365 ONE: day 246…It’s a Small World After All
Posted: September 10, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, Acting, America, Anastassiou, asked out on a date, Audition, Book, Bus, Character, cheap plane prices, Chiswick, coincidence, Come Back Darling, Croatia, date on a plane, freaky moment, fridge, Greece, homework, Improvisation, in-flight movie, it's a small world after all, jinxed, Middlebury College, nothing in the fridge, off season, Passport, Picabo Street, plane, plane seat, Project 365, ski racer, Skiing, small world, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, UB40, USA, Walking, wrestler, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 246: September 10th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Come Back Darling” by UB40
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Nothing in the Fridge”
Anything to Note =
Yesterday I had one of those moments – the coincidence moment – that weird freaky feeling where the world suddenly seems so small…
We were on the bus and on our way to visit our family friend and this woman sat next to my mum and pulled out a book to read (me of course standing per 365!) Hours and hours later, we got back on the bus to go home, and my mum sat down…and we both looked over and it was the same woman next to her reading the same book!!
It was hilarious and made me laugh out loud! Such a weird freaky moment that they would be on the same bus at the same time and then sit next to each other again! Considering how many hours had passed, that there is a bus every 10 mins, and then be sitting next to each other! Too funny!
But doesn’t it happen a lot though?? And think how big the world is yet you see the same random person again, or try to avoid someone in a city of millions and then you see them….and just think of how many factors have to align to make that happen! Soooo weird!
It happens to me a lot, but the best by far was when I was traveling to Greece years ago from America…
I can’t remember how long ago it was, I want to say when I was at Middlebury, and I flew home to Greece for a short time so I think it was for something like Thanksgiving break or Spring Break…it was for some short time period as I remember I went as it worked out to be super cheap to do so! Ah back in the day when you could find cheap off season prices!
Anyway, I was alone and had homework to do, so I was trying to get some done on the plane over when this guy came up to me and knelt down next to me in the aisle and said hello and introduced himself. He then asked me out “on a date” ON THE PLANE to watch the in-flight movie that was about to be shown and if I would like to join him as he had seats open next to him a few rows down!!!
I was like, ummmmm….no!! I said I had homework to do – which I then had to do the whole flight as he was literally a few rows away AND his family were on my row!! He said he was a wrestler and traveling with his family to Greece to then drive to Croatia to see a wrestling event…all the while his family were of course nearby listening in…but I kept saying “no, thank you” to his date offer…it was all just crazy and too funny!
Anyway, a few days later I was flying back to the USA, sat in my seat, pulled out more homework to finish, and who sits next to me?????? The wrestler guy and his family!!!!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
We were on the same flight after that whole weird date thing, AND he was sitting next to me!!! I mean, what are the odds!!!
He could not believe it either so kept saying “it’s a sign so now you have to go out with me” and all I could do was laugh!!
Well I certainly could not get away with homework so had to chat with him for the journey, but I still refused a date for when we were back in America!! But it was a long plane ride home!
I also remember he played a trick on me for hours as of course we were stuck chatting, so me and skiing came up and that I was a ski racer and he said his sister was Picabo Street, a very famous ski racer, and one of my all time favorites! He showed me his passport too and his last name was Street and he had his whole family in on it too showing me their passports. Turns out that it was just that his last name was indeed Street, and he was of no relation to the ski racer! But it was his way to keep my interest, keep the coincidences alive, and perhaps say yes to a date!!
We left it at – if we ever see each other again then I HAD to go on a date with him…and I agreed in fear we might somehow have another coincidental meeting…but thank god, it never happened again!
It’s a small world! Seriously!
Although now that i have brought it up, I hope I haven’t jinxed it and suddenly see him in Chiswick!!!
365 ONE: day 232…Tedious
Posted: August 27, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, Acting, air miles, airlines, Anastassiou, Audition, baby book, baby info book, bedbugs, Birthday, Blackberry, Character, CReal, creatures, Dad, Desk, Fashion, Flight, flight search, flight websites, horror film, Improvisation, Internet, Keep Calm and Drink Tequila, Ksexase To, London, Money, mortgage, No Sleep, parasite, Park, photos, planner, Project 365, reinstatement of air miles, restless, Sad, schmonkie, shivers, stress, Stuart Burgess, technology, tedious, The Thaw, United Airlines, USA, Walking, wiped, workman, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 232: August 27th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Ksexase To” by CReal
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Keep Calm and Drink Tequila”
Anything to Note =
Tedious day.
Seriously tedious day.
Ugh.
