a rush of endorphins. But now, a month later, I can honestly say that I have never enjoyed working out more in my life! Ready to see some #gainz?

The difference for me was truly made when I woke up one morning and desired to be strong, not skinny. Fight for strong!



Stay humble,
hustle hard,
Meghan

Symbiotic Relationships with Manhattan (part three)

They say that comedy comes in threes. They say bad luck comes in threes.

I don't know who decided that things should come in threes, but I really would have preferred they chose a lower number!

It was a long week, as I'm sure you could tell, and I was exhausted. The subway is known for putting people to sleep (Check out this hilarious blog!) and I was barely keeping my eyes open. I was reading a book, but this was my normal commute. The commute I make every single day, sometimes multiple times.
When I got on the train, I had my iPhone. When I got off, it was gone.

Now, I'm not saying that my phone is always in my hand, but it's never too far from me. Ask any of my friends, if I don't respond to you right away I'm either sleeping, on the train, or dead.

I went up to the last stop hoping to catch my train and see if my phone was still on it, no luck. No one had dropped it off at any of the following stations either. Someone pick pocketed my iPhone!

It truly isn't until something like this happens that we realize how connected we are to our devices. My cell phone is my email, book, calendar, camera, alarm clock- the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, my phone hasn't turned up. Fortunately, I backed it up recently so I still have all of my things!

Back up your phones and be grateful Mercury is out of retrograde!
Meghan

Symbiotic Relationships with Manhattan (part two)

Just when I thought I was out of the woods, New York knocked me off my feet, literally and figuratively.

After a full day of seeing my students around Manhattan, my heart was full. It was a little after midnight, and I was hopping on the 1 train to head home. As I waited for the train, I put my headphones in to listen to the last episode of the podcast Serial. Anyone who has listened to Sarah Koenig tell this story knows how truly gripping it is. After starting the podcast, I began to instagram a photo from my day. This may sound like a lot of things to be doing this late at night on the subway platform, but let me make this clear: I was completely aware of my surroundings.

The 1 came and people shuffled off before I got on. As I entered, I watched a big man in a trench coat and a top hat get on before me and thought:

"I love New York."

Although it was late, the train was decently crowded. I looked around quickly hoping to find a seat. A man to my right shifted over a bit, so I walked toward him and settled in, all with my phone in my hand.

I tapped the screen to work on my instagram photo so I could post it before I lost service. I was choosing a filter when, seemingly out of nowhere, an older homeless man walks by me and punches me in the face.

I was punched in the face by a homeless man on the 1 train.

Now, let's clear some things up. My head was down, focused on my photo, and the train was moving, so he never got much leverage. The incident itself did very little to hurt me physically, however, my fellow passengers on the 1 train jumped to my rescue. Before I could put together what just happened, the same man in the trench coat and top hat ran across the train and yanked this guy away from me. 

After a couple sentences, I found out why he had chosen to single me out and punch me:
He thought I had taken a picture of him.

We've all seen it. People taking pleasure in someone else's plight. This was not the case with me, however, logical Meghan completely understands where he is coming from. No one should have to endure the parasitic relationship this man has dealt with. Although I was unfairly accused and wrongfully attacked, I completely understand where he is coming from.

I made it all the way home without a black eye and was greeted by my awesome roommates, Kevin and Connor, who had Trader Joe's Frozen Mixed Berries on my eye before I could even sit on the couch! Despite the crazy night it became, I'm so glad to have this to tell as part of my crazy New York story.

Stay safe!
Meghan

Symbiotic Relationships with Manhattan (part one)

Sometimes, things just don't go your way.

I've always believed that New York City is a living organism. Remember when you learned about symbiotic relationships in Science class? (If you don't remember, symbiotic relationships are the interaction between two species.) There are multiple forms of these interactions, mutualism (both parties benefit), commensalism (one party benefits, the other is unaffected), and parasitism (one party benefits, but the other is harmed.)

At any time, I believe anyone in New York is having one of these three relationships with the city. This past week, New York City was my parasite, and I was it's prey.

It all began in one of my favorite places in New York: The Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I love libraries, but this one is special. What an absolute wealth of knowledge for people who love the arts! So many of the things in this library (books, music, plays) are out of print, but here, pretty much anything is at your fingertips.

