Babies bring blessings

When I found out I was pregnant, one of my first thoughts was "so much for getting my acting career jumpstarted now that I'm here in New York City." I figured no one would be looking to hire a pregnant woman. Then I saw a posting on one of my audition websites for Expecting Models, a modeling agency that specializes in pregnant women. Of course! Someone has to pose for Parenting Magazine and Mimi Maternity and all those other pregnancy ads and editorial photos. So, I sent my stuff in and on Friday I got a call asking me to come in this morning. I went in, gave them my headshots, they took a bunch of pictures of me in a bikini and high heels (do beauty pageant contestants feel as ridiculous as I did?) and then they gave me a contract to sign! So now, I just have to hope that some of their clients see my photos and call to book me for work. It will feel so good to actually make some money for the first time since we got here. It's funny that I was so convinced my career would just remain on hold for another year or more but in actuality, the baby might be what gets my career started. Everything happens for a reason. Thanks little one.

12 things to be happy about - in no particular order

1) It's spring!

2) Strawberry juice from Trader Joe's

3) KEXP

4) Finding old friends on My Space

5) "Cheetos" that are made with natural ingredients so I don't have to feel quite so guilty eating them

6) Karen got a job at Conde Nast!! She's not in editorial yet, but at least she has her foot in the door and in a position that offers mobility within the company. CN is consistently rated the top company for freelance writers to work for so they must treat their permanent employees really well too. This also means health benefits and paid vacation! You go Karen! I am so proud of you.

7) My friend Tommy. I met Tommy when he interned at ACT, several years ago now. Our desks were right next to each other. He is now finishing up the playwrighting program at Juilliard. I saw a show he co-wrote last night and it was great, but not only that, he also has a commission from the Williamstown Theatre Festival and has TWO plays in the O'Neill Festival. Man. Those are two of the top theatre festivals in the country. It is so awesome to watch his star rise.

8) Kat's getting married two weeks from Sunday.

9) Rich and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this week. Last year was a big year for us. Rich finished his faculty interviews, got 3 offers, we had to decide where to move, we moved to New York City, we went to China, we rode our bikes 304 miles from Seattle to Portland and we got pregnant. Holy crap. Not only did we stick through it all together, but actually still really like each other.

10) Strawberries are in season.

11) We have awesome cats.

12) The Red Sox are ahead of the Yankees so far this season - take that Damon, you rat bastard.

Clare sees Claire

Just last night Rich, Karen, Ralph and I watched the last three episodes of Six Feet Under. I was pretty much bawling my eyes out the entire time and was still crying when I went to bed last night (Brenda's pregnancy plot line really got to me as one might imagine). Then today, I was walking down Broadway on my way home from yoga and I saw Lauren Ambrose, AKA Claire. I wanted to go up to her and hug her. Had she not been in the middle of a conversation I probably would have stopped her just to tell her that I had just watched the series finale and how much I loved the show but alas, instead I contained myself and then immediately called Karen whom I knew would share in my excitement. It's funny too because (SPOILER ALERT) at the end of the show, Claire is moving to NY and there she was, although I know she is doing Awake and Sing! at Lincoln Center so I don't know if she actually lives here or not.

Catching up

I need to get better at writing this thing. Some highlights from the last couple of weeks:

- Went home to FL a couple of weeks ago to surprise my friend Stu whom I haven't seen in almost 3 years. She lives in Denver and was back in Jax for a family wedding. Stu, Kelly B., Tiffany and I all met in the 6th grade at George Washington Carver Sixth Grade Center. On Monday, the day I left, we all met for lunch and I started to cry because it was the first time since high school - maybe even junior high? - that all four of us had been together. I was the only one who graduated from Stanton - Stu went to DA, the school for the arts, Kelly left junior year to go to her neighborhood school and I think Tiffany left sophomore year. So, we all made different friends yet we all stayed in touch, some better than others and at different times in our lives. That day, as I looked around the table over 20 years later, I was just amazed. We are women, mothers, wives, homeowners, artists and just good people. It was a great trip and I will certainly be posting some photos soon but here are a few:

This is Madison, Kelly's 6 year old. We were on our way to the pet store to buy presents for the family pets because April 1 has been designated all of their birthdays (2 dogs and a cat)

















This is Cameron who's 4


















The beach!

















