This post is so overdue but I am finally getting around to writing it. So let's pretend it is February 27, 2017.
YAY!!!! We bought a house!!! A bit earlier than we were planning, but it's a house in Apex, with the schools that we wanted, neighborhood that we loved and a basement (which is super hard to come by here).
The kids will finish up the school year in their schools in Cary, so we do a lot of carpooling and waiting for kids in the car with all their activities being in Cary. We love having the woods in the backyard (but not the snakes;) and the quite location that our neighborhood offers. It feels a bit more countryside than our house did in Cary, and we like that.
And in the meantime, we are hoping our rented house will get rented to someone else sometime before July because, as it stands right now, we are paying mortgage and rent payment which is not so great:).
Before I put everything down on "paper", I have to tell you that this is one of those completely unbelievable experiences that one can have in life. Truly. Something that doesn't happen to regular people like us:)
One evening in July I saw a post on facebook by my friend-neighbor who said she had just signed up her daughter for an interview for a movie that was going to be filmed in London. I messaged my friend and asked her more details, like their contact info.
So as you can see, they were looking for five girls with genuine American accents. We had nothing to lose, so we contacted the agency, sent in Katya's two pictures that I took and a few words about her. She was invited to go meet them at their office in London in August. In fact, right that week, grandma Lorraine was visiting us, so we scheduled the interview for the same time as our visit to Hampton Court, as the office was nearby. That first interview was great, Katya says. It wasn't held in a fancy theater or anything, just a side office of a business building. Katya says they basically asked her a few questions about her and then asked her to read part of the script while they recorded her.
We really thought nothing of it--just a good experience that will be something to talk about someday. We knew that a lot of girls from our base and around London would be considered for this, so competition was definitely present.
And then a week or so later, the agency emailed us back and said they were organizing a workshop for all the girls that they were considering and then at the workshop they would decide who would be their final five girls they would need. The workshop was going to be held at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) studios in London on Monday, September 8th. We were so excited! Katya had never done anything else like that before, so this was awesome. But just to let you know, dozens of Katya's friends and kids from school were going to the workshop as well--three or four of our neighbors even.
On Monday morning, Katya and I took the train to London.
It was one of those sunny fall days. As we walked leisurely from London's King's Cross Station pass Euston towards the British Museum, I couldn't help but be amazed at the feel the vibrancy and the soul of the city in the morning. People were in a hurry to get places, rushing to their morning destination, double decker buses and black taxi cabs passing by, and then us...the relaxed strollers, mama and daughter.
We arrived at the studios and were pointed to a large room where dozens of people were already sitting, waiting. There were three groups of girls with maybe 30 girls in each group. Katya was in group TWO. We basically had to wait till they were called in while we chatted with other moms--some familiar from the base and some we had never met before. Katya stayed very quiet.
After a while, Katya's group was called in. She told me later that basically, they had to act out one scene where dad comes home and the daughter has to say, "Hello, Daddy!" and come up and hug him or something. Katya said she didn't really do a good job doing that part, she thought. The next thing they had to do was act out a scene that they were given described on a piece of paper, working in a small group. When the guy in charge came up to Katya, he gave her a piece of paper and said, "This one will be perfect for you", with a smile. It was a scene where Katya was supposed to be ironing clothes. At that moment, Katya was mortified and felt really uneasy thinking that the reason he said that is because her plaid shirt she was wearing over her t-shirt was a bit wrinkly. She also said that because a lot of the girls were kind of giggly and not taking this seriously, she felt like she couldn't focus either and it was kind of hard to let go of her inhibitions with so many familiar people being there.
In short, when she came out from that part of the workshop, she felt kind of deflated.
We had a lunch break as they said to come back in an hour or so when they would tell us whom they wanted to keep for the next round of workshops in the afternoon. During that lunch hour, we had a good talk with Katya...well, actually, if you ask her, I was kind of mean and not very encouraging (it all sounded much more positive in my head). We talked a lot about how this is one chance you are given and you really have to be the best you can be at this. I basically got her really fired up and a bit mad at the fact that how is it possible that she is not good enough for that and that she could do way better than this.
So with that fighter but "whatever happens" attitude we went back to the studios to see if they wanted to keep her.
