It's Time to Shine!

We are here!!!  Travel day went very smoothly- we made it out on time, had seats on the plane next to other AMTC people, arrived in Orlando 25 minutes early, got the shuttle to the hotel with no problem and were able to get into our room right away. I really couldn't have asked for better. We had a couple hours to poke around while we waited for our roommates to arrive. The hotel is amazing. So huge and so beautiful!  One of the restaurants is on a big sailboat in the middle of an indoor lake. There are sting rays and alligators and huge koi. Not in the same waters. That would be sad for the koi I think. G and I had a great time beginning to explore. She wanted to hold my hand while we walked and said it was one of her most favorite days ever.

The roommates arrived and within minutes the girls were chattering away like old friends and holding hands on the way downstairs. We got a taxi and hit Publix to get groceries for the week. Paying for all of it was still less than the fancy New Years Eve buffet the hotel is offering tonight. I'm not up for a $90 dinner thanks. Not for just me and my kid.




I'm such a sucker for pictures of the back of walking kids.  I have no idea why they make me so happy, but this is how they were ten minutes after meeting.

And so now we are in the dark room working on trying to go to sleep while I hide the iPad under the covers and blog. It's nice to have evolved from having to hold a flashlight too. :) the girls need to get some good sleep so we can be ready to kick off the week with a bang tomorrow. We've got registration, team meetings, walk throughs and rehearsals, and a couple of seminars. Then on Wednesday morning she has her first showcase- on camera.

I'll be putting a couple pictures up on Facebook but my iPad is old and doesn't have a camera, while the phone does pics but is too small to type comfortably. Won't get the two together til I get home.

Well, it's not the new year for two more hours here, but it's good night time for us. Wishing my boys were here- then my day couldn't get more perfect. Great way to end 2012 and can't wait for an awesome start to 2013!

Dress Rehearsal

Okay!  Clap hands briskly and settle in for the long summary!  So much to see and so little time!

We leave for Orlando in 32 days.  Showcases are set and paid for, as is ALL of Shine, plus the plane tickets.  I am so very amazed and grateful at how God has worked through our finances in the last seven months.  We just have to pay the hotel bill and get through the week with our food and we're done.  I've contacted the Gaylord and they're allowing us to bring a griddle and toaster oven and hot pot so we can cook meals in our room.  I'm very excited.  I had feared not being able to find anything close by that we could grab to eat.  No hot meals for a week would have been very disheartening- even the best salad bar gets tiring after a few days.  This way I can pack our pancake mix for breakfasts and we can make grilled cheese and whatever else comes to mind.

We went to dress rehearsal a couple weeks ago and it was amazing as usual.  We got the flash drive with all the pictures from her photo shoot and I am staggered by them.  My daughter is beautiful.  She doesn't look nine years old at all.  Yet they still look innocent and sweet and age-appropriate.  Thankfully, I am not the one who had to decide among the 253 shots they took and figure out which to use.  They've chosen the shots for us- one for her commercial acting headshot, and then a small collection that they'll use as her modeling profile.  We'll get 25 copies of 2 of the shots, don't know which ones, when we get to Shine.  We then staple her resume to the back of them so we can give them to the VIPs and they'll have all her info in one spot.

Here are the ones they picked:

 This is the commercial headshot- the one that will be on the wall in the AMTC lobby next to all the other big success stories.  :)  Maybe.  At the very least it will be in the program book for Shine.

 I love this one so much I have no words.

 Full-length, playful, etc.

I like this one too.

They gave us ALL the shots on a flash drive.  I've almost dreaded going through them.  Lots of people want copies for Christmas presents and I am having terrible trouble picking.  I could stick to these, because they're awesome, but there are so many more good ones too, that for whatever reason didn't strike their fancy.

 I never really noticed that she has one dimple like my mom.

 This whole series is the one they took outside in the gazebo, in the pouring rain.  The light is a little funny in some of them, but overall I really like the effect.

 I like that this one shows off her booboo knee.  Still a real girl under all the artistry.

And although it's weird, this one reminds me of meerkats, the way they stand up all alert.  She loves those critters so I think it's okay to say.

She is going to perform in five showcases at Shine.  Photography, On Camera, Kids' Runway, Group Improv, and TV Presenter.  That list is pretty different from what we had tentatively planned before we went.  She had zero desire to do any kind of improv, and thought she might do cold read and scene read.  When we got there she practiced scene read and didn't like it, and decided not to do either one of the acting reads.  And even though I made props for her original commercial, that didn't go over well either so we scrapped it also.

 She's not old enough to do individual improv, and we thought she had to be ten to do group.  An eleven year old boy really wanted to practice, so they asked if she'd get up in a group just to help him practice even though she didn't plan to do it.  The four of them totally rocked it.  After she got done, the acting coach called her over and asked why on earth she wasn't planning to do group improv, because she's good at it and SHOULD.  We checked the rules and you have to be nine, not ten.  She was super encouraged by Chey telling her she did so well, so she signed up for it.  And she was told she was the best kid all day at TV presenter.  She loves the teleprompting practice we do.  She's getting pretty great at it, actually.  This is the practice they did- they filmed in the other room and then we got to watch on the screen afterwards.  I think at Shine we'll watch live, but it'll be the same way, where she is alone in the filming room and her performance is projected to the audience.