Kevin and I were going through sheet music looking for audition material when we found out we won the TodayTix lottery for On The Town. I went down the aisle to grab my purse and... Vanished! Someone had taken my purse in one of my favorite places in Manhattan. After a desperate scramble looking all over the library for my navy longchamp (I know!), I was in tears. Luckily for me, I had the most amazing group of people being good Samaritans and looking everywhere for me as I cried on the phone (which I still had, thank goodness) to my mom.

Then, out of nowhere, Kevin comes running at me with my purse. My cash had been taken, as had my cards, external phone charger, and metro card, but that was easily taken care of. New York had given me my first test as the host of a parasite, but not without a swift change in relationship.

Kevin and I missed our chance at our lottery tickets for On The Town. We were devastated. But after a few tweets, (Follow me! Follow Kevin!) the incredible team at TodayTix called me and offered me lottery tickets for the evening. So, after a dreadful day, New York still came through with a mutualistic relationship I can only describe as love.

Keep your belongings in sight at all times, and stay tuned for part two!
Meghan

Welcome, 2015!

Happy New Year, friends!

This past year has been such a whirlwind, but I'm so glad I've kept this blog to keep track of it all! Illinois, New York, Florida, Hawaii! What a year it has been!

I spent the day ringing in the New Year with my awesome parents, my best friend Kathryn, her husband, and her mom at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Because what else is a Florida girl supposed to do except go to a theme park?

Clearly, Kathryn and I had a blast. There's never a dull moment when we're together! There truly is nothing like starting off a year with your best friend.

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start! I'm off to watch some serious championship bowl games!

XO,
Meghan

I'll Be Home For Christmas

There's nothing quite like being home for the holidays. As dear Perry Como sang, "Oh there's no place like home for the holidays." Between you and me, I think he stole that line from Glinda in the Wizard of Oz, but that doesn't make it any less true!

I am so happy to have had the opportunity to be back in Sarasota for the holiday season. From seeing my kids perform in the Christmas Parade, to shopping with my mom and watching football with my dad, I really couldn't ask for anything more this holiday season!

Happy Holidays from the Sunshine State!
Meghan

Ode to Kona

By far, my favorite part of my week long cruises in Hawaii are my days off in Kona, Hawaii. Kona is exactly what you would imagine when you think of Hawaii. 



The view of the water is gorgeous, it's the perfect place for breakfast with friends, and did I mention the coffee?! It's the perfect pick-me-up in the middle of the week. It's saturated with color, but calm and rejuvenating. Plus, who doesn't want to see an adorable Honu (Hawaiian for turtle!) or two?

Drinking Kona coffee, the Pride of America, a Farmer's Market, and a baby Honu!

Happy Wednesday!
Meghan

The Boiling Pots

This past Tuesday in Hilo, Hawaii a few friends and I headed to the Boiling Pots. The Boiling Pots is a place located off of the Wailuku River, about a mile and a half north of Rainbow Falls. The Boiling Pots have their own falls, however, the Pe'epe'e Falls.

While this area can be dangerous while flooded, we made sure to go on a bright sunshine-y day! We swam through the first couple "pots" (pools created by lava flow!) until we got to where you can see the waterfall!

Meghan, Billy, and David before swimming to the falls!

Meghan pretending to be Ariel with Abe, the cliff post-mud fight, pre jump,
and Meghan and David swimming to the falls!

Abe was our guide, and we followed him out to the falls! (The Boiling Pots are Abe's favorite adventure spot in Hawaii!) We swam out, walked under the falls, had a big mud fight, and jumped off a cliff into the water! Then we coasted (Heel's Up!) back down the falls with the current. We were WIPED after, but what a blast!

After our day of adventure's in Hilo, we all went to a "family" dinner at the Skyline restaurant on board the Pride of America! I love these boys! I can't believe our adventure time is about to come to a close!

XO,
Meghan

  

Maui Ocean Center

One of the greatest things about living in Hawaii is getting to see all the beautiful wildlife that lives all over the islands. Turtles, fish, dolphins, and chickens live in perfect harmony with the natives and are highly protected on the islands. 



In that spirit, a few friends and I headed out to the Maui Ocean Center to learn more about all the beautiful inhabitants of the water we sail through everyday.





Hands down, my favorite wildlife in Hawaii are the green sea turtles, or, in Hawaiian, the Honu. These little (and big!) guys are just too cute and so much fun to watch play in the ocean. At the Ocean Center, they have interactive feedings where they feed the turtles a combination of spinach, seaweed, broccoli, and kale! (These guys definitely shop at Whole Foods.) This little guy is only two years old!




