Penny Does Paris

“It is always better to be slightly underdressed.” – Coco Chanel

The fat lady has sung, pigs are flying, hell has frozen over, and my friend Penny has attended fashion week in Paris.  You may wonder why I would group Penny’s little jaunt to Le Gay Paris with other events that are most unlikely to occur, but bear with me. When Penny, who has been known to leave the house wearing two different shoes on more than one occasion, told me she was going to attend Paris Fashion Week with a friend of hers, I wracked my brain trying to remember if I read somewhere that  Old Navy and Walmart  were doing runway shows there. I mean why else would Penny say yes to going? However, once my maturity kicked in, I actually became inspired by Penny’s decision to take on this challenge. Here was a woman who had not one iota of interest in haute couture and was doing something that was completely out of her comfort zone. Oh, and when I say "comfort zone" I mean she wasn’t even going to pack her Uggs for the trip.  For the whole week that Penny was away many people were on the edge of their seats waiting for her to post pictures from the shows. However, for me, all I wanted was to see pictures of Penny with make-up on and Penny in fancy clothes. I wanted to see her holding a purse that cost more than ten dollars from Winners. When Penny arrived home with all of her stories and her excitement, I asked if I could interview her for my blog because really, the people NEEDED to know. All kidding aside, there are so many opportunities in life to step out of the box that we live in and expand our horizons. I think anyone who dares to do something different than they are used to is brave, no matter what it is. I am so impressed and inspired by Penny for doing just that. Please read below as she shares her experiences with me.

 1. The people need to know, how did the Old Navy fashionista score seats at Paris Fashion Week? I don't want to leave out The Gap or Walmart, let's not only mention Old Navy. My very good friend is a shopper, she was invited by 2 of the big fancy shmancy design houses to attend fashion week with a guest. I was that guest. 

2. Tell me how you prepared for this trip.  Did you have to go out and buy a new wardrobe? Do Crocs even come in high heels? What did you bring to wear? Of my own? I brought my own bras and underwear, everything else I wore I "acquired" from my friend's closet. I'm anxious to return it as I don't have the best security system at my house   

3.I’m pretty sure you don’t even own lipstick. Did you bring makeup for this trip? I do! I have one lipstick! I went to pack it but I couldn't find it. I also couldn't buy a new one as I don't know the name of it. Finally I asked my 7 year old daughter and she had it.

4.Where did you stay? We stayed at the Plaza Athenee. It was fantastique. 

 5. Which stars did you see there? We saw Gwynneth, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristen Stewart, Marc  Jacobs, Katy Perry, and Quinn Fabray

6.You have now been compared to Andi from “The Devil Wears Prada,” do you feel transformed?  Who the  FUCK is Andi?

7.What was the first thing you put on when you got home? Have you learned to appreciate haute couture? I really enjoyed the shows, more than I thought I would. They were incredible actually, theatrical masterpieces! I have, however, come to appreciate my crocs even more than I used to. 

8.Do you have any fashion tips for spring? I hear colored jeans are in. I even saw them at the gap. I tried on purple then said "nah.....grey"

9. What is the most valuable thing you took away from this whole experience? Just because a person wears fancy expensive clothes, doesn't make them an asshole. People choose to spend their money differently, some like to shop, some like to travel. I would like to move to Vegas in  my jeans and crocs and play poker.but before you do that, you need serious boobs..... And boobs cost money. Oh, and heels are stupid.    

And.....I'm Back!

