Stephanie Gatschet

WE'RE IN THE EMMYS!

2006-05-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

I’m back from L.A., and oh what a weekend it was!! I flew to Los Angeles on Thursday morning, eager to cheer on all the Guiding Light nominees at Friday’s Daytime Emmy Awards. My brother, Andrew, met me at the airport in L.A. He’d flown in from Hawaii to spend the weekend with me. I was so happy to see him. Now that he’s in the Army, and living far away from home, I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like to. We settled into our hotel room at the Renaissance, which is located right across the street from the Kodak Theatre, where the Emmy’s would take place.

On Thursday night, there were a few parties to go to. They were a great way to kick off the weekend of celebration. SoapNet held a party at the Roosevelt Hotel. Andrew and I dressed up a little bit and went to the party to mingle and enjoy really yummy hors d’eouvres. I got to see lots of my friends, including Laura Wright (ex-Cassie, GL), who I miss terribly. When we first arrived at the party, I pulled Andrew onto the red carpet with me, which scared him silly, but I thought he should experience what it’s like to walk along a red carpet and have lots of pictures taken. He really was a little freaked out by all the camera flashes, and the surreal feeling of it all, but it was cool to have my brother next to me that night.

Friday was the big day. Emmy day. I started getting ready around eleven o’ clock in the morning. I got my hair and make-up done, along with my co-stars, in a hotel conference room that had been converted into one big dressing room. There was so much excitement in the air that day. Guiding Light had fourteen nominations, and a lot to cheer for at the show. I love getting all dressed up, and seeing everyone else in beautiful suits and gowns. Andrew wore a really nice pin-striped suit, with a teal shirt to match my dress.

At three o’ clock, Andrew and I hit the big red carpet, along with everyone else. The red carpet was extremely crowded, but it was exciting nonetheless. We got into the Kodak Theatre just in time for the show to start. The theatre was big and beautiful. I introduced myself to the guys sitting to the right of me, one of whom turned out to be the man who does the voice of Elmo on Sesame Street. He soon pulled Elmo out of a black bag, and started talking to me with the famous Elmo voice. It was so cool.

I went to this year’s Emmy’s with very low expectations. Guiding Light always seems to be the underdog, and we rarely win awards at this thing. So I was just expecting to be happy about the fact that we had so many nominees. Little did I know that we’d walk away with the first three awards in a row, and four out of six total!!! What a night! Every time a Guiding Light actor or actress won, our whole group jumped up and down and screamed, and I shed tears for every win we had. I was overjoyed, not only for the winners, but for the attention Guiding Light was finally getting. Every win was so well deserved.

Needless to say, the wins gave us good cause to party hard at the CBS afterparty. My brother says it was the best party he’s ever been to. There was dancing, and free drinks all night. We’d all been well fed at the sit-down dinner that immediately followed the Emmy broadcast. The dinner was delicious, and there were Emmys sitting on all of our tables, so we were thrilled.I enjoyed the rest of the weekend, too, with a few more parties, and good quality time with Andrew. I flew home Sunday night, and had Monday to recover before going back to work on Tuesday. Initially, I wasn’t sure how I felt about having to go to L.A. for the Emmy’s, but after a perfect weekend, I decided that it was a great idea. I hope I get to do it again next year!

APRIL BLOGGING BRINGS...

2006-04-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

It’s been quite a while since I last sat down to write a blog entry. I guess you could say I’ve barely had time to breathe lately. Until now. Now springtime is upon us, and my life is calming down somewhat. I’ve just moved into a new apartment. I spent these last few weeks packing and moving, which, as anyone who’s ever moved knows, is a complete nightmare. It just takes a lot of time and effort to pack up everything you own, and then to organize it all in a new place.

By now I’ve unpacked and really started settling in to my new apartment, which I love. I’m a total homebody, so it’s important to me to have a place that I love coming home to.

Other major events of the last two months include my twenty-third birthday (thanks to everyone who sent sweet birthday wishes), the development of my American Idol addiction (go Taylor Hicks!!!), and my successful creation of a delicious chicken cacciatore, which is a big deal for me, a real amateur cook.

The Daytime Emmy’s are drawing nearer, and my excitement is growing. I just have a feeling that Guiding Light is in for a good year. Keep your fingers crossed!

LET IT SNOW!

2006-02-13T07:13:00.000-08:00

It’s Sunday night, and New York has just experienced its biggest snowstorm in history. Last night it was snowing lightly, but nothing was sticking to the ground, so I figured the storm wouldn’t really be that bad. However, when I woke up this morning and looked out the window, everything was white. And the snow was coming down hard. I looked at ChiChi, my dog, and said excitedly, “It’s a snow day!” Then I went back to sleep.

I was basically stuck inside all day, except for my two quick trips to the deli around the corner. It was a great day to get some cleaning done and to do laundry and all of that exciting stuff. I was happy to relax this weekend, after a full and busy week at work. Friday was Scott Bailey’s (Sandy’s) last day working with us at Guiding Light. I’ve become good friends with Scott, and losing him is really hard. Of course, I’m not losing him as a friend, merely as a co-worker. But I cried when our producer brought out a “Good Luck Scott” cake and gave a little speech about what a sincerely good person Scott is. But you better believe I ate a big ol’ piece of cake! Lol. After a long and difficult day at work, everyone went out to celebrate Scott at a bar near the studio. He was leaving early the next morning to head out to L.A.

I have an incredibly stressful week ahead of me. Tomorrow I’ll be shooting one of those “Inside the Light” episodes. (For anyone who doesn’t know what that is, Guiding Light’s been airing special episodes every Wednesday that follow one character or pair of characters through a day. Rather than using the typical soap format, which includes several storylines in each episode, the “Inside the Light” episodes focus on one specific storyline, so that viewers get an inside look at a particular character or couple.)

So anyway, tomorrow I’m shooting most of the scenes from the Tammy/Jonathan “Inside the Light” episode, in addition to scenes from other episodes, as well. Tomorrow alone, I will be shooting nineteen scenes. Yes, nineteen. They’re not easy ones, either. I don’t want to give away any of the storyline, but let me just say that I’ll have to scream and cry and limp, and Tammy will be feeling shock, guilt, hurt, nostalgia, anger, and all sorts of other emotions. Thinking about my workload for tomorrow stresses me out, but at the same time I’m so grateful to have such an interesting, complicated storyline to deal with. It might be hard work, but it’s going to be a fun adventure.

Well, I think it’s time to start memorizing my lines now. Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Have a great week!

PARTY LIKE ITS 2006!

2006-01-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

Aloha! I’m wishing that I were still in Hawaii, where I just spent a week-long vacation visiting my brother, Andrew. The trip was great. I flew to Honolulu the day after Christmas. I had spent the holiday at home in Philadelphia. Went to church on Christmas Eve, and spent Christmas day with my whole family. I had been so busy throughout the month of December, I was really ready to get away for a little break.

It’s a long trip to Hawaii, especially when you’re stuck in the middle seat on the plane. But it’s well worth it, because Hawaii is absolutely beautiful. And having the opportunity to hang out with my older brother for a whole week was a priceless gift. Andrew was recently promoted to Sergeant in the Army. I’m so proud of him. He’s stationed in Hawaii, and works on Hickham Air Force Base. I stayed with Andrew for the week. He’s got a great apartment that overlooks Pearl Harbor.