It's kind of hard to see and hear.  My phone won't zoom while it's taking video.

This is her runway practice.  Doesn't she look good?  She has such a fun walk.  You can tell she's enjoying herself.  It makes me laugh when there are people walking the runway who are primarily singers and HATE the idea of modeling.  It's obvious and painful.  But AMTC wants rounded performers and tries to ready them for everything.  Anyway this is definitely her favorite.  Then for Photography, they'll show two of those pictures up on the big screen over her while she walks the runway and does her slate.  "Gillian P, nine years old, and one interesting thing you should know about me is that I'm the catcher on my softball team."

I was extra super proud of myself because I chose all the outfits she wore all day, and not once did she get called out for wardrobe questions.  Ms Philipa loved her socks, liked all the looks, and all her clothes were approved.  Score one for mama paying attention, because I was way sweating the fact that her outfits weren't chosen at photo shoot like they should have been.

Oh, and sweet friend Emma got her shots back too, of course.  She's the one who owns the pink and navy shirts G is wearing in her photo look, and these are G's pink shoes here.  Don't know where they came up with the umbrella, but I LOVE this shot.  So fun.

So that's it!  We don't have any more official practices or workshops or anything until it's real.  She's practicing her monologue and her model stance and making sure her behavior is good.  It's almost here!!

Launch, Take Two, Day One

This past weekend we got to go to another launch weekend.  I'm so blessed that we live so close to an AMTC office.  Two more whirlwind days of training and learning and practicing, and now we've got some time off from classes.  Dress rehearsal is November 17 and we'll finalize everything then, and then December 31 we leave!  It's kinda surreal that it's getting so close after all the work we've been doing. 

Saturday we had a session with Jenn Gotzon, who was amazing.  We learned a lot of really good tips both for AMTC and for film and TV audtitions out in the real world.  She's so encouraging and always finds really positive things to say about what Gilly's doing, while at the same time telling you in clear terms how to get better.  I really liked her a lot. 

Session two was modeling- best tip David gave us was about professionalism.  "walk in and out with confidence no matter WHAT happens in between those two times.  Agents are looking for reasons you  might be difficult to work with, so don't give them any!"  They don't care as much if you mess up- what matters is how you deal with it.  Pick it up and keep going and finish.  Great advice for all situations!

The other thing he said was that for photo shoot, you should go home with specific outfits chosen for showcases.  Oh.  Fail.  I asked specifically and I didn't feel like I could repeat myself more without being a pushy stage mom.  I'm kind of annoyed about that, because they made me feel like it was no big deal and now it's like, no.  That's on you, you should have known better and now it's your fault that you don't have outfits picked.  The good thing is that we have dress rehearsal next month and we're supposed to bring outfits for every showcase and change into them, so if we pick ones that don't work, I'm certain they will let us know.

I really, REALLY loved the networking sessions this time.  Our team leader gave us some practical tips for Shine that are going to be super useful.  Writing them down for E & L, our roommates.  :)  It costs $5 each way to take a taxi to the grocery store, so we can get a week's worth of perishables and stuff for only the $10 extra in transportation fees.  There's a fridge and a coffeepot in our room, and downstairs in the coffeeshop there's a community microwave that we can use if we're willing to wait if necessary.  They recommend packing a whole suitcase of food if needed- instant oatmeal, ramen, mac and cheese, stuff like that so we can use the hot water from the coffee pot, and then protein bars and whatever else.  She said a cheeseburger in the hotel restaurant is $17, so if you're worried about paying for extra baggage fees, just weigh that one fee against how much those meals would cost if we had to buy them onsite.

Also buy blister blocker and bandaids, and don't wear new shoes that might be uncomfortable.  We'll be on our feet a lot. 

And there was tons of good info about how to write a resume and how to present and print and bring it. 

One of the acting coaches said something that really resonated with me.  She was talking about being a vessel used by God, and how we tend to think that means we have to be Noah or Joshua or Moses- one of the big guys.  She said, "yeah, but think about how it feels to be the bush.  Everybody remembers Moses, but that bush had the remnants of having been used mightily by God for a short time, to further Moses along on God's mission.  If you're the bush, your flame burns brightly for a short season, but you have the memories your entire life and you're just as important."

That made me teary.  

Here's some scene read practice with some good stage blocking advice from Andrea.  I like that G is learning so many different facets of acting.

More about day two later.

Photo Shoot

We're here right now!  It's very exciting. I'm taking lots of pictures but I'm not sure if I can upload them from here.  We brought a crazy amount of clothes and the team has been picking them over and choosing her first outfit. She just got back from hair and makeup and now we are waiting for the photographer to be ready for us. We sat waiting for two and a half hours before it was our turn with the style team. G did really well just reading books and hanging out.

I think the big holdup right now is the fact that it's pouring rain. Her first location is the gazebo and the photos there are taking longer and she has to be escorted over there by umbrella. But hey!  She made it! And now I'm being the appropriate fade into the background mom that I'm supposed to be. I can't wait to see these pictures.