Only a little while longer to enjoy these beautiful creatures and the landscape (check out those palm trees in the aquarium reflection!) before I head back to big city life.

Aloha!
Meghan

Seeing Pearl Harbor

The first day my parents got here, I met them bright and early! It was a day that I had always wanted to experience since I was young: We were going to see Pearl Harbor.

Fun fact: When I was in 5th grade, I had an awesome history teacher, Barbie Spraker, and a fierce love of reading. I became irreversibly hooked on books about World War II. My grandfather also served in World War II, and he has always been one of my greatest heroes. To this day, I love to read historical fiction and nonfiction, as well as plenty of biographies. 

It was 7:15am, my Mom was already in line for tickets to the museums, and my Dad was picking me up and buying us coffee.

Pearl Harbor turned out to be an incredible experience, just as I had hoped. We started by seeing the USS Arizona. We took a ferry boat out to the memorial to pay our respects. With our tour group, there were three Navy sailors who I had the wonderful pleasure of getting to speak with. They were in Oahu from Arizona and brought a flag with them that they had raised all over the world. Today, they were allowed to raise their flag at the USS Arizona memorial. 

Luckily, without even knowing the previous story, my Dad was ready with his camera.

We Can Do It!

After we saw the USS Arizona, we headed back to ship for a soundcheck, grabbed breakfast, then returned to Pearl Harbor to see the Pacific Aviation Museum.

The Aviation Museum was awesome. Not only did it have an indoor portion filled with history and airplanes, it had a hangar filled with more aircrafts.

It was incredible. But, this is only the start of a week filled with awesome adventures!

More to come,
Meghan

Aloha from Honolulu!

Arriving in Hawaii is a big deal. The energy of people excited for their vacations, newlyweds on their honeymoons, and the first timers, like me, who are ready to explore something new is overwhelming. 

I really can’t believe I’m here. There is a six hour time difference from Eastern Standard Time to Hawaii-Aleutian Time. But, there is too much work to be done before sleep can be had! So, of course, I found a Starbucks, where I’m currently updating this blog, and so I could get coffee!

I know there will be more to come!
Meghan

Expect the Unexpected

So, in the last 48 hours, I have left Florida, flown to New York City, seen some of my best friends, celebrated a friend’s birthday, and found out that I am moving to Hawaii for six months.

As unexpectedly as this adventure began, I found out today that I will be joining the cast that I was swinging as Production Cast Principal on the Pride of America.

Life in musical theatre really turns upside down when you least expect it.

So, tonight I am getting my life in New York together because I fly down to Florida to see my family for a few days before heading to Hawaii. Hawaii!

I already can’t wait to share all of my Hawaiian adventures!
Meghan

Surprises Around Every Corner part 1

It doesn’t matter how many times you get the call or the email, getting a job always feels like someone planned an extravagant surprise birthday party just for you.

Your phone is ringing, it’s a number you don’t recognize, do I pick up? Is it that weird product survey company again? I have to get on that updated do not call list!

Then you think, Oh My God, what if it’s Broadway? What if Broadway is calling? Not that I have auditioned for a Broadway show recently, or that this is a New York area code, but, what if?

Finally, and probably with a total of two seconds to voicemail, you clear your throat and answer, “Hello?”

Then, they offer you a job. They offer you a job and as they are giving you necessary details like pay and time, all you can think is, “I have to call my parents! I wonder if I know anyone else that got this offer? I have to text my best friend! How much time do I have to pack?”

You end the phone call, do all of the above, and get ready for the next big adventure.

Yes, I’m off again. I am headed to Florida to begin rehearsals as a swing for two Norwegian Cruise Line ships!

All of those 4am mornings paid off, what an amazing feeling.

Meghan

With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Fun fact: I have always wanted to own a New York Public Library card. It is synonymous  with being a New York resident and provides hours of subway entertainment.

Today, I went out and got my NYPL card, Starbucks, and a stack of books to go with it! 

Some days, this city just treats you well.

Meghan

Bagels for Breakfast

So, let’s talk a little bit about being a Non-Equity member in Manhattan during audition season.

The absolute hardest part of your job is waking up. It’s the worst! You probably just crawled into bed at midnight (or later!) coming home from work, and here you are again. You alarm is going off and it is only 4am.