Waikiki is so cool. I fell in love with it. The beach, like all the others on the island, is gorgeous. The famous “strip” is lined with really great shopping and restaurants. A lot of the nightlife exists there, too. One night, Andrew and I ate a fancy dinner at one of the Sheraton Hotels in Waikiki. It was so nice. We ate outside, overlooking the ocean as the sun was going down. There were hula dancers and guys singing and playing ukuleles in front of our table. And the food was really good!

Luckily, Andrew had most of last week off from work. He did, however, have to jump out of a Black Hawk on Wednesday morning. I rode out to the “drop zone” with him and some of his Army buddies so I could watch them jump. The helicopter took them fifteen hundred feet up, and they jumped using parachutes that were packed by my brother’s unit. It was a cool new experience for me.

After the successful jump, my brother and I drove up to the North Shore, where the waves are really big this time of year. We drove halfway around the island, along a scenic road that took us past coastline and mountains and Dole pineapple plantations. We stopped to get really yummy shrimp from a truck on the side of the road. (There are shrimp farms all over up there.)

Other great experiences we had during my trip included snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, seeing fish and sea turtles through the porthole in a submarine 120 feet below the surface of the ocean, and visiting the Punchbowl cemetery, where our grandfather (a pilot, killed in WWII) is buried. Also loved the beach at Makapu’u The best part of the trip, though, was just getting to hang out with my brother, who I don’t get to see much of now that he’s traveling all over with the Army. We did a lot of swimming, watched funny movies, and played board games. Good brother-sister bonding stuff. It was great.

On New Year’s Eve, we decided to chill out at Andrew’s apartment. We were able to see tons of fireworks from his balcony, which made an already beautiful view even more spectacular.

Speaking of which, Happy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2006!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2005-12-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone! It’s hard to believe, but Christmas is only a few days away. I’m in Philadelphia now, where I’ll be with my family for Christmas. The day after Christmas I’ll be flying to Hawaii to visit my brother. He’s stationed there with the Army, and I’m going to spend a week with him; I’m soooo excited!

I’ve had a lot going on lately between work and preparing for the holidays and whatnot. Last night was the "Guiding Light" holiday party. I had such a good time. The party was at a bar called “Jake’s”. There was a lot of dancing going on (Frank Dicopolous (Frank) was the best, dancing like he was having the time of his life!) Getting to the party took a while though, because there’s been a transit strike in New York City for the past few days, which means there’s no public transportation available. I shared a cab with three strangers to get most of the way there (VERY slowly, as there was gridlock throughout the city), and then I walked the rest of the way.

My days at "Guiding Light" continue to be fun. Sometimes I have to take a step back from it all and really giggle. I mean, sometimes I think about the fact that I’m now part of a huge storyline that, at the core of it, involves cousins that are in love. I personally really enjoy the story. I think it’s complex and interesting. I have to admit, though, it can be strange to think about things like all the debates that the storyline has sparked. And last week, my giggling actually erupted during the taping of a scene! We were shooting scenes in a courtroom. Jonathan and Tammy are in a bit of trouble for the fire that they started, yadda yadda yadda…. anyway, in the middle of one scene, Mel (Yvonna Wright) says to us, “Look, you’re not on trial for loving your cousin….”, and I just about died. She said it so seriously. But for some reason, at that moment, the words, “In love with your cousin” sounded so silly to me that I actually started laughing hysterically in the middle of the scene. The director called cut, and we had to do the scene again (I was so embarrassed.) But it was truly funny.

I’ve been missing Laura Wright (ex-Cassie) lately. She just sent me a text message a few minutes ago, and we texted back and forth for a little bit. She said she’s back on the east coast for the holidays, and that she misses us all like crazy. I told her I miss her, too, but that I hear she’s doing great work as Carly on GH.

I’ve really been getting into the holiday spirit lately, as I do every year. I love Christmas! I decorated my little silver tinsel tree and put it in my dressing room. I spend more time there than I do at home, so it needed to have that Christmas-y feel. I also discovered the world’s most amazing cup of hot chocolate at City Bakery, near Union Square. It’s warm and thick with a homemade marshmallow on top.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas (or Hanukah or Kwanza or whatever you might celebrate) and a safe and happy New Year!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2005-11-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

I’m minutes away from heading off to catch a bus; I’m going home to Philly for Thanksgiving weekend. I’m so excited. Before I leave, I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. I had a little preview of the holiday meal last Sunday night, when I was invited to a Thanksgiving potluck with friends in the East Village. I made a delicious brandied orange-cranberry sauce to contribute to the dinner. Mmmm….

Guiding Light has continued to keep me very busy. I’ll need this weekend to do some catching up on homework. Then it’ll be back to work on Monday morning.

Wish I could write more, but I’ve got to try and beat the major traffic. Have a very safe and happy holiday. God bless.

OUTAND ABOUT!

2005-11-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write a new blog. Sorry! Honestly, I’ve barely had time to come up for air over the last few weeks. I’ve been fortunate enough to have work on “Guiding Light” every day for a month straight. The Tammy/Jonathan/Sandy storyline has been pretty much front and center, so we’ve had a lot on our plates for a while. We’ve also had longer-than-normal work days, usually starting at 7am, and finishing many nights past 7, 8, or even 9PM. But I’ve been loving my job; it’s been really exciting lately.

A couple weeks ago we shot a wedding. My character’s wedding. It was a big deal for me, and it was really fun. A dress was designed and made for the wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous. The preparation for my TV wedding felt somewhat like preparing for a real-life wedding. There was a lot to do between dress fittings, hair styling and make-up decisions, etc. We had long days shooting the wedding episodes. We stayed so late one night that “Guiding Light” ordered pizza for all the actors. And, amazingly, I was able to keep my wedding gown on and eat the pizza without ruining the dress! I was proud of myself for that.

A week after we shot the wedding scenes, we did a “remote”, or a location shoot, to get the exterior shots from the wedding. We went to an old castle (now a luxury hotel) called “Castle on the Hudson” in Tarrytown, in upstate New York. This place was so cool. It was old and beautiful and there were spectacular views of the Hudson River and New York City’s lights in the distance. Five actors and a significant crew left the city in the afternoon, and started shooting scenes following a really yummy dinner. It was so much fun! I just can’t explain how pretty this location was, and being there with my friends, shooting important shots for an important episode, was so cool.

I’ve missed a few classes over the last couple of weeks due to my work schedule. So now, somewhere amidst constant work, I’m trying to catch up on homework, too. That’s ok, though. My professors seem to really be understanding. Today is my first day off from work in a while, but it’s a good thing I’ve got the day to be home, because I’ve got a Charles Dickens novel to read by tomorrow, amongst other things.

I don’t think I’ve written a blog since our Guiding Light fan club weekend. What a great weekend that was! It was filled with one event after another, and each of them was a good time. It all kicked off with St. Jude’s on Friday night. I love that event, because everyone gets dressed up, and I love seeing people sing and dance. I got to meet a lot of really nice people, fans of the show. I saw many of them again the next day on Ricky-Paull’s boat cruise. We had perfect weather that day, and the boat was full of enthusiastic fans dancing, eating, snapping pictures. I loved it.

That afternoon we continued on to the “Bloss Bowling” event. I bowled with an awesome team. I warned them that I was a terrible bowler, but somehow I bowled a strike on my first turn. (Luck!) The great thing about the bowling event is that it’s always nice and laid-back. Everyone just wants to play and hang out and laugh. After bowling, I ran home to get changed and have a bite to eat. Then I headed downtown for Bradley Cole’s concert. Bradley’s music is the best. I sang along to the songs I knew, and enjoyed hearing all the new ones, too. Kim Zimmer, Mandy Bruno, and Ricky-Paull Goldin got up to sing, too, which was a real treat.