In this first half of 2011 I have become a total slacker when it comes to writing. I did not mean for this to happen, but I had been so busy working on set that I let it slip. So here I am...."back and better than ever!" (to quote The Golden Girls.) I have just finished on-set teaching on an amazing new television show that will be airing this fall. It's called "Life With Boys" and it is by the creators of this little, teeny, tiny Disney show called "Hannah Montana." Heard of it?  This one will be just as good!!
What a fun show "Life With Boys" was to work on. The group of kids I taught were so special and I looked forward to seeing them every day. It didn't even feel like a job to me because really, how could working be this much fun and with so much laughter? Anyways, these kids are ones to watch....and my track record proves that I'm usually the last to influence them before they burst into stardom. In other words UH OH! (joking)
So now here I am with about a month and a half off before I return to another show. During my free time I plan on finishing my 3rd novel, "StarSitter Goes to Japan" which is the final book in the StarSitter series, as well as continuing to work on a few other projects that I had started in late 2010, including my very first screenplay. I've also been asked to be a sponsor and to speak at a Miss Teen Canada event this Sunday evening, which I'm very excited about.
I have been super bad with keeping up with my reading goal. According to GoodReads.com  I am now 18 books behind my goal of 125 books for 2011. Yikes, I really need to step on it. Book recommendations are always welcome and so are cottage invitations!
I hope everyone is having a great summer so far and I promise not to go MIA like this again, or at least until the next show starts.
Love and Silver Linings
Andrea Dana

The Lord is My (German) Shepherd

I'm ashamed to admit that I made a poor judgement on a breed of dogs. Me, who lives by the tagline "love me, love my dog," got into a squabble with my young neighbor/friend, Rose, when she excitedly told me her family was getting a puppy. I shared in her joy right up until she told me that the breed her parents had decided upon was a German Shepherd.
"No, no, you can't get that one," I told her, feeling very queasy as I had an instant memory of that horrible day in October of '09.
"Why not?" she asked.
"We finally got rid of that jerk from the apartment at the top of the street with his killer Shepherd and now you're going to bring a new one on the street?" It's true, never had I felt such victory when a year after my dogs Lucy and Molly were almost mauled to death by that dog, the owner was evicted from his building. It had been a HUGE relief, as everyone in that building and on our street rejoiced that we no longer would be afraid to walk on the street.
I then received a mouthful from Rose, telling me that I have no right to judge her dog before even meeting him. Also that it had been the owner's fault that the dog attacked us and not the dog, who had been left in the park alone that  night to find his way back home....and hey why don't I at least meet her dog before I start passing judgment on him. I knew she was right. I'm the one always preaching that "there are no bad dogs only bad owners..." etc. etc. I knew she was absolutely right. Since that night a year and a half ago, every time I saw a German Shepherd I cringed and cursed it to myself. "The Germans will always hate us, even their dogs," I had found myself saying many a time. I realized right then and there that the best way for me to get over my fear of this breed was to meet Rose's new puppy, Ace. Puppies are my favorite thing in the world, and if I didn't like him maybe I should examine my issues a little further. Rose and I made amends easily, since a 30 something year old and a teenager can not stay in a fight for too long. Rose agreed that it was the perfect plan for me to meet Ace. (That's her and Ace in the picture on the right.)
"I promise you will love him when you meet him," she said. She was right! Not only have I fallen in love with this puppy, but Molly and Lucy play with him whenever we see him. Clearly they are over their fear too. He's the sweetest, most passive dog, who loves to pounce and play. I feel like it's been the perfect closure to such a horrid moment in my life and as usual I have a kid to thank for that. I've also learned a lesson that  negative moments in your life do not need to define you....and that a new puppy, or if you want to go deeper, new life can really put things into perspective. So I dedicate this story to Rose Diker, who has helped me in more ways than she probably realizes and for that I will always be grateful.

100 Books for 2010.....CHECK!

Two weeks ago I completed my goal of reading 100 books for 2010.  I happened to finish my last book at work "Breakfast at Tiffanys," by Truman Capote. I was tutoring on set for a new series for  The Family Channel called "What's Up Warthogs," and my two students, Ana Golja and Connor Price had been cheering me on for the seven weeks that I was with them as I quickly went from book 90 to 100.
I truly believe that reading has played a large role in getting me through the turbulence of 2010. I have learned so much through the books I have read and definitely feel stronger and wiser now.  Trust me, it's true that books make you smarter. In June I bought a journal and as I was reading my books, anytime a sentence or paragraph jumped out at me and made me have an "ah ha" moment, I recorded it. It's been very therapeutic and something I will continue to do as I read on. Below is a list of some of my favorite quotes and the books in which they are from:

