craftbar and the Craft and Keep Crackin'

Have you ever had pig's head before? Well, now I can I say I have. The pig's head terrine, served with caviar, orange marmalade, and crostini, was just one of the many selections on craftbar's generous Restaurant Week menu. I could have gone for the fried oysters or perhaps the shaved fennel salad or the ever-popular risotto balls - the choices were endless in number and variety! For entree, I decided to go with the polenta with wild mushrooms - super rich - though the salmon and root vegetables was a close second. My dining companion opted for the anchovy bruschetta and the orchiette bolognese. When it came time for dessert, I opted for the cheese plate (parmesan, manchego, and bleu served with raisin bread - how bad can that be?), while he went for the Meyer lemon panna cotta (smooth and creamy and light), served with fresh slices of orange, grapefruit, lemon, and blood orange. My glass of white Verdejo was the perfect accompaniment to my meal. Our meal was part of "Restaurant Week" sponsored by nycgo, meant to give customers opportunities to check out some of New York's best restaurants at amazing prices. I was in heaven the entire meal, my food euphoria lasting well into the afternoon. This was a nice treat as I step back into my old (new) life, returning to work, auditions, subway trains, and walking. I took the plunge and attended my first auditions of the new year this week, no call backs, but then it was the going and getting through them that was truly important. Ironically, these were the last auditions featuring my old headshots, as I picked up my new ones later that day. I have been stapling and clipping away, in anticipation of sending these oh-so-important advertisements to casting directors aplenty. I have been emailing my shots everywhere, in hopes of auditions and getting that next 'big break.' Since I've been back, I have pushed myself to go to the piano bar twice, able to practice material and performing in front of an audience. Not to mention those super cold martinis which I am finding increasingly important. In fact, January has seen me donning the cocktail shaker instead of the corkscrew, partly out of preference and partly out of economical and dietary means (portion control - right?). As I continue on this journey in the city, I feel so lucky to be here and want to take every advantage of my newfound metropolitan home. In the wake of my first show, not to mention what has been going on in my personal life, I am more than ever invigorated to explore my craft, to chase my dreams, and to even be a little brave. I don't know where this theatre track will take me, and perhaps I don't care, whether enjoying the ride and trusting good things will come my way. These past few weeks I have been so surrounded by love and support and well wishes, that I have no choice but to go deeper, push myself harder, and dare to follow my dreams. While I am sure part of me wants to do it for Jessica, for my family, for all the people in my life that believe, at the end of the day, I am doing it for me, for my own sanity and purpose. Like Momma Rose says at the end of Gypsy, "Well Louise, I guess I did it for me after all." And ultimately, it's me that I have to go home to at night, me that I have to wake up with every morning. So what if I'm doing it for me? I'd rather be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate version of anybody else. And besides, I'm having a blast along the way.