news article

my friend nicole sheahan writes for the 'mormon times' and just published this article (http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/nicole_sheahan/?id=14513) about some of my adventures.

thanks, nicole!

auriables

in toronto i was in the habit of baking treats for the cast every so often.

one of the cast favorites was home-made oreo balls.

or, as i have officially re-named them in honor of my dear friend claire george, 'auriables'.

i happened to smuggle some cream cheese on board last time we were in the states and made some auriables for the cast as a transatlantic surprise.

here's where they hid...

mmm... auriables.

you ought to be in pictures...

bought this bad boy in st. maarten.

i'm having the best time taking photos of europe...

capturing moments in time, the faces of friends and beautiful things.

here are a few recents...

{bicicletas en barcelona}

{daddy/daughter moment at the bus stop in gibraltar}

{my gorgeous friend 't' in gibraltar, u.k.}

{cutie little rolie polie man shootin' the breeze in cadiz, spain}

{darling ocean-view, open-air cafe in madeira, funchal (portugal)}

{nueva cathedral in cadiz, spain}

{ toothless little gummy bear i caught smiling at me on the street in barcelona}

{geometrics in barcelona}

{rock of gibraltar}

{candid munchkins in gibraltar, u.k.}

{columbus circle in barcelona, spain}

ambiancefulness

i'd forgotten how charmingly quaint everything is in europe

from the cobble stone to the side-street cafes and the minis whizzing by on the small, windy roads.

it's all so ambiancefully picturesque.

i'd forgotten how at home i feel here.

granted, all of these cities are new to me, but all the little details of europe-ness are just as i remember them.

european adventureland

well, we did it.

we officially survived 6 sea days in a row!!

it was nice to have some extra time to work on projects and catch up on sleep. and by catching up on sleep, i mean forcing our bodies to deal with the fact that we were losing an hour on our clocks every night.

does the term 'jet lag' apply here or would we call it 'sea lag' in this case?

katie and i woke up early, as we pulled into portugal, to watch the lights of europe come into view.

it was gorgeous.

already this week has been glorious, with too many incandescently happy/beautiful moments to put onto paper.

adventures so far have included...

cable cars (with full ariel view of gorgeous european cities)

a madeiran flower festival parade

tobogganing down a mountain

being chased by a monkey

catching a glimpse of africa from the rock of gibralter in the u.k.

authentic spanish flamingo dancing in concert

spending time with beautiful people.

be careful what you wish for...

on my dream board last summer, I had a section full of pictures of places that I wanted to visit around the world. it was quite the random assortment of countries... spanning from russia and italy to africa and the caribbean.

little did i know, at the time, that in my near future awaited the cruise contract of a lifetime. a contract that would take me to just about every single one of those random countries. not only that, but a contract that would let me fulfill a lifetime dream of mine (being a disney princess) while make little one's dreams come true every day.

now that is nothing short of amazing.

i really believe that all we have to do is dream big, believe in those dreams and allow them (by our belief) to come effortlessly into fruition.

many times, God's (the universe, or what have you) dreams for us are often greater than the dreams we have for ourselves, so He'll add in a little bonus here and there.

may these be the first of a lifetime full of dreams come true.

dream big!

and be careful what you wish for... 'cause you just might get it.

t-minus 7

the count-down has officially begun. 7 days from now i will be sailing across the atlantic, headed towards the adventure of a life-time. a few nights ago we had an hr meeting detailing our ports of call; what to do, sights to see, food to taste.

i can sum that up in about ten words...

tower of pisa

freshly-made margarita pizza

tobogganing in madeira

...among other ridiculous things.

now that rehearsals have significantly died down, life does NOT suck. (emphasis on the 'not')

here is a little photo over-view of the past couple of weeks...

(a gorgeous day in st. maarten)

a starfish (the size of my face) that dad and i found on castaway cay (disney's private island)

with t, my wife and mosef on an excursion to st. john

snorkeling with k dub in st. john

my daddy came to visit. we had the BEST time. long talks, walks on the beach, introducing him to life on the magic.

love you, d!

a few of us went to lunch in st. thomas. this was our view from the cafe.

disney magic ambiancefulness (TM)

the cutest ship in the caribbean

voguing with my hotties (jto, andrew and lk) at our opening night party for villains

villains!!

this tuesday we will soft-open jeff bowen and hunter bell's disney original musical "villains"!!!

we've been working so hard for so long and teching our brains out these past two weeks. we can't wait to perform for an audience this tuesday.

i feel so privileged to work on such an amazing new show with such an amazing cast and creative team.

here's a sneak peak from our photoshoot the other day...

pain and panic

disco doggy diva (from project cruella)

"villains tonight!"

adventures of the twins continue....

last week this dude came to sail with me

my twin and i always have epic adventures together, and this week was no exception. lets just say that our adventures included: a free upgrade to a stateroom, invitations to the officer's lounge as well as sessions, a free trip to disney world, riding around florida (in style) in this bad boy...

running out of gas, riding in the back of a police car and making friends with sharon...

fine dining...

plenty of tropical moments...

making memories with my M24 family (rue paul's drag race pizza party)...

and experiencing my disney life with me...

...'cause that's how we roll. i love you, benj!!! i'm so proud of you and i can't wait for our future adventures together!!!

my cozy little nook...

i decided that if i'm going to be living in my little cabin for 9 months, i may as well make it home...

my entry way

rounding the corner

my little bathroom

desk area

my comforter (courtesy of urban outfitters), battery-powered tea candles and wall hangings (courtesy of wal mart... don't judge, if i could have target-ed it i would have, trust me!)

come visit sometime!

opening week!

these first 3 weeks have been a whirlwind. i don't quite remember what it's like to be a normal person with a day off of work. the other day i was walking to rehearsal with a friend and thought to myself, "today's saturday. i guess any normal person would be hanging out tonight. remember when we used to have a weekend? remember when we used to make plans to do fun things when we had free time?"

this week we're opening 5 shows with a few other supplemental shows on the side. our openings have been very smooth and have been really well received by the guests and the other crew. everyone's been really kind and very complementary. it's been so fun to actually perform for real people after 4 months of rehearsing.

i have had the chance to get off the ship and relax a bit. i got off about a week ago down in st. maarten, earlier this week in key west and again today in nassau. nassau isn't typically a port in our itinerary but, due to weather conditions in grand cayman, we were diverted to stop here today.

tonight we open disney dreams. it's such a darling, magical show. i'll be thinking of you all tonight as i'm waltzing around the stage with my prince charming.

wish me luck!