Sunday was the annual Fan Club Luncheon. This event really allows us to thank all of the hard-core Guiding Light fans for their support. After introductions and a few speeches, we were able to sit and meet fans individually, and to sign autographs and take pictures. It’s nice to hear fans’ feedback and to remember the faces of the people that are devoted to the show, that sit and watch what we do every day. It was a pleasure to see and chat with them all. (I’ll be doing some special shout-outs in my next blog!)

Now it’s time to stop procrastinating and get some homework done. Have a great week everybody!

P.S. If you haven’t checked out the Guiding Light “podcasts” yet, you really should. It’s such a clever idea, because you can listen to a whole week’s worth of shows in your spare time (walking to work or running errands or whatever.) I just think it’s such a cool idea. So if you find yourself unable to catch up on the show on tape, just download episodes from CBS.com. The podcast is a really innovative new thing, and we’re lucky that this show is the first to offer such a convenience.

GLASS HALF FULL

2005-09-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

It’s Sunday evening, and I’m looking forward to watching HBO’s lineup tonight, including the season premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and a new show called “Extras.” I’m a huge fan of Larry David, and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is one of my favorite shows. It’s so funny. “Extras” is a BBC import, starring the lead actor from the British version of “The Office,” another great show. So I’ll pop some popcorn and get cozy for that hour- I can’t wait!

It’s been a pretty low-key weekend for me. Yesterday I participated in an event called “Halliestock” at a park in Queens. It’s an annual event that raises money for an AIDS orphanage in Africa. A few other soap actors and I went to show our support because daytime is starting a big campaign to raise awareness about AIDS in Africa. At the event, we each read some poetry by Hallie Geier, a young girl whose life was cut short by a tragic car accident. It was a nice afternoon, and the event was a success. (Also got to spend some quality time with Crystal Hunt, with whom I shared a car to get to Queens; we hadn’t really hung out in a while, so it was nice to catch up a bit.)

Today there was another event, this one in Times Square. This one was set up by Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS (one of the biggest charities sponsored by the theatre community). It was a Broadway flea market that included autograph sessions with actors from stage and television. A handful of actors were there from "Guiding Light," and lots of fans showed up to get posters signed and to take pictures. It was a lot of fun. We got to meet more fans of the show, and we also got to see other stars (I was sitting two seats away from Bebe Neuwirth!) It was really cool.

Back to work tomorrow. I’m working every day this week! Things are pretty busy for me right now, which I love. I’m very lucky to have a great storyline that gives me the opportunity to work a lot. There have been so many changes at "Guiding Light" recently, most notably the loss of several beloved cast members. It’s a really weird thing to go through, especially after moving into a new studio and everything. I know these losses are upsetting to a lot of fans (as it is to us, of course), but you never really know why certain decisions are made. I think we just need to trust that “the powers that be” are doing what they think is best for the show. There are a lot of factors for them to consider, and running a big show on a tight budget can’t be easy, so I feel like it’s a bit unfair for us to judge their decisions. Of course it’s sad to lose actors and to see so many changes occur in such a short time. Let’s just wait and see what good it will all bring. (Am I a “glass is half full” kinda girl or what?!)

Personally, I’m particularly sad to be losing Laura Wright, who will be joining the cast of General Hospital next month. I can’t imagine not having her around. However, I’m very excited for Laura. I hope that this new experience turns out to be great for her; she deserves it.

We’re only a few weeks away from the Guiding Light fan weekend in October. I hope a lot of you can make it. It’s always so much fun! If you can’t be there, don’t worry- I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the happenings of the weekend.

Have a great week everybody!

IT'S GOOD TO GO TO KING'S (DOMINION)

2005-09-13T04:50:00.000-07:00

I got back to New York yesterday from a fabulous weekend in Richmond, VA. Saturday was “Guiding Light Superstar Saturday” at King’s Dominion, a promotional/fan appreciation event sponsored by CBS. I got in to Richmond on Friday afternoon. The hotel we all stayed at, the Virginia Crossings Resort, was beautiful and quaint. It had a very nice, old Southern feeling to it. The first thing I did when I got there was have lunch with some other "Guiding Light actors" and three of our publicists. We had a nice lunch, and the lively conversation got me excited about the coming weekend. My coworkers just so happen to also be my friends, so I knew this weekend would be a great chance for all of us to hang out and have a good time.

Later in the afternoon, two of Guiding Light’s publicists, Alan and Johanna, joined Scott Bailey, Kim Zimmer, Robert Newman, and me for a visit the Richmond International Raceway to watch Bobby Hamilton, Jr. qualify for Saturday night’s big Nascar race. Bobby drives the Tide car, and since both Tide and "Guiding Light" are owned by P&G, Tide invited us to meet Bobby and hang out in the pit while racers zoomed around the track. I’ve never seen a Nascar race before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a really exciting event. Outside of the racetrack, people camp out and tailgate and create a generally enthusiastic atmosphere that’s truly contagious. The excitement only grew as we were escorted onto the track itself to check out the Tide car and meet all the members of Bobby Hamilton, Jr.’s team. They were all really sweet, and they taught us a lot about Nascar racing. It was so cool. (We even got free Tide stain sticks! Woo hoo!)

After our Nascar visit, we headed over to King’s Dominion for a welcome reception. All the actors from GL were there (eleven of us in all, I think). Our executive producer, Ellen Wheeler, was there with her family. All the GL and CBS publicists, some press, and a few fans were also there. The park was closed to the public, so we had the place all to ourselves. There was an awesome buffet dinner outside of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and a few of the rides were opened for us to ride. It was the coolest thing. Like little kids, we all ran from ride to ride, enjoying the fact that there were no lines and that we could ride the rides over and over again. David Andrew Macdonald (Edmund on the show) was the funniest and most surprising of all, running full speed from coaster to coaster, fighting people for a seat in the front row! It was a great kick-off evening. Everyone had a lot of fun.

Saturday was the “big event.” "Guiding Light Superstar Saturday at King’s Dominion." We (all the actors and other GL folks) were bused to the park on Saturday morning. When we got there, we were told that there were already huge lines of people who were eager to meet us. We were taken to the Caprice Lounge, our home base for the day. Each of the actors was assigned to a park “ambassador," who was going to take care of us throughout the day, making sure we were always where we needed to be and that we were taken care of. These ambassadors were all extremely nice to us, making sure that we stayed happy all day (at one point, someone mentioned that a cheeseburger would taste great, and a few of the ambassadors went for takeout! They were so sweet!)

We actors were separated into three groups. Throughout the day we moved from one event to the next with our groups. My group included Kim Zimmer, Robert Newman, Tom Pelphrey, and me. The first thing we did was an autograph session. I was absolutely floored by the number of fans that had turned out to see us. It’s truly a pleasure to meet fans of the show, to thank them for watching and to hear their feedback. So we autographed headshots and took pictures with fans and stuff. I did so much smiling that my cheeks began to hurt! Lol.

Our group got a short break after that. We went back to the lounge and had a little something to eat. At first we felt bad that we were taking a break while there were so many fans still waiting in line for autographs, but as the long day wore on, we realized how necessary the little breaks really were. After the break, we went to a theatre for a Q&A session, hosted by a local news anchorwoman, Cheryl Miller, from WTVR-TV. The Q&A was fun. It was a nice chance to hear from the fans and to joke around and spill “dirt” about the show. The second autograph session followed, which was even wilder than the first. People said they’d waited up to five hours in line, which really shows the dedication of many of these fans. It’s amazing. Then one final Q&A before the last break.

