I loved the brown curly hair but it was time for a change. So I'm back to black- at least for now- and am enjoying this kids-free thanksgiving weekend thanks to my Auntie Jeanetta.

Take a look at what I'm thankful for here and take some time to be grateful for someone or something in your life as well.

I'm very excited to be coordinating the swag bags for the upcoming screening of the short film Queen Victoria's Wedding. If you {or someone you know} have products and/or discounted services that you’d like to get in the hands of our invited industry guests, please send me an email for more information to brandi@glitzandglamourevents.net.

Brief synopsis~
“Queen Victoria’s Wedding” is an emotive tale about mental illness, featuring television and movie actor Natalie Desselle Reid (“B.A.P.S.,” “Eve”) with a special appearance by screenwriter, director and film producer, Antwone Fisher (“Antwone Fisher,” “ATL”).

Cast includes Monica Calhoun (“The Best Man”), Dwayne Adway (“Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story”), Shenita Moore (“Grey’s Anatomy”), singer/actress Carmen Twillie (“Six Feet Under”), Tyreese Burnett (“Drumline”), Poetri (“House of Payne”),
Kendra C. Johnson (“The Game”) and newcomer Todd Moore.

This event will take place in late January.

I didn't want to let the cat out the bag until it was official. Now that it is, I can proudly say I'm the newest blogger for Backstage's Actor Blog known as Unscripted. This is a blog written by actors for actors and each one of us shares a different viewpoint with the Backstage readers. For now I'm the only blogger that's also married with children so I hope I'll be able to connect with readers who also have families of their own.

What this means for you is that most of my acting experiences will be posted there and I'll provide a link in this blog for you to check it out. But I still plan to use this blog as my journal for the rest of the things I have going on in my world or to talk about what's going on in the world in general.

So stop by my very first Unscripted post when you get a chance and let me know what you think.

"Money makes the world go round" or so the saying goes. So what happens when you don't have any?

For me this means having to give up working at the Pantages {Boo! I'll have to pay to see their killer season now} as well as having to quit the Body Gospel program. Since we're operating with one vehicle, priority goes to my husband when he needs the car to get to work since his job is our main source of stable, consistent income right now. There were just too many scheduling conflicts with trying to do the workout program in the morning, be back in time to drop my son off to school {normally something my husband would do} and pick him up from school as well while also getting Stephen to and from work {with hours that varied}. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and like I was taking on way too much at once- a problem I've had all my life. Since the theatre only offered 10-15 hours per week, it was causing more problems trying to add that to the mix so it had to go. It just kinda sucks cause if we didn't have a car problem right now then this wouldn't be an issue at all.

But I'm not having a pity party, far from it. This has just made me more determined to do what I need to do to get us back in the black. That means checking in with the Central Casting hotline on a daily basis over the next few weeks in order to make some quick cash. And who knows? Maybe I'll get a SAG voucher or two. We'll see.

So last weekend I volunteered at ActorFest {an annual expo for actors held in NY and LA} and signed up for a boatload of raffles with classes/studios/companies I was interested in learning more about. A few days ago I got this email:

Hi Brandi-
CONGRATULATIONS! See you soon ;)
--
Best,
Kris & Katie
www.actorskey.com
818-926-7399 or 818-456-8798
The Actor's Key
2019 WEST MAGNOLIA BLVD.
BURBANK, CA 91506

Woo-hoo! Participating in CD workshops is one of the things I was planning on doing next year anyway so now I'll be going to The Actors Key to get it started. *Doing the happy dance.*

I recently discovered two FANTASTIC message boards for actors that are literally mines filled with all sorts of gems:



These boards are definitely worth checking out when you have the time as they have all sorts of topics that can help both the newbie and the seasoned actor alike. How I never knew about these boards before now? I have no idea. But I thought I'd pass along the info in case any of you hadn't heard of these either. They're both 100% free and the posters run the industry gamut from casting directors to photographers to writers to of course, actors.

If you missed me on Catch 21 last week {I kinda forgot to tell ya'll when it was airing- my bad!}, here it is. The links are called "Adam on Catch 21" because that joker beat me. What did I expect- he actually owns a gameshow website. Oh well, I had fun.

For my email subscribers click here and here.

My first week working at Pantages went by pretty smoothly. The musical, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, is sooooooooooo cute so I definitely have to take Jayden before its run is up, though I'm sure my mom would rather take him herself since she really believes he's HER son! Anyhow, the job is easy and the other ushers are friendly enough. Funny that one of them is actually the dude who beat me on Catch 21- small world! The only negative is the distance. For example, I have to leave at 4:30 in order to get there in time for a 6pm start. Though it only takes me 30 minutes to get to Hollywood at that time, if I wait until 4:45 or later then I'm stuck in rush hour traffic for well over an hour. Just another reason why I gotta move closer as soon as I'm financially able.

Today's my 1 year blog-aversary! Whether you've been reading from the beginning or have just begun to follow this blog recently, I appreciate you all.

The past year brought with it the following accomplishments...

• Moved to California
• Got a nice set of headshots
  
• Booked a supporting role in a short film
• Booked a reality makeover show {that was WAY more fun than I expected!}
• Booked a gameshow
• Lost 6 lbs
  
• Began auditing acting studios to study with
  

Looking at the list above there's not much on there that's going to help me get listed on imdb but hey- you gotta celebrate the small victories. Thanks for sharing my journey and know that we're just getting started! :-)

Callback went okay. I felt a bit self-conscious at first since my hair didn't really look like my headshot but I quickly put that outta my mind since there was nothing I could do about that. Although it's a print job we got to do some improv which is always fun. The direction the CD gave us was to be bubbly & excited with lots of hopes and dreams, easy enough. We came in in groups of 3 and each took turns telling our "friends" good news.

• The first girl in my group was taking the next step with her boyfriend and moving in together.
  
• The other girl was excited about landing an interview with her dream employer.
  
• I was happy to tell them I had secretly eloped in Jamaica.
  

What any of this has to do with American Family Insurance? Who knows? But I had a good time and as far as I could tell I was the only one there without an agent so I took that as a sign that somebody needs to be signing me- and soon.