I was up early after a restless usual no sleep night – partly I am sure to the fact that my mum and I watched The Thaw horror film late last night about a parasite that crawls into your skin – just thinking about it again gives me the shivers!! I went through bedbugs and so naturally anything about small creatures crawling over you is not the greatest way to make me feel relaxed. How could it to anyone!
Anyway, we had a workman come over early so was up early and had to be out of my room so I literally spent the whole day upstairs at the desk where I can get Internet….doing tedious things….dealing with tedious things! Literally – I was there from 10am sitting at that desk until close to 7pm!
First I spent hours looking for a flight for my dad to come over to London. It’s his birthday in two days so we’ve been searching for a flight over tomorrow for the week so we could be together and there was simply nothing! I mean, I would not give up as I really thought there had to be a way – I searched air miles, all airlines, cheap websites, combinations of planes…the only flights I could find that we’re not sold out were outrageous in price! So now we’re all disappointed. I can hear it in my dad’s voice too. I’ve never spent a birthday away from him. And I know he will be over for when the schmonkie is here and that’s not far away, but it’s just sad.
Then I had to move on to figuring out Stuart’s flight to come over for when Fashion finishes. So more searching and irritation at how expensive things are. I was however able to figure out a way to pay out less by using some of my mum’s air miles. Annoyingly I discovered that my mum’s United air miles had expired and she had lost a lot – enough for two trips to USA and back – and this happened in March when my parents were sick and of course pre-occupied and nobody checked. But there was an option for reinstatement for money so to do so and use air miles brings the price down for Stuart. A little more successful, or we’ll see, but again was not ideal.
Then had to deal with mortgage emails and a lack of understanding and miscommunication with back and forth of emails that were driving me crazy! They kept saying they didn’t have attachments when they did and not understanding what I was talking about, and all of this is from my blackberry as my work email is on there. I was trying to take care of things to keep Stuart from having to deal with it as he was busy at work today, but my blood started to boil….I was already stressed from the day so far and I just couldn’t deal with re-explaining again and again, using different tactics. I had to give up and asked Stuart to just re-send what we had sent over ten days ago on his lunch break.
I knew I needed to get out and away from the desk and soon.
Instead I tried to do as much as I could as I was already at the desk. I have to swap over planners as my current one ends in three days and I have been putting it off! I have to copy by hand all my notes and all that into the new planner – yup, I still believe in hand written planners versus on my blackberry. I fear for everything being wiped! And actually something happened to my blackberry a few weeks ago and all my photos were wiped! Which was horrible!! So I now have less faith in the technological planner than ever! But copying everything is….
Tedious.
Anyway, it got to 7pm and I just couldn’t do anymore. I needed to get up and out and some fresh air…to breathe out the stress of today.
Out for a walk around the park!!
What a day. A tedious one.
365 ONE: day 222….Friday Business
Posted: August 17, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, Acting, Anastassiou, Antonis Remos, Audition, Baby, baby comes early, baby product research, baby shopping, baby Ugg boots, Character, expenses, fashion week, grandmother, Improvisation, Internet, Internet cafe, Ipad, mortgage, NYC, online, Project 365, reviews, Stuart Burgess, Tha Me Thimase, transatlantic business, Ugg boots, UK, USA, Walking, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 222: August 17th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Tha Me Thimase” by Antonis Remos
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Baby Uggs”
Anything to Note =
Well….
Today was a day spent on my iPad.
Literally!
Sitting in the kitchen in an uncomfortable stool, straddling the counter top, so I could get some Internet and also have it plugged in below.
Ugh.
It’s been a day of baby product research. Have been baby shopping literally every day with my mum so we can get things on “the list” in case, as my mum puts it, the baby comes early and we need to be prepared!!!
What???!!!
Early???!!!!!!!!!!
I have no idea what’s going on so he can’t come early – I auto corrected the ‘it’ to ‘him’ just now i will have you know!! So perhaps that means I am progressing???!!!! Haha!
Well, he can’t come early because Stuart is still in the USA until after Fashion week, so that’s September 14th at least!!!!
And I’m NOT READY for that!!!!
Anyway, we’ve been on baby shopping mode every day which has been too much! But amazingly I have been able to distant myself while doing so. Mostly, I try to keep my mum on track to how much we actually need right now, and in the UK since we will be going back to NYC, so I spend most of the time justifying expenses and saying “no” to my excited grandmother-to-be!!
That’s weird!!! My mum is going to be a grandmother!
She is excited.
Stuart is excited.
Everyone is excited more than me it seems!!
All very strange.
