On The Move

Over the past few months I've been thinking about my carrier as an actress and model. While in China, for my day job as a buyer for City Liquidators, I visited agencies in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. Each city had a different clientele and feel. The agencies offered some great and some pretty crappy opportunities for work. In the end I decided that the quality of life wasn't worth it to work in mainland China. (I'll be posting some of my China adventures soon) Once home from China I met with my amazing agents at Option Model and Media to work up a plan. I wanted to increase my client list, resume, and eventually get awesome representation in Los Angeles. This isn't impossible but would take much longer working in the Portland market. Don't get me wrong, I love Portland. I love everything about it. The people, my family, my small business, the food and the creative culture. The sad reality is that there simply isn't enough work for me or my look. I'm not yet old enough for the young mom look and I'm not exactly the outdoorsy type. I do book work in town and I'm thankful for those jobs.  This is my passion and I want to be working all the time. I decided to go where the work is. I wanted to follow my dream and be working, auditioning, and stretching my acting muscles everyday. Simply being in class and auditioning a few times a weeks was no longer enough. So I packed up my apartment, moved my stuff into my parents garage, and left town.

I'm solo in a city, country and continent I've never been to but have always dreamed of visiting. I don't know a soul here and I'm terrified, but it's the best damn feeling in the world to jump into the deep end and start following your dreams. I'm embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. Wish me luck!

Photo from Visit South Africa 

The year begins in the Fall

In The Great Gatsby, Jordan says that "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall," and this couldn't be more true for me. I've always loved September for the crisp air and return of sweater weather. Everything is fresh and new. Fall always feels like the beginning of the year for me. Time to revisit my game plan for the upcoming months, see what I've done, and see what I can do. For the past several years I've taken a vacation during September to escape from the daily grind and refocus on my values and goals. This year's trip was a bit on the unexpected side. 

My lovely travel agent Lucy emailed me two weeks ago to let me know I had a travel voucher that was set to expire in October. I had complettly forgotten about the credit that was from a previous flight to Switzerland I didn't take because I kicked that guy to the curb. With my credit experidation date looming, I took to the internet to find a location both worthy of such a voucher and one that Delta services. At that point I was planning on traveling alone, still wishing my friends had either more free time or more money so they could join me. After several minutes of research I found that Ireland was third on the top ten list of places to visit alone. Great! They speak English, I've never been there, and the photos look awesome. Ireland will be my new adventure and Paris, my old faithful, will wrap up the trip. 

Now, last but not least, to call Delta and convince them to let me split my travel voucher for this trip and extend, let alone keep, the remaining balance. This may seem simple but with the rules of fare, achieving this was anything but simple. After a long chat with a lovely woman named Karen she finally talked to enough managers to make it happen. I was so proud of myself. I only had to get a little mad and fight for what I thought was fair. Being willing to ask for what I wanted, all of it, and getting it was a great feeling. Starting the trip with this good fortune anything is possible! 

Spicy Shrimp Ceviche

With the weather at home threatening rain and grey all March my sister Ellie and I left to snag some sun in Central America. Ambergris Caye is our sun-drenched island destination and the main town of San Pedro is where we called home. San Pedro is dotted with brightly painted houses and the beaches are full of men cleaning their catch, ladies selling the best tamales I've ever eaten, and children selling jewelry. Island living was easy. The toughest decision we had was where to eat. 300 steps from our beachfront cabana was Hurricane, a rum punch slinging ceviche joint. The rum punch was above average but the ceviche was out of this world. Needless to say I ate there 3 times in 5 days and was disappointed when they were closed on my last night. Luckily I got the recipe from the chef they day before. Beautiful Belize was the perfect getaway to escape the Portland drab and now I can enjoy the taste of the Caribbean all winter long.  

Spicy Shrimp Ceviche

8 small servings, about 1/2 cup each

Active Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS

POACHING LIQUID

• 2 quarts water
• 1/4 cup sea salt

CEVICHE

• 1 pound fresh raw shrimp (21-25 per pound), peeled and deveined
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Juice of 2 limes
• Juice of 2 oranges
• 1 cup (1 med cucumber) peeled, diced, and seeded cucumber 
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup diced seeded tomato
• 1 avocado, chopped into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves, save some extra leaves for garnish
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• PREPARATION

1. Combine water and salt in a large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Add shrimp and immediately turn off the heat. Let the shrimp sit for about 3 minutes. Put the shrimp on a cutting board until cool enough to handle.
2. Chop the shrimp into half inch pieces and place in a medium nonreactive bowl (see Tip). Add lemon, lime and orange juice ( see note). Stir in cucumber, onion and chiles. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. Stir tomato, avocado, chopped cilantro, oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt into the shrimp mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with chips or flat bottom taco shells.

• Kitchen Tip: A nonreactive bowl or pan—enamel-coated or glass—is necessary when cooking with acidic foods, such as lemon, to prevent the food from reacting with the pan. Reactive pans, such as aluminum and cast-iron, can impart an off color and/or off flavor.
• Note: Only use fresh squeezed juice. No prepackaged juice or concentrate.