Hey Blog Readers! :)
I'm so sorry it's literally taken me forever to get back to blogging - the last couple of weeks have been so HECTIC you'll just have to forgive my absence! ;)
Anyhow, If you follow me on facebook/twitter/instagram/youtube or anywhere at all for that matter, ha, you already know that I had been planning to move country for quite some time now... and by quite some time I actually mean AGES!!! SO... I've FINALLY DONE IT!!!
I've had an obsession with 'Hollywood' / 'Los Angeles' ever since I can remember and in 2012 I finally got the chance to visit for a holiday. I spent two weeks here and fell in love with it! so much so that I decided I needed a longer trip... I booked to come back for three months in 2013 to get a feel for what it would be like to live here! YUP it was just as I thought it would be...my love grew even more within that three months! I even balled my eyes out crying while on the plane on the way home to Ireland! so I knew as soon as I landed back I was going to start saving and researching into how to get a visa so that I could live and work in the USA for a couple of years :)
I can count on less than one hand how many times I went out over the next 11 months after my return to Ireland! I stopped spending careless money and I just challenged all of my energy into saving and planning for my move. I talked about it so often and had different dates in mind that I guarantee more than a couple of people questioned whether I was ever going to leave?!! lol! Anyway!.. it wasn't an easy process by any means (in fact it was ridiculously stressful and difficult) but last month: on the 4th of August 2014 I FINALLY DID IT!!! I Packed my bags, visa in hand and headed for a new beginning and adventure in LA!!
What a lot of you didn't know was that my mum traveled with me for the first month! (BEST MUM EVER!x!) She wanted to make sure that I got settled and on my feet - so we set out on the tedious task of car and apartment hunting! both proved terribly difficult! especially when we didn't have a car to get around in the fist place! I mean it's hard to find reliable, trustworthy "car sales" places as it is - without being two females with Irish accents that just scream "we're new here and haven't a clue about cars!" There's also a lot of paper work etc.. and nitty-gritty things that goes into moving abroad - such as getting a state ID, a social security card (so you can work) etc... to say moving is a long process is an understatement!
COUGH! My mum said to add that her shoes are dirty because the trail in Runyon Canyon is a dust/dirt path ;) and not that she always wears dirty trainers ;) LOL!
Anyway when the time came for my mum to leave it broke my heart into a million little pieces! For anyone who doesn't know: me and my mum are SO close - she's literally my best friend and I love hanging out with her! in fact I pick and have picked hanging out with my mum over friends on numerous occasions because I just genuinely enjoy her company and think she's the best person in the whole world! at the end of the day nobody has your best interests like your mum and my mum is simply a fantastic human being!
All of my energy had been so focused for so long onto firstly getting the visa and secondly making the move that I never really had the time to stop and think about how difficult it was going to be when the day came that my mum had to head back to Ireland! The day before she left I started panicking - although we had tried to get everything sorted and me settled before she left to make the process easier of course it didn't really work like that! The morning she was returning to Ireland we were both in a state and I could not stop crying! I cried for 2-3 days straight! I wondered how I was going to survive so far away from my mum, my sister and my pets! My mum and my sister are the most important people in the world to me! Those first few days here were very hard and didn't seem to run smoothly at all!! it was one obstacle after another!
It came to a stage when I just had to smack myself to wake up and think 'This is what I have prayed and wanted for so long! I have one opportunity here so I have to give it my all!'. I dived straight into work and I've worked almost every day since she left! I was even working earlier today: which is a Sunday(as I type this but I'll probably post it tomorrow, Monday)! no rest for the wicked! Once I'm kept busy either working or hanging out with friends I feel a lot better and I am feeling good and positive about my decision to move here now! I joked about homesickness before but it is really a horrible thing to feel (now that I experienced it for a few days!). I know that there will always be ups and downs in life so my aim is to take it one day at a time and go with the flow!
