well...hence the title, i am home for the holidays. the weather here is surprisingly not freezing, although i'm not yet used to the gloominess. i rather did get accustomed to sunny and 75...

i feel very blessed to have three weeks to veg back in the midwest. away from the worries of getting an agent, making the rent, and wondering how long i'll be sitting on the 405 on any given day. however, i do love life in la, so don't think for a second that i won't be psyched to head back in january!! i'm ready to hit 2008 with vigor! i have a feeling it will be a good year. but, then, they always are :)

the past week has definitely had it's ups and downs. at times it has been amazing, and at times very painful. i'm learning that it's really during the times when you experience emotions very richly, either good or bad, that you truly know you're alive. God uses the most interesting variety of events to draw me closer to Him; i know i probably say this a lot, but it's so comforting knowing that i'm not the one in control of my life, that God knows His plan's for me and they're better than anything i could ever dream up myself. yes, a big life change occurred this past week which has caused many mixed emotions. but, i'm taking one day at a time, and i appreciate everyone's continued prayers. thank you guys.

also, though the past couple of weeks have had very fun moments!! i went to several festive Christmas parties, including one with my two roomies, where we lit the tree, watched a Christmas movie (i've still yet to see home alone, it's a wonderful life, or Christmas vacation--all staples of the season for me...i need to get on top of that!) and exchanged what turned out to be some really top-notch gifts!! i got some argyle arm-warmers, a jewelry organizer, peanut m&ms (my latest sweet of choice!!), and a helpful book on acting :)

another party i went to, was upon invitation of my boss, kris, the voiceover artist. he was going to a party thrown by a colleague from a major radio station in la. it was at this guy's house on the beach in santa monica, pretty low-key, not tons of people. just a fun time of mingling. but there was most definitely a highlight! my newest celeb sighting turned out to be more than just a sighting; i actually hung out with, and then was serenaded by (a rousing rendition of "brown-eyed girl" karaoke-style) dennis haskins--for all you saved by the bell fans--MR. BELDING! i know!! it was a seriously surreal, early 90s pop-culture moment for me. no, lol, it was a lot of fun, and he was a really nice guy. i was very tempted to ask him to say "heyheyhey WHAT is going on here!?!" one of his coined phrases from the show, but i behaved myself and refrained. :)

anyway, i may not write for a few days, since i'll be chilling with mi familia, and then traveling to visit more family and friends for the holidays. so, until then, i wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, happy new year, and a wonderful any other holiday you might be celebrating. who knows, though, with all this free time in my near future, you may be hearing from me sooner than later ;)

thanks for reading, it's a huge encouragement. goodnight all.

p.s. i'd like to give a shout-out to the steves, mike, don, and debbie (you know who you are!) ;)

hey guys, random post, but please anyone, and i really seriously mean EVERYONE reading this, please go to this link: http://www.gotcast.com/laurenparrent and click to VOTE for me. it's this random casting website, that may or may not actually be a really legitimate thing here in la. but, the people with the most votes get a chance to host something or act in something, so i'd really really appreciate it!!!! thank you soooo much!!!

~lauren

things are so strange in the ways of hollywood. i can go to film something at 4 pm yesterday, knowing that in a few hours, i'll accidentally fall off a balcony, die, and then hop in my car and drive to santa monica. which is basically the overview of my last few days, incidentally! i'm not going to lie, my biological clock is really thrown off right now...

a couple of days ago, i went to audition for a student film at the ny film academy here in la. i thought it went pretty well, and the director, chip, was very friendly and encouraging. that afternoon, i got a call from vanessa, another ny film student, who was the AD (assistant director) for another one of the student's films (how film school works: the large class is split into smaller groups of about 6 people, and within these groups, each person has their own film to direct for each project they are assigned. when one person is the director, all the other group members act as their crew; they all just take turns). as it turns out, vanessa, along with the rest of chip's crew, had been sitting in on my audition, and they were calling to see if i'd play the lead in one of their other group member's films. the catch was, it was filming the next two days (saturday/sunday). and...there were a few stipulations. i flat out told vanessa that i didn't do nudity (lol), and she said no, but asked if i would be ok with a)having my face painted as though i were dead, and b)wouldn't mind spitting out fake blood. by the way, it's a horror film. so, i said "heck no i wouldn't mind!" i thought that it sounded really exciting; i've always wanted to do a horror film!!!



there are really soo many details i could write, but i'll try to not make it a novel...we filmed at chip's home in orange county, so it was a drive, but it was worth it. i knew chip, and kim (his wife, who helped out with the casting), looked really familiar, and when i got to their house, i realized that they were chip and kim mcaliister--winners of a season of the reality show "the amazing race!" it was the only season i actually watched, so that was funny that he was now the DP (director of photography) on a film i was doing! we filmed at their house, and bless their family for letting us use it, because we were up screaming bloody murder at 3 am, running around, setting up lights, and deeming the entire place as a quiet zone. they were very patient. and their family dynamics were so entertaining, too!