I finished reading and going through the Mum To Be Organizer book i was given so then spent the day online trying to find cheaper ways to fulfill the “to do” and “to buy” list based off what we’ve seen out and about so far.
And then reading reviews.
Again, too much!
Overwhelming really. It can just go on and on and on.
Luckily I had to switch between baby online focus to mortgage documents being requested. Although, that was also ugh. Too much!
Thank you Stuart for helping me deal with all our mortgage stuff that had to be submitted as being here with no quality Internet, no printer and no scanner makes me limited. And that makes me feel a little helpless. There is an internet cafe not too far away but it’s expensive so Stuart and I tried to do it without that – me on the phone with him on his computer for some transatlantic business!! Thanks to our free calls!! Thank god for that really.
But no seriously. Thank you Stuart for today.
365 ONE: day 220…Tube Heat
Posted: August 15, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, A/C, Acting, Anastassiou, Audition, Baby, baby overload, baby shopping, car seat, Character, foot pain, glucose drink, glucose test, Hospital, Hot, Improvisation, muggy, Nausea, Objection, Project 365, Shakira, sleep, sneakers, Spice Girls, Sporty Spice, tube, tube seat, tube system, UK, USA, Walking, woozy, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 220: August 15th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Objection” by Shakira
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Sporty Spice”
Anything to Note =
I had my glucose test this morning. Up early. No sleep again. It was so light out I thought it was 8am and time to get up, but nope, it was 6am!!!! Boo!!!
Then it was downhill from then….there was no way I could sleep again after that 😦
Another glucose test with that wonderful-NOT glucose drink and three hour wait with no food for blood tests. Another fight against the nausea of the wait with no food annoyingly. No one has to do two glucose tests! Trust my luck that changing countries would result in that!
To make it worse, after the test, we got on the tube to go for another day of baby shopping but the tube car was soooooo hot! I was dying! There is no A/C on the UK tube system as there is no way to put them in…which always baffles everyone! The tubes have been built without being able to accommodate them. I guess it’s a good thing it’s never super hot over here – although today it was a bit muggy so I started getting woozy – and the tube car we were in had no windows to open or an end window that usually gets some air in! Ugh. I hate that shaky feeling and the feeling of little control.
I was of course offered a seat but no can do!
Made it to some food and that helped. And of course it gave me strength to baby shop!! Even got a baby car seat today!! You need one from the hospital as they won’t let you leave without one but was worried about UK prices as things are expensive here and also compatibility with a US car, where we need it. But found one that should fit everywhere with a seatbelt system, and is good but cheaper than all the rest we’ve seen. So that’s good. I think. I’m so tired to even process right now.
Then more looking and looking – another baby overload day!!
Was on my feet a lot today so my feet hurt a lot, even with sneakers on 😦
365 ONE: day 185…Will I Make The Plane??!!
Posted: July 11, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2012, 2013, 365, 365 Challenge, 6 months, Acting, America, Anastassiou, Audition, BA, Boss, British Airways, Cardio, Character, cheapest flights, day of travel, Don't Dream It's Over, Flight, Improvisation, January, Jet Plane, JFK, London, London Heathrow Airport, Mr Giraffe, Office, Packing, Paul Carrack, plane, Project 365, Schmonkey, Stuart Burgess, stuffed animal, travelling, UK, United States, USA, Virgin, Walking, Work, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 185: July 11th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking/Packing/Travelling
Dance of the Day was = “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Paul Carrack
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Mr. Giraffe”
Anything to Note =
I am leaving on a jet plane…
It’s LEAVING DAY!!!! It’s TRAVEL DAY!!!!
CRAZY!!!
I think I’ve mentioned this before in another blog, but it’s funny because Stuart and I are leaving today – Stuart for only two weeks right now – but we’re not flying on the same flight! We leave within 20 minutes of each other from JFK, from different terminals, on different airlines – me on BA and Stuart on Virgin (which is way better!). And we arrive within 20 minutes of each other at Heathrow tomorrow, different terminals.
It worked out cheaper this way as I had to get on a BA flight to be on the same return flight as my mum when I come back to the States, but the cheapest flights were not BA, so Stuart did one of those cheap-not-know-you’re-airline sites and got on Virgin – so that was cool!
So we’ll see each other when we drive to JFK tonight and then I will see him again when I get picked up tomorrow morning after we arrive! Strange!!
If only we could communicate across the ocean, thousands of miles up in the air!!
If only BBM worked while flying haha!!
I will miss him 🙂
But we get to save money so that’s a bonus!