Sunday Night:
So I tried to real-time it, but it's a pain to type on the phone and there was so much going on that it was really hard to keep up!  Plus I knew I'd want to upload pictures and all that jazz as well.

Anyway.  Back to the beginning!  We hit a consignment sale last week and scored 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of black pants, 3 skirts, 11 shirts, 6 sweaters, 7 dresses, and a pair of pajamas with slippers, all for $80.  I was quite pleased with that, and it made me feel a lot better about having enough choices for them to pick from.  I've been getting emails on updated packing lists that were making me nervous and kind of contradicted what the website said in terms of what colors were okay, whether or not to bring patterns, what kind of accessories, all that.  With the new clothes I felt better, and then we stopped at Target on the way to the shoot and got four new pairs of shoes off the clearance racks, for a total of under $20 for all of them.  (The biggest problem I have now is working all these new clothes into the tiny closet she shares with her brother, when she already was taking up the lion's share of it.)

Here we are upon arrival, in our assigned row, with all the clothes we brought laid out for inspection:

We got there at 11:15, 15 minutes early as always, and we waited until about 1:40.  We talked and ate and she read for awhile and colored for awhile and walked around and looked at everyone else's clothes and talked to them.  It went pretty fast, but at the same time it was a really long wait, if that makes any sense.  I was glad I packed a LOT of snacks and a LOT of books plus the iPad.

Finally, our turn!  Here is Maegan Bruce from the style team starting to go over all our stuff.  I didn't get a picture of the first outfit she had Gilly try on, but it was those purple jeans in her lap, plus the aqua t-shirt that's hanging over the back of the chair, with the hot pink ballerina flats on the floor.  Um.  Okay.  I would never in a million years have thought those colors all went together, but G just smiled and said yes Ms Maegan and went off to the bathroom to change.  So proud.  There's a LOT of stuff in the modules about how you don't know fashion trends but the team does, and how your job is to have a positive attitude and say yes ma'am and LOVE anything they ask you to wear.  She did.  I was glad.  I was also glad she had her change out of that outfit.  Not my favorite.

Outfit possibility #2, untucking the shirt, tucking the shirt, rolling the sweater sleeves, checking layer lengths... the pink shoes again...

Or maybe with the black shoes instead...

She wore that for awhile and I thought they were set on it, but then she had Bryson come over and they decided that shade of purple wasn't perfect.  They rifled through our selection of shirts and then decided that one of Emma's shirts was better.  Emma was the girl in the row behind us.  No matter.  Here's G in not one, but two of Emma's shirts.

I think I got the pictures out of order.  Looks like she just got back from hair and makeup in this one.  It's only chapstick, a bit of mascara, and some eyebrow gel.  So pretty though!

Trying it out with the black shoes again

And then the gray shoes, which is where we settled.  This is the outfit she ended up in for the first look.  And yes, Look One on the packing list says it should be black, gray, and denim.  Smile and say yes!  I love pink!  I love that I bought all those black and gray shirts we're not using!  She's not even wearing her own shirt at all!

And the hot pink ballerina flats?  Emma wore those for her shoot.  At least it was a fair trade.  :)

She went off to the gazebo in the downpour and from what I could see peeking through the windows, they had all kinds of cool poses and fun stuff going on.  I am dying to see how they turned out.

When she got back they started looking for her second shot outfit.  They had her in a dark blue top for awhile and then went with the aqua instead.  She's still got on the same skirt and shoes because this is for headshots so it didn't matter what was on the bottom half.  Then back to hair and makeup.  It took a lot longer this time and I was beginning to wonder what was going on when she came out.  Oh my.

That is my nine year old child.  I texted her dad this picture and then said, "I want everyone to lock up their sons."  His reply was "Wow.  Worried."

And she still doesn't have much makeup on at all.  Something shiny on the lips, not even any color added, and a little blush.  I don't know if I'm going to have to recreate that hair for Shine but it's super intimidating if I do.  I asked her what they used and she said, "um... not the one that looks like a stapler.  The fatter one."  Which made me fall down laughing.  Can you tell I don't own a flatiron?  She has no frame of reference for the word.  I do have a curling iron somewhere.  I hope it's fat enough.

So then she got her headshots taken in a different room with a different photographer, just for a varied experience, and after that we did showcase outfits.  I kind of wanted more specific directions than we got.  It was sort of, oh, acting showcases are easy, just wear something like this or this or this, with some good denim.  I wanted to be able to pick Exact Outfits That I Could Take Pictures Of And Know For Sure I Was Doing It Right.  But I think it will be okay.  I have a brain, and I watched the kinds of things they were putting together and the colors they liked.  At least they didn't say that what I have doesn't work.  They did tell some other people no, this isn't so great, you should go buy x or y.

But it's done!!  I'm ridiculously excited to see the pictures.  We'll get a flash drive with all the shots when we go to dress rehearsal in November, and they will pick the ones that they're going to use for promo and all that.  So much fun!!