All of the actors got together for this break before the final event, which was a karaoke contest. Before we went out for the karaoke, we were told that there were 3,000 fans gathered to enjoy it. A security guard made us all be quiet and listen to specific instruction for getting to the stage. He told us that they’d take us out in groups of two or three, surrounded by guards and ambassadors, so that we’d make it safely to the stage. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like some kind of star or something! (I’m still not used to this stuff. I don’t think one could ever get used to it!)

The crowd was so great! It felt really good to look out from the stage, and to know that everyone was there cheering for "Guiding Light." The karaoke was a lot of fun. Each of the actors sang a song with two pre-selected fans. I, and two fans, sang “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles. I think we somehow ended up winning the thing- lol. Despite the fact that I can’t sing to save my life, karaoke was a blast. It was the perfect way to cap off the day. After seven hours of this event, we all kind of expected to be exhausted or cranky or something. But because the day was so well planned, we all agreed that it was total fun. The event was wildly successful, which is good news for "Guiding Light," and which made us (and the fans, I hope) very happy.

After the event, we went back to our hotel and got ready to head out for the evening. Richard Mensing, vice-president of CBS Daytime, (and a Richmond native), took us all to dinner in downtown Richmond. What a good time we had! We were, all together, a group of eighteen. The dinner was delicious, and the company was, of course, superb. With the many changes that have recently taken place at "Guiding Light" (the move to a new studio and the loss of many actors, crew members, and executives), many of us feel like things are going to be completely different from here on out. Ricky-Paull Goldin gave a very nice toast, saying, “Here’s to a new beginning for our show,” etc. etc... It made us all feel really good, like we should look ahead with excitement. We’d had a fun day, and were excited to start our first week in a new studio. It was perfect.

I flew home Sunday afternoon with Scott, Bradley, and Ricky-Paull. Ricky and I read home décor magazines and slept until we were all back in NYC. The end.

LABOR DAY

2005-09-06T04:35:00.000-07:00

It’s Labor Day, and I’m doing what I think people are supposed to do on this holiday: relaxing. My computer, which was sort of broken for a while, is usable again, so I’ve been doing a lot of web surfing. I’m taking time, too, to watch New York 1, our local news channel, to catch up on all the latest news. Unfortunately, most of it is terribly sad news about the many victims of Hurricane Katrina. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for those people whose lives have been affected by the tragedy. It’s an important time to pray, and to give to charities like the Red Cross.

What seems crazy to me is that, while New Orleans sits under water, destroyed by the storm, New York is experiencing the most beautiful weather you could ever hope for. This weekend has seen sunny skies, low humidity, and temperatures in the low 80s. Luckily, I’ve been able to take advantage of this weather, getting out and about in the city. On Saturday, my dad and his girlfriend came to visit me and Jason. We walked through a street fair that spanned ten blocks near my apartment. From there, we walked to Central Park and had lunch at The Boathouse, a beautiful restaurant that sits next to a big lake where people paddle around in row boats and take casual rides on gondolas. We ate outside, overlooking the lake, which was absolutely perfect.

On Saturday night, after my dad had left, we had some friends from Philadelphia drive up to spend the night. The four of us went to a late dinner at Boxers in the West Village. Our friends felt like walking around the city for a while, and since it was such a nice night, we ended up walking the 50+ blocks back to our apartment! On Sunday, after breakfast at a diner near Central Park, we headed back to the lake, where we rented one of the rowboats we’d seen the day before. There were a lot of rowboats out, and everyone was having a great time. The lake is huge, and it’s surrounded by pretty trees (including my favorite, weeping willows), cliffs, and lawns filled with picnickers and sunbathers. It was truly a perfect day in Central Park.

Tomorrow is my nine-year anniversary with Jason. (Wow!) I start school tomorrow night, so we’re going to celebrate tonight by having a picnic dinner in Fort Tryon Park. This particular park is a gem located above Manhattan along the Hudson River. There are gorgeous views of the George Washington Bridge and undeveloped land across the river in New Jersey. The park itself, which has paths leading to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Cloisters” (an old stone building/museum), is filled with gardens and stone bridges and all kinds of pretty things.

I’ve got this week off from work. We all do. Guiding Light is moving into a new studio this week. Last Friday was our last day in the studio that’s been home to Guiding Light for seventeen years. It was a tearful day. Not only are we leaving a building that’s cozy and comfortable and like a home to us, but we’re leaving behind many of our crew members. Last Wednesday night, Kim Zimmer (Reva) threw a party for the whole cast and crew, which was so much fun. The move to the new studio has caused a lot of stress for a lot of people lately (many people are taking pay cuts along with the move, etc.), but on Wednesday night, all that stress was forgotten, and everyone was able to hang out as one big, fun-loving family. I will never forget one moment, when I looked around and we were all dancing together on the bar’s roof terrace in the rain, and I could really see what a tight-knit group we have all become. Actors and crew members and producers and everyone were all dancing and singing and having a good time together. It was a really great thing to do during our last week, before all the new changes brought on by the move set in.

My prayers remain with the hurricane victims. It is really important for us to band together as a country to support them in any way we can. May God bless the victims and bring relief to them and their families.

BUSY BEE

2005-08-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, I’ve been a busy bee. I love it. Life is so much more exciting when there’s a lot going on! Work at Guiding Light has been occupying most of my time. I’ve had a lot of material to shoot over the last week or two, and it’s continuing to stay busy. We’re getting ready to move to a new studio in early September, so in preparation for a week off, we’re shooting extra episodes this month. That means that on many days we end up shooting scenes from two or more episodes.

Last Thursday was supposed to be a full day for me. I was a bit stressed out because I had nine scenes to shoot, most of which were difficult scenes that I knew I’d need to be crying through. However, we ended up having the strangest thing happen. A thermometer broke on one of our sets, the one where most of my scenes were supposed to take place. There was mercury all over the floor, and a haz-mat crew and the fire department were called in to clean it up and test the air for poisonous fumes. It became a really big deal, actually. Those of us who were on the sixth floor of our building, where the sets are, were basically quarantined and not allowed to leave the floor until we got the ok from the crew.

Meanwhile, the press was called. So we talked to reporters from TV and newspapers about all of the excitement. For two and a half hours, shooting was suspended. That’s a long time, considering we shoot entire episodes daily! In the end, we were advised not to use the contaminated set for 24 hours, just to be safe. Normally I would have felt a little relieved because I’d have more time to work on the tough scenes, which we’d now shoot another day. But when the announcement came that we’d be shooting those scenes the next day, I was anything but relieved. I was already scheduled to shoot two full episodes of really difficult material, and now it’d be three full episodes.

Sometimes my friends tease me and say that what we do on soaps is not really work, so much as it is play. And much of the time I feel like, even though our jobs are not easy, we do get to have a lot of fun. However, on a day like last Friday, when I had like fifteen scenes that I’d prepared in one night, that I was going to need to convincingly play in the course of a few short hours, my work was not easy. It’s days like that when you realize the hard work that’s really involved in daytime. Luckily, the day went really well. I concentrated on little pieces of my script at a time, and left the day feeling really good about how it all turned out.

This week and next are going to be really busy, too, with more pre-taping of episodes and whatnot. But, like I said, I love being busy!

I registered for school last week. I had put it off for a while, but finally I got my butt up to school and got it all taken care of. Classes start right after Labor Day. I registered for two classes (which I’ve discovered, through trial and error, is the most I can handle while working so much on Guiding Light.) On Tuesday nights I’ll be taking Victorian Literature, a course that counts towards my major in English. On Wednesdays (as long as I’m granted permission to over-tally into a full class), I’ll be taking Images of World War II, which fulfills one of many core requirements.

