the tony princess, the inspiring entrepre-mom, and the beautiful baker: my girls.

my sister-friends had a pretty red-letter week last week and i just have to brag on them!

(it should be noted that on thursday, i too had 3 significant bookings- 2 involving a job and 1 involving a plane and all very exciting)

my incredible princess, laura, was nominated for her SECOND TONY award for "best actress in a musical" for CINDERELLA. my goodness! i promise, i'll write more about it/that day/etc....

but you should absolutely check out her backstage video blog, "princess diaries" (watch all the eps. it's a peek into a broadway backstage that is never ever seen).... this week she shares her video (that i took) showing the moment she found out. 

definitely look for my shaking camera hand, laryngitis/cry voice/screams, her puppy (lyla) and stella FREAKING out, my angel (syd) in the background, my broken blinds (which i have since fixed-classy), my makeup-free face, and my bra-less pajama body trying to hide from the camera. 

it was such a special day and i feel insanely fortunate to share in her excitement. she is truly a sister to me and i couldn't be prouder of her. 

my feminist fashion designer, CK, from shabby apple wrote the most touching essay to her daughter in the wall street journal. she is so beautifully balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship and i just love being a sounding board when she's bouncing ideas. one of our chat topics even made it in into the essay and i'm just so astounded and the world she has created. she is so brilliant. now read her essay and buy a dress. everybody wins! 

my beautiful baker-chick, audra, did this fantastic segment for abc news and shared her mint julep cupcake recipe. her blog has exploded this year and i, not only LOVE her recipes, but i'm really ready for her to have her own cooking show! isn't she just gorgeous and fantastic on camera! i'm nuts for her salted brownie bites and strawberry rhubarb bars. go audra! i can't wait to see what she does next!


not a bad week for my urban tribe.
i'm so proud of my girls, i could just burst!

dutch babies

so "the dutch" invasion of my instagram has caused quite a sensation. 

apparently, i need to explain such things?

well.... it IS a pretty good story... and meg wrote about it a bit... so, here goes....as much as i'm telling...

my BIL, adam, and i went to joe's shanghai for soup dumplings one early april eve. 

while we were waiting (always a wait-which i don't mind if there is bubble tea in my hand) when these two giant men (6'5"+) walked up and asked about the joe's shanghai "process."

the giants happen to be 2 pals from amsterdam who were spending a few weeks in the states. 

turns out, they are rad. 

truly, two of the most quality, hilarious, interesting, smart, and charming people i've ever met. i trusted them immediately (even despite joren van der sloot warnings from friends and family) and knew we'd be fast friends. 

after tutoring them in the ways of the soup dumpling, laughing at their choice in a musical (CHICAGO- i always wondered who still bought tickets to that ole girl) and explaining that adam was NOT my boyfriend (he was the ultimate date-blocker that week), P (the straight haired dutch) asked for my email for more local recommendations. 

 the next night, we had dinner at bouchon bakery (where they proudly displayed their neat tourist caricatures- i died laughing).

and meg and i took them out on the town. 

(i love meg for being a "yes" girl. 

we're going to start a "yes" girl movement.)

 rather, S (the curly dutch), took ME out on the town....

meg took over the entertaining duties for the rest of the weekend while i immersed myself in LDS general conference.

later, we found that the dutch and i would both be in the great state of california at the same time.
so we planned to meet so i could give them the full orange county Hill experience.

nothing like foreign men in an american muscle convertible.

thanks to my amazing cousin steve, we had insane tickets to the angels/tigers game.

i had to explain that 9 runs in the first inning isn't a common baseball occurrence.
go angels!

nothing more american than cracker jacks & baseball.

they had their first sno cone (sno 2 go)

 and frozen banana (dad's)

and corn dog. 

can you imagine living in a world without these delicacies?!

(for the record: they didn't like the corn dog or banana but enjoyed the sno cone...)

we cruised the balboa island ferry at sunset

and i sat in the back of the car and waved like the queen of the balboa island ferry! i love a parade. even if it's on water... and no one is watching...

 we hit javier's for really awesome guac and some hilarious people watching (we even saw a real-housewives *recently former* husband). i'm not kidding, i've never seen so many fake body parts/hair/you name it on men and women alike!
i flirted with that guy on the right to get his table.... then he wouldn't leave... even after i brought the boys over. he was very confused by our relationship....

these guys certainly turn heads wherever we go (i can't tell you how many times people asked if they are models) and i think everyone was puzzled as to why they'd be with the ONLY girl in the room with real everything.
we had such a fun night.

