Wednesday, March 21, 2018

'When I'm all alone or in a crowd'

In a quiet place or where music's loud

If I'm on the road, or in the other room

That's how you know, I'm thinkin' of you



When the flowers bloom, when the leaves turn brown

when the sun is hot, when the snow falls down, down

when the clouds are gray, and the sky's are blue

that's how you know, I'm thinkin' of you



You're always the first and the last thing on this heart of mine

No matter where I go or what I do, I'm thinkin' of you.



http://youtu.be/INkvQpjfrHY

(dierks bentley, 'thinking of you')






Thursday, March 15, 2018

Storm King for our Birthday Last Year








'Whip, whip

Run me like a racehorse

Pull me like a ripcord

Break me down and build me up

I wanna be the slip, slip

Word upon your lip, lip

Letter that you rip, rip

Break me down and build me up



Don't wanna be the parenthetical, hypothetical

Working on something that I'm proud of, out of the box



Whatever it takes,

'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins,

'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains,

I do what it takes.'



https://youtu.be/gOsM-DYAEhY









I want to be friends with the youtuber who commented this under the video,

'I let my goldfish listen to this, Now he's a shark.' 



Monday, March 05, 2018

California Weekend | Cinequest 2018 & Seeds




Mark and I went to California this weekend! The purpose was to see my sister, and attend the ‘Seeds’ film
premiere at Cinequest Film Festival. Made it into San Francisco Thursday night and had dinner at ‘wonderful
a really delicious Hunan Chinese restaurant in Millbrae. Her boyfriend knew the
menu well- we had a great time. I’m very proud of the life she’s made for
herself there and was happy to celebrate an early birthday with her. 







Friday we walked around the pier and Ferry Building Marketplace. Ate breakfast burritos and hung out before catching the Caltrain to San Jose. It was a smooth, quiet ride. Got off in Sunnyvale and were able to meet Mark's friend who works at Apple, and see the campus! It's so crazy and beautiful- got lunch together and took a little tour. From there, we Uber'd (my referral code is andreac2181ue and if you use Ibotta- QSABWBM for $1 off all Uber rides) to the Fairmont Hotel, and started festiva-ting.




Seeing everyone from the film who was able to come, was so great. I think the premiere went well - it was Saturday at the California Theatre. Really grateful to Owen and Younny Long as well as the whole cast and crew, for making the experience possible. Here is a review by Fanboy Planet, http://fanboyplanet.com/cinequest-2018-seeds/ and an article by Screen Anarchy http://screenanarchy.com/2018/03/seeds-exclusive-clip-thriller.html









Thank you to Wearaway, Salon Three Sixty One and Kevin Johnn for helping me feel confident and beautiful. (I meant to try out Stylebee but the timing didn't work out- if you want to- my code is achen25 for $20 off!)








And most of all to Mark for being the string to my kite, the tree to my vine, my rock, everything- all the things. I love exploring together. 










Tuesday, February 27, 2018

‘But First, Coffee’ ☕️

Maybe I should've buttoned up my cardigan to be more professional today.

Buut... people need to know.





"If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think?



Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic."



Tyler Durden ('Fight Club')


Monday, February 19, 2018

Presidents Day Brunch and 'Seeds' Film Teaser


Spent Presidents Day with literally some of the nicest women I've met since moving to Baltimore. It's one of the most therapeutic things to just talk for a long time, with a good meal and cup of coffee. Here's to more Monday's off.  


The outside of Order & Chaos has 'a creative cup of coffee' written out on the wall, and I definitely feel revitalized and inspired after a day like this. Little Havana is an eclectic, cool space. Pool table and generous booths, and twinkle-lit outdoor area with a view of the water. There was a mural with different locations in Cuba mapped out, and the title, 'Land of Eternal Spring' along the top.





'Seeds' Film teaser came out today as well:







Do you have Behance? let's be friends: https://www.behance.net/andreachen

















Saturday, February 17, 2018

Lip Balm Making Process

Just listed a few of these on the site, here - and wanted to share the process.





The codex club lip balms, were made through Herban Lifestyle and Uncommon Goods. 💋 it was so nice knowing exactly what was in this without unnecessary chemicals. Just cocoa buttersunflower oilsunflower oil and spearmint essential oil (and vitamin e from the medicine cabinet). And it feels amazing on your lips. Hope you enjoy!











Saw a Lion Dance at the Walters Art Museum for the holiday. Really enjoyed it, and all the performances, as well as walking around the various exhibits. There were some really incredible sculptures of Hercules and a series on the 4 Continents. Ate at Mount Vernon Marketplace down the street, and biked around along the Inner Harbor with the local city bikes.


















Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Happy Valentines (Galentines, or Singles Awareness) Day



"Unless it's mad, passionate, extraordinary love,  it's a waste of your time.




There are too many mediocre things in life; Love shouldn't be one of them."