1. "Time is the school in which we learn"- The Year of Magical Thinking
2. "To finishing big."- Still Alice
3. "Just as in life, the destination was less important than the journey"- Marley and Me
4. "There are years that ask questions and years that answer" Without Reservations
5. "Let tomorrow come tomorrow."- Without Reservations
6. "Time flies,  remember you must live."- Without Reservations
7. "I thought to myself that there were really so many simple ways we could make ourselves look less stupid."- A Complicated Kindness
8. "A half-read book is a half-finished love affair."- Cloud Atlas
9. "You always have the right to be an asshole- you just shouldn't use that right very often"- Sh** My Dad Says
10. "This is why we're here, to fight through the pain and, when possible, to relieve the pain of others."-Open
11. "No matter where you are in life, there is always more journey ahead."- Open
12. "I may not be old, but I'm too old to have this much nothing." -This is Where I leave You
13.  "You choose your level of achievement by choosing your level of expectations."- Age is Just a Number
14. "In my loneliness it comforts me to think that the world's doors, however closed, are never truly locked to me."- The History of Love
15. "Happiness sucks as a spectator sport."- That Old Cape Magic
16. "Only very stupid people are happy."- That Old Cape Magic
17. "A second on the lips, a century on the hips."- Thin is the New Happy
18. "Orthodox, conservative and reform. Or as my father used to say. Crazy, hazy, and lazy."-Camp Nurse.
19. "You only see what you know."-Camp Nurse
20. "If we don't change the direction, we will end up where we are going." 19 Minutes
21. "Maybe bad things happen because it's the only way we can remember what the good is supposed to look like."- 19 Minutes
22. "Something still exists as long as there is someone around to remember it." 19 Minutes
23. "That which you manifest is before you."-The Art of Racing in the Rain
24. "The crazy person talks. The wise person listens."-Zeitoun
25. "You make life out of what you have, not out of what you're missing."- Forgotten Garden
26. "There has to be a pony in this barn full of crap."-Prairie Tale: A Memoir
27. "To leave the world a little better than you found it, that's the best a man can ever do."-Timbukto
28. "It took death to make one feel momentarily alive, truly present, minute to minute."- Birds in Fall
29. "No one ever built a statue of a critic."- One Day
30. "I don't think people really understand the value of happiness until they know what it's like to be in that very, very dark place." -BedWetter


If you are interested in tracking your books, I highly recommend you sign up at www.goodreads.com
This has been so instrumental in helping me organize my books. If you do join please "friend" me on there. You can find me through my email address: blueeyes732@hotmail.com  You will also be able to see my complete book list.
Thanks for all your support and great book recommendations for 2010. Definitely looking forward to doing this again for 2011 and I hope you will also challenge yourself. As I've explained to people, my job and the fact that I have no kids of my own, allow me a lot of time to read, so if 100 books seems overwhelming to you, then try 20 or 50, or whatever is realistic for you to challenge yourselves.  I am still figuring out how to do this as a charity and welcome all suggestions. I'm thinking MS Read-A-thon style, but perhaps with a choose your own chairty factor. I'll get back to you on that one in the new year.  Until then....KEEP ON READING!

