You Can't Do That

This is how I roll!

So if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time one thing you should know is those are words best not said to me, because telling me that "I can't do something" is just fuel for my Greek Girl fire.  Seriously though, don't you just love how when you set out to do something big or hard there is usually someone around to say something to that effect?

Sometimes these people think they mean well, but really if you ask me it is more because they gave up on something they were not able to accomplish at one point or another in their life and so they are now the new cheerleaders for "playing it safe".  What they often times turn into are bullies.  Hello... can anyone say annoying?

With me it is the fact that I have been going after my dream and goal (music and acting) for a long time.  Did I mention it has been a long, long, long, time ;) ?  Some people choose to give up on things and start to say things like: "it's just not meant to be" or "it must not be meant for me, if it were going to happen it would have happened by now", and yada, yada, yada.  That might be all good and well for those people, and that is fine for them.  I'm wired a little different, I'm Greek which is also another word for stubborn.  See when I set out to do something no matter how long or how hard it is I stick with it until it is done.  It applies to everything I do from my workouts to my career pursuit.

Personally I think that is one of the problems we have in society right now, too many people think if something is too hard it's not worth doing or pursuing.  People are so used to having instant gratification, getting things "Now" that they forget the value in hard work.  They don't remember that when you work hard to earn something you appreciate  and savor it.  You do not squander it or opportunities.

Back to the story... so last week I had two auditions for National Commercials two days in a row.  Being that summer is usually slow, this was a good thing and I wanted to share it with my facebook peeps.  Well two girls I went to high school with (whom apparently have not left) girls I was not even friends with more acquaintances decided it would be a good idea to mock the fact that I asked my friends to pray about it.

So I did what any good Greek Girl using her coconut would do... I banned and blocked them from my page.  Really who has time for nonsense?  Life is too short and too busy to waste energy on people who are ugly inside.  Apparently the fact that I am still going after my dream is funny to them.  One of them even went as far as to send an email to my official website a few years back saying very sarcastically that she didn't remember my having blonde hair back in high school, then giving the year.  Like she was telling on me or something... lol

Last time I checked coloring your hair was not against any law, besides the fact that anyone who knows anything about me knows that I pick on myself all the time for all sorts of things and have never presented myself as a natural blonde.  (Hello - see blog about it)  She also mentioned a National Commercial I was in where I was playing the daughter and she insinuated the woman playing the mom was around my same age, again like she was telling some big secret.  Here’s a quick Greek Girl lesson in English:  Acting = pretend. ’nuff said.  You can be young and play old, or old and play young, that is the beauty of acting.  I didn't cast the commercial, if I look right for a part whatever that part is and the casting director thinks I'm right for it, who is some misery factory to say otherwise? Also a topic I have blogged about (see Birthday blog)

I just find it silly that people waste so much energy on telling others what they "can't" do.  Say la vie, if someone wants to give up on something that might be the right choice for them.  For me it's finish or die, in the words of one of my heroes Sir Winston Churchill "Never, Never, Never Give Up."  That's just how I roll and I don't see what the big whoop is if I choose to persevere despite what it might look like in the natural.  I guess what irked me most was the fact that they were mocking my faith.

Why did I take the time to tell you this?  Because something else I am very passionate about besides my career endeavors is helping people to see their potential.  Far too many people don't realize how strong they are.  So when the bullies in life show up telling them "You Can't Do that" they give in or it starts to sink in.  I'm here to say to you whatever you're trying to accomplish whether it is to start a business, get a degree, get in shape, be an astronaut for crying out loud whatever it is, ignore the bullies.  You CAN do it if you stick with it and do not give up.

"When push comes to shove no matter what it is, when the going get tough you have two choices: Give in or Dig in." ~ Ava Aston

Have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xo
www.avaaston.com

Kohl's Cash

Addicting...

WARNING: You are now entering what I like to call the "Kohl's Cash Crack Time Warp" zone.  What in the heck in the world are you talking about Greek Girl?  Well if you were using your noggin and shopped at Kohl's like I do you would know exactly what I am talking about!

Once upon a time way way back in the early 2000's my mom told me about a store she had discovered.  Being the good Greek Girl that I am, I decided heed her advice and check it out.  I did, it was nice enough and they had a great Jr.'s department with one of my favorite lines of jeans "Levi's" also a decent selection of sneakers.  So over the years I have been shopping there as needed to get whatever I needed at the time at a good value, no big deal yet.

Fast forward to 2010.  Now I'm not sure how long they had been doing this before I found out about it, but let me tell you once I did I felt like I had hit the Jackpot Lotto for thrifty Greek Girls!  So they have this thing they do all the time where for every $50.00 you spend, they will give you either $10.00 or even sometimes $15.00 in "Kohl's Cash".  It's great because if you're going to get something you needed anyhow, it allows you to get a lot more bang for your buck!  Especially good for Holidays, Birthday's etc.