TV Presenter

So here's the scoop on the TV presenter (AKA teleprompter) showcase.  She'll be given a script and have ten minutes to look it over and get familiar with it.  Then it will show up on the teleprompter, which will be in a small room with a camera right behind it, and her performance will be broadcast into the audience room on a big screen.  So the ten minutes should alleviate some of the "is it a question or a statement" and the "I can't pronounce that word" kind of problem.  I don't get to go in there with her for any of these- I'll just be sitting in the audience and it's all her.  Fun but scary.

There's a website called Cue Prompter where you can cut and paste scripts and it will roll it for practice, so that's what we're doing here.  There's a list of approved scripts on the AMTC site that we put in there.

So here's her first practice, after setting the timer for ten minutes and looking over the script.  We're working on stage presence next, as there is far much too arm flailing going on.  Also she needs to be looking into the camera more and work on her timing, since there are times when you can tell she's read too fast and is waiting for the next line to scroll up.  But doesn't it look FUN?  She thinks it would be cool to host the Cupcake Wars.  :)

Launch Weekend! Part 1

We just finished our first Launch weekend and we are wiped out!  It was from 10-7 on Saturday and 1-7 on Saturday, also throwing homework and church in between there too.  SO much to learn and do!  I feel like I've got about eight separate topics I want to write about now, so I'll just jump in and stop when it gets too long.

So first of all, there are a lot of different showcases you can sign up to perform at Shine.  The first three you choose are included, and then each additional one is $75.  We started out thinking well good grief, we're paying quite a bit as it is, and she's young and inexperienced, so three will be plenty.  She'll do runway and photography since that's her focus, and then on-camera for acting.  Done.

Now that she's seen and gotten to practice all of them, she also is really interested in, and pretty good at, scene read, cold read, product endorsement, and tv presenter.  And you know really, this is why we're going.  She feels called to do this, and it only makes sense to get her out in view of the VIPs as much as possible.  What's the point of doing the minimum if we're going to be there a week?  So now we're looking at doing six or seven showcases instead of three, which means more practice work and also more wardrobe.  I need to do several more shopping excursions to get the proper pieces before photo shoot.

Photo shoot is scheduled!!  It will be September 29.  That means I have only three weeks to get everything bought and ready.  Our team leader says it's not at all uncommon to bring two or even three suitcases to the shoot.  Then you lay out all your shoes in a row, all the shirts and jeans and pants and skirts.... and they go through all your stuff and mix and match and layer and tell you what to wear for the shoot, but also for every showcase you're planning to sign up for, so that you're dressed properly for the week.  I can take pictures of each outfit they plan for us and just pack according to that.  So I'm bringing as many things as I can possibly find that I think maybe might work.

And now my girl needs the computer to do teleprompting practice.  She's kicking me off.  :)  So more later.

Fabulous Fundraising Opportunity!

My friend Gwen sells 31.  Have you seen 31 bags?  I'm in love with them.  It's a home party business and they have tons of different purses and tote bags and baskets.  And you can monogram or personalize them.  Have I mentioned I love them?

So.  I'm hosting a 31 party, and Gwen offered to let me do it as a fundraiser for G's AMTC expenses.  So she is keeping all the free bags and hostess benefits I would ordinarily get from having this party, and I am getting the cash she would normally earn.  It's an amazing trade!! 

The party is at my place on September 22 at 2pm and I'd love to have you!  Bring a friend!  Eat yummy food and win prizes and shop like a fiend!  Or if you're far away or busy that day, please go through the online catalog and see if anything jumps out at you.  It's great gift stuff too. 

Order through this site so G gets credit!

I hope to update the ticker with lots of new funds!  :)  And by the way, I'm only putting extra money that was specifically marked for AMTC on that site.  I'm not including all the buckling down and extra work we've been doing.  We've made four payments already that total a lot more than that amount pictured.  YAY TEAM.

Paw Paw

My husband's father passed away in May of 2006, a few months before Gilly turned three.  She doesn't really remember him now, although we show her lots of pictures and tell her as many stories as we can.  Every now and then she'll have a vague memory of playing with him, but for the most part her memories come in the form of the anecdotes she's heard and the snapshots we show her.  It makes me sad.

 I wanted more of this.

And definitely more of this.

 And good grief, the man put on bunny ears for his baby girl.  More of this.  Look at her cheesy face.  She just ate him up.  Loved him so much.

We got a check from Gigi today to help with Shine.  Paw Paw had some specialized shoes still in the closet that she was able to sell and wanted Gilly to know that her Paw Paw loves her and would be so proud of her and would want to help. 

I cry while I type.  We miss him.  I'm so glad that she's got one more concrete thing to remember him by, since she didn't have time to make very many memories.  I think I'm going to use part of the money on the packing list, so that when she puts on those special shoes or that favorite sweater, she can think of Paw Paw.

Roommates!