And of course, they did! She was one of the last twenty five girls that were called back. The crowd of parents got smaller and we had a chance for over an hour to chat with each other (and I mostly read a book). After this last session, Katya came out of the workshop ELATED! She felt like she did everything right and was confident she did really well. One of the older girls (we later learned it was Angela) came up to her and said she did a fantastic job. They said to wait for their phone call as they would let us know if we got the part.
This is Katya who just finished her first open casting in London. We walked from Russell Square to King's Cross Station uplifted and excited!
And then...Tuesday came.
And Wednesday...
But I have to backtrack a tiny bit and say that on Tuesday, I took a short nap in the afternoon. And although I had only maybe 15 minutes to sleep before the school pick up, I felt like I actually had a dream! I woke up as if from a jolt with a completely certain feeling that Katya got the part. I couldn't explain but it was very strange. I kind of waved that feeling off and thought to myself it was just wishful thinking.
But it WASN'T!
On Wednesday morning, I get a call from Olivia, the second assistant director, who tells me that they really liked Katya and that she got the part!
I couldn't believe it. I seriously was floored. It's one of those times when you are on your cell phone jumping up and down because you are so excited but you can't scream.
And that's how from just that one phone call, life suddenly turned really busy. Before Katya even came home I had received at least six phone calls from various people about clothes fitting and license issuance and coaching and all sorts stuff. You can only imagine what it was like to tell Katya the fantastic news!
This is her acting license (or licence if you are in England)
And we had to keep it all hush-hush and not tell anyone, not even the girls who auditioned as well. It was quite difficult for Katya to dodge the questions at school from the others about whether or not she'd heard anything about the movie casting. Finally, we told the agency that they really should tell the girls who also auditioned that they didn't make it as it was getting tougher and tougher to keep a straight face about the whole thing. So they did. And then Katya and Mackenna could finally break the silence.
Oh yes, Mackenna! How crazy is that? Katya's really good friend from her fifth grade was cast to play Katya's little sister (she is meant to be 5-7 in the movie, but is 11 in real life). So here we were (Stacia and I), two moms with our two daughters excited for this new unbelievable adventure.
I better fast forward, or we'll never get through this:)!
Here are Katya and Mackenna on the train to get to one of their rehearsals.
Oh yes, rehearsals! So after being approved to work, we had to schedule--costume fittings, accent trainings and rehearsals. And that's all in September, October and November before any of our scenes were going to be filmed. One of the coolest things was that because we lived two hour drive from the set, a private driver would come and pick us up in a black van with tinted windows every single time and would drive us back. Fun times. We felt super posh:)) Martin, the driver, took good care of us.
The first time we met anyone was at Pinewood Studios, at the end of September. That's the day when the girls met Colin Firth, Jude Law, Laura Linney and even Nicole Kidman. And here are the girls on their first day together--Eve, Lorna, Angela, Mackenna and Katya.
This was the day that Katya came back from the first rehearsal and said that Jude Law has funny ears:) while all the other girls were oohing and aahing over him. They all said how nice Nicole Kidman was to them, although they knew they wouldn't have any scenes with her together in the movie. And of course, Laura Linney was amazing and professional. Colin Firth is their father in the movie, so the girls just loved how kind and respectful he was to all of them.
One other time, the girls had to come to get their costume measurements done. That was when the filming was still set at Pinewood Studios and we all were hanging out in a party bus:)) and ate a catered lunch with all the other crew working on set. That was the first time that I saw Colin Firth IN PERSON! He was just casually walking by the lunch trailer and chatting with some people. It's just crazy! I found myself beaming to myself, not quite sure why in the world I was acting so ridiculous:))
On another occasion, some of the girls (Lorna, Katya and Mackenna) came together to work on their accents. We used the party bus at first.
But then we moved to Jude Law's trailer since it was empty. Their dialect coach was this famous Hollywood lady--Elizabeth Himelstein--with impressive credentials of dozens of movies. She flew from LA specifically to coach the actresses to speak like they did in 1930's East coast America:). She was so famous that Nicole Kidman was her daughter's Godmother! yeah:)
Inside Jude Law's trailer, we felt just a little bit too excited:)) It was amazing to watch these girls.
