t-minus 3 days.

I'm trying to come up with an adjective that I could use to describe this week's events. "Intense" seems too serious. "Fun" seems too lighthearted. "Challenging" seems imprecise. But, don't worry, I'd rather not pore over thesaurus.com all night. ;)

There are a lot of things I like to do for fun. These include, but are not limited to: eating Popsicles, playing on the Internet, and watching chick flicks. But as far as my day job goes, I'm a producer. This may mean very little to your average Joe, so as far as my career is concerned, I tend to keep details at a minimum. The lines blur in some areas, but are rigid in others. One day I could be invoicing, one day I could be writing, and another day I could be crawling around underneath a symphony stage trying to find a power outlet.

Right now I'm three days deep into a shoot that's proving to be a unique challenge. Mostly exterior shots. Children & animals as extras - this industry's most dreaded bane. It's a lovely high 90's. Nothing feels quite like "Insta-tan" than a shiny board reflecting an angry high-noon sun in your eyes and pushing a 20-degrees hotter wave of heat in your face.

We've been shooting in a town about half an hour away for a client (an agency) that is based in Hawaii. The creative work is awesome: the concept is simple, funny, and aloof. It has an air of "The Office" humor mixed with childlike curiosity. The concept: three different "Explorers" have just discovered this on-location city and find themselves popping up in interesting places and interacting with their environments in unusual ways. Sorry for the lack of detail - I'm bound to this description until the spots air in September.

We've had high points and low points. The low points were few: we had a screaming 5-year-old who was afraid of one of our actors' costumes, and in the middle of one take, we had a principal actor's suit tear a nice long 9-inch rip in the arm and back. The high points are great, and hopefully still ongoing. The diversity of our locations has been pretty fun. We shut down a busy intersection for a sweet dolly shot with tons of extras - that's a pretty cool feeling. We shot in a Hibachi joint, a creek, a bike trail, a performance hall, a lake...Another high point - Our client's client (the city, essentially) is one of the best group of people I've worked with in my short career. Cheery, smiley faces and accommodating attitudes are my favorite. =)

But the lowest point has to be the heat. It's bad enough that it's in the high 90's...What's even worse is that the nice brown tone of my skin loves to soak up the sun just that much more. Oh, and it never helps having black hair, either. I'll be lucky if I don't turn the same shade as my hair by the end of the week.

Speaking of which...

Ah, yes, the title of this post. T-minus 3 days and counting to my awesome, much-deserved vacation to Gulf Shores with some girlfriends. My body has been itchy to relax next to an ocean shore for the past month, and this Saturday afternoon will bring me sweet, sweet relief. Pictures will be taken, videos will be shot, and much fun will be had.

If only I can find time between now and then to get ready for it!