I am SO SO excited.  Now that the summer season is over and the winter people (US!) are the focus of all the classes, we're starting to think about logistics at Shine.  It's at the Gaylord Palms.  For seven nights.  And even though we get a very good discount, it's still rolled into the hefty fundraising total.  They've got a deal where you can find another mom and daughter team to room with, and the hotel will allow you to split the cost.  We've been having a really hard time finding one- every girl G meets at a workshop is going with her entire family.  On the AMTC bulletin boards last week I found a family looking for roommates and we've been emailing.  Tonight I talked to the mom on the phone for an hour and I think it's going to be such a great match.  The little girl is wheat free also, and loves American Girl dolls, and is doing modeling and acting.  I'm very relieved and excited to have found people to room with that sound so nice.  This puts the hotel cost down to the equivalent of Motel 6, rather than a luxury resort.  Much more doable, plus we'll have friends to hang out with who understand our food woes. 

Now we just need to find cheap airfare!

Acting Classes

We've been signing up for every acting and modeling workshop AMTC is offering so I'm a little behind on updating.  She's in an interesting time with this- it reminds me of how I felt when she was a brand new tiny baby sometimes.  You get pregnant, you're SO excited and nervous to have this baby, you don't really know what to expect but you know it's going to be GREAT!  You're prepared and you know what to do and all your friends say you'll be an awesome mom!  Then the baby is up all night screaming and you can't figure out why and in the morning you're just so tired.  You don't feel like an awesome mom and you're pretty sure you're going to ruin this poor kid.... It doesn't mean you're planning to give up, and it doesn't mean you love that baby any less, but it's just been a hard night.  You're overwhelmed.  It's harder than you thought it would be.

That's where it seemed like she was after our last session.  She LOVES runway modeling- it doesn't make her nervous at all and she's got the moves down and thinks it's so much fun.  The photography part started to be harder this time and she got pretty frustrated.  The timing is difficult for her- they were trying to teach her how to move really slowly and just change one body part at a time so that the camera can have time to capture each pose.  She kept wanting to pop from one to the next, which is going to make for blurry pictures and not give her a big range of emotions on camera.  And when she's having trouble doing something it makes her angry, and so of course then it's even harder to get it down.  I like that they don't make a lot of differentiation between adults and kids- they just throw her in, but at the same time, there were only a couple kids in there and she was the youngest.  I think a little bit of one on one time would do her good, but they haven't had time to do that so far.  There are usually at least a hundred people in these sessions.

The acting scares her a bit too, but it's inconsistent.  I can't always predict it. Sometimes she'll get up in an improv act and get on a roll and just go with it, and sometimes she sits there frozen and lets the other people carry her.  Sometimes she struts up there and does her monologue with confidence, and other times she weasels up there sideways and mutters while wringing her hands.

On the drive home she was upset.  "I just want to be in movies and commercials and tell people about God.  I didn't think it was going to be this much work!"  Well, yes.  It's work.  I'm finding out that models do MUCH more work than it looks like from the outside.

So we have another workshop next week, and she's a bit apprehensive about it.  I'm hoping that this is the time she breaks through that wall and really starts to be confident and have fun.  Actors have to have no shame, and she's in the stage of life where everything is embarrassing and you wonder constantly what people think of you.  It's a hard combination.  I really think that if she gets it now though, it's going to save her so much grief later.  I'd love to have a teenager who didn't cave to peer pressure and did what she wanted and knew was right.

Here's a 60 second improv she did.  I don't know how well you're gonna be able to hear it but I'll give it a shot.  The prompt was that they are all neighbors on the same block and somebody new just moved in.  They're deciding if they should go introduce themselves.  I was really hoping she'd leap in and talk about gluten when they went in the pie direction, but she didn't think of it until afterwards.  My favorite is the two girls on the end- what if they're killers?  well, killers like pie!  let's take them a pie and maybe they won't kill us!  haha!!!

And just because, here's the hair we're not allowed to cut.  This was in May and it's even longer now.  I wish it looked this shiny and straight all the time.  She's starting to say she wishes they told her to cut it off.  I told her with that kind of attitude, she'd get a job like Emma Watson did for Hermione Granger and not be allowed to cut her hair for eight years.  :) 

Fundraising Update

All along I've said that whether or not this becomes a career, I feel like our family has something to learn from the experience.  Just the fact that hubby said we should go for it is pretty out of character and surprising.  I had a feeling that God was really going to work in our hearts with our finances- budgeting, saving, learning to prioritize, all that. 

His company has been talking about changing his position there for over a year.  This month it finally all came together.  They created a new position for him, with more responsibilities, doing the fun stuff he actually has been wanting to do all this time, and with a salary increase that makes it easy for us to make Shine payments without stressing.  This is such a blessing that I cannot even begin to describe it.  We're still going to do a couple more garage sales, but we don't have to freak out and scramble every month when the payment is due.  And after we come back from Orlando in January, that will be extra money in our budget that we can put toward paying off debt, or maybe even using for travel expenses if she gets jobs.

Thank you Lord!!!

Style Evaluation

As mentioned, we received the results of the style evaluation.  They love her hair and she is to leave it alone.  She's mostly okay with that but keeps having bouts of wanting to hack it off.  It's kind of nice to throw the style team under the bus on that one and just avoid a fight.  Nope, sorry.  They said you can't.  You have to obey.  So go brush it for pete's sake!