That's the sign on his trailer's door since Jude Law was playing Thomas Wolfe.
So once we were done with all the prep work, we had a bit of a break in November. The filming was in full force in Manchester and in Southern England as it started on October 12th (or something like that) but they waited till the very end of their filming schedule to film the scenes with the daughters. The girls were needed in Cobham, a town in Surrey, southwest of London, in the evening of Sunday, November 30th. As we went away to Paris to meet my mom and see Olia for Thanksgiving, we had to rush back on Sunday afternoon to make sure we went straight from the Chunnel crossing to Cobham to check in at the Hilton in town. Well, technically, it was just Katya and I who were staying in Cobham. Robert and the boys had dinner with us and then continued their journey up north home.
And everything magical continued on December 1st!
We got picked up from the hotel each day and were brought early in the morning to the set where we enjoyed a delicious freshly cooked meal. Katya had her one third of a trailer (the other girls had one third as well) with her role name on it.
Every morning, we received a plan for the day of where and when everyone was needed. It was just amazing to see famous Hollywood names on the same sheet of paper as Katya's.
She had a few outfits to work with--all authentic from the era they were working with. I'll just randomly show off a few of them. This is Katya, all hooked up with a mike and ready to go.
Katya had to get a haircut for the movie, nothing fancy, but quite a bit shorter than she had it before. And notice--no braces! They had to be taken off the week before. This is her before and after pictures that morning.
All the girls received identical down coats and warm fuzzy boots to wear as it was frequently very cold on set where they were filming with doors being open for people go in and out all day.
Every day, we had the most amazing meals served to us at lunchtime as well!! Sometimes I had to get lunch for Katya while the "cafe" was open and she was still working. I loved all the many choices they offered, LOVED them!
Another outfit:)
One of the pictures of all the girls we took (but Katya had already changed out of her coat outfit for the traveling scene). So it is Lorna (14), Makenna (11), Ashley (16) (who had to wear a wig because her mom protested she would not let her daughter get a haircut), Katya (11) and Eve (15).
Oh, and what did the moms do while the daughters work? Well...we couldn't exactly leave as we were the chaperones. We helped them with changing and food and all sorts of things, but while they were on set we kept ourselves busy with books, projects, chatting, blogging and even running. The "trailer" camp was set in the field of nothingness and mud, so we couldn't go very far. So from left to right: Bev, yours truly, Kelly, Sally and Stacia.
One of the cute outfits--I think this is the one for the scene of them eating the cherry pie (Katya's least favorite pie kind:)). Good thing there were buckets under the table to spit out the food.
Another busy morning with...sausages and watermelon. As you can see, I set up my laptop on the desk there and went crazy fast through a ton of blogging.
This is her traveling outfit in the scenes when Colin Firth is sending off Laura Linney and the girls on a trip.
This one is still one of her favorites.
And yes, sometimes we had to relax and joke around between filming and tutoring.
Oh yeah, so because all the girls were obviously enrolled in school, a private tutor came every day and worked with them on their homework so that they didn't fall behind. The older girls had a ton more homework than Katya and Makenna, so it was much easier for them. Katya did not like their tutor though;). She loved their chaperone lady Isobel Richards though. We still keep in touch with her. Her job is ensuring that tutoring gets done and that the girls are well taken care of. She is also the one that strongly advised Katya to get education first and foremost and then pursue an acting career if she still desires that.
One of my favorite pictures ever--true Katya's cheerful spirit.
This is Charlie and Katya. Charlie has one of the busiest and most time demanding jobs on set--she is a set runner. She is the one that announces on her "intercom" system: "Colin is on the move" or "The girls are going to tutoring now". She had to spend many hours outside too in the freezing British December weather... One thing I have learned during this whole filming process is how HARD all these people work on set. And all the actors--yes, they have fun jobs and exciting lives, but they work hard with early morning hours and late evening shoots.
