As much as I attempt to fight the sun, I know it's a futile battle for my sleep. I crack my eyes open at 7am, having laid down in bed just 4 hours ago. My body aches and burns from my hours of dancing and sweating last night until I simply couldn't take it anymore...ready to collapse right there in the club.
I grab my phone and start the mandatory check of notifications that came in the night. A friend from Austin, Barrett, has replied to an Instagram story of mine. "Are you still in Colorado? You know I live here now!"
"I forgot!" I reply. "I was about to grab breakfast at Dozens, want to join me?"
We catch up over copious amounts of coffee and biscuits and he tells me his job moved him up here to open a new Alamo Drafthouse location.
"How long will you be around?" He asks.
"I'm actually looking for a job."
"Oh?!"
"But only for a few months. I've gotta be back in Texas in October."
"Oh...Well...I can ask if we can use you for just that time. You know how service industry is...high turnover and all that. They might be willing to take you on."
"That'd be great!"
An hour after we part ways he texts me..."We'll use you for that time. When can you come for an interview?"
"Right now!"
And just like that...spontaneous breakfast with a friend turns into the job I've spent the last week fretting over not finding.
Life is funny.
"I'm not allowed to interview you because I'm bias, but Jess will be out in a minute to do it," Bear tells me when I get to his job.
Jess and I are introduced and we take a seat at a table near the bar.
"So why do you want to work here...?" She mumbles to herself, looking over the application I just filled out.
I've scribbled, "I want to be part of a dope team" under the question, and hold my breath as she reads it, unsure if my sense of humor will win me any favor here.
She chuckles, writes "DOPE" in capital letters in her yellow legal pad under my name, puts a check mark by it, and looks back up at me.
"Can you make it to orientation tomorrow at 1pm?"
"Yeah, for sure."
"Great, you got the job!" She tosses her pen down, smiling. "Wear pants and closed toed shoes tomorrow."
"Well...damn...that was easy," I laugh.
"Yup! Don't expect it at other interviews," She teases. "Bear said he couldn't interview you cause he'd just hire you, but I figured I'd just end up hiring you as well." She laughs. "Oh well! At least we did it the official way! See you tomorrow."
I leave the building and breathe a sigh of content. I've been worrying for a week about how I was going to find a job in this city I'm so unfamiliar with...I wasn't sure where to look...didn't know anyone...the places I had applied all insisted it be done online, and hadn't even seen me face to face...a simple job search was beginning to feel like a fool's errand.
Yesterday I finally put it out of my mind. Decided I was allowed to let it go for a night and just go have fun. Took myself dancing. Met new people. Stayed up too late.
The next day...met with a friend to get breakfast, left with a job.
Sometimes it's true that the moment you release control, you allow things to fall into place as they're meant to be.
I have a very hard time with this lesson...I feel I'm not allowed to relax until all my ducks are in a row...but what a relief when this idea proves true.
Let go.
Let the universe conspire in your favor.
My friends from the faire rent a house in Denver for the week and invite me over. We pile in and enjoy all the amenities we go without daily. Full sized kitchen...private shower...a TV...air conditioner...bedrooms with doors that shut...what a different world everyone else lives in.
We set a plan with at least ten people to go dancing Thursday night in Denver, and the house becomes a flurry of discarded outfits and open makeup pallets as we all prepare for the evening.
At the last minute I decide to check my HotSchedules for work, and realize I have my very first shift at Alamo in the morning.
Ha. Of course I do...
Too late now, I'll have to push through it on coffee and willpower. Though this doesn't prove too difficult. The job is physically taxing, but mentally easy to grasp, so I flow through the eight hours of training easily, and drive the hour from Denver to the faire grounds when I get out.
This weekend I'm to work for the Fairy Booth.
Introducing Whoosh the Fairy!
Sometimes I truly feel I lead a double life...maybe a triple...hell, maybe even a quadruple life. From food runner to fairy to model to van lifer to dancer to writer to...the list could go on and on. Often times each life being completely separate from the others. Each requiring a different personality, a different skill set, hell, sometimes even a different name! Good thing I started acting so young.
"Do you know what that is?" I ask the small blond girl, gesturing to the marble in her hand. She shakes her little curls. "That's a fairy stone!" I tell her, wings trembling in the wind behind me. "If you put it under your pillow tonight, when you dream it will take you away to Fairyland where you can see all your fairy friends!"
Her face lights with joy. "Will you be there?!" She asks, tugging at my skirts.