Love and Silver Linings

Andrea Dana

One Small Voice Can Teach the World a Song

The greatest thing about working in the film industry is the fabulous and interesting people I get to know. Although meeting Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts have been two of the highlights of my career, I'm actually referring to the crew I get to work with and not the celebs. For instance, there's Tim, the driver, who can cure any ailment with his selection of fresh juice recipes, or Tamsin (Happy Birthday!), my favorite craft services girl who can whip up the best snacks in no time. Is there a better place to learn hair and make-up tricks than from the gals and guys working hard inside that warm, and coffee stocked, hair and makeup trailer? I could go on and on about the many great people I learn from everyday, but recently I am inspired by my friend and colleague, Julie O'Neill, who has been working hard at raising awareness for one of my favorite causes: animals.  I met Julie while working on various feature films over the years, such as: Mean Girls, Get Rich or Die Tryin'...etc. Months ago after a much needed break from looking at peoples' baby photos and Florida vacation albums on Facebook, I clicked onto Julie's profile and was taken back by the beautiful photos she had posted of the work she has been doing at an animal shelter in India called Animal Aid. My curiosity got the best of me and I contacted Julie to find out about her passion. I am so grateful that she agreed to do an interview with me for my blog because as a true animal lover and recent vegetarian, I'm a firm believer that a little enlightenment can go a long way.

Julie O'Neill has been around dogs her whole life and has always felt comfortable around animals. "My mother was a dog breeder and we usually had a litter or two on the go at all times. I spent more time playing with puppies than I did with other children. As I got older all of my school projects were about animals and those that devoted their lives to saving them." Before even setting foot in India, Julie had been a vegetarian for many years, after the realization in her 20s that she was basically eating meat because everyone else was, "I decided to follow my heart instead of the crowd." Now a decade later after spending time with the cows in India, and coming to the conclusion that they often suffer more than animals that are killed for their flesh, Julie has become a vegan.
Julie's biggest inspiration growing up was Dian Fossey, an American zoologist who undertook an extensive study of gorilla groups in the mountain forests of Rwanda for 18 years before being murdered in 1985.

Julie jumped at the chance to volunteer at Animal Aid four years ago while traveling in India, after discovering their website online. Just as her two week stint was coming to an end, Julie fell and broke her foot while taking photos of a passing parade. Realizing she would not be able to continue her travels through the country until her foot healed, Julie was invited to stay at the home of the founders of Animal Aid, Jim and Erika. "I witnessed first hand the trials and tribulations that come along with devoting your life to saving animals in a country where it is not anyone else's first concern. After a month of living with these wonderful people and spending everyday surrounded by so many sweet angels, I was hooked." When Julie's cast finally came off, she decided to stay put at the animal hospital in the tiny village and before she knew it a year had gone by before she returned home to Toronto. Now Julie goes back and forth from Canada to India approximately every six months. As I have learned from some rough times that I have gone through with my own dogs, animals cherish their lives just as much as humans do, if not more. Julie too has been privy to witnessing many animal miracles. "I have learned in India that animals can recover from incredible things if given the chance. The biggest miracle that I have witnessed is the miracle of love. Most of the animals that come into Animal Aid have never experienced love from a human before. I can not count the number of animals that looked as though they would not survive and after receiving some love from the staff and volunteers at Animal Aid, their conditions completely turn around." Julie also adds that there have been many lost human souls that have staggered into Animal Aid and the reverse can happen. "The same can be said for humans. Animal Aid has received many humans with wounded souls that the love of an animal was able to treat." In the four years Julie has spent going back and forth to Animal Aid, there have been huge changes. One of her biggest goals was to get the Indian staff to be more comfortable with the animals. "Even inside the animal hospital the local staff were frightened to touch or to get too close to even the cutest and weakest puppies. I decided to do all that I could to change this. I promised myself I would stay until I was comfortable leaving the animals in their care. Well that goal was accomplished long ago, but I am just too in love with the animals, the people, and the place to leave for good." Julie sites the most important aspect of Animal Aid's work to be education others. It is true that the most effective way to bring about change is to make other people aware of what is going on and how to help out. "The plight of animal suffering needs to be brought to people's attention before things will change. Although Animal Aid is doing amazing work rescuing hundreds of animals each month, the real goal is not have to rescue any."

