I've compared NYC to an abusive husband before and I stand by that analogy. I love it, and I'm pretty sure it loves me, too. But every once in awhile it beats the s**t out of me. But I always come back for more. Lately has been no exception. As a freelancer, sometimes I go weeks without any work. It can be scary sometimes, downright terrifying, and usually I get to a point where I'm convinced that I'll never work again. And then, usually overnight, I have so much work that I can't even keep my head above water.
Now, the beginning the year is usually slow in my industry. Most anybody involved in fashion is pre-occupied with preparing for Fashion Week, and everyone else is taking their pretty little time recovering from the holidays. So I didn't panic too much when I went almost the entire month of January without any work. The SILVER LINING this year was that the 'month off' gave me plenty of time and space to really focus on my diet new lifestyle. And I've been doing really well. I averaged about 3-4 visits to the gym each week, I was diligent about doing my floor exercises and stretches at home nightly, planning my meals and preparing them ahead of time, grocery shopping and keeping the apartment stocked with good food, and all of the other wonderful habits that have kept me on the loosing path (in this case, that's the path to be on) for the last month.
BUT, when it rains it pours. And it's starting to rain. I've worked the last three days and I'm already starting to book out next week. To explain, I work in rental studios usually, so it's not as if I have an office. The catered food on set is always super tasty, but not in the least bit Weight-Watcher-friendly. I usually have to leave my apartment between 6:30-7am and I'm often not home before 10pm.
I try to prepare for these days, but sometimes I'm not even booked for a day until the night before (in rare circumstances, even the morning OF THE SHOOT.) Plus, my tiny Brooklyn apartment has an equally tiny refrigerator and freezer, so I can only prepare ahead for a few meals. Usually I just bring a small bag with me packed with emergency snacks, so that if there's nothing I can do with the catering, I can snack throughout the day. Also, making sure that I never get TOO hungry keeps me from hitting the items on that catering cart that I shouldn't be going anywhere near, like the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting that always seem to pop up. For breakfast I can usually grab some fruit and maybe a small portion of eggs and for lunch there's almost always some kind of chicken. But you never know. I've been on shoots where the only option for lunch was sushi (I'm allergic to seafood) or shoots like TODAY, where there's no catering at all and everyone just orders from the diner down the street. The point is, I never know what I'm getting into.
Plus, there's the 'cool' factor. This is New York City, after all. I have to be careful about 'packing a lunch' because then I look like a geek. I wish that wasn't true, but it is, and it's a real concern - as soon as I stop being 'cool' then I'll be easily replaced by some skinny little hipster kid.
So, with work finally starting to pick up, I have a whole new set of problems to overcome. I guess I'm lucky that my first month was relatively problem-free, and with the success I've had so far I feel like I have enough momentum to get past this stuff.
I think that tonight I'm going to hit up Energy Kitchen on the way home, after three days of this I'm pretty sure I won't have enough energy to cook!
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