La Rosa Knows

This revelation came to me this week because I need to work on my thesis, a novel, which is due come the first week of August.

Allow me to walk you through it:

Monday: With that looming deadline over my head I suddenly kicked into an ultra high gear that I didn’t know existed; up at 6 am to write for an hour, working from 8 to 11 at night when I’m home from my job at ‘The Secret Circle.’

I’m not great at math, but that’s 4 hours of writing a day and I have a full time job… why wasn’t this happening before?

So, then I get the idea that I’ll do this everyday and by the time August rolls around my thesis will be good to go.

Tuesday: The morning came and when my 6 am alarm went off things weren’t looking so ready to write, so I hit snooze… over and over again until I had a half hour to get to work and no time to write.

But no problem, I can write when I get home! That is until my friend Elizabeth asks if I’d like to go to a party near my house and I willfully give in because I’ve been at work all day and a drink sounds super yummy.

Wednesday: And then this morning, where the same Tuesday scenario seems to be happening already and I feel badly because I think about how well Monday went and my failed plans for world thesis domination.

I need more Mondays in my life, all I’m saying.

Yes– that is my cryptic handwriting and it’s also a legitimate question.

This morning, I walked into the kitchen in our office and 3 out of the 4 male writers were wearing the same color shirt of almost identical style. Now, true, when people are holed up together for long stretches of time their fashion choices tend to rub off on each other, women start cycling together, etc. In college my best friend and I would show up to parties in matching shirts, looking like weird non-twins.

I get it, this kind of thing happens, but is this coincidence or tapping into something else??

Then I walked past the Writers PA desk, and Charlotte told me that her printer has been acting very strangely… apparently, when you walk by the thing, it will start printing and no one has sent anything to be printed. It just spits out blank pages.

That’s kind of weird to me, all of this happening in the same week, not to mention the fact that we are writing a show ABOUT WITCHES and these odd things keep happening. It would be cool if there was a witch in our midst, don’t get me wrong

Is there a witch in ‘The Secret Circle’ office?

Last night I was at the office until 10:30 with Andrew and Richard while they worked on a story pitch document for our show, The Secret Circle.

We found out that it will start airing Thursday nights after The Vampire Diaries, come September 15th and I couldn’t be more excited!

I have watched the pilot 4 times now, but the closer it gets the more I want to watch it again (though perhaps we’re getting borderline psychotic now).

Everything is still new and shiny at my job; staying late and eating takeout feels like being part of some special club, and waking up early to do it all over again gives me energy from some well I didn’t know even existed.

This week is also my last week of grad school class, so I will officially have my master’s in writing– WHAT UP!!

I’m trying to really enjoy all of this now and hope that the good feelings continue.

Something all girls do is compare and we do it freely and without abandon to each other’s:

-Hair

-Body

-Career

-Family

-Boyfriend

-Sluttiness

-Humor

-Successful pickup rate

-Eating habits

-Clothing

-Slang

-FB photos

-First Date Ideas

-Nail polish color

-Clever tweets

It is exhausting, to say the least, and I’ll admit that I have done this more often than I’d like to (on a daily basis, even).

And the thing is that all of the comparing is typically done silently because you don’t want the other girl to know that she’s the subject of your scrutiny. One crucial aspect to comparing is secrecy and our own personal gain (i.e. “She is a size bigger than me, therefore I am okay”).

Part of it feels a little bit mean girl, even though it’s not always malicious and often more of an inspection, and another part of it feels like a way to gather intel on how to model our lives so they can be made better.

I think men do this too though, especially when it comes to where they are in their careers when that competitive edge comes out. Then they compare their girlfriends to make sure theirs is hotter/smarter/funnier/the baddest bitch. And maybe next to that is bodies.

Though I’ve never heard men discuss this very much, do they at all?

I have a really awful habit of leaving the lights in my car on, so that when I go to hit the “start” button on my 2007 Prius I come to find that the battery has died.

To give you an idea of just what a problem this is, it is now June, and I have killed my battery no less than 4 times this year. That means that out of the current 6 months, 4 of them have included visits from AAA to jump start my car.

I bought this “instant jumper” from Target. It’s really heavy and looks (to me) like the heart paddles they use on ER type shows.

I am equal parts terrified and excited to use this thing.

So, my best friend Elisa sent me this chain email with the subject line, “You know you’re a Floridian if…” kind of like those “You know you’re a redneck” jokes, except ours are more redneck because it’s Florida.

Inside was this detailed map of my home state, my city of Belleair, FL being part of the “Old Rich People” chunk, along with the following “facts” about how you know if you’re from Florida:

Socks are only for bowling.

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

Your winter coat is made of denim.

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.

You’re younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.

Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.

You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction.

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix. 

Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn’t worth waking up for.

You dread love bug season.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list.

You know what a snowbird is and when they’ll leave.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

‘Down South’ means Key West 

Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.  

You’ve hosted a hurricane party.

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy.

You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim.

You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.

You recognize Miami-Dade as ’ Northern Cuba ’

I’ll be honest, I spent most of this weekend drinking. Why is that? Let me explain.

On Friday I went with David to see ’Matt & Ben,’ and before the show we went to Formosa Cafe and split a bottle of wine because the waitress said the following words: “It’s $28 for a bottle and $10 for a glass, so I think you both know what the better deal is.” Then, after the show, there was a booze tent… So, I boozed in the booze tent.

My potential for becoming an alcoholic was further tested on Saturday during PRIDE festivities, where my friend Erich had us over his place starting at noon, and we drank until 10 p.m. when Gabby and I (pictured) finally gave in to being in our mid-20s and said it was time to call it a night (this was after drinking endless mimosas, taking jello shots at Erich’s neighbor’s house, and hopping from Micky’s to Fiesta Cantina where we ended the night with nachos and a triple margarita– that’s a margarita with triple the tequila).

Yesterday I slept in until 10 (a rarity for someone who usually wakes up at 6), and have spent the day detoxing.

I didn’t drink Sunday, but I know this coming weekend will further test me. What, with seeing Les Miserables, going out for a “ladies night,” and likely investing in a bottomless-something brunch on Sunday…

I guess what I’m trying to say is: Would anyone like to join me in my inevitable slide into alcoholism??

One of my favorite plays is Brenda Withers and Mindy Kaling’s ‘MATT & BEN,’ which was originally put on in New York, (Mindy played the part of Ben Affleck, while Brenda was Matt Damon).

It’s a really weird, funny, and quirky play that essentially explains how it’s possible that Matt and Ben could have written 'Good Will Hunting.’

I’ve only ever read it, so I was super excited to hear that it was being performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

I went last night and let me just say that seeing it live was just as odd and fun as reading the play. My friend Maggie Henry played Ben, and she did it with the same goofy and lovable quality that I always pictured, and Jessica Blair (who I’ve taken improv classes with), played the driven and egotistical Matt with enough heart to make it very convincing. It was funny and witty and the performances were just stellar.

It was such a fun time, pay as you go, and after the great show they have a tent filled with booze and music where you can hang out with other Fringe goers… A BOOZE TENT.

I seriously can’t recommend this more for those in LA, make sure to check it out and buy tickets here.