Unfortunately, the cost to run a division of Animal Aid out of Toronto, which Julie hopes to do one day, is extremely expensive. First hand, I know from the negative experience I had with Toronto Animal Services after my dogs and I were attacked by a German Shepherd, that they too are extremely understaffed and in need of more funding. It can be very daunting to think about how much more work needs to be done to keep animals safe even in a city like Toronto. However, someone like Julie, who doesn't sit around thinking about what she can do to help, or talking the talk, but actually is paving the way to make change happen is a true inspiration. "Volunteering for Animal Aid has changed my life. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to help animals. I just didn't know how to go about it. Or maybe I just wasn't ready to give up too much of 'my life'. Now that I am involved in helping animals, 'my life' is so much more full and meaningful." 
It is the perfect time of the year to stop and think about others, whether they have two legs or four. I feel so privileged to know someone that is really taking matters into her own hands to help create a better place. "I am not sure what kind of impact my actions have on changing people. I know that animals suffer needlessly everyday because of the choices people make. If spreading awareness about these issues can ease the suffering of animals then I sure am going to try."

If you are interested in learning more and donating to Animal Aid this holiday season, please go to: www.animalaidunlimited.com
It is a very worthy cause. Also if you have further questions for Julie about Animal Aid or are interested in volunteering there, please contact her at: julieoneillphoto@hotmail.com.  Remember as Elmo and all of our other furry animal friends from Sesame Street sang "Just one small voice can teach the world a song."
HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON EVERYONE!!

Love and Silver Linings
Andrea Dana

Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump Away!

I am getting seriously close to reaching my goal of reading 100 books for 2010. I've now completed book #90 and with only a little over a month to go before this year's end, I am quite confident I can do it.
A lot of people have mentioned to me that they want to join me in 2011 in making it their goal to read 100 books as well and it makes me really  happy that there are still people that are able to see the joy that reading can bring. Video games and Reality Tv, you will not defeat us!! For those of you that haven't read one book this year, why not make it a goal to read one before the new year? I swear you will feel great after....and if you don't well it's one step towards better spelling on your friends' Facebook walls.  I am planning on making this goal into a charity event for 2011. Similar to the MS read-a-thon, but for both kids and adults. I will also have some celeb support involved in it, so I'm really excited.  Just working out the details, so check back early in the New Year for this information.

So here is another updated top 10 list. If there are stars beside it, that means "I liked it... I liked it a lot" (say it in the voice of Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber.)

1. Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers ****
2. Timbuktu: A Novel, by Paul Auster****
3. Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn't Stop Praying, by Abby Sher****
4. Thin is the New Happy, by Valerie Frankel
5. The Book of Awesome, by Neil Pasricha****
6. The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein****
7. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak****
8. The Heights, by Peter Hedges

9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (an oldie but a goodie)
10. Birds in Fall: A Novel, by Brad Kessler****

Have a great week everyone and Happy Reading!

Thank God for YOU!!

By "YOU" I mean all those that came out on Thursday night to help make my book launch a very successful event. It was such a blast and I was not expecting so many people. When one of the employees came back to tell me not to come out yet because they had to put more chairs out, I was shocked.
It felt so great to have so much support from all walks of my life and amazing to see people that I hadn't seen in probably over ten years. (Thanks Facebook for that one). It was such a surreal and magical experience and I look forward to my launch in LA and New York in the new year.
If you couldn't make it out and still wish to purchase my book(s), you can get it at Indigo Manulife Centre or order online at Indigo or Amazon, or Barnes and Noble etc. etc.
Special thanks to Rob from the Chanel counter at Holt Renfrew Bloor Street for doing my makeup. I've been with him for years and he ROCKS!! Also to my close friend Megan Vincent for taking professional pictures on Thursday night. She is also the photographer of my author picture on the back....and of course to the pretty blonde girl that was standing at the back with the baby stroller, Jordana Lieberman-Hay, who has done my cover for both books now and we are already discussing the third. I have gotten so many compliments on it and she really did a fantastic job.

Of course last but not least, again to all of you that came out (some even from out of town).......THANK GOD FOR YOU!!!

Love and Silver Linings
Andrea Dana