Since I didn’t take any summer classes this year, I’ve had just enough time away from school to get excited about going back. I got a new book bag, and I got my books. I’m all set now. And I’ve promised myself that, this semester, I’m going to work on not procrastinating so much. It’s such a bad habit of mine, and I realize that life would be so much easier for me during the semester if I just never put things off until the last minute. Wish me luck with that!

Guiding Light has an exciting event coming up on September 10^th. It’s called “Guiding Light Super Saturday,” and it’s going to be at Paramount’s King’s Dominion in Richmond, VA. Most of the cast is going to be there, and there’s a lot of fun stuff planned for that day. I encourage you all to visit CBS.com for details. The more people that come, the merrier! It’d make a great, short weekend get-away. If any of you can join us, that’d be awesome! So check that out for sure.

Until next time, stay cool, and enjoy what’s left of the summer time!

HOME/WORK

2005-08-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

I went home to Philadelphia for the weekend, Thursday through Saturday. It was great. I helped my mom clean out my bedroom and the basement, had a nice dinner with my dad, and got to hang out a little bit with my best friend, Sarah. My mom is preparing to move into a new house at the end of September. So before packing up, she wanted to clean out and organize as much as possible. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, to be honest. However, I ended up having a great time looking through boxes and trunks full of old stuff.

We found all of my old stuffed animals (of which there were many- as in, five or six garbage bags worth). I love stuffed animals, and we ended up hanging on to most of them because I’m so sentimentally attached to them. I found old school papers, tons of pictures, etc... I even found a diary I wrote when I was eight years old. In it I had written, "When I grow up I want to act on stage and play the piano." A few entries later I wrote, again, "I want to be experienced in acting." It’s great to look back on that now that I’m making that dream come true! It’s such a nice feeling. I’ve been really lucky.

One worrisome thought kept nagging me while I was home, and that was that my kitten was in the hospital. She started throwing up a lot, and had stopped eating. By the time the vet saw her, she was severely dehydrated and not doing well. I was so worried about her. But the vet called me on Saturday morning and said that May had done a complete 180, and was looking much better. Now she’s home, and acting like her normal crazy self again. Thank God. She’s such a little sweetie.

Jason and I went out for dim sum on Sunday afternoon. We met up with my friend Y.P. in Chinatown, and he took us to the Golden Bridge, where we stuffed ourselves with all kinds of yummy foods. Y.P. is a janitor at the "Guiding Light" studio, and has become somewhat of a father-figure to me. His daughter and I are the same age, so he feels very protective of me, just like I’m another daughter. Anyway, it was my first dim sum experience, and I really enjoyed it.

I’ve been watching "Guiding Light" every morning to see how all of our hard work a few weeks ago has turned out. It’s been really exciting. My character’s been kidnapped by a scary man (who, by the way, was played by one of the sweetest actors I’ve ever met, Ritchie Coster—after each scene was over, he’d apologize for being so mean!), and she’s been feeling torn between the good guy that she should love, and the cousin/lover who hurt her deeply in the past, but who she just can’t get over. Like I said, exciting stuff. It really makes me look forward to going to work. There’s always something interesting going on!

Speaking of which, it’s 10pm, and I’ve got work tomorrow. I better go memorize my lines!

HOT, HOT, HOT!

2005-07-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

Just like the song, I’m feelin’ hot, hot, hot!! It’s been so hot this week, it’s almost unbearable. The humidity is what makes it so bad. 95 degrees with humidity is crazy! I’ve tried not to let it keep me indoors entirely, though. Last Saturday, Jason and I, (along with (fellow GL blogger) John Driscoll and his girlfriend), rented a car and drove upstate to Stony Brook, NY to see Tom Pelphrey’s (Jonathan) play, “The Subject Was Roses.” It was at an adorable barn theatre, and the play itself was fantastic. It’s the type of play that studies interesting characters and their complicated relationships with one another. In other words, it’s more about people than plot, and I think some of the best stories are like that. A bunch of other people from the "Guiding Light" cast were there to see the show, too, including Crystal Hunt (Lizzie), Scott Bailey (Sandy) and Ricky-Paull Goldin (Gus).

After the show, Jason and I, and John and Sarah, went to a carnival down the road from the theatre. There were a handful of rides and games, and there was funnel cake!! It was good old-fashioned fun, and a great way to end a summer night with friends.

Earlier in the day, Jason and I had adopted a little kitten that we’ve since named “May” (short for “Mayhem”). She’s three months old, all gray, with grayish eyes. She had been homeless (a shelter worker found a group of kittens at a bodega in Brooklyn), and she’s missing the front half of her chin. The women at the shelter guessed that she’d cut her chin eating out of metal cans with sharp edges. Poor baby! But it’s so cute. It kinda looks like she’s always sticking her tongue out, even though she’s not; it’s just the hairless skin under her jaw.

So now the apartment is a zoo. In a good way. We’ve got my little dog, and two cats now. But I love having animals around. And luckily they all get along with each other!

Despite the heat, I got out into Central Park a few days ago. Some of my college friends and I had a picnic on the Great Lawn while the philharmonic played a free concert. It was lovely. It’s one of those things that makes New York City so incredible. On a hot summer night, thousands of people were out picnicking and listening to classical music together. I loved it.

So, even though it’s hot and sticky, I’m still loving summer in the city!

MY HAPPY PLACE

2005-07-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

I had a long day at work today. I was there from 7am until just after 7pm. Of course, I can’t complain. Now I’m off from work until next week! That’s the thing about working on a soap- the schedule can be grueling sometimes, but light and easy sometimes, too.

I had a great 4th of July Weekend. It was really quite perfect. I was home in Philadelphia for a couple of days. I was there for the Live 8 concert on the 3rd. That was amazing. There were a ton of people crowding one of Philly’s main streets, watching all the musicians perform. It was really exciting. My friends and I got fairly close to the stage at one point, but not too close. It was so crowded.

The next day, Sunday, Jason and I and two of our friends drove to Howell, NJ to go a barbeque at Tom Pelphrey’s (Jonathan) friend’s house. It wouldn’t be 4th of July without a good barbeque! And it was fun. There was food and music and a swimming pool and grown people playing “dizzy bat.” Good old-fashioned fun. We spent the night at Tom’s house (the house where he grew up), and drove a short way to Bradley Beach on Monday. The beach is totally my happy place, so being there on the 4th was perfect. The weather was amazing, and I was with good friends. Jason and I hopped on a bus back to New York in the evening. We were walking home from the bus station just in time to catch the fireworks display over the East River. I love fireworks. They really completed an awesome weekend.

This past weekend was really relaxing. I was pretty lazy for most of it, I must admit. I slept a lot, baked chocolate chip cookies, and watched a bunch of TV. Jason and I saw “The Fantastic Four,” and I gotta say that I was disappointed with it. Oh, well. I’m extremely excited for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which opens this Friday. I hope it’s good!

LA LA LAND!

2005-07-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend on the West Coast in L.A. I was flown out to shoot an episode of "Soap Talk," a talk show on the cable channel SoapNet. Since I was willing to fly coach, "Soap Talk" paid for Jason to join me on the trip. It was his first time in L.A., and it was really interesting to see his reaction to it. We drove 45 minutes from the airport to our hotel, and when we got to the hotel, Jason said, “So where’s all the cool stuff?” See, we hadn’t really seen much along the way other than freeways. So I explained to him that everything’s really spread out in L.A. The cool stuff is spread apart over a large area. It turned out, Jason was looking for the city.

