A Dressing Room and A ruthless holiday gift tradition

Ok, first the dressing room...I love my dressing room at the Bold and Beautiful set…It’s cozy and full of really neat things. Recently I received some pretty cool holiday gifts that you can see in this photo. I spend a lot of time in my dressing room while I am at the studio and I take that time to read, relax, and get ready for the next scene. As much as I would like, I usually don’t have family visit me when I am on the set. It makes me a little nervous and so that makes it harder to concentrate! Do you ever have that problem when you are doing something and it makes a difference who is watching you from the sidelines? Or is it just me??

Ok, now the ruthless holiday gift tradition...

As the holidays draw near, I am thinking about what I can get for this neat family game we play. Our entire family usually does a holiday gift game which has caused fights and all kinds of drama! Just up my alley! It goes like this. To participate, you put in a wrapped gift worth about $20-$30. You than select a number from a hat. Your number tells you what order you get to pick a gift from the pile. The first person picks a gift and unwraps it for everyone to see. The second person gets to take that gift and send the person they took the gift from back to the gift pile to pick another gift. And so on and so on. So having a higher number is the best because you can have a pick from all the opened presents, sending that person back to the pile.

It can get very dicey when there is one thing that everyone wants. And when family heirlooms of no real retail value but sentimental value work their selves into the pile! And if we are very lucky, in the end, when everyone has their gift—for better or worse and all the drama in the world—it’s usually smiles all around!

Tell me about your family traditions and what you think of our game?!!

How many types of kisses are there?

On my Bold and Beautiful Blog I just wrote about the different types of kisses that Donna has had (it should be up some time today)...

For Donna, so far, I have this list:

Revenge Kiss
Love Kiss
Guilty Kiss
Desperate Kiss
Friendly Kiss
Fake Kiss
Grateful Kiss
Motherly Kiss

Surely there must be more...can you help me figure this out...

And some have asked, "what's the real difference between when this happens in real life and when you are acting?" For me, when I act them out, the emotions have to be the same as in real life. I guess what I have learned is that to make these kisses convincing, I really have to be in that state of mind...Speaking of which, how many of you saw what happened yesterday to poor Donna? Eric KISSED Stephanie!

Wasn't that beyond shocking that poor Donna is OUT! Listen, even my own parents called me totally shocked saying (and they know the show isn't real, but still...) "What the heck is Donna doing letting Eric slip away and kiss someone else?!"

Now based on last week's voting, 40% of you are cheering that Eric dumped Donna...

Poor Donna, will she ever get a break? And who else will she be kissing? Or maybe for now, she'll be licking her wounds and watching others kiss from the sidelines...

Where in the World...

For fun this week, I thought it might be neat to post some pictures and to have you guess who these people are in some cases and where they are or what they are doing. I don't want to give anything away, so let's see if the pictures speak for themselves...(and yes, if you read my blog and know a little about me...you'll be able to figure this out...) Good luck!

What we really want? Love and Good Laughs

So, are you just hanging off the edge of your seat watching poor Donna Logan do her "I'm not that into you dance" at the office with Owen as he bombards her with advances and sweet smiles? And he sure is cute. And as you know, we aren't the only one watching Donna to see how this forbidden fruit might tempt her. Eric has his own special eye in the sky to monitor Donna's every move. I wrote a little about "just a regular day in the office" on my Bold and Beautiful blog, you can check it out here: Bold and Beautiful blog

OK, so in honor of Eric setting up a situation because he loves Donna...I wanted to share with you this really silly video we filmed about Gnomes in the Woods. Now, most of you are grown ups and realize gnomes aren't (ahem) real. Right? You do realize that...but the kids in this video don't realize that at all. They believe it.

So, I ask you...what's the difference between these kids believing in gnomes, and poor Donna in her situation. In this example could "Owen" be like the gnome? Placed in the perfect spot to create a stir? And I guess, the question is, will Donna go looking? Ok, I am stretching this here as the best excuse to share my Gnome video...the parlay wasn't smooth, but just wanted to create some good laughs...because in the end, isn't that what we all really want...I think so.

Living in Los Angeles

I know this week I already posted here on my personal blog and on the Bold and Beautiful blog...To check out that one, I wrote about what a typical day off is like. You can check it out here: Bold and Beautiful blog

In that entry I didn't get into that much detail about a typical night on the party scene. For sure, it can be pretty crazy and every group of friends has their on places to hang out. Just to give you a few details...

The Dinner Party
My friends like to meet up for a "dinner parties". Dinner usually begins at 7 or 8 and can go for hours. If the person is lucky enough to have a pool, the party ends up in the water. I wrote about one party I attended in the valley a few weeks ago, where half the guests ended up in the pool with their clothing on. I know that sounds like scene from a movie...right? Interested in hearing what's prepared? Let me know...

Everyone Drives
In LA everyone drives, so it's not hard to see which house is having a bash. Cars can be parked for blocks along the road. When I go to a place like that and you can actually hear the music before you see the house, it reminds of my college and going to a frat party. Anyone else having this memory?

The Restaurant
In LA going to a restaurant can be entertaining if you pick the same place minutes before as say someone really famous. All the photogs are there hanging out on the sidewalk and the famous person is inside. The people in the restaurant don't really care, and it's business as usual. Or at least it looks that way. However the scene outside is different. Bodyguards, SUVs, and lots of flashing. The most famous person I have seen eating in LA has to be Brad Pit.

So, what's your impression of LA and have you ever been here? Is there something you want to know about living here? Go ahead and ask away.

Oh, the picture at the top is my Grand Aunt Vicki and her granddaughter that wants to get into acting (so my second cousin?)...I included this picture here because none of her friends believe we are related. I hope this proves it...let me know Shelbi!

You Never Really Grow up at "Home"

Did you ever notice that when you go "home" you never really grow up? Well, in my house, it's certainly the truth.

Last week I was on the East Coast hanging out with my family...and even though I am "all grown up", my mom still doles out the chores. And probably, it's a good thing because we all learned at any early age it's just part of life. BUT, I will admit, sometimes it transports me back to feeling just like a little kid! Which is also probably good because it keeps me in check.

So, many of you have seen my Compost Video on YouTube, but for those of you that haven't, I included it here...

This is me teaching my sister all about composting. Ha Ha, which in itself is hilarious because let's face it...I am a LA Diva now! And she is a NYC Momma with no chance to compost (I mean central park police would probably arrest her if she did this!)

So, basically, it's just us trying to have some fun with a chore that our mother gave us. See, acting like little kids again...but we sure do love it!

Script Practice Makes Perfect

When I have a script to read, I practice a few hours a day until I memorize my lines.

I have gotten use to it and have found little tricks to helping me remember.

Usually I try and put myself in the place of Donna Logan and how she would react and what she would say. Once I tap into her point of view, it's actually quite easy, or perhaps I should say, easier.

When I was on the East Coast, I took advantage of the fact that one of my nieces is an excellent out loud reader. So I put her to work. In this picture she plays Eric, and why she is wearing a cap. She felt that she needed that prop to put her in character (oh boy, looks like another actress in the making!)

I had a great time working on the lines with her and I am sure when "Donna" gets to film them with "Eric"...I'll be giggling to myself as I remember who helped me make these lines perfect.

And yes, I did blur the script! You guys are so resourceful...and I want to make sure that every episode is a surprise!!!!

And today I am going to post on Bold and Beautiful. It should show up today, so make sure to check it out! Click here!