 the next day, we hit pelican hill (my favorite) for lunch.

and enjoyed a great sundee dinner with aunt donna and uncle bill.

i convinced them to go to disneyland with nina and me (which was not very easy.... but i wanted them to have the FULL california experience).
my favorite place!

 despite P's best efforts to hate it, you can see, by the second ride, he was feeling the disney magic.

 we had a blast!

the dutch didn't quite appreciate the dole whip like i do so.... i drank theirs too...
nothing better than double fisting dole.

i had to restrain P's arms so he didn't ruin our splash mountain pic. killjoy.

 i'm sort of in love with the guy in the front.

i think S may have bigger hands than the celtic....

on our last morning together, we dined at ramos house cafe with nina & brooke. that resto is SO charming. i really really loved it.

so there it is.
thank you, soup dumplings, for bringing us together!
our meeting was incredibly random but absolutely meant to be. 3 amigos.

i think i found my happy somewhere in california. it's been a while since i've seen that old friend.

i can't wait to hang with them again (maybe in Holland?) and am eagerly anticipating a visit very soon from the dutchman with hair like mine.

this video is important.

how do you see yourself?

i am the swan princess.

it was a bit of a dream come true for me to book this job.... every little girl dreams of being a princess! 

i am the SINGING voice for "odette" the swan princess in the upcoming swan princess 5. 

it was slightly hilarious to hear me attempt to match the speaking voice... we'll see how well that works...

j bateman and jenny jordan frogley wrote the most beautiful music and i was asked to sing a stunning lullaby and a fun poppy tune.

in the film, both songs are directed, not to the prince (though my prince in this movie is one of my favorite voices ever- he might be an Osmond... but we never got to sing together!), but to at a little 6 yr old orphan girl whom Odette nurtures. 

it was an emotional time in the booth. the music is just so sweet. 

i had such a great time working with jenny and j and if i could just record for the rest of my life, i'd be pleased as punch. 

the film may not be released till this christmas or spring 2014 (now they have to animate it based on my recording-- cool!) but it'll be in walmart (hey, every princess starts somewhere...) and the tracks (including an extended version of my lullaby) will be available on itunes. 

she clearly looks thrilled with me ;)
we look so similar.

i'm so excited to hear it!
i'll let you know the second it's released.

a great big post about march.

march was a big travel whirlwind 

i'm really grateful for all the work, friends, and distractions.

i started by doing a broadway review at the grand opera house in macon, GA. 

totally random, i know. 

it was basically a bunch a big broadway folks who did a show of all the most popular bway songs.... 

doesn't it look glam!
the red carpet cracked me up.
houdini performed here and i saw 3 of his trap doors.

 this is robi. he once played my son in bye bye birdie so it felt pretty nasty to dance up on him in lingerie in "too darn hot."
this business is so weird.

 my dressing roomates, ann and karen. we had a blast together.

 i always love meeting blog friends. you're a doll, ellie! thanks for meeting me at the stage door with some much needed DC!

 so sometimes you have to go to after parties and schmooze the donors of theatres. they're usually pretty fun... this party had a lot of frisky husbands who loved taking pix and while posing with you AND their wives, they'd wrap their slimy fingers around my rib cage and give my side-boob a nice touch.... ugh. the rest of the people were lovely and this group of people i worked with were SO fun.

 opening costumes.

we had the day off so i forced everyone to hit the peach orchards. best cobbler and peach ice cream i've ever had.

 love the porch sitting in the south.

 these are middle-aged people line dancing in front of 3 people sitting on pink bales of hay.
bizarre on another level and so charming at the same time.

 tractor pull.

 we're a jolly bunch of idiots.

 this is a hot pink hot dog. and it was delish.

 we made friends with the locals. they gave some nice refills.

performance night 2. this was our "nine" costume...

 the whole "too darn hot" group.

 on night 2,  Ann was super sick so i had to learn her solo about 15 min before the show...
that easy-breezy solo was "defying gravity" and i'm sure MOST girls know that tune, but i only know the audition cuts...cause i don't listen to musicals..... sooooooo..... i learned it. quickly.
then it went like this:

me: sing Mama Mia.
(walk offstage)
me: immediately walk onstage and sing "defying gravity" with fear in my eyes and A standing in the wing (and on stage) doing hand gestures for the lyrics.
(run off stage)
throw a polka dot dress over the backless mini dress i was wearing
(immediately RUN onstage)
adlib: "hey! did you miss me? like my new costume? it's called a quick change!"
me: sing the beginning of "you can't stop the beat."