“This isn’t a city,” he said.

I told him that, yes, it is a city, it’s just not urban the way NYC is. It’s a driving city, a more suburban type of atmosphere. I think he was confused by that, coming from the east coast and cities like New York and Philadelphia. It was cute.

Our hotel was located on Hollywood Blvd., on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with a great view of the famous Hollywood sign outside our window. I had a great experience on "Soap Talk" on Saturday afternoon. I chatted with the hosts about my life and my work on "Guiding Light." (The episode will air on SoapNet on August 30^th, so be sure to check it out!)

I was back at the hotel by mid-afternoon. Jason and I had a reservation for dinner at Gladstone’s 4 Fish, a seafood restaurant that’s right on the beach at Sunset Blvd. and the Pacific Coast Highway. We ate on the deck, looking out over the ocean, and the timing worked out such that we were enjoying dessert at sunset. It was perfect! After dinner, we went to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, which I love. It’s several blocks, closed off to traffic, lined with shops and restaurants. Street performers are abundant there, too, which really adds to the fun.

Before heading back to NY on Sunday afternoon, Jason and I went to the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum in Hollywood. It was cool. We got back to the East Coast late Sunday night, just in time to return to work Monday morning. As fun as L.A. can be for a weekend, I’m really an East Coast kinda girl.

JUNE 16, 2005

2005-06-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, it’s been a while!! Sorry, guys. Before I say anything else, I have to send a shout-out to Christie and Bethany (ooh, I hope I got the names right!!), two great girls I met after the CBS vs. ABC softball game last Saturday. They said they read my blog, and I promised to mention them, and joked that I’m so bad with names, but I’d do my best to remember!

Anyhoo, the softball game was a lot of fun. It was a fundraiser. CBS soap stars played against ABC soap stars. We lost to ABC, unfortunately; but if you ask me, they’re a bunch of cheaters anyways. Lol. But it was a nice day, and the crowd was really into it, so it was great.

I had a house-warming party last Sunday evening. My new apartment was finally ready for company. A bunch of my friends from NYU came over, as well as some friends from "Guiding Light." I had prepared a bunch of finger foods and whatnot, and it was a really nice evening. The place has officially been “warmed.”

As funny as this is to me, I’ve actually started to become somewhat of a domestic now that I have a new apartment and am living with my boyfriend. I’ve been doing some- gasp!- cooking. Yes. And I haven’t burned anything yet. Ok, so I slightly undercooked some chicken once, but other than that I’ve had successes. I’ve made stir-fry and turkey burgers and various pasta dishes. And I’m the kinda girl who normally thinks of cereal as a perfectly acceptable dinner food. I’m glad I’m finally working on my domestic skills. It’s about time, really.

It’s definitely summertime now. We had a few days in the 90-degree range this week. As the weather’s heating up, so is my summer storyline at "Guiding Light!" It’s getting so exciting. There’s a lot in store for my character over these next couple of months. Definitely tune in for that. I’m having a lot of fun working on the material. I’ve been working nearly every day. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m learning a lot and I’m lucky to be getting such great material to work with.

This weekend I’ll be going home to Philadelphia. My grandparents are celebrating 51 years of marriage (wow!!), and of course I’ll be seeing my dad for Father’s Day.

More soon…. promise

MARCO ISLAND!

2005-05-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Had a great time in Marco Island! What a great getaway. I’m a Pisces, and therefore feel this huge connection with any sort of beach, so getting to stay in an ocean-front condo for the weekend was just incredible. I took my best friend, Sarah, along for the weekend of "Guiding Light"-related events. We arrived late Friday night. Didn’t go straight to bed though…. first we had to run out onto the beach in the dark and jump into the ocean, which was still pretty warm at 2am. Sarah, Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan), Gina Tognoni (Dinah), Doug Hutchison (Sebastian), and I admired the bright stars in the sky (they were gorgeous), and chatted, and wrote things in the sand. Then we all noticed the hot tub and pool next to our condo. A few others joined us there, including John Driscoll (Coop). We swam and joked around until really late into the night. At about 5am, Sarah and I decided it was way past time to crash. So we did.

On Saturday morning we went to the Radisson Hotel for a brunch fundraiser. We ate and there was an auction and a question-and-answer session. It was a really nice time. I got to meet a lot of really nice fans of the show. Everyone was really sweet to us. After the brunch was over, we had several hours to kick back and relax. It was great. Sarah and Gina and I went back out onto the beach and took some great pictures at sunset. Sarah and I also went out for a long walk, which led us to “Sunsations,” a beach shop, where we found the tools necessary for a prank we proceeded to play on my costars. We bought a pair of fake tongue rings. They were these little glass balls that suctioned onto our tongues. When we got back to the condo, we fooled everyone into thinking we’d gone out to pierce our tongues. While they all knew that it was a highly uncharacteristic thing for me to do, they totally bought it! It wasn’t until Monday that I finally said to everyone, “I thought you knew me better! I would never get my tongue pierced!” Crystal Hunt (Lizzie) was particularly relieved to learn that it was just a joke. Lol.

On Saturday night we all participated in a “Celebrity Bartending Bash.” Yes, I got behind the bar and served drinks. I wasn’t that great at it, but I tried. There was also karaoke and dancing involved. We had a great time. Oh, and by the way, Tom Pelphrey wore a kilt. Yes, a kilt. It was hilarious. What was even crazier is that he pulled it off remarkably well, as only Tom really could.

Our last event of the weekend was a boat cruise on Sunday afternoon. It was cloudy, but still warm out. From the boat we could see a lot of beautiful houses around the island. John and I even got the chance to drive the boat. The captain gave us control of the wheel. He told us we were naturals.

We flew home Sunday evening, and it was back to work and school on Monday. Now it’s life as usual, and I’m happy as a clam. : )

MOVING ON UP!

2005-04-27T02:55:00.000-07:00

I feel like I’m really settling in to my new apartment. I love it. My mom came up to New York from Philly last weekend to help me hang up pictures and towel rods and fun things like that. She’s awesome. I’ve never met a woman who’s as handy with a tool box as my mom is.

Jason is starting to get used to New York City. He moved up here a little over a week ago. He’s decided that he’s going to go to technical school for computer networking and security. That’ll be a one-year program. So for the next year he’ll be in school and working at the same time (hmm, sounds familiar!). He’s looking for a good retail job that has flexible hours so he can work evenings and weekends.

My job is going well. I’ve had a few relatively slow weeks, working only a day or two each week. That’s been good, though, because it’s allowed me time to organize the new apartment and focus on school. However, my schedule appears to be picking up a lot in the coming weeks. The next month will be pretty busy for everyone at Guiding Light. May is Emmy month, and there are always a zillion Emmy-related events to go to throughout the month. I’m looking forward to all of that. I’m also just really excited to root for Guiding Light and our thirteen Emmy nominations. (Yeah, go team!!)

This weekend I’m going to Marco Island in Florida for the Marco Island Film Festival. Every year the festival invites Guiding Light cast members to attend fundraising events all weekend. This will be my first year going, and I’m really excited about it. I’m bringing my best friend, Sarah, along, so it’ll be a good bonding weekend for us, too. I’ll be posting pics from the weekend on my website next week, so be sure to check that out.

Until then, adios amigos. : )

BLOG JR.

2005-04-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Life has suddenly gotten very busy. Chaotic, really. And exciting, at the same time. I’m slowly getting everything moved into my new apartment. There’s so much to do regarding the move; I’ve had to change my address with about a hundred places (the bank, the cable company, etc. etc.), I’m scheduling furniture deliveries left and right, and I’m trying to figure out a way to get rid of/sell the furniture that I’m not using any more. I would feel overwhelmed, except that I’m too excited to have a new apartment that I love.