They also said for her to leave her brows alone.  It wouldn't have occurred to me that we should mess with them, but they reminded us that she is a kid and her brows are fine.  I guess maybe they've had issues with moms thinking their kids are bushy and plucking too much?  More of a toddlers and tiaras thing than an AMTC thing, I'm thinking.

Face and skin are good, keep drinking lots of water and use a moisturizer and sunscreen.  Only chapstick if needed.

Body- I love this.  Copying directly:

Good. Your body is a temple! Stay active and make healthy eating choices. Take this as an opportunity to substitute junk food with healthy alternatives, like rice cakes instead of chips and trail mix instead of skittles. Those things are fine every now and then, but take care of your temple.

 She's so like me.  I remember being CONSTANTLY hungry as a kid and wanting to snack all the time, and obsessing over junk food.  Hello, cans of chocolate frosting hidden under my bed... I'd love for her to avoid ending up overweight like me.  This is great advice from an outside source rather than her crazy mother.  :)

So then there is a ton of information about the clothes.  They gave links to four or five of the articles online that I need to go read.  There's a complete packing list there.  From what I gather so far, they don't want you to show up to the photo shoot with outfits in mind.  They want you to bring multiple choices for layering and lots of accessories and they will put together the looks they want when you get there.  I like that.  I also like that they give you some specific ideas, with pictures.  I haven't shopped at some of these stores before- have y'all?  Seems like a good list of choices and not too crazy expensive.

Stores for Inspiration

Our style team loves these stores. We want you to be economical, use what you have, borrow, thrift shop and try to bring good new options to the photo shoot. Here are stores we love. Look at these styles and try to duplicate. 

GAP

Forever 21 Girls

JCrew

Zara Kids

H&M

Target

Then they sent a bunch of pictures of individual clothes, along with a girl about G's age and hair color modeling some of the looks.  Extremely helpful.   I also love "IF YOU DON'T THINK THESE ITEMS ARE COOL, WE DON'T CARE!"  :)  There's an article about etiquette and being cheerful no matter what the photographers put you in, and how having a prima donna attitude is so detrimental to your career.  Again, great advice from someone NOT mom.


For Shoeaddict and any other clothes-minded folk, here is the packing list just for "Look One".  She has to have two looks, and bring multiple options for each.  (The other one is supposed to be shades of blue, purple, and green.)  Also she's supposed to bring more outfits that she's thinking of to wear for her showcases at Shine so the team can approve or veto.  Clearly this is going to require the most shopping and planning of any event I've ever attended, including my wedding.  Honestly it's a little daunting... but maybe this will actually get you out here for a visit, if I lure you with shopping, Shoe?


Denim Bottoms:

• Dark Denim Only.
• Skirts, pants, shorts, skinny jeans- bring a variety.
• Dresses in black or denim are great too. Daytime dresses.
• ONLY well fitted denim will be used. Leave your faded & baggy clothes at home. Men, please downsize in whatever denim you normally wear (unless you avidly study men’s fashion and are an expert at fit). If anyone does not have the right fitted options, we may ask you to run to the closest Target which will delay your shoot.
• Important to bring lots of options.

Black Bottoms:

• Black Only.
• Skirts, pants, shorts, skinny jeans- bring a variety.
• Dresses in black or denim are great too. Daytime dresses.
• ONLY well fitted options will be used. Leave your baggy clothes at home. Men, please downsize in whatever pants you normally wear (unless you avidly study men’s fashion).
• Important to bring lots of options.

Assorted Tops:

• Black & Grey Only.
• Cool fitted t-shirts, v necks, tank tops, button ups, sweaters, blouses, etc.
• Important to bring lots of options.

Layering Options:

• Black, Demin & Grey Only.
• Vests, denim jackets, blazers, motorcycle jackets, hoodies, cardigans, etc.
• These layers will make your look & character style!
• Important to bring lots of options.

So.  There you have it.  Every time I think I'm starting to get a handle on the scope of this thing, I realize we're just scratching the surface.  She's also got her monologue written and approved now, and is working on memorizing and performing it for camera so we can send it to the acting coaches for critique.

Garage Sale

So we finally got to have our first garage sale this weekend!  It got rained out before, but it worked out nicely because a lot of people brought more stuff over.  Friday night it was looking like it might rain a little bit and we discussed the possibility of canceling again, but I think my poor hubby would have an apoplexy if all the piles of stuff stayed in the living room any longer.  So we carried on.

It went well, and thank you so much to all the generous people who gave us their treasures to sell!  We made $276 and I have enough leftover things to fuel another sale in a month or two when I get my breath back.  I didn't even go through my closets and attic because we had so much donated.  The next payment gets drafted on Wednesday and we are ready!  Love it.

G ran a lemonade stand in the morning before she had to leave for her softball game and made three bucks.  She was pleased.  Then they went to the game while I finished up the sale.  She hit a TRIPLE.  First game of the season I've missed and she hits a triple.  It was their best game yet.  So sad I didn't see it.  But oh well. 

Next acting class is Thursday night, so we'll see what info we get from that.  She also got the style team evaluation back and got lots of great feedback about clothing for the photo shoot and what to wear for Shine.  more to follow on that.