What I've been up to
Since I've been here I've worked on music videos (Marron5, Avicii, Magic!), played the lead girl in a SMOSH episode! (coming soon) worked at Warner Brothers and MTV, auditioned for Warner Brothers/various music videos/acting roles/singing. Tomorrow I'm working on the set of Dancing with the Stars and on Tuesday & Wednesday I've a small part in a new Zac Efron movie 'We are your friends'! I've also been back/forth at my favourite hangout-The Playboy mansion! and attended the Mid Summers Nights Dream Party!(FAV), started yoga in the park, watched American football for the first time, bought a car, found an apartment, showed my mum around LA, went to the beach and I've made lots of new friends along the way!
The opportunities that have come my way so far I wouldn't have had at home so I feel extremely blessed to be here, to be chasing my dreams, to be busy with work opportunities/bookings and most importantly to making a living from doing what I love to do and being a part of the entertainment industry and all it's craziness!
I do really miss my family but I'm going to keep going and see where this journey takes me for now.. one day at a time!! :)
Ireland is 8hours ahead on LA so the time difference is difficult, especially as the majority of my regular blog readers are Irish but I hope this is the beginning of my return to regular blogging! If you have any blog requests message them to me on my public facebook page... just click here to visit!
I'd love to hear them and requests make blogging so much easier for me because it gives me an idea of what the readers of my blog want to see on here :)
I realise it may be too late as summer has come to a close and many are done with their holidays but I wanted to add that I got these 'Air-o-lite' suitcases in Penney's (50quid for a large one!) and they are seriously excellent for travelling and staying under the weight restrictions! I used them to move all of my stuff from Ireland to the US! not only are they SUPER light and manageable but they have great pockets and compartments for storage! a 5year guarantee and they are expandable yet sterdy! If they still have them in Penneys I'd recommend stocking up for your next trip abroad! from only 1.4kg they are the world's lightest suitcases! and they come in a variety of colours and sizes! #MondayMustHave ;)
I'm so sorry it's literally taken me forever to get back to blogging - the last couple of weeks have been so HECTIC you'll just have to forgive my absence! ;)
Anyhow, If you follow me on facebook/twitter/instagram/youtube or anywhere at all for that matter, ha, you already know that I had been planning to move country for quite some time now... and by quite some time I actually mean AGES!!! SO... I've FINALLY DONE IT!!!
I've had an obsession with 'Hollywood' / 'Los Angeles' ever since I can remember and in 2012 I finally got the chance to visit for a holiday. I spent two weeks here and fell in love with it! so much so that I decided I needed a longer trip... I booked to come back for three months in 2013 to get a feel for what it would be like to live here! YUP it was just as I thought it would be...my love grew even more within that three months! I even balled my eyes out crying while on the plane on the way home to Ireland! so I knew as soon as I landed back I was going to start saving and researching into how to get a visa so that I could live and work in the USA for a couple of years :)
I can count on less than one hand how many times I went out over the next 11 months after my return to Ireland! I stopped spending careless money and I just challenged all of my energy into saving and planning for my move. I talked about it so often and had different dates in mind that I guarantee more than a couple of people questioned whether I was ever going to leave?!! lol! Anyway!.. it wasn't an easy process by any means (in fact it was ridiculously stressful and difficult) but last month: on the 4th of August 2014 I FINALLY DID IT!!! I Packed my bags, visa in hand and headed for a new beginning and adventure in LA!!
What a lot of you didn't know was that my mum traveled with me for the first month! (BEST MUM EVER!x!) She wanted to make sure that I got settled and on my feet - so we set out on the tedious task of car and apartment hunting! both proved terribly difficult! especially when we didn't have a car to get around in the fist place! I mean it's hard to find reliable, trustworthy "car sales" places as it is - without being two females with Irish accents that just scream "we're new here and haven't a clue about cars!" There's also a lot of paper work etc.. and nitty-gritty things that goes into moving abroad - such as getting a state ID, a social security card (so you can work) etc... to say moving is a long process is an understatement!
 |
| My Mum :) |
 |
| me and my mum at Santamonica Pier |
Anyway when the time came for my mum to leave it broke my heart into a million little pieces! For anyone who doesn't know: me and my mum are SO close - she's literally my best friend and I love hanging out with her! in fact I pick and have picked hanging out with my mum over friends on numerous occasions because I just genuinely enjoy her company and think she's the best person in the whole world! at the end of the day nobody has your best interests like your mum and my mum is simply a fantastic human being!
