Martini Mania

So I've decided that I need to branch out in my cocktails. I'm tired of going to a bar and ordering a screwdriver or tequila sunrise because I know I like it. So I'm stocking up my home bar and I'm going to make new cocktails to try. I just made a simple vodka martini. I've had delicious flavored martinis out before, but I've never just ordered a martini. My Bartender's Black Book said that the perfect (not dry) martini is 3 1/2 oz. vodka or gin and 1/2 oz. vermouth, so that's what I did. I garnished with maraschino cherries since I don't like olives or cocktail onions.



All-in-all, it's not terrible. I feel classy drinking it, so it could be a good alone-at-the-bar drink. It's pretty freakin' strong, though. I have to concentrate to not make a face when I take a sip. I was going to try a gin martini tonight, too, but I'm only halfway through this vodka one and it's getting a little warm in here.

Stay tuned for more cocktail adventures. I'm considering working through my Periodic Table of Mixology instead of choosing random ones from my Black Book, but the periodic table is a poster, and it doesn't look real classy hanging up. :-P

UPDATE:
Tried the gin martini, with the same measurements as the vodka martini, and I loved it! Gin is growing on me. It was less "kick-in-the-mouth-y" than the vodka variety.

Plan?

So as most of you know, my internship is coming to an end soon. My lease is up at the end of July, so that's when I plan on moving... somewhere.... I've been trying to line up a job, but it doesn't appear to be working out. I've sent out about 30 applications in the past couple of months, and all I've gotten is one first-round interview and two rejection letters. A guy from New World Stages in NYC did call my boss for a reference the other day, but I never actually heard from him, so he either didn't like what he heard or found someone better. Today, I sent in my materials for a company manager job at the Olney Theatre in MD, and they e-mailed me back right away to say they couldn't open my cover letter. At least I know places are getting my stuff... most are just ignoring me, apparently. :-P

Well, if I can't line something up for after July, I'm seriously considering moving to Lancaster, PA. Random, I know, but there's logic behind this, I promise. Lancaster itself has 5 or 6 theatres in it. Sight & Sound Theatre (to which I've sent in about 5 applications) is right outside Lancaster. It's less than half an hour away from the Ren Faire and Mount Hope. It's an hour and a half from both Philly and Baltimore, 2 hours from my family, 3 hours from NYC, and an hour from Gettysburg. I would be surrounded by theatre opportunities, even if it's just volunteering at first and getting my name out there. I have friends in NYC, D.C., and Philly that I could stay with (whether they like it or not :-P) if I got short-term jobs any of those places. It just makes sense.

I think my mom is expecting me to move home if I don't get something lined up, but I really don't think I can go from having my own house to just having a room again. I know it's not like I would have a curfew or anything, but I've had a taste of my own place and I can't go back. I've found some nice-looking places with decent rent in Lancaster, and I have enough saved up that I could give myself at least two months after I move to find something, even if it's something crappy just to pay the rent and support my theatre career for awhile.

I considered other places, but bigger cities are too expensive to live in; Harrisburg actually has much less theatre; OBX has practically no theatre; and the Lewisburg/Milton/Newky area has no professional theatre. I think I'll give it until the end of June before I start looking for apartments in Lancaster, but I have 4 or 5 places already that I like, and I'm sure more will pop up. When I get closer to seriously looking, I'll send my parents to check some places out. I'm just excited about the prospect of being out of the south, and less than 12 hours away from everyone I know!

OBX Part 2

So I guess I should complete my tale of beachosity. When last we met, I told the tale of my horror on the beach. Well the rest of the week was much less traumatizing, I promise. The day after my adventure was fairly uneventful. Marcy and I went to the beach for a few hours, and that night I made lasagna and homemade garlic bread, which turned out pretty awesome.

Thursday was another beach day for Marcy, Vern, TJ, and me. The water was cold, but not unbearable, and it was sunny and perfect beach weather. The problem was laying on the beach. For some reason, a million little biting flies decided to descend. I went back to the house and got bug spray, but it didn't help, so we ended up laying by the pool instead. That night was our night to go to Barefoot Bernie's - a yearly tradition. I spent and ate way too much, as usual. The food is always amazing, though. I usually get the macadamia-crusted mahi mahi, but this year I tried the Jamaican jerk pork. It was great! For an appetizer I got about 50 lbs. of calamari, and for dessert I had an Irish coffee. I even bought a souvenir shotglass. LOVE Barefoot Bernie's. After Bernie's, we went mini-golfing, and Naomi, Vern and Barb went go-karting. When we got home, we had a drunken pool party until almost dawn.

Friday brought the last full day of the trip. I was kind of beached out, but didn't want to waste the day, so Barb and I went on an adventure to find the Bodie Island Lighthouse. We got there just as the visitor's center was closing, but we got to go in for a few minutes, and the grounds stayed open, so we got to get closer to the lighthouse, and go out the boardwalk to the sound.





After our lighthouse adventure, we continued on to Pea Island, pretty much just because we'd never been there. It's pretty desolate, and we found this amazing almost deserted beach. The tide had just gone out, so there were shells and rocks everywhere. We had to climb over a dune to get to it, and there were only maybe 3 other people there. It was gorgeous, and we hung out for a bit and admired the awesomeness.



After that, we headed home for cookout night - burgers and hot dogs on the grill. The problem was we never bought charcoal. Oops. We had burgers and dogs on the stove instead, and they were still pretty delicious. The next morning was time to clear out by 10AM. Well, when we got up, Vern and TJ had already left, so that left Barb, Naomi, Marcy, and me to clean the house and figure out what to do with a fridge full of food. We ended up throwing most of the cold stuff away, along with a million bottles of beer that Brian had left. As I was taking a bag of recycling out, it ripped and the kitchen ended up covered in beer. We got that cleaned up, everything else straightened out, and the cars packed. We ended up leaving around 10:30AM, but the cleaning crew didn't show up before that, so we were ok.

All-in-all, it was another amazing week in the Outer Banks. If there were a bigger theatre scene, or I had the guts to start my bookstore, I would move there in a heartbeat. I can't wait to go back next year (or sooner)!