Today’s weather got me really excited about spring and summertime. It was 74 degrees in NYC today, with sunny skies. This evening, just after it got dark out, I walked to my local video store to rent a DVD I need to watch for a class. The walk was so nice, because the city streets were bustling with people, out and about on a gorgeous night. All the restaurants had tables set up on the sidewalks, and the whole neighborhood felt really alive. That’s what I love about the city in the spring. After I picked up the DVD, I stopped into Ben & Jerry’s for a cone of chocolate chip cookie dough. I felt like it’d be the perfect treat for a night like tonight. And it was, mmmm…

Sorry for the short post, but I’ve got a lot of reading to do now for class. I’ll post again really soon, I promise!

HE'S NOT HEAVY, HE'S MY....

2005-03-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

My brother, Andrew, returned safely home to the United States yesterday, after spending almost a year in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. I’m so thankful for his safety. I spent months worrying about him, and now I get to be utterly jealous of him—he’s now stationed back in Hawaii! Lucky dog. I think I have a great excuse now, though, for a Hawaiian vacation!

My birthday last week was nice. (Thanks for everyone’s warm b-day greetings! I appreciate it!) I spent the day at work at "Guiding Light" and went out on the town that evening. The next day, after work, I flew out to L.A. (along with the rest of the "Guiding Light" cast) to shoot promos for the show. I was only in L.A. until Saturday morning, but it was a nice, little stay. The best part was that I got to spend some time hanging out with my co-workers away from the work environment. It was especially nice to get a chance to chat with some of the older cast members who I don’t really hang out with too often. They’re all so talented and intelligent; I love spending time with them and learning from them.

The promo shoot was fun, too. We each had to stand on this giant turntable with a green screen in the background. As the turntable slowly spun around, we had to lock eyes with the camera and play certain looks: playful, sexy, flirty, bitchy… It was tricky, at times, to stay standing up on the big turntable thingy. Especially in high heels. But it was fun. I think the promos will end up looking great.

In other news, I found my new apartment! It is about one minute away from the "Guiding Light" studio. Talk about convenience! It’s a one bedroom apartment in a nice doorman building. There’s a big living room, a cozy bedroom, and best of all, huge closets (very important). I’ll be moving in during the middle of next month. I’m very excited. Now I get to do fun things like shop for furniture and decorate. Woo hoo.

Anyhoo, welcome home Andrew! I’m so glad you’re back.

THE IDES OF MARCH

2005-03-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Life’s been busy lately, although I always think busy is a good thing. I’ve had a lot of work to do for my classes, mostly reading novels and watching films and writing little papers. I’ve also been working at "Guiding Light" a few days a week. A few weeks ago I went to the Writer’s Guild of America Awards, where "Guiding Light’s" writing team won an award. I was so happy to be there to cheer them on, because the writing on "Guiding Light" has really gotten so good over the past year or so. (To see photos from the event, click here).

The weekend after that, was a charity weekend in Las Vegas. I brought Jason along with me, and we joined other actors from "Guiding Light" and other soaps at a bunch of events that raised money for children’s charities. It was a really fun weekend. I got to gamble a little bit. Jason and I decided that "Let it Ride," a poker game, was the most fun. We also had some free time to hang out with my friends from work, going out for a nice dinner and partying at a nightclub. Everyone behaved themselves (I was a little worried it might get crazy in Vegas), and we all really had a good time.

I’ve been starting to apartment hunt, since I’ll be moving out of my current apartment in a month or so. It’s a very scary thing to do in New York City, where a 500 square foot studio usually costs more than a fancy 2-bedroom apartment in some other cities, like Philadelphia. I’m very excited to be moving, though. It’ll be a chance to have fun decorating and everything.
My birthday is coming up this Wednesday. I’m thinking I’ll invite some friends to go out and sing karaoke. That’d be fun. I’ll be 22 years old. Wow. Some days I feel like I’m still 16. But I guess I’m a grown-up now. Ha ha.

I got to spend some time with Justin Klosky (ex-Joey on "Guiding Light," and one of my best friends in the world) last night. I invited him and his girlfriend to join me and some other friends for a night out on the town. I miss having Justin around at "Guiding Light," but luckily we’ve maintained our friendship and still hang out fairly often. He’s still doing the whole actor thing, auditioning all the time. He brought me a little something for my birthday last night: a big bag of candy! He knows me so well.

I highly recommend tuning in to "Guiding Light" this week. Some really cool episodes that I had a lot of fun making will be airing. So tune in, and then let me know what you think…

PRE-VALENTINE'S DAY

2005-02-11T11:41:00.000-08:00

For anyone who might be interested, I now have an official website up at www.stephaniegatschet.com . It opened earlier this week, and I invite everyone to check it out. Let me know what you think; any ideas or thoughts I can get would be awesome. I’m happy with it. I had just been thinking that it’d be a good idea to have something available for fans of “Guiding Light” to check out if they’re interested. The girls who designed the site are fans of the show, and they’ve done sites for other cast members. I think they do a great job. (Thanks Jamie and Jen!!)

I got to preview the site a couple weeks ago. The coolest part for me was to look through all the photo galleries; it was like a walk down memory lane. There’s a section of “screen shots” from “Guiding Light” episodes that go all the way back to the beginning of my time on the show. It was really cool for me to go through and look back at all that my character has been through in the past couple of years.

I told my boyfriend, Jason, that the site had opened and that there were message boards dedicated to me and my character on “Guiding Light.” He giggled mischievously and said that he intends to go on the message boards and write about me. He said, “I’m gonna be that annoying guy… ha ha ha.” So anyhoo, if anyone happens to notice a crazy poster on my message boards, just be crazy back to him. It’s just Jason!

Saw a movie the other night that had a really big impact on me: “Hotel Rwanda.” It’s about a guy who runs a hotel in Rwanda during the Hutu/Tutsi conflict in the early nineties. He harbors around twelve hundred refugees, trying to keep them safe from the genocide that’s going on all over Rwanda. The film is a powerful one that I found educational and thought-provoking. I recommend it, although you must beware that it will put you in a somber mood for the rest of the day. But I think it’s worth it.

Tomorrow I will be participating in the Daytime Emmy’s voting process for the first time. Everyone who is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (whoa, that’s a mouthful!) can spend the day tomorrow viewing tapes for different categories, and rating them. The results of the day will produce the official nominees for this year’s Daytime Emmy’s. Fun, fun, fun!

Then it will be off to Philadelphia for the rest of the weekend. Jason and I will have to have our special Valentine’s Day dinner early because I’ve got to be back in New York on Monday night for class. By the way, my classes this semester are great so far. I’m really excited about them. I’m taking “Independent Film Impact” and “Film & Literature.” I’ll be watching a lot of movies this semester.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’d like to urge everyone to spread some love. And for those without a significant other, don’t worry; the holiday is equally yours - there are lots of kinds of love, so spread it to your friends and family, too! The cutest idea for a Valentine’s Day celebration I’ve ever heard of came from my old favorite TV show, “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Dylan told Brenda that he had a surprise for her. His hints about the surprise were, “There’s red involved, we’ll both be on a bed, and you’ve never done it before.” He took her to the Red Cross and they both donated blood together. It was definitely a surprise to Brenda, and it was a great idea on Dylan’s part. So if you’re out of other ideas, I say do the Brenda and Dylan thing; it’s an important thing to do anyway, why not make it romantic, too?

