Of all the things that led me on this journey, I cannot help but always go back to the times I spent reading the Twilight Series. As cheesy as it may sound, the resistance to put down those four novels was indescribable. They carried me from a place of monotony into a place where anything felt possible. I recall seeing it's glossy cover in Brunswick on my 30th birthday trip to Jekyll Island and feeling drawn to it. Upon returning to to the film sets, I remember spending an entire week, devouring each page. I spent my days applying the appropriate makeup to characters and helping run lines, and floated into the nighttime lost inside of each novel.
I still have the little pink book light I used, so as to avoid awakening the other housemates.
I suppose the combination of creating a new world on set and reading about anther kind of world after dark, made it most appealing. That, and the cheesy movies that were based on these novels had not yet been made.
After the wrap party, the producer Samuel, informed me that he had purchased a plane ticket for me to New York. I was to accompany a select group of individuals to an event in Times Square to promote our film and show the completed trailer. I was absolutely elated. I had never been on a plane before and had an excuse to buy a fancy new dress.
I didn't sleep one single wink the night before the flight. I was up packing, touching up my hair, and breathing pure adrenaline due to the excitement. Samuel showed up before the sun even began to kiss the earth, and we all headed to the airport. After checking our bags and getting through security, we grabbed a sandwich and boarded the plane. An extremely short flight later, I was already feeling the lack of sleep, but my trusty adrenaline was still ever present. I grabbed my luggage and we flagged down a cab.
Our hotel was absolutely beautiful, but held the tiniest rooms I had ever had the pleasure of staying in. The event began that evening at 7:00, so we still had some time to explore the city. That first day was all a blur, but I do recall grabbing a slice of pizza and hanging out in our hotel rooms. I slipped on my black dress, stepped into my strapped heels, and the group headed on foot toward Times Square. It was March, the night before my birthday, and the weather was crisp, but tolerable. By the second block, I was regretting the heels and realized my feet may very well fall off. We arrived at the location and followed a set of stairs, leading us to a huge room filled with creators of all kinds. Musicians, film makers, comedians...Artists are my favorite kind of people.
We handed out business cards for about an hour and our film trailer was shown. Applause followed and I was quite impressed with what a group of people who had only done one film, had accomplished. The rest of the night was spent mingling, networking, and making connections. Connections I had no idea would bring me back to that city one month later.
I was running on no sleep, and we were leaving the event at midnight. We found a restaurant in Times Square and went for some food. I have no idea what I even ordered. Pure exhaustion had set in. By this time, we all felt like family. I made my exhaustion known to the Samuel, and instead of walking back to our hotel, he paid some men on bicycles to drive us back in a little buggy. I had no idea that in two months time, I would become used to this method of transportation.
We awakened early the next day and really explored the city, the empire state building, and definitely had an exciting day. My best friend Nick lived in the city and we had yet to coordinate our schedules for a meeting time. So, the next day, I decided to let everyone else do their own thing, take the subway to Canal Street to meet Nick, and get back to the hotel in time to hop in a cab and get to the airport. I packed the night before, set my alarm to the song "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga because it was the most annoying thing I had ever heard, and I knew it would awaken me.
By this point, I was still not 100% caught up on sleep, and desperately needed some coffee. Samuel and I had discovered this amazing little diner that served such amazing omelettes, that I still dream of them to this day. So we walked downstairs, and around the corner to fuel up. That was just one more thing I was already falling in love with. Being within walking distance to everything. By this point, Samuel had decided to join me on my quest to see Nick. After two cups of coffee and some conversation, we boarded the subway and sat down. I was pretty certain I had taken us onto the correct train, but only time would tell. As I navigated the ride in my head, a group of men came into our car and began singing. Samuel was elated and we threw money into their hats. That may very well have been the moment I fell in love with New York City.
To Be Continued...
