The Beginning.

I moved to NYC to be an actress, but have discovered in the short time I've been here that I am much more than just another face in the crowd looking for that big break. I guess a city as fast paced and cut throat as this will do that to a person-force you to think outside the box. Last year, as I was looking for things to do between auditions; auditions are not fulfilling! You are constantly putting your work, your heart, and soul out on the line to have that casting door slammed in your face! Well, not all the time, I haven't done half bad for the few years I've been here. But until you get that big break, until you can choose to do Blood Diamond or Saving Private Ryan it can seem kinda meaningless. Meanwhile you go to acting classes to keep up your chops, by working on Tally's Folly and All My Sons so you don't go insane when they ask you to come in wearing a tube top, mini-skirt, heels and act like 20 something airhead for Jose Cuervo.

I digress. The whole point of this blog is to talk about cooking and running. The other things I do when I'm not bopping around with my can of Aqua Net.

So, I was looking for other things that interested me. Somehow, I started to get creative in the kitchen. I just started picking up random cookbooks and trying recipes out and discovered that I wasn't half bad. I took a few cooking classes at NYC's Natural Gourmet Cooking School. And then I thought I wanted to be a chef. I started to contemplate a career change. After a long meditation on this, I decided I wasn't willing to give up the dream. I had worked so hard to become an actor, not to mention the $70,000+ I spent on grad school. I could see depression coming in on me like a freight train. It hit me and rolled me over into a ditch where I spent the next two months drooling on my back with dead leaves sticking to my face(or at least that is what it felt like-I'm in drama, give me a break!).

It was then October and I kinda felt like shit. I was bartending, so at least I had a job, just not the one I wanted. My roommate received a flyer from Team in Training, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that I happened to see lying in her stack of mail on our kitchen table. I snatched it up. I could do this, couldn't I? No. Yes. No. Yes. Oh, it went on and on! I remember sitting in the kitchen with Meghan saying, "Wouldn't this be cool?" and her having this unwavering faith in me. Now let me explain something. Never, in my wildest dream did I ever really think that I would actually follow through. I have been known to be a dreamer. I think up all sorts of insane projects, and I think how cool they'd be and I talk them up and then they are gone. To never be spoken of again even though I speak of them with complete conviction. Very few come to fruition.

Maybe what helped get me there was the emotional connection(my dad and all). Or maybe it was the 10 items of running clothes my boyfriend got me for Christmas, but I did it. On May 5th I ran my first half-marathon. It was emotional and amazing. As I continue to write this blog I will share the experience of that race but what I really want to do is focus on the future.

So when I was done with this race I started to think to myself, "What next?". I am still a struggling actor and it will always be my first love and top priorities, but this running thing is awesome! I need to do something else. I got to brain storming and decided to start the blog to post recipes for runners as I train for upcoming events. I live in NYC where food is expensive, eating out is not always an option, but time is an issue too. Plus, I do a lot. There are some days I run around to 5 auditions all over the city, have to bartend at night and fit in a run, plus cook! So, the whole point here is time, money, nutrition for runners or really active people and ease of cooking(it's more difficult for some, I get that!). The goal here is to try out some stuff and let you all know about it so you can do it yourself. I hope you enjoy and check back often. I will post my Protein Packed Chili Recipe later this afternoon. Enjoy!