so, the film, which i can't wait to see already (it should be finished by february), is a japanese & american-style horror hybrid. hiro, the director is japanese, and i didn't get to see the footage, but i did watch the monitor some, and it looked very artistic. the general plot synopsis is: 4 college friends buy a really nice house that is supposedly haunted, and they may or may not encounter the ghost of a little girl...i guess you'll have to wait and watch it!! :) this one should go up on youtube, so i should post it in a couple of months, hopefully.

we thought we'd be finished by midnight or so last night, but the semi-night shoot turned into a real night shoot, and i definitely didn't get back to santa monica until 8 this morning. but, as always, doing this film (or any project) always solidifies my desire to be acting. i love being on set, i love getting to know people and becoming like family because you're with them for 20 out of 24 hours, and i love the anticipation of seeing a finished product. i know i'm not getting paid as a "working actor" yet, but any experience is welcomed right now!

below are a couple of pictures, please keep in mind, things look a lot less cool/scary when you can't see it with proper film lighting and hollywood effects!!:

here's jaxy, chip, and vanessa (as the ghost-i promise it's scarier on camera, lol)



and, this is chevy, hiro (the director), and me with my creepy dead makeup!



other than filming, i had a couple of really fun Christmas parties this week. one was at our friends' apartment, and we ate and did a secret santa exchange, and made this really really adorable ornaments. if i can find all the pieces for the craft, i want to make a whole set of these eclectic little ornaments! it was a bit tedious, but also creative and relaxing, and produced beautiful results!

well, i think i'm going to make a nice, hot, spaghetti dinner! and, a last minute HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad and uncle!! goodnight all!

i can't believe it's already december!?! well, we now go from the last post, which was thanksgiving-centered, to a semi-Christmas post! last night when i got home from work, i parked the car and could see a huge Christmas tree through our front window!! holland had bought us a real Christmas tree-and believe it or not, it's my first ever LIVE tree!!!! needless to say, i'm verrrry excited! we (lane, holland, liz and i) spent an hour or so decorating it last night, which was just so much fun!!! holland purchased the ornaments, and went with a silver theme, which looks very classy with all our white lights. below are some pictures and a video (it's a bit dark, i apologize. hopefully it even works on here...) of our decorating wonders!!



here we are: 1)holland, liz and me--we just happened to be wearing Christmas colors! but it turned out to make the pictures very festive :). 2) me putting curly ringlets of ribbon on the REAL tree!! and 3)lane, holland, and liz doing more decorating! the tree is right in our dining room, we just moved the kitchen table up against the wall, but it's the perfect spot by our big picture window!





other than that, i've been walking a lot of dogs, picking up their poop (it's a very humbling job, seriously). i did get to go on a hike last week, though, with two dogs at the will rogers state park in pacific palisades. the park tours (of will rogers' former house, now a museum) were closed on that day, so i only saw myself and maybe two other people in the park the whole time we were there. we walked on dirt trails through gorgeous terrain; the air was so clean, we were up in the mountains, and i felt like i was in the 1940's, back when will rogers actually lived there. it was a great experience, and reiterated my desire to get out and DO things, instead of just sitting around!

we also had a spontaneous neighborhood get together one night. it was awesome! jim brought out his grill, and then the other two households just pulled out whatever food we had, and we had an extremely delicious makeshift meal at our house. we had white lights on outside, and just had a nice little evening! if you can't tell, i love spontaneity and variety in life!

one of this neighbors, jacquelyn (my fellow actress) and i decided to work together and go out a shoot some footage (she and her boyfriend, a director, have a professional camera) to create our own hosting reels. with the writers strike, and then an impending SAG strike (probably in late spring), work for actors is and will become even more sparse. however, there may be another rise in reality tv, and therefore, hosting gigs. so, having a hosting reel could be a big advantage in the near future. so...she and i took all day on thursday and went around santa monica, filming all types of things. we interviewed people, used eisley as a prop at the dog park, stood inside a recycling bin (yeah, for real), and researched the venice canals. i should be getting some of this footage soon, so i can post some of it. a lot of the footage had bad lighting or sound, but we did get some useable stuff. we'll probably do several days like that to make sure we have enough to compile for about a 3 minutes reel each. she and i just filmed each other--it was such a fun day, i just get so stimulated and feel really fulfilled when i'm doing what i really want to be doing!! one interesting person we met happened to be an up-and-coming actor, who was with his dog in the dog park. his name is jon bernthall (you should imdb him...), and he's big time! he has a couple movies coming out in january, one is called "day zero" and he stars in it with chris kline and elijah wood. jacquelyn and i are excited because if he becomes a huge star, we have footage of us talking to him, lol! what nerds...

but anyway, that's about all i can think of that might be at all interesting. still just working and keepin it real :) a couple of weeks until coming home for the holidays, and to be honest, i don't know how i'm going to feel about the freeeezing and gloomy weather!!!! it would be nice to see some pretty snow though...