If I make it to the plane as still haven’t packed and am at the office…..aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
So this is my last day in America until JANUARY!!!
For just under 6 months!!!
In 2012!!
That’s weird.
Next time I’ll be back in the USA it will be in 2013 with a little schmonkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIZARRE!!!!
365 ONE: day 164…Sweaty then Waiting
Posted: June 20, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 26 weeks pregnancy, 365, 365 Challenge, A/C, Acting, Anastassiou, Audition, Bob Marley, Cardio, Character, Characters, cold, empty stomach, fasting, glucose drink, glucose screening test, glucose test, Heat Index, heat warning, Improvisation, New York City, People, Perspiration, preggo clothing, Pregnancy, Project 365, Quest Diagnostics, Rush Hour, Soul Rebel, Subway, sweat drip, sweaty, sweaty upper lip, take blood, USA, Waiting Room, Walking, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou Leave a commentDay 164: June 20th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Soul Rebel” by Bob Marley
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Quest Diagnostics Waiting Room”
Anything to Note =
The heat index today was 105!!
Today and tomorrow there’s been a heat warning issued! Great! That’s all I need!!
It was one of those “wipe the sweat off your upper lip” days!
I had to speed walk to catch the subway this morning to make it to my glucose screening test I had that was early, and boy was I wiping the sweat away after that mad dash! I tried to put on the loosest clothing but had no time this morning so ended up wearing some preggo clothes that were given to me from a friend, but they are huge – so not only do I look like a giant sack of potatoes BUT was one of those sweato’s on the subway, that you watch sweat drip down, and don’t necessarily want to be too close to them in the rush hour squeeze 😦
Don’t you just love it when you feel sweat drip down your back! Or better yet, gather in between your boobs!!
YUMMY!!
Then of course the flip side to that is then you freeze when you go anywhere as the A/C is on – and in the USA it is pounding in ever store/place you go, like the waiting room at Quest Diagnostics I had to wait 3 hours in to complete my test!! Hot then COLD!!
It was for my glucose testing this morning, that is a routine 26 weeks pregnancy test, where I had to be fasting the last two days with no simple carbs or processed sugar, and then nothing after midnight last night, and they take blood three times, once an hour. After the first blood draw they give you a bright orange drink to down as fast as you can – it was disgusting! But had to be done! The biggest problem is fighting the nausea and wooziness as you can’t eat or drink water from midnight, and I get nauseous anyway with an empty stomach let alone now even more so while pregnant, so by the third hour  I was in the corner trying to get through. Ugh. Not fun. They tell you to pack a snack to eat after you’re done with this test so you know this must happen a lot.
The waiting room did feel like I was in a play though with the noise of the door creaking open as new people came in, the sign-in routine, and the characters – there were many! I captured a bit on my video upload – no words necessary! Just watching is intriguing and tells a story, or several stories.
People are so fascinating to watch in a waiting room!
365 ONE: day 150…Bad Green Card News :(
Posted: June 6, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, Acting, Anastassiou, Audition, Australia, Australian Passport, Bad Day, birth certificate, British passport, C'est La Vie, Character, Doctor, Greece, Greek, greek letters, Greek passport, Green Card, Improvisation, Legit, Name Misspellings, Passport, Passports, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Travel, Project 365, Security Check Issue, Shania Twain, UK, United States, Upsetting, USA, Visa, Walking, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou 1 CommentDay 150: June 6th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “C’est La Vie” by Shania Twain
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other  blog was = “Bad Day”
Anything to Note =
Green Card bad news today – or just not great news.
Of course.
Apparently my case is with security and we don’t know why but there’s a “security check issue” and that could take a little time to resolve or could take a long time to resolve, and hopefully it can BE resolved. We really don’t know why – it could be a number of reasons like:
– they are checking how long I’ve been here
– Stuart’s first marriage
…I mean it could be anything really, but I think it has something to do with the fact that my name is different in each of the passports I have – which is a problem.
Australia misspelled my name from Christina to Christine.
And Greece did what they do and translated the way my name would be spelled in Greek with Greek letters, to an English version so instead of Zoe its Zoi!
I also think my last name is missing an S in my Greek passport as when spelled out in Greek there is only one S but in English it’s two so it should be Anastassiou and instead its Anastasiou.
And of course my birth certificate doesn’t match any of those. The British passport however got it right – the only one!
I’ve also been on visas for my undergraduate and graduate schooling in the USA and then now on my work visa based off these misspellings so on record I must have a bunch of different names.