All of my energy had been so focused for so long onto firstly getting the visa and secondly making the move that I never really had the time to stop and think about how difficult it was going to be when the day came that my mum had to head back to Ireland! The day before she left I started panicking - although we had tried to get everything sorted and me settled before she left to make the process easier of course it didn't really work like that! The morning she was returning to Ireland we were both in a state and I could not stop crying! I cried for 2-3 days straight! I wondered how I was going to survive so far away from my mum, my sister and my pets! My mum and my sister are the most important people in the world to me! Those first few days here were very hard and didn't seem to run smoothly at all!! it was one obstacle after another!
It came to a stage when I just had to smack myself to wake up and think 'This is what I have prayed and wanted for so long! I have one opportunity here so I have to give it my all!'. I dived straight into work and I've worked almost every day since she left! I was even working earlier today: which is a Sunday(as I type this but I'll probably post it tomorrow, Monday)! no rest for the wicked! Once I'm kept busy either working or hanging out with friends I feel a lot better and I am feeling good and positive about my decision to move here now! I joked about homesickness before but it is really a horrible thing to feel (now that I experienced it for a few days!). I know that there will always be ups and downs in life so my aim is to take it one day at a time and go with the flow!
Feeling homesick really wasn't a very nice experience at all! but now that it seems to have passed I think if things keep going the way they're going then moving to LA could possibly be one of the best things I ever did for myself and growing as a person! Every day I face fears I didn't even know I had and it feels liberating! Maybe this is what growing up feels like?! ;) lol (but I did fairly throw myself in the deep end!ha!) For anyone considering a move abroad or to a new city I think the article 'Why you should move to a new city...' (click here) is an excellent read and eye opener!
What I've been up to
Since I've been here I've worked on music videos (Marron5, Avicii, Magic!), played the lead girl in a SMOSH episode! (coming soon) worked at Warner Brothers and MTV, auditioned for Warner Brothers/various music videos/acting roles/singing. Tomorrow I'm working on the set of Dancing with the Stars and on Tuesday & Wednesday I've a small part in a new Zac Efron movie 'We are your friends'! I've also been back/forth at my favourite hangout-The Playboy mansion! and attended the Mid Summers Nights Dream Party!(FAV), started yoga in the park, watched American football for the first time, bought a car, found an apartment, showed my mum around LA, went to the beach and I've made lots of new friends along the way!
The opportunities that have come my way so far I wouldn't have had at home so I feel extremely blessed to be here, to be chasing my dreams, to be busy with work opportunities/bookings and most importantly to making a living from doing what I love to do and being a part of the entertainment industry and all it's craziness!
I do really miss my family but I'm going to keep going and see where this journey takes me for now.. one day at a time!! :)
Ireland is 8hours ahead on LA so the time difference is difficult, especially as the majority of my regular blog readers are Irish but I hope this is the beginning of my return to regular blogging! If you have any blog requests message them to me on my public facebook page... just click here to visit!
I'd love to hear them and requests make blogging so much easier for me because it gives me an idea of what the readers of my blog want to see on here :)
Also I'm waiting until I move into my permanent place (it's being renovated/things are complicated!lol) before I return to Vlogging for my YouTube! but below is my last video incase you missed it! and again if you have any Vlog (video blog) requests send them my way on facebook!
Also Just before I left for the US I reached 10,000 likes on facebook!!! WOW-Thank you so much to each and every person who dropped by my facebook and pressed like!x! I really appreciate each and every one! Ye're AMAZING :)
Love you guys!
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for being patient with my lack of blogging...
I'M BACK! ;)
Lots of Love,
Shahira Xo
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email info@shahirabarry.com with the details.
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