Hi all!  I’m excited to share today’s post.  Recently I had the chance to support Connecticut film by attending the premiere of the movie Rising Star.

My best friend/roommate from college Jen knows some pretty cool people.  Which makes a whole lot of sense, because she basically rocks really hard.  If there was a BFF showdown, I’d sign her up with full confidence. :)

Her brother Matt has been pretty involved in the CT film scene.  He helped to produce the movie Rising Star.  This film was filmed and set in Hartford.  I remember donating to their Kickstarter page when they were gearing up to begin filming.  I’ve also gotten to know Marty Lang, who wrote, directed, and produced the movie!  Both guys are gentle giants & a whole lot of fun.  I’ve also gotten to chat a little on twitter/facebook with Gary Ploski, who is the lead actor, a producer, and apparently the social media director for the film.

I’ve been hearing bits & pieces about the film for the past few years, so needless to say I was really excited when they announced that they were going to have a Connecticut premiere of the movie at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford!

Of course, I had to find the perfect dress first…

[caption id="attachment_906" align="aligncenter" width="764"] I fell in love with this purple Calvin Klein dress that I found at Marshalls! :)[/caption]

I got my hair done at Blo in West Hartford–I loved my experience there.  $35 for someone to do my hair for me?  Totally worth it for nice events!  Here’s a shot of my BFF Jen & I at the premiere.  I should have snagged a photo of her awesome shoes.

[caption id="attachment_907" align="aligncenter" width="764"] BFF/college roomie love![/caption]

I had never been to the Connecticut Science Center before.  It was a gorgeous building, and I left wanting to come back for some “sciencey” fun sometime!  I especially loved all of the dinosaurs around.  I have a crush on dinosaurs.  True story.  Also this guy:

[caption id="attachment_909" align="aligncenter" width="764"] two of my favorite things in one photos…dinosaurs & dan![/caption]

Before the movie, we got to see previews for other local films.  I never realized how active the Connecticut film scene was.  It was so cool to see some of the different projects people have put together right here in CT!  Afterwards, the cast & crew took questions about various aspects of the film.  It was really neat to hear about the process from their point of view!

[caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="960"] the cast & crew answering questions after the movie![/caption]

The movie was great–it tells the story of an young man who works in the insurance industry (hah! so of course it has to feature Hartford) and found out there are going to be layoffs at his company.  By coincidence, he meets the girl he has been talking to through an online dating site at his friend’s party. After a night of drinking, he wakes to find he lost his keys.  He & the free-spirited Alyza spend the day together trying to get them back, learning a lot about life and what’s important along the way.

[caption id="attachment_911" align="aligncenter" width="764"] dan & jen being excited for the movie![/caption]

It was a heartwarming movie that definitely made me step back and think about my own work load.  Like the character Chris, I was definitely over-committed to my job(s).  I’ve made major changes over the past two years to make sure that I don’t spend my entire life working.  Two years ago, I had a full time job along with five other side jobs.  Yes, you heard me right–FIVE side jobs, and I was taking two graduate classes a week to boot in addition to my full time gig, which has me at work about 60-70 hours a week during the peak time of year.  I have finally whittled it down to my full-time gig and only one side job–and now that I am done with my graduate degree, I have so much more time to pursue the things I love.

On the other hand, I can identify with the character Alyza–I have so many different interests that I struggle to pick just one to focus on.  Some days I can’t decide if I want to cook or sew, so I just do neither.  My heart can be in so many places at once, that I can find it difficult to pick just one thing to focus my energy & creativity on.  Luckily, this blog has helped me embrace all of them, and has forced me to pick certain hobbies to pursue any given week so that I have things to write about! :)

Have you ever seen a locally made film?

Do you struggle with finding a balance between work and play?