My heart melts a little and I smile at her, "Yes, of course. But make sure you don't lose your stone!" She claps her hands excitedly and turns to repeat this information to her parents. They grin and thank me.
Being a fairy ain't too bad ;)
Monday morning I leave the fairgrounds and head to the Denver airport to pickup a close friend. It makes my heart happy that now that I have a vehicle fit for adventure, and enough room for a plus one, friends want to come stay with me. And what better place than Colorado!
I find a spot in the parking garage and step out of the car, rising to my tiptoes to inspect the roof of the van. Despite the fact that the garage is 8 feet tall, I could have sworn I heard a scrape when I came under the headache bar, and a panic rose in my chest after my last encounter with a parking garage. I turn to head toward the passenger pickup of the airport and let out a small yelp, as my friends face is suddenly very near mine.
He snaps a picture of my shocked expression on his disposable camera and sweeps me into a tight embrace.
"Well hi, Kai," I laugh over his shoulder. "You're a punk for scaring me!"
"You know I had to," he replies, a smile evident in his voice.
"Ready to explore Colorado?" I ask as we break apart.
And off we go!
We make it to the end of the trail we're following in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We've started at the Bear Lake Trail head and 2 short miles later, we've passed multiple lakes, streams, piles of snow, and gorgeous views, to peak at Emerald Lake. I can see a group of people clustered with their phones out, and know the edge of the lake is right up ahead, when a rain drop hits me.
Then another.
I can hear them striking the leaves around us as the frequency of the drops increase. And the speed.
They start to sting my exposed shoulders and arms, and I finally look at the ground.
"Oh, shit. Hey, Kai, it's hailing, if you hadn't noticed."
He looks at the ground. "Oh...huh..."
We dip off the trail toward a stone wall, hoping it will angle in a favorable direction and offer us some cover, but no such luck. We dodge back across the trail and head into some trees, finding refuge enough beneath an evergreen.
I can't help laughing as I toss Kai a jacket and cover my own skin quickly. Of course we're caught in a hailstorm in the middle of summer. It is Colorado after all.
Seeing as there's no point fighting it, we pull out our snacks and watch as the brown ground gains a cover of white. A winter wonderland in the middle of July. It's beautiful.
We drive back down the mountain until we find a nice, flat pull-off where we can make dinner as the sun paints the clouds, and decide what to do with our evening.
I turn off the ignition and glance into the field across the road.
"Hey, look," I point, my eye caught by a large pair of antlers attached to an elk.
The elk seems to have turned a neon sign on himself however, because what was a very quiet, peaceful stretch of road, quickly becomes a dangerous traffic jam as people stop their cars in the middle of the road to lean out of their windows and take pictures of this powerful creature eating it's dinner.
We shake our heads as we witness close call after close call, amazed no collisions occured.
"How many pictures of this things butt can these people possibly want?" Kai asks, looking at the 15 cars blocking traffic in both directions.
I laugh and climb into the back, shaking my head. "I don't know, man, but I'm starting dinner. You wanna pop open one of those drinks?"
We open all the curtains, and I sip a hard seltzer and watch the elk as I chop vegetables.
What a life.
How blessed I am to live it.
An elder man with a large gray beard pulls his truck in behind the van. He gets out to snap photos of the elk, and keeps glancing in my back doors, confused or concerned...I'm not sure which.
Eventually he can't take it anymore. "You know there's a big elk out here, right?" He calls in to me through the door.
I hear Kai, somewhere outside the van, chuckle to himself.
"Yeah...I know. He's eating his dinner just like me."
The man looks even more confused, and I continue to season the veggies in my pot, smiling to myself.
Once the stream of tourists has faded, other creatures come to join the first, and we all eat our supper peacefully. Cohabiting in the beautiful mountains.
I sit currently in the city, at a bustling coffee shop, and I think back to these moments. Dream of them, longingly. Of sleeping in the mountains. Of washing my face in the stream. Of playing music with someone I love. Of waking to swaying trees and deer feasting 10 feet away. All life happens in phases. But it's these moments I'll always live for. And I'm grateful for loved ones who want to share them with me.
Go forth, friends, and get into nature as often as you have the chance!
I grab my phone and start the mandatory check of notifications that came in the night. A friend from Austin, Barrett, has replied to an Instagram story of mine. "Are you still in Colorado? You know I live here now!"