-Dream for an Insomniac



Listening to Michelle Obama's Spotify 'Forever Mine' playlist for Barack <3










"Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."


-Mark 10:9





My favorite gift was this set by Waxing Kara, a local company here in Maryland.


Everything smelled amazing and my skin never felt softer.










Seared steaks w olive oil in the skillet then added butter and garlic. Cooked spinach in sauce and drizzled over baked potatoes (450 degrees for 45 min)


Froze strawberries 🍓. Melted chocolate chips in the microwave and dipped them.

















One of my favorite dessert places Milk from back in New York was able to deliver cookies in time as well. We go hard for the holidays. I think St. Valentine would be proud.














Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Road Trip Planning


Been enjoying planning the most amazing road trip possible for us this summer. 


We want to go all along the Northeast coast from Baltimore to New Orleans, with a bunch of stops in between (Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Panama City Beach, and more)


Here's a little preview of the route:










I'm using this app called Roadtrippers to scout out everywhere we want to go- it links to Google Maps or the Apple Maps app, and tells you how many miles between each stop. Before this I had an interactive pdf and sketches in my notebook- I can't tell you how excited I was to use this, but also sad for all the other work I'd done previously. (should've known there was an app for that)





'When was the last time, you did something for the first time?' 


-'First Time' by Darius Rucker











Monday, February 12, 2018

This Time Two Years Ago (I Did an Interview)

Around this time two years ago, I did this fun photo shoot and interview with Eliza (Aesthetic Distance) at Hotel Monaco. I'd just moved to Baltimore and thought this lady was so smart and knew everything about the city. Now that Seeds is coming out - I thought I'd re-share some excerpts, below.






You have a really impressive filmography. Can you tell me about how you got into acting?


I was a quieter child, but one thing I really liked to do was sing opera, and that's how I fell into acting. It was the weirdest thing to get hooked into - but maybe because it was so different from me, I thought of it as the ultimate challenge. My father was also really into it and classical music in general, so he would drive me to lessons and it was something we bonded over. The idea of filling up an auditorium with just your voice thrilled me; larger than life. To do opera I also had to take piano (to sight read music) and theater (to feel comfortable on stage). I got an agent around that time in Houston, and did some voiceover work. I became a bit discouraged when I learned your voice doesn't fully mature until your 40's. I don't think it was until I went to New York for college that I got serious about acting. I met my agent there at a birthday party an actor friend brought me to, and I started doing bigger projects. It's still something that's a challenge and an escape for me, and very separate from my real life.





Boyhood was one of the best movies of 2014. What was it like working with Richard Linklater? 


...Watching it, as someone who grew up in Texas during that time, and getting to work with Richard Linklater was awesome. He was very empathetic, and easy to get along with. We had kind of a living script, where if it didn't feel right, you could change what you were saying, and be as truthful to the character as you wanted. I loved that he'd also lived in New York for a bit, and chosen to come to Texas and live on a farm and be around his family and chickens. I respected that he preferred that kind of life rather than be surrounded by industry people and those in the business.





Much has been said about institutional racism and Hollywood casting. How has it affected you as an Asian American actress? 


I get on a rant when it comes to this subject. One of my favorite books is The Hypersexuality of Race: Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene. I heard the author give a talk at NYU back in the day, and found her fascinating. She brought up the famous line from Full Metal Jacket, 'me so horny, me love you long-time', and how it was re-purposed in Lucy Liu's role in Payback, one of Lucy's first roles ever. In it, she says the same line but in a dominatrix outfit, kicking butt... If we can take what we've inherited, and spin it - take power from it and inform the roles and projects we get with our past experiences and make our roles our own- I think things could change faster.





You mentioned that Cruel Intentions is among your favorite movies and in this photo shoot, you're playing the part of Katherine. Do you relate to her character at all? How about her style?


...It seemed like Sarah Michelle Gellar had so much fun playing her, and I always admired how confident, salacious and dark she was. To blend into the last question, I think my favorite roles are those that have had experiences, where the character owns it completely and it empowers them. To a certain extent, I guess I relate to that- without those destructive tendencies. Her style is pretty emblematic of that- love the fitted formal wear and rosaries. It's a lie to say religion doesn't inform who we are, or at least, what we're hiding.





How would you describe your everyday style?


I'm super comfortable with my style. My favorite clothes are my boyfriend's and making them mine... like wearing his huge loud rugby shirt with dark jeans, high heeled boots and a fitted blazer, hair in a high bun. 





Any new projects you're working on right now?


The next thing I have coming out I think is Seeds, a sci-fi film described as Lolita meets The Shining, starring myself and Trevor Long. Owen Long is the director, we shot it in Rhode Island in this really beautiful area. I think it's the perfect blend of romantic and creepy. It was the first script that I started reading late one night and finished in one sitting. I called my agent basically immediately after - it was that good - saying I was interested. The Director of Photography Eu Nah Lee and I worked together when I was back in college, and she has an amazing eye. 

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