Most of the time they also have some sort of percent off going on as well.  Either a scratch to get 10, 20, and even up to 30% Off or they send you a percent off on the front of their flyer in the mail!  Often it's running while you are buying up goodies to get your Kohl's Cash.  However what I find is really awesome, at times so good you almost feel like you're robbing the joint is when you are redeeming some Kohl's Cash and you have a 30% off coupon... you can get things for ridiculous cheap!

OK this is all good and well Greek Girl but what exactly is a "Kohl's Cash Crack Time Warp"?  Well... that is what happens when you have Kohl's Cash to spend or if you are buying things when they happen to be giving Kohl's Cash away.  At all times in your mind while you're shopping you are busy not only picking out the stuff you want, but adding and doing math at the same time.  Because if they're giving it you want to stay on the $50.00 mark so you don't waste it.  For instance if you spent $75.00 while they are giving away Kohl's Cash, you would only be $25.00 away from getting another $10.00 in Kohl's Cash.  What ends up happening is you start to wonder about all the things you need to buy that you might otherwise buy somewhere else, and instead buy them at Kohl's in order to get the Kohl's Cash, or get whatever you're wanting to buy for the best price.

Why it can turn into a Time warp is, picking out stuff you want and doing math in your noggin can be time consuming.  Trying things on, using your iPhone to add, subtract and do percent off.  Jumping from department to department to get the deals... All while trying to hold/drink my coffee (yes Dunkin's), text my mom or one of my sisters, stay up on my twitter feed, and push my cart of loot without dumping it.  Can anyone say Muckery?...  Before you know it, two hours can fly by;  Thus the time warp element!

For me it's when I'm redeeming Kohl's Cash... I like to scan the clearance rack in the Jr. Department.  I get the most insane deals.  It's not just the Jr. dept. it's any of the sale racks, I have even scored a Ton of deals for Mr. Greek Girl too!  Like what?...  a few of my scores over the years:  a $7.00 pair of Sketchers Sneakers, a $3.25 shirt, a pair of Hydraulic Jeans for $5.00 and my best find ever.... a pair of Hydraulic Jeans for $2.44.  Yes I did just say I got a pair of jeans that would have cost about $100 bucks at Macy's for $2.44.  No worries here people you will never see Greek Girl on one of those shows where they tell the stories of celebrities who went broke from living large.  Nope it's just not in my DNA, I love getting deals.  Hey it doesn't grow on trees and why pay more for something if you can get it for less?  (Remember the mulch blog back in May, wink wink...)  Plus the less money I spend on other stuff means the more money I have to spend on making Music!

Like the saying goes: "A Picture is wroth a thousand words", so here are a few of my favorite finds.

Yes I did get this shirt at Kohl's for a whopping $3.25...

To date my Best Deal Ever! $2.44 for Hydraulic Jeans,                                Score one for Greek Girl!

So the next time you need to get something, from sneakers, to pajama's, to luggage; get your butt over to the nearest Kohl's Pronto!  Remember... before you do anything, check the clearance rack and see if they are doing a percent off and you might just score a Greek Girl Deal for yourself!

Happy "Kohl's Cash Crack Time Warping" to you!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D
www.avaaston.com

A Perfect Day

Still my Favorite person after Eleven years! :D

Just another Sunny Summer Sunday in June... Well it's about dang time, I was starting to think Summer had been kidnapped.  Anyone who has been reading my blog knows one thing, I loathe the winter!  So why do I live in the North East, honestly I have no idea! Summer never can come soon enough for me.  When it's time to do the yearly swap out of winter clothes and Ugg Boots for flip flops, sneakers and summer clothes this Greek Girl gets giddy.

Another reason this time of year makes me giddy is because June is when I met my very favorite person in the whole entire world! Who?... that would be Mr. Ava Aston of course :D !  Yep it all started on a Sunday afternoon way back on June 9th, 2002.  It still seems like yesterday.  I was at home contemplating going to the city for an audition for an independent film.  I had slept late and it was a toss up, go and not have time to workout, or stay home and workout...  Something anyone else who has been reading my blog knows is - I love working out and do not skip many.  My little sister said to go, that she had a feeling "something good was going to happen to me".  She sure was right (yes that pains me to say that my little sister was right about something) ;o)

So I skipped my workout, went to the city and got in line for the audition.  A little bit after signing in I looked up and my heart literally stopped beating in my chest and I gasped.  Little did I know Mr. Ava Aston had spotted me a few minutes earlier and done the exact same thing... he asked me a question about the sign in sheet and after about a half hour or beating around the bush while waiting in the line we started talking and have not stopped talking since.