Frazzled

We could use some prayer going into this week, just with scheduling and general business.  The fundraising is going well, thanks to some generous support from aunties.  Thanks Kate, Danna, and Dianne!  We do need some more to make this month's payment though, and I carefully scheduled the garage sale around G's off week in softball.  Come to find out I read the schedule wrong and she DOES have a game, plus practice, plus she and I are doing a night camp every night this week.  I'm feeling terribly stressed about getting the stuff for the sale ready in time, and being able to run the sale while getting her to softball.  I don't really have the luxury of waiting to do it because the payment is due before our next available sale date, and also I want to get this stuff out of our house since multiple people have been so generous about donating sale items.

I just feel very frazzled.  And she's got an acting class next week and she needs to write a monologue for it and I feel unclear on the directives and I want her to be prepared.  I'm having trouble though with knowing how much to step in and help, and how much to step back and let her take ownership.  She is only almost nine, after all, and I don't want her lack of experience to penalize her, but I don't want it to look like momma did it all.

Ack.  Prayer please.  Peace, scheduling help, delegating tasks, a successful sale... and a softball win would be good too.  Her poor team has lost every game this season and they're getting mighty discouraged.

Modeling Class

Last week she had her first modeling workshop.  They broke everyone into three groups and so she got to work on still photos, runway modeling, and her slate.  I got to go and sit in on each one so I could take notes to help her out later.  She had a lot of fun and met a girl that she liked a lot.  Unfortunately she is headed to the summer Shine whereas we're not going till January, so we won't be there when she is.  Most of the people at this workshop were getting ready for summer Shine, actually.  I'm glad that we have a little bit more time to get ready- I still feel like she has a lot to learn if she wants to be serious about this.

So, fashion stills.  She learned "chicken necking".  Head out, chin down, elongated neck.  It's kind of hard to describe in print but now she knows it when she sees it.  Makes your face the focus of your picture and alleviates shadows and double chins.  Good stuff for moms to know too!  They also practiced laughing out loud and looking natural while doing it, and jumping around for action shots.  The director had all the kids in the group work together.  The other three were 11- a set of identical boys, her new friend, and Gillian.  We haven't met anybody to room with yet- I'm hoping we will soon.  It'll be nice to be able to split the hotel cost.  She was hoping to room with her new friend Cami, but oh well.

Then she practiced runway.  She's getting pretty good at looking more natural, although she still tends to walk faster and look down as she's walking away.  Gotta remember that the camera is on you until you step off the runway.

She's been trying to come up good stuff for her slate- it's a thing you memorize to say to agents and casting people.  It's your name, your age (which she kept having trouble with because I told her to say she was nine.  She'll be nine when we go to Shine and I don't want her to memorize it with the wrong number in it.), your height if you're over 13, and then an "industry-driven fact" about yourself.  Basically that means something that makes you stand out from other eight year olds your height with brown hair, something that a casting director might be able to use in a movie or a commercial.  Do you play sports or an instrument?  Eagle Scout, won medals in anything, great swimmer, etc? 

She wanted to say that she got seventh place in the math competition this year.  And really, that was kind of a big deal because only 8 of the 63 third graders in her class got to go to competition, and then we were up against all 28 elementary schools in the district.  Lots of work, and seventh place is good.  But you don't have time to explain all that in slate, and seventh isn't first or second.  It doesn't sound that great until you explain it.  So she's saying that she's the catcher on her softball team, and that she won an award for third grade math.  Not sure how the math will matter for the industry, but they approved it, so maybe there's some kid version of A Beautiful Mind out there just waiting for her.  Miss Philipa seemed pleased about her being the catcher, since not all girls on the team do that.  She said one of her girls awhile back got cast in The Sandlot 2 based on her softball skills.

Monthly payment is under our belt and done!  Hubby has been working major overtime to make up the difference between the amount due and what we had raised so far.  Our garage sale was rained out and I'm going to reschedule it in a few weeks on a rare Saturday morning that there's no softball game.  I hope all the payments happen this smoothly.  We've felt the pinch a little, mostly in the fact that Daddy doesn't get home till after 7:30 some nights, but it's not killing us.  I like the feeling of pulling together as a family.

I have pictures of the workshop but they're on my phone and I haven't downloaded them to the computer.  Will update shortly.  :)

Blessing!

Just got a donation in the mail from a friend of Gilly's grandmother.  We haven't even met her, but she wanted to help.  Such a blessing- thank you!!!

First Week

We're continuing to plan for our first payment- I was able to sell some homeschool things Gilly used for kindergarten that we don't need anymore, and several family and friends have donated money.  We've already got almost $300 without even really trying and I'm so grateful. 

Her first modeling class is tomorrow night and she's very excited.  Part of the cost we're paying includes at least 50 hours of classes, and I'm interested to see what kind of things she'll be learning.  She's working on the "New York Lean" and getting her walk right.  They're working on her posture as well.

