Friends in town = upside down frown.

I am so sorry for my recent lack of posting. I've been a busy little bumble bee swarming all over the bay. Busy with what, you ask? Well, so many things, my friends. As my time in San Francisco is quickly coming to an end, I've had to start packing and preparing for the next step. I've also had a few recent visits from some wonderful people in my life. 

My boyfriend in my life jacket <3 

My boyfriend, Cody, surprise visited me from LA.  On my day off from the theatre, we spontaneously drove up to Lake Tahoe to visit his cousin, Julie. She lives in the Incline Village community of Tahoe which was only about a four hour drive from San Francisco.  Let me just say, Lake Tahoe is GORGEOUS! With San Francisco being a little too chilly for my liking lately, this was the perfect remedy for my cold weather blues. Cody and I went kayaking, swimming, rock climbing and basically enjoyed Mother Nature as much as we could. I think my boyfriend secretly hates kayaking with me because I get sort of lazy with rowing after 30....no 10 minutes and tend to just float and soak up the sun. In all seriousness though, kayaking/floating in the lake was incredibly peaceful. The water was crystal clear, the sky was cloudless and I was trying to inhale enormous gulps of the delicious fresh air. In the evening, Julie, Cody and I were walking and admiring how brightly the stars were shining. Brighter than the stars in the observatory from my college Astronomy class!! That's right, I took Astronomy.... and got an A in the class!!!! High fives for everyone! Wooo! Anyway, after we found the Big Dipper, we went to a cute restaurant called "Bite," and enjoyed each others company over wine and the best sweet potato fries I've ever tasted. If you love nature and you haven't been to Lake Tahoe yet.....you need to go! It's stunning. :) 

Me practicing my kayaking in the parking lot. 

The following Monday, I had dinner with two of my friends from high school that now live in San Francisco, Erin Stuckey and Derek Bower. :) We went to Claude Cafe in Union Square. It was so fun to talk with them about their lives after not seeing them for almost 6 years.  Well, Erin came to see me in Wicked, in June but we didn't have enough time to really chat about everything we wanted to. Anyway, it was refreshing to hangout with them. Hearing how successful they both are made me so happy and it was of course fun to share hometown stories. Yay Maumee, Ohio. Thank you Facebook for reconnecting us. :)

I also had a fun visit this week, with two of my friends, Daniel and Matthew Tweardy Torres. Daniel and I were on the second national tour of Wicked together and he quickly became one of my favorite human beings in life. If you want to hear how insanely talented he is, look him up on youtube or iTunes. He sings with The Broadway Boys and their CD was released a few months ago. He covers "Shadowland" on the album. I'm telling you, his voice will make you melt.  

Last week, a few fellow cast members and myself went to the Oakland Children's Hospital to sing a few songs from Wicked for the kiddies. It was heartbreaking that some of the children were not well enough to come out of their rooms to sit by the stage, instead they watched us on the monitors in their rooms. It was really special to see the kids faces light up when we were singing for them. I wish we had more time in town so we could have a benefit to raise money for the kids- maybe the next tour that comes through can do something like that. 

So, those are just a few highlights of my recent "busyness." I promise not to abandon my blogging duties like I have these past two weeks, ever again! 

xoxoxo