We discovered among other things, we are both left handed Virgo's with the exact same color eyes, love coffee, pizza, chocolate, and and and....  We're both artistic (him an actor, writer, and aspiring film maker) with me it's music and acting.  If you didn't know Keith is actually the glue that holds the Aston ship together.  He makes my music videos, website, all of it.  So here we are eleven years to the day on a Sunny Summer Sunday afternoon thinking about what to do for the anniversary of the day we met.

Being that we both love cars & Greek food we decided to mix the two together.  Take in a British Classic Car Show and the yearly Greek Festival around the corner.  Yes Greek Girl was in her glory... I don't know what it is about cars but man I sure do love them.  So here are a few highlights from a fun afternoon of chill-axing with my favorite person!

Yeah I had to have been a Greaser or a Mechanic in a former life...                      Cars make my heart beat Real Fast! Vroom Vroom!                                            (but I still drive like a granny) go figure.

Yummo!

No One does Coffee like we Greeks! Boil it up old fashioned style on the stove top in a ibriki... Add in the Baklava & cookies and you're Golden!

And that my friends is how a Sunny Summer Sunday in June went! Hope you make the most of your Sunny Sundays too!  Have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xox
www.avaaston.com

True Story

This is what a Fur-kid in the midst of a nervous breakdown due to Thunderstorm looks like...

Did you know that some fur-kids turn into little gremlins during thunder storms? Neither did I.  And I thought I knew everything there was to know about fur-kids, being that I have five of them.  See when I was growing up my mom had a boarding kennel, as well as raising and showing Collies and Sheltland Sheepdogs (which looks like a Miniature Collie for anyone who doesn't know what one is).

Those who have been reading my blog a while may remember that back in the fall the Aston doggie clan grew by one when we rescued "Pepe" from the Harlem Kill shelter in NYC.  We were supposed to just be "fostering" him for the local Pekingese Rescue where one of my other fur-kids "BoBo" came from until he could find a forever home.  That was until we went there and jail-broke him from the shelter and I scooped him up in my arms. We saw how abused and scarred he was.  We could not let him go and decided to keep him.  No one in their right mind was going to put up with his biting, trust and other issues.  It wasn't his fault his previous owner was a moron and hurt him.  He needed someone patient to help him work through all his little quirks.  So WE meaning me decided the only way to keep him safe was to keep him.  Then I had to tell Mr. Aston "honey we're getting another dog".  Meanwhile who could blame him for thinking about how to put me in the trashcan along with all the five fur-kids.  Just kidding.

Since then it's been a long seven months, and at times we call even him "Pepe-Laden" if you get my drift... Most of the bad behaviors are gone, although he does slice and dice a finger or two when he's in the mood.  He has never bit me though, ever.  Just last week he even went after the neighbor because he does not like cigarettes and the neighbor was smoking while making sudden movements towards him.  Which is not the smartest thing to do especially since we told our neighbor about the situation multiple times.  "Pepe" had burns all over his little body on him when we got him, from the shape they were we suspect they was cigarette burns.

Anyhow little "Pepe" has made miraculous strides and most of the time he is a happy little mush who just wants to be loved and safe, play with his toys and sleep.  Well durning this rash of wacky weather, our area has been hit with some monster thunderstorms lately.  So picture this, I'm in my office one day doing some social media drinking a hot cup of happiness a la Dunkin's when "Pepe" decides he is going to hide from the rain and thunder noise on top of the shredder of all places.  I pull him off, once, twice, three, four... and on we went.  After about the tenth time he jumped off and decided it would be a good idea to chase me around the office biting at my feet.

I was wearing shorts and flip fops so I was rightly concerned he might actually get me, so much so that I had to plop a chair down in between us to stop him.  I then ran out of my office yelling like a little girl and shut the door.  I'm standing there on the other side of the door thinking to myself "Greek Girl what in the heck in the world are you doing?!?! - you're a grown adult and you're letting a little 14lb dog boss you around".  Meanwhile before I had ran out, "Punkin" was sitting there looking at this whole thing like "this is total Muckery".  BTW all the other four fur-kids were left on the other side of that door with "Pepe-Laden".

So I marched back in there and told him I was not having any of it... then I drugged him.  Yes - I did.  I gave him a "Composure" chew.  No not real drugs silly... I would never do that.  Composure is a natural supplement that contains the active ingredient Thiamine (Vitamin B1) and some other ingredients which promote "balanced behavior" in dogs.  As well as help to calm anxiety.  He was so unhinged I gave him a whole one, the dosage for a big dog.  Sure enough he "calmed down" and went to sleep until the storms passed.

Moral of the story... give "Pepe" a composure "before" storms come next time.  And that my friends is why Greek Girl is not afraid to drug her dog if she needs to.  Remember to get yourself some "Composure" in case your fur-kids get skitzo during a storm.  Hope you have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xox
www.avaaston.com