I believe Katya had a total of six days of filming, but not all in a row. She had to go for two days in a row once and then another two days the same week and something like that. So it was so good to go home and see the boys. We also were able to make some cookies for all the main people who worked with us (like Jude, Colin, Laura, Michael Grandage, etc) and give them to them along with thank you cards. It was a surreal experience:) And it even got even more extraordinary when the day after, Katya received Italian ladybug chocolates with a hand written thank you note from Colin Firth himself saying he hopes to work with her in the future! Unbelievable, I tell ya:)
A few more pictures from the last day of filming. Michael Grandage (the man that started it all), Tracey Seaward and James Bierman (producers).
And here is Olivia, the second assistant director, and Charlie. Olivia is the one who chatted with us on the phone a lot before the filming and who arranged all our rehearsals and pretty much was in charge of the girls. She has an impressive list of credentials to her name, so we are just honored Katya was able to work with her so closely. She is a lovely lady.
And finally, one last picture with Michael and Colin. It was sad for this amazing period of our lives to end. This is something that we could never imagine in our wildest dreams to happen!
Katya was able to interact with all the big stars daily. She came away with a new appreciating for acting and for how real these people were and how NICE. Everyone was so kind to the girls. And the girls were told they were like pros. No one could believe this was their first acting experience ever. They had no issues with their lines and no issues avoiding looking at camera or any of that. They did great!
As to me, I only got to speak to Colin a couple of times. And one of the times was just saying "Good evening". It's amazing how you, an average person, just get tongue tied in front of someone so famous:)). At the end of the filming, we did come up to him with the girls so they could have their scripts signed by him, but still I was not brave enough to utter intelligent words. A similar situation with Jude...the guy who walked in his famous beanie hat that winter..:)) We saw him coming back from the set in the evening and he saw me and Katya and said, "Are you all right?" (like the British always say to mean, "how are you?"). All I could think of to say was, "Oh yes, we are all right." Okay...seriously... how silly is it for a grown up woman to not know how to respond to a casual greeting! :))))
Well, this got to be the longest blog post ever and I feel like I merely scratched the surface of the whole experience. I know some details will definitely fade, so it is great to write what I remember down.
For weeks the kids had been begging us to take them skiing somewhere. Seeing just a bit of snow on Ukrainian Christmas Day wasn't enough. Mark especially was trying to convince us to plan trip for at least one day to the mountains.
After a bit of research and an advice from a friend, we figured we'd go to Wintergreen Ski Resort. Since Alex was in 6th grade he was able to receive a free pass for the day and get a discount for all of us on tickets and equipment. The resort was located about 50 minute drive from where our friends, the Grovers, live. So of course, to make things more fun, we drove up to their house late Thursday night, and left for skiing on Friday morning.
The funny part is that driving up to the resort there was not a speck of snow. It was weird. It was too warm, it seemed! And then as soon as we parked, got our winter gear on we heard the snow making machines doing their job. That's how they do it if there is not enough snow in this area...
It was actually very cold and windy on the day that we went, but that helped with the snow making. Kids were so excited! They had become quite good at skiing and fearless so more power to them.
But not me. Oh, not me. Many times Robert would take the kids on the intermediate slopes and they all would do just fine. Then me...we get to the top of the hill that is hard, and they all leave me. So there I am repeating to myself "I can do hard things" as I am S L O W L Y moving down the mountain. I say "moving" because I don't think you can call it skiing. Anyway! Needless to say, I don't like being scared and I am not quite sure how to overcome this fear...well, maybe to take lessons and get better at it so that I actually know AGAIN how to ski on anything other than beginner slopes (I took a few lessons in high school).
These two are very (too) confident in their abilities;). Look at that snow being made in the background.
It was actually annoying that the snow was blowing so hard because we had to really cover our faces when the ski lift was going under those machines or when we had to ski down the hill with the new snow blowing in our faces.
I am just grateful for no injuries and lots of fun (for Robert and the kids-haha).
The kids skied from 10 am or so till when night skiing started, only taking a break for lunch.
And the kids could have kept going for way longer. Mark is already planning another skiing trip for the near future.
The following day we came back to summer. I mean seriously, it was in the 60s back at our friends' town. We went for a nice hike and spent time just hanging out.
And taking goofy panoramic pictures.
Wintergreen Resort is no Alps or the Rockies by any means, but it will do for kids to curb their craving for snow. We might try another resort sometime when it's cold again:).