FEBRUARY 2, 2005

2005-02-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

My trip to Paris was absolutely incredible. It is such a beautiful city. My mom and I had a great time. Everywhere we went, everything was so pretty and so full of history. We squeezed a lot in to our seven day trip, and yet we never felt overwhelmed; it was still nice and relaxing. We stayed in the Saint Germain area, a perfectly located neighborhood that was adorable.

On our first night in Paris, we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and walked along the Champs Elysees. Then we wandered down a winding side-street and discovered a very nice French restaurant (fairly free of tourists), and had a really yummy meal. After that, we found our way to the Eiffel Tower, across the street from which was a carousel. We rode the carousel and admired the Eiffel Tower. At midnight we were standing directly underneath the structure, looking up. Suddenly, the whole thing started to shimmer with these bright sparkly lights that were all over it. It was a magical moment; so beautiful.

The rest of the week was spent visiting museums (like the Musee D’Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, Musee Marmittan, etc.), checking out the flea markets, and eating out. We also did a ton of walking. We must have covered the majority of Parisian streets on foot, which was great because we were able to see and discover so many cute streets and neighborhoods.
Of course, we also shopped a little too much. I found a beautiful Christian Lacroix gown that I just couldn’t resist. I suppose I’ll wear it to the Daytime Emmy’s this year. It was a total splurge, and an impulse buy, but I love it.

I got to practice my minimal French speaking skills during the trip. That was pretty cool. I learned some new important words and phrases, and re-learned a lot of the vocabulary I was taught in high school French class. I learned that if I ask a question too well, though (pronounce something a little too well, or just really sound like I know what I’m saying), that the problem becomes understanding an equally fast, fancy response. So, while I tried to say everything correctly, I decided it’s best to ask questions slowly, so that their answers would be slow and understandable as well.

My mom and I flew back into Philadelphia in the middle of a snow storm, which was quite the adventure. But we made it safely, and now life continues on as usual. I’ve been working at "Guiding Light" (where, yesterday, we had the coolest Spanish fiesta to celebrate Kim Zimmer’s 50th birthday), and I started school again on Monday. Today is my day off, so I’m trying to get as many random errands accomplished as I possibly can. I need to do laundry so desperately; I should stop writing and get to it!!

JANUARY 12, 2005

2005-01-13T05:39:00.000-08:00

Three days until I see the lights of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. I couldn’t be more excited. My mom and I are flying out from Philadelphia. I’m stuck in New York until tomorrow because I have an audition to go to, which means that I’ll only have Friday to pack. But there’s nothing like the last minute, right?

In other news, my brother Andrew is home on his leave from the Army. I’ve gotten to spend a fair amount of time with him. On Sunday night, after my mom threw a nice party for him at our house in Philly, Andrew and his wife Melanie came back to New York with me. They came to work with me at "Guiding Light" on Monday. I had scored my brother a role as an extra in the same set where I was doing my scenes for the day. He was so excited, not only to get to see how a TV show is made, but to actually get to be a part of it. If you watch the show on February 3^rd, you’ll see him eating at the table behind me in Company (Springfield’s favorite restaurant). He’s the blonde guy that looks like a male version of me.

Anyhoo, after spending the day on set at "Guiding Light," we found a great karaoke bar in SoHo, and we sang the night away. Andrew hadn’t been to New York since he was a kid, so I had to give him a night out on the town. It was a lot of fun. After spending ten months in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, New York was a real culture shock for Andrew. But he really enjoyed it a lot.

My next post will pop up when I get pack from Paris (week after next). Hopefully it’ll be full of fun stories and details about the trip. Until then, au revoir!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2005-01-04T05:58:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Hard to believe it’s 2005. There’s an old tradition in my family that, every New Year, we take a few minutes to look back over the past year and remember everything that’s happened. I wasn’t with my family this New Year’s Eve, so I didn’t really get to do that with them. But I think I’ll do a little recap now, a little trip down 2004 memory lane…

In 2004, I cruised through the western Caribbean, earned 21 college credits, presented an award at the Technical Daytime Emmy Awards, took my first ride in a helicopter in Florida, and my first ride in a hot-air balloon over the deserts of Arizona, adopted my kitty cat, Fiyero, saw my face on the big screen in “Virgin” and walked a short, but none-the-less exciting, red carpet at its premiere, organized and led “Team Guiding Light” to raise several thousand dollars at the NY AIDS Walk, turned 21 (and still prefer to order a Shirley Temple when I’m out on the town!), dealt with the fact that my character on "Guiding Light" lost her virginity to her first cousin (yikes), and celebrated eight years of being with my fabulous boyfriend, Jason. Wow, what a year.

Every year has its ups and downs. But when there are so many ups, one cannot complain!! It’s been an awesome year, for which I am incredibly thankful. I’m also thankful that, after not seeing my brother Andrew all year (because he’s been stationed in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan), he’ll be home this week for two weeks of leave, and I’ll finally get to see him!

My resolution for 2005 is to eat better. I’m not talking about any kind of diet or anything. I just mean that I’m going to start eating more balanced, healthy meals, drink more water, that kind of stuff. Believe it or not, I’ve been known (quite frequently, actually) to eat candy for lunch and/or cereal for dinner. It’s not good. So I’ve resolved to eat better, for health’s sake. And because Swedish Fish, as good as they are, are just not meant to be eaten for breakfast!

New Year’s Eve was a night to remember. I decided that I wanted to spend New Year’s Eve in New York City, which I’d never done before. Five friends, including my boyfriend, came up to celebrate with me. I decided I wanted to “live it up” for the night, so naturally I hired a stretch limo to ride around in all night. It picked us up at my apartment at eight. We toasted with champagne in the limo, and then kicked things off with a trip to a club in the West Village. We danced and laughed and had a good time. Then we hopped back into the limo for more champagne and a bit of riding around the city. The city is so alive on New Year’s Eve; it’s really amazing. We pulled up to Battery Park in Lower Manhattan just in time for the countdown to midnight. There were fireworks over the river, which were beautiful! The Statue of Liberty was in the background, and the fireworks were reflected in the water below. What a sight! When that was over, our limo driver, Anthony, found a great 24-hour diner for us to go to. We had pancakes and cheeseburgers at one o’ clock in the morning, and then headed home to crash. We all had a lot of fun.

I was back to work today at "Guiding Light." It was really great to be back from our little holiday break. I love that I love going back to work! I’m a lucky gal. And if I may throw in a shameless pitch really quickly—please, if you don’t already, you need to be watching "Guiding Light." Not only to see what I’m up to, but to see how great it’s gotten. What can I say? I’m like a proud parent. I’ve really seen the show blossom within the short two and a half years that I’ve been part of it. It’s really awesome! So tell your friends, tune in, and enjoy!

Again, Happy New Year and blessings to all!

P.S. Shameless pitch #2, and this one is sooo important: I know everyone knows about the recent tsunamis. It’s a difficult thing to process, being so far away from what happened. At least it is for me. All I know is that it is a tragedy beyond belief. I just made a donation to the Red Cross International Response Fund online (www.redcross.org), and there are about a zillion other organizations that are raising money to help. It’d be great if anyone who can help (at all) would try to do so. I remember typing in a donation amount and then thinking to myself, ‘Stephanie, these people have lost their homes, their families, absolutely everything, and the ones who are left are still struggling to survive!’ I pressed delete and doubled the amount I was going to donate. We just can’t do enough. But no matter what you can afford, every little bit helps. Ok, that’s the end of my public service announcement.