"I forgot!" I reply. "I was about to grab breakfast at Dozens, want to join me?"
We catch up over copious amounts of coffee and biscuits and he tells me his job moved him up here to open a new Alamo Drafthouse location.
"How long will you be around?" He asks.
"I'm actually looking for a job."
"Oh?!"
"But only for a few months. I've gotta be back in Texas in October."
"Oh...Well...I can ask if we can use you for just that time. You know how service industry is...high turnover and all that. They might be willing to take you on."
"That'd be great!"
An hour after we part ways he texts me..."We'll use you for that time. When can you come for an interview?"
"Right now!"
And just like that...spontaneous breakfast with a friend turns into the job I've spent the last week fretting over not finding.
Life is funny.
 |
| After breakfast. Good to see a familiar face in a strange place! |
Jess and I are introduced and we take a seat at a table near the bar.
"So why do you want to work here...?" She mumbles to herself, looking over the application I just filled out.
I've scribbled, "I want to be part of a dope team" under the question, and hold my breath as she reads it, unsure if my sense of humor will win me any favor here.
She chuckles, writes "DOPE" in capital letters in her yellow legal pad under my name, puts a check mark by it, and looks back up at me.
"Can you make it to orientation tomorrow at 1pm?"
"Yeah, for sure."
"Great, you got the job!" She tosses her pen down, smiling. "Wear pants and closed toed shoes tomorrow."
"Well...damn...that was easy," I laugh.
"Yup! Don't expect it at other interviews," She teases. "Bear said he couldn't interview you cause he'd just hire you, but I figured I'd just end up hiring you as well." She laughs. "Oh well! At least we did it the official way! See you tomorrow."
I leave the building and breathe a sigh of content. I've been worrying for a week about how I was going to find a job in this city I'm so unfamiliar with...I wasn't sure where to look...didn't know anyone...the places I had applied all insisted it be done online, and hadn't even seen me face to face...a simple job search was beginning to feel like a fool's errand.
Yesterday I finally put it out of my mind. Decided I was allowed to let it go for a night and just go have fun. Took myself dancing. Met new people. Stayed up too late.
The next day...met with a friend to get breakfast, left with a job.
Sometimes it's true that the moment you release control, you allow things to fall into place as they're meant to be.
I have a very hard time with this lesson...I feel I'm not allowed to relax until all my ducks are in a row...but what a relief when this idea proves true.
Let go.
Let the universe conspire in your favor.
 |
| Alamo work shirt |
 |
| First day! |
My friends from the faire rent a house in Denver for the week and invite me over. We pile in and enjoy all the amenities we go without daily. Full sized kitchen...private shower...a TV...air conditioner...bedrooms with doors that shut...what a different world everyone else lives in.
We set a plan with at least ten people to go dancing Thursday night in Denver, and the house becomes a flurry of discarded outfits and open makeup pallets as we all prepare for the evening.
At the last minute I decide to check my HotSchedules for work, and realize I have my very first shift at Alamo in the morning.
Ha. Of course I do...
Too late now, I'll have to push through it on coffee and willpower. Though this doesn't prove too difficult. The job is physically taxing, but mentally easy to grasp, so I flow through the eight hours of training easily, and drive the hour from Denver to the faire grounds when I get out.
This weekend I'm to work for the Fairy Booth.
Introducing Whoosh the Fairy!
Sometimes I truly feel I lead a double life...maybe a triple...hell, maybe even a quadruple life. From food runner to fairy to model to van lifer to dancer to writer to...the list could go on and on. Often times each life being completely separate from the others. Each requiring a different personality, a different skill set, hell, sometimes even a different name! Good thing I started acting so young.
 |
| Getting ready to go dancing! |
 |
| Beautiful ladies at lunch |
 |
| Denver Museum of Natural Science <3 |
 |
| Dance Crew! |
"Do you know what that is?" I ask the small blond girl, gesturing to the marble in her hand. She shakes her little curls. "That's a fairy stone!" I tell her, wings trembling in the wind behind me. "If you put it under your pillow tonight, when you dream it will take you away to Fairyland where you can see all your fairy friends!"
Her face lights with joy. "Will you be there?!" She asks, tugging at my skirts.
My heart melts a little and I smile at her, "Yes, of course. But make sure you don't lose your stone!" She claps her hands excitedly and turns to repeat this information to her parents. They grin and thank me.