Some of you may know that my uncle is the Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. During January-March of 2017 they embarked on an extensive tour of the US for the first time. As I was reviewing their itinerary and trying to figure where the closest concert was going to be, I realized that they will be passing almost straight through Morrisville, NC (10 minutes from us) in the middle of the day. And then the wheels in my brain started moving and I got a brilliant idea! I knew that these musicians get paid per day of work, of course, but they get paid VERY little and still have to pay for their food and personal expenses on the road. So, I suggested they stop by our church building for lunch and I would arrange everything. Of course, they got very excited and I just hoped everything would work out.
We had to mobilize very quickly! We had just three or four days to organize it all. I created a simple Sign Up sheet and invited people from the ward to help out. So many people came together--it was amazing! People who don't know these musicians and were just willing to serve signed up to bring lasagnas, salads, fruit, dessert, etc.
On the day of the luncheon, I was quite nervous. Some of my friends and I showed up to the church building early to set up tables and tablecloths. I tried to keep up with the Ukrainian theme with yellow and blue colors plus my Ukrainian runners in the middle. People brought in A LOT of food, so I stopped worrying that we would run out. I even had a vegetarian lasagna for the few vegetarians in the orchestra.
When the orchestra arrived, I, of course, was so excited to see my uncle and my aunt. Oh yes! My aunt is the first violin in the orchestra so at least they get to tour together to all the places in the world. I could feel some were a bit unsure about the place and the luncheon:)) Others were chatty and friendly right away. I could tell they were hungry and surprised to see that so much food was prepared for them. What was amazing is that they all calmly stood in a queue waiting to get their food and then sat and ate VERY quietly the whole time. That was something very different:)
I walked around the tables, together with some of my friends, talking to people and hoping to make them feel more comfortable. I believe this was the first place where they were offered a lunch on their three week tour so far. They all were so incredibly grateful! They ate EVERYTHING they had put on their plates. And I told them they should take any leftover rolls for the drive.
They were so impressed with our hospitality, impressed with my kind friends in the church who were willing to quickly get organized and provide this lunch. They said it was a breath of fresh air to break up their long drives and that I gave them a feeling of home even if it's just for one lunch hour.
That's me in the middle in a Ukrainian shirt next to my uncle.
I convinced them to take all the water bottles we had leftover so they had it for the bus ride. And here is one of my good helper-friends, Wendy, to the left of me. To the right of me is one of the members of the orchestra and one of my uncle's best friends, Orest, who is like family to them.
After lunch, I took my uncle and my aunt to our house. We picked up the kids from school early and Robert came home after work so we could spend some time with them. It was fun! We got ready for the next part of their visit--a drive to Danville, VA where their concert was going to be held that evening. It was an hour and a half drive through countrysides of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, and it was fun to tell my Ukrainian family more about America and people and how we live here. They had visited the US a few times before (my uncle) and have travelled to numerous countries in the world, but it's always great to hear some explanations from the natives (aka Robert).
We were able to arrive to Danville in time to see the orchestra rehearse. And then the oldest member of the orchestra, the harpist, showed our kids how to play the harp. They were fascinated:)
The concert itself was held at a High School. A High School??? That is the best they could do for an orchestra of such high level? It was a bit strange. But that is what the organizers of the tours decided. They were also the ones deciding on the towns that the orchestra would perform in. I am sure the price of renting out concert halls had a lot to do with where they performed. Some were big cities (like Charlotte) and others were small towns like Greenville, NC.
Well, nothing could ruin this orchestra's performance! Their talents, their expression and soul were incredible to witness. I am used to classical music concerts as my mom took me to so many when I was young (plus it helped our family members are in an orchestra) but it's been awhile, so it was mesmerizing at times to sit their and listen to the beautiful music. Even the kids! They didn't complain or ask questions--just listened the whole time!
Very quickly after the concert was finished, the orchestra packed up their instruments and loaded onto the bus. They knew the drill--the sooner they get packed up, the sooner they can get to their hotel and rest. This life of a touring musician is intense...sleep on the bus, eat on the bus, stretch your legs, play the concert and get back on the bus.
We were so happy that we made this whole meeting happen! And so happy and grateful that we could pull off that luncheon at the last minute. Hopefully, next time they will come and perform in Raleigh!