it was a real moment.
i'm such an idiot.

then i flew back to nyc the next am JUST in time to shower and head over to la's CINDERELLA opening night on broadway!

 audra and i love our lala.

 fun to see my pals, Jeremy and Ashley (you may have seen jer on smash this season. what a star!)

 with our cinderella star.

 cindy had a real fancy wedding cake.

 sequins are a great idea until you're stuck to the star and it takes an equity stage manager 5 min to un-hook you. guess we just never want to be apart.

so halfway thru the post-show ball, i received an itinerary to fly to utah (THE NEXT AM) to record a project i'll tell you about later....

so i raced home, transferred luggage, slept a bit, grabbed stella and zoomed to the airport.

 and the second i hit home, i popped into the studio to record. no rest for the weary.

 thankfully, i was able to spend some QT with my best copycat, evie g,

 wear a completely inappropriate outfit to dad's cancer hospital (i wasn't thinking!!!),

 then pop back into the studio where they filmed me! i felt like mariah carey. an awkward mariah carey.

 mom and i had a GREAT deer valley ski day. what a hottie!

my best girl, ABK, had some pretty cool experiences in the T

 and i got to hit my favorite UT barre class and have mom's homemade almond milk, granola and berries.

 i finally saw my brother-in-law, bruggy, slay it in his baseball game

 and eat delish fried chicken that he friiiied up for me.

 mom did a full beauty day day for me... a cut, color, shellac manicure, and made some delish crio.

i'm the luckiest girl to have such a talented ma who is also so giving.

 we had the bachelor party (which i already told you about)
with the most amazing treats from the biegler gals.

i shot another secret project and we didn't like doing it on set so i made them shoot it at my parents house. 

 and i made my family assist me.
they saved the day.
how awesome are sussy and mom.

just pregnant and fabulous. 

 mom and i shooting a fun cooking segment

my handsome crew enjoying some crio and homemade bread.

 these guys are rad and i had a total blast.

i really loved working on this.

 more QT with my spirit animal

 who clearly should have been my daughter. look at her love for DC.

 then i popped back to nyc and went straight to serendipity with la and audra.
best way to re-enter the city.

 i was able to celebrate my dear lisa's new job

 and go out on the town with LP.... this is not me attempting glamour. i'm just trying to avoid serious cabbie stench by sticking my head out the window like a poodle.

 i had some lovely meditation time doing arial yoga.

 and am happy to be back on my regular acupuncture schedule.

i happily spent st. patty's day with worthie and mike in jerz and loved her shamrock shakes.

then tax time with stella...

 and more snow...

and unemployment nonsense...

 then dinner at the spotted pig with sussy and LP.

 stellie has needed more snuggles lately (which i certainly don't mind...)

 and i've needed a few kisses

 so we hopped to houston where i saw this disturbing personalized gift,

and sat next to a 400 lb man who did an ADORABLE cat on a piano virtual puzzle.
it was the strangest thing i've ever seen.
ever.
i died laughing.

i served spaghetti at a cub scout banquet (that was a first!),

 and reunited with one of my jersey boys (brad) who is playing "frankie" on tour 2.

 my hair turned into a rudi huxtable-style cosby mess.
texas humidity is no joke.

 i ate loads of good food with aunt angel and DD

 cruised around houston with mala (give a holla!)

 and wished i could spend more time and calories at tiny boxwood's.

 i learned about "truck nutz"
(wow)

ate me some good ice cream, 

 and loved hanging at the hextell house.

 stella frolicked with the water dog puppy

 and i practiced my wife skills on a lemon bundt cake.

 then DD and i headed to dallas...
and hit buc eeees which is my new fav gas station.
naturally, the beaver go fresh....

we stayed at a totally sexy hotel (look at that iconic dallas view!)

and got me a DC at the 7-11 headquarters!

i fell in love with torchy's tacos

and dd and i discovered the GREATEST chocolate shop, dude, sweet chocolate!
(all dark chocolate all the time AND generous samples!)

stella ran with the herd.

and dallas charmed me real good. reeeeal good.

DD and i hit the town and loved sissy's southern kitchen (although their fried chicken is no match for ad hoc's). i always have a ball with DD. we both love a good adventure.

we considered changing our ticket because we loved it so much, but we had to return to the big city

and back to the cold and grind... woof.

then we enjoyed easter in new jersey!

6 flights
5 states

and too many good friends to count.

thank you, march for keeping me up when i was feeling down.