I’m not joking. My alarm goes off on audition days at 4am.

Now, you might say, this is the girl I hate. This girl is “that girl” that wakes up to go to an audition at 4am! To that I say, which came first? The chicken or the egg? Someone else is always there before me, so am I truly crazy? Yes, but that is not the point. I didn’t start the Non-Equity madness, so I can only say that I am doing what I can to do my job: audition.

If you haven’t ever done so, you should read Audition Update. It’s the great, albeit insane, account of what auditions are happening where, what time the list is up, how many are on the list, what they need, if the gig is good or not, and everything else you could want to know... Run completely by actors. 

So when my alarm goes off at 4am, I open my iPhone to Safari, check Audition Update, pull on sweatpants, put on a coat, and walk to the train. I wait for the train, get off in midtown, and sign my name on every “Unofficial List” for the auditions I want to attend that day. (An Unofficial List is a list started by actors who want to start an order earlier than the time the audition starts. Most casting directors and theaters will take this list, but they aren’t required to!)

After I sign my name, I hop back on the train to my apartment, sleep for a little longer, and get ready for my auditions. I walk my subway stop, get my conveniently placed Starbucks, and get back on the train headed to midtown.

Usually when you arrive at an audition during audition season, it’s a madhouse. People are warming up, both vocally and physically in the hall. Some are furiously trying to cut and staple headshots and resumes, while some are changing into their audition clothes. (Audition clothes: A brightly colored, probably blue, dress and nude heels of varying heights.)

My favorite part of auditioning is running into my friends that I haven’t seen in a while. So yes, I am “that girl” too. The one who runs and jumps on her gay best friend that she hasn’t seen in a year, or like, since last weekend.

This morning I had the pleasure of auditioning for the Beauty and the Beast National Tour. The tour is Non-Equity, so as long as you get up early enough, you are pretty much guaranteed to be seen. However, this is a popular audition to attend, so when 8am rolled around, there were over 500 girls signed up for this audition. Being the awesome Point Park University graduates that we are, my friends and and I signed up really early, so we were in the first twenty people to be seen.

We got ourselves lined up against the wall and found out we were only allotted 8 bars of music to sing. (In laymen’s terms, about a sentence.) In and out we went! It was fantastic and all five of us were done singing by 10:30am. We collectively decided that it was time to leave and reward ourselves... Bagels for breakfast! (But not before we snapped a picture.)

Left to Right: Audra, Myself, Arielle, Nicole, and Kevin, being Kevin.

What could have been an absolutely insane morning was calm and wonderful because of the people in this picture. I love having a group of friends who all have the same amount of passion, dedication, and work ethic, but are all different types. We can all be so supportive of each other at every audition, and it truly makes all the difference. 

New York, It’s A Helluva Town!

It’s official! After driving through the United States in the coldest weather seen in hundreds of years... I am a resident of New York, NY! This is so cheesy, but I truly have been dreaming of saying those words for as long as I can remember. The first time I stepped foot in this city, I knew I was home.

I’m so thrilled to be getting into the swing of things. Even just the little things, like buying your monthly Subway pass, make all the difference.

So look out New York, I’m back! And I mean business!

All Good Things Must End

The Mississippi River
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

With this post, I bid the Quad Cities and Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse adieu. I truly cannot believe that my time in this area has ended. I have had such an amazing time getting to know my cast and the midwest!

For now, I am off to drive cross country to my next destination... New York, NY!

Until next time, Rock Island.
Meghan

"So What Else Is Around Here?"

So many times, my parents and I end up somewhere awesome because my Mom talks to strangers. She can, at any time, without warning, begin a conversation about anything. There was no such thing as "shy" for me growing up, because every person along the way was someone new to talk to.

So many times I find my Mom asking, "So what else is around here?"

This time, it landed us in LeClaire, Iowa at Antique Archeology, the home of American Pickers.

Now, my parents and I love antiques. My house is filled with incredible little treasures that we have picked up at garage sales, auctions, inherited, or saved. So television shows like American Pickers are right up our alley. We decided to keep the close proximity a secret and give my Dad directions without telling him where he was going!

Antique Archeology with my Mom (and Starbucks)
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

Antique Archeology
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

The entire place was filled with picks seen on the show. And motorcycles. Lots of motorcycles!

Down the street in LeClaire there are about a dozen shops all very similar to Antique Archeology... It was hard to leave!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas vacation!
Meghan