My mom and "little" brother (24 years old and at least 6 ft. tall)




















- Had another great celebrity sighting: Dean Wareham and Britta Philips. Many of you probably don't know who they are but Dean Wareham was the lead singer for Galaxie 500 and one of my favorite bands, Luna - both of whom are no longer. I was lucky enough to see Luna live a few times, most recently in 2005 during their farewell tour. Britta Phillips joined the band at some point and my friend Ali says she pulled a Yoko and is the reason Luna broke up so she hates her. For a pop culture reference, if any of you saw the cheesy Justin Bateman vehicle, Satisfaction, back in the 80s, Britta played the coked up blond in the band. ANYWAY, I nearly had a heart attack as I passed them on the street and I kind of wish I had stopped them and asked for a picture but I'm also kind of glad I didn't because that would be SO uncool (yes, I'm 31 years old and I still care about looking cool to people I think are cooler than me).

- My friend Jason came to visit. Jason is a friend from BU so I have known him for about 10 years. He lived with Kelly Kerrigan and me our senior year. He lives in San Fran and has been there for about 8 years or so. It was great to have him here and get lots of time to catch up on each others lives. The last few times we have seen each other it was for a few hours at a time at the most so this was terrific.

- Neko Case and surprise guest. Karen, Rich, Jason and I went to go see Neko Case at Webster Hall last Friday night. When we got there, she had already started and the place was packed. As I tried to pick my way forward a little, barely looking at the stage, Karen grabbed my arm and squealed "That's Kelly Hogan!". And sure enough, the woman we have worshipped since we were 15 was standing on stage singing with Neko. They do sound great together but I will admit it was difficult to have Kelly there and not be center stage. Her voice is smooth as butter but powerful enough to pin you to the wall. If I could be granted the singing voice of anyone I could choose, it would be a toss up between Dinah Washington and Kelly Hogan. It was so great to see her again and by the end of the show I had a headache from smiling so much.

- Brunch in Williamsburg with a bunch of former FSU people. Some of them were people I had met and others I was meeting for the first time but through whatever friendship cross-pollination program, everyone there had lived in Tallahassee at some point. We had a waffle extravaganza prepared by Kristin and her boyfriend, Jordan. Bojo was there and it was great to see him after a million years. After brunch, we went back to Amre's place and got her dog, Rayna, and took her for a walk. It was a gorgeous day and everyone was out - holding hands, playing soccer, tossing a frisbee, reading in the grass, etc. It was an awesome Sunday afternoon. Here's Amre & Rayna:




-Spring has finally arrived. No more freak snow storms yet this week which is a relief. In fact, today I wore my flip flops for the first time. Springtime in New York will be glorious.

I think that's a pretty good summary of the last couple of weeks. Tomorrow Rich and I head to Connecticut to spend the weekend with some family. They are great people and Rich's cousins are fun to hang out with so we are looking forward to it.

The elephant in the room

I don't know who actually reads this blog. The people I link with, I know, my parents and a few other people have mentioned that they have read it. Therefore, I think most people reading this already know but for those of you who lurk out there unbeknownst to me, the big thing that I HAVEN'T written about, that eclipses all the other blogs I have written in the past few months is that: I'm pregnant. 13 weeks and 2 days as of today. Rich and I are excited and also completely terrified. I went home to Jax this past weekend and came home with two little onesies that Kelly bought for the baby and that kind of made it real for Rich. I have had to embrace the reality of it already thanks to things like nausea, ill-fitting clothes, appetite changes and the inability to drink alcohol. There are also those ultrasounds that actually show pictures of a little person inside me that really bring it home. So, to answer some FAQs for you: The due date is Oct. 8 (poor Rich, a Leo in a houseful of Libras), no, we are not going to find out the sex beforehand and no, we do not have names picked out yet and even when we do, we won't tell you. The baby's current codename is "Chester" but don't worry, it won't stick once s/he is out in the world.

So there you go. It's out in the world, officially. Yeah, writing it down is something I haven't done yet and there's something about seeing it in black and white (or blue and white as you're reading this I suppose) that further cements it in reality. It's going to be quite an adventure....