Being a fairy ain't too bad ;)
 |
| Whoosh and Dandy the Fairies, confused by this flower! |
 |
| Power poses to start the day! |
 |
| Whoosh and Opal the Bubble Fairy <3 It's awesome getting to watch your friend do something they love (i.e. be a professional fairy). |
Monday morning I leave the fairgrounds and head to the Denver airport to pickup a close friend. It makes my heart happy that now that I have a vehicle fit for adventure, and enough room for a plus one, friends want to come stay with me. And what better place than Colorado!
I find a spot in the parking garage and step out of the car, rising to my tiptoes to inspect the roof of the van. Despite the fact that the garage is 8 feet tall, I could have sworn I heard a scrape when I came under the headache bar, and a panic rose in my chest after my last encounter with a parking garage. I turn to head toward the passenger pickup of the airport and let out a small yelp, as my friends face is suddenly very near mine.
He snaps a picture of my shocked expression on his disposable camera and sweeps me into a tight embrace.
"Well hi, Kai," I laugh over his shoulder. "You're a punk for scaring me!"
"You know I had to," he replies, a smile evident in his voice.
"Ready to explore Colorado?" I ask as we break apart.
And off we go!
 |
| Running through Boulder in the night with our rainbow powers! |
We make it to the end of the trail we're following in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We've started at the Bear Lake Trail head and 2 short miles later, we've passed multiple lakes, streams, piles of snow, and gorgeous views, to peak at Emerald Lake. I can see a group of people clustered with their phones out, and know the edge of the lake is right up ahead, when a rain drop hits me.
Then another.
I can hear them striking the leaves around us as the frequency of the drops increase. And the speed.
They start to sting my exposed shoulders and arms, and I finally look at the ground.
"Oh, shit. Hey, Kai, it's hailing, if you hadn't noticed."
He looks at the ground. "Oh...huh..."
We dip off the trail toward a stone wall, hoping it will angle in a favorable direction and offer us some cover, but no such luck. We dodge back across the trail and head into some trees, finding refuge enough beneath an evergreen.
I can't help laughing as I toss Kai a jacket and cover my own skin quickly. Of course we're caught in a hailstorm in the middle of summer. It is Colorado after all.
Seeing as there's no point fighting it, we pull out our snacks and watch as the brown ground gains a cover of white. A winter wonderland in the middle of July. It's beautiful.
 |
| Waiting out the hail and rain |
 |
| Go boldly forth! |
 |
| The snow is stealing me! |
We drive back down the mountain until we find a nice, flat pull-off where we can make dinner as the sun paints the clouds, and decide what to do with our evening.
I turn off the ignition and glance into the field across the road.
"Hey, look," I point, my eye caught by a large pair of antlers attached to an elk.
The elk seems to have turned a neon sign on himself however, because what was a very quiet, peaceful stretch of road, quickly becomes a dangerous traffic jam as people stop their cars in the middle of the road to lean out of their windows and take pictures of this powerful creature eating it's dinner.
We shake our heads as we witness close call after close call, amazed no collisions occured.
"How many pictures of this things butt can these people possibly want?" Kai asks, looking at the 15 cars blocking traffic in both directions.
I laugh and climb into the back, shaking my head. "I don't know, man, but I'm starting dinner. You wanna pop open one of those drinks?"
We open all the curtains, and I sip a hard seltzer and watch the elk as I chop vegetables.
What a life.
How blessed I am to live it.
An elder man with a large gray beard pulls his truck in behind the van. He gets out to snap photos of the elk, and keeps glancing in my back doors, confused or concerned...I'm not sure which.
Eventually he can't take it anymore. "You know there's a big elk out here, right?" He calls in to me through the door.
I hear Kai, somewhere outside the van, chuckle to himself.
"Yeah...I know. He's eating his dinner just like me."
The man looks even more confused, and I continue to season the veggies in my pot, smiling to myself.
Once the stream of tourists has faded, other creatures come to join the first, and we all eat our supper peacefully. Cohabiting in the beautiful mountains.
 |
| Charcoal drawing by Kai, of the van and the elk |
I sit currently in the city, at a bustling coffee shop, and I think back to these moments. Dream of them, longingly. Of sleeping in the mountains. Of washing my face in the stream. Of playing music with someone I love. Of waking to swaying trees and deer feasting 10 feet away. All life happens in phases. But it's these moments I'll always live for. And I'm grateful for loved ones who want to share them with me.
Go forth, friends, and get into nature as often as you have the chance!
Comments
Post a Comment