I think this must be my “security check issue” as I remember in my interview, amid the nausea and the last-seen-of-the-day-rush, the woman interviewing me did mention she had a lot to do in regards to my names and such – jokingly – but I am pretty sure of that now that I think about it more. So I have a feeling that’s whats the issue or the delay.
If they are waiting for something like Greece to verify me from my passport or something then that will be a huge delay since they are in chaos and I can’t imagine them responding quickly at all right now especially.
There’s nothing I can really do.
I have set up a meeting for June 15th anyway since we were to know more on June 5th and then perhaps I could have my passport stamped if I was approved by then, but that’s before we found out this today. However, I am going to go in on the 15th anyway to see them face to face and discuss. I am not sure they can do anything or even say anything as security means they would have passed it on to another department, but I can inquire at least, in person, and see. I don’t know.
I can find out the last date I can travel while pregnant from my doctor Friday as have a check-up then so I have a true deadline, and then can perhaps make another appointment just before then to go in if I am still here, in case by then they can stamp my passport for travel. That will mean moving my July 11th flight and Greece mini trip, but what can I do.
Step by step.
Let’s see what happens June 15th. If anything.
It’s just upsetting as this is all legit.
Upsetting.
😦
365 ONE: day 91…Happy (other) Easter to all!
Posted: April 8, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 365, 365 Challenge, Acting, Anastassiou, Audition, Australian, Brit, British, Character, Chocolate, Christmas, Easter, Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunting, Egg hunt, Greek, Greek Easter, greek tradition, Happy Easter, Holiday, Improvisation, Jitterbug, Name Day, New Years, Newbie, Presents, Project 365, st nicholas, Stuart Burgess, Thanksgiving, USA, Wake Me Up Before I Go Go, Walking, Wham, Zoe, Zoe Anastassiou 2 CommentsDay 91: April 8th, 2012 = COMPLETE!!!!!
Cardio was = Walking
Dance of the Day was = “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Jitterbug)” by Wham
Improvised Acting Video I uploaded to my other blog was = “Stuart Sleeping”
Anything to Note =
Happy Easter to all of you!!!
I will be celebrating my Easter next weekend as Greek Easter falls only one week after this year. However, the more I think about it the more I realize today is also my Easter as well. My mother is Australian so this is her Easter and she definitely took us Easter egg hunting when I was little. And we definitely had lots of Easter eggs and chocolate and food! Our family never misses a holiday that involves food that’s for sure – it’s like we also always celebrated Thanksgiving growing up even though we have no family that are American – granted we went to the USA every year at either Christmas or Easter or both for skiing, so I know I have strong ties to America from childhood, but technically none of us have a direct American connection except our close friends…but hey, it was a chance to eat and have a dinner party! So, we did that! I also vaguely remember getting presents at Thanksgiving…which is not the point of the holiday at all!!!
Being half Australian and half Greek also meant that I got presents on Christmas but then also some more presents on New Years due to St. Nicholas coming then to deliver presents as the Greek tradition! So that was another score! AND, since I am Greek I have a name day, which actually fluctuates with Greek Easter – so St Zoe Day is always the Friday after Greek Easter. BUT ALSO, my real name is double barrel, so its Zoe-Christina, so technically I have second name day for Christina which comes from Christ so is indeed on Christmas….but I never really got more presents on Christmas because of that…althogh I should have!! I probably brought that up a few times when I was younger being the brat I was!!
It seems the Australian in me gets put to the side, and the growing up in England, and the American annual tie, as being Greek takes the forefront. And it’s true – I feel more Greek than anything and have a stronger connection to Greece and being Greek, always. So it doesn’t really feel like my Easter today at all. BUT, it is. AND, I was also thinking that I am now married to a Brit, and this is Stuart’s Easter so it really should now be more important in our family. And as I was picking up some Easter goodies for Stuart yesterday from the import store I realized that today was special and I should be celebrating. And I would want the new addition to our family to also have both Easter’s like I had. So ahead I should try to not let the Greek rule over the British traditions always (even though Greece of course rules 🙂 haha!), at least for Stuart’s and the newbie’s sake, I will happily celebrate more holidays!
I mean who can say no to chocolate??!!
And who can say no to Stuart cooking a roast dinner tonight for us for when I get back from rehearsal??!!
I never believed in the Easter Bunny though – I do remember that! I knew it was my mum…so not sure about carrying on that part of the tradition to the newbie! Unless I make Stuart dress up like a giant Bunny every year haha!
I am not going to lie – it’s a little creepy!! Isn’t it??
Zoe RANDOM Anastassiou 