Our first garage sale is going to be on Saturday at our house.  SO many generous friends have donated things for us to sell.  I haven't even really gone through our stuff yet and we've got a ton of things ready.  Gilly wants to have a lemonade stand, and we're also going to sell the rest of her leftover Girl Scout cookies.  We always buy too many.  :)  So please come!  Or be looking through your stuff if you have things you'd like to get rid of but don't want the bother of holding a sale yourself.  We'd be happy to take it off your hands!

Auditions!

So we had kind of a crazy weekend.  There's this billboard on the main street we travel a lot advertising Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ.  Gilly has pestered me for a good year or so about looking into it, and I really just kept blowing it off.  After all, this is the girl who would burst into tears if you smiled real big and clapped your hands like you might be proud of her.  We have pictorial evidence of such.

And it wasn't just when she was a baby.  This was a birthday party she went to when she was around 3 1/2 when we were proud that she went down the big slide alone...

So yeah, she's a pretty girl and people tell her all the time that she should model, but I just didn't really think she wanted to do it.  Even if her pictures come out like this, there's more to it than that...

But anyway.  A couple weeks ago she finally wore me down, and remembered about it when we were actually home and not just driving by the sign.  MOM!  Look that place up right now!  I really want to do it!  And they have open auditions in our area twice a year, one of which was coming up in two weeks.  So we registered.  And I'm still telling her, it's a cattle call!  There will be a million people there and probably nothing will happen from this!  Don't get your hopes up!

Saturday we went.  I had no idea what to expect.  I was super nervous, and not sure how seriously to take this agency or its people or its claims.  But oh look- Megan Fox started here, and so did the girl who plays in the American Girl movie Gilly loves.  So did that adorable Mathai on the Voice this season, and a bunch of American Idol people, and the little girl on We Bought a Zoo.  The guy talked to us for almost an hour and a half and I really felt like he was totally upfront about the cost (HUGE) and the commitment and their mission and focus.  He talked about how the most important thing we can do as parents is to help our kids find God's calling on their lives, and how this isn't it for everybody.  He's told people they should only sing in the shower, and that God needs dentists to spread His word too.  That made me laugh.  But I came away from it feeling really uplifted and peaceful.  He said that if we received a callback, he didn't want to hear that we were so happy because we wanted this so badly.  He wanted to hear that we prayed about it as a family, and what did God tell us?  Is the timing right?  Are we peaceful?  And to me that said a lot about them not wanting to just take our money.  They gave us lots of opportunities to NOT do this, and really stressed the whole family being on the same page, with God, feeling right about this.  Not to say there aren't obstacles, he tells us, we love obstacles, but there must be peace.  And be sure, because this is too expensive and time consuming to be a hobby.  This is the launch of a possible career.

Then she auditioned.  She walked the runway and spoke to Philipa Booyens about her calling and she sounded so poised.  They gave her a commercial to cold read and she did well.  Philipa was all, you're only EIGHT?  She walked out of there going, Mama, I got this.  They're gonna call me back.  Miss Philipa liked me.  I could tell.  And I kept saying, baby, there were 200 people in that room.  Don't get your hopes up...

They called back.  9:00 Sunday morning right as we were leaving for church.  I'd read through all the material, including the amount of money we'd be required to come up with for Shine, but I hadn't had a chance to really talk it through with hubby, so I asked them to call back in a couple hours for our decision. 

Have y'all met my husband?  He is a researcher.  He is cautious, a studier, and kind of cynical when it comes to things sometimes.  He worries about scams.  He worries about his daughter getting in over her head.  He worries about giving control of big things in his life over to God.  And he looked at me in the car on the way to church, and he said, "I'm scared.  Let's go for it!"

And that right there, folks?  That was God.  All God.

So we spent three more hours yesterday afternoon at AMTC.  We signed her up for the Bridge program to train for Shine, and we're slated to be at the January 2013 convention in Orlando.  She's got a modeling class scheduled for next Thursday.  She did improv and cold read and more runway walking.  She received instruction about how much water and junk food and sleep she should get.  She is not allowed to cut her hair without first receiving advice from her STYLE TEAM.  My eight year old has a style team.  We are to send them pictures in the next three days so they can evaluate her.  She must always wear sunscreen.

She is loving this.  She is soaking it up.  She is people watching and practicing accents and writing mini monologues today.  She is obeying every nutrition command Miss Philipa gives her.

 And we're fundraising like crazy.  CRAZY.  I'm going to be asking everybody who's ever met our family to love on us and send us something.  If you have any cool ideas I want 'em.  I'd love to have something to raffle off, like anybody who donates five bucks or more has a chance to win .... something.  Got something to donate?  Got cash?  We'll take it.  Hubby looked at me last night and goes, "We just bought a BMW."  The monthly payments to prepare for the convention are pretty similar to that, actually.  ACK.

But you know, I feel absolutely RIGHT that this is what we're supposed to be doing right now.  Even if she goes nowhere with this, just has a great time and doesn't get contracts at Shine (although they say they have an 87% success rate), I feel so great.  She's so empowered right now, but not cocky at all.  She's excited and still talking about the opportunity to show Jesus to people.  And we're working on giving finances to God and trusting and obeying, and that's so new and so important for us that I don't have any reservations.  This journey to Shine is crucial for our family, no matter what happens afterwards.