Dirty and Thirty

contact-image-3 frame

 

Here is my first post for the fun, informative, and fabulous Dirty and Thirty blog:

MUST WATCH FOR EVERY AGE: WHY 30 IS NOT THE NEW 20

WARNING: This video will scare the crap out of you. If you have an ounce of stress about feeling behind on the arbitrary “life” timeline, then grab a cocktail- and a diaper- and watch.

I woke up on my 28th birthday feeling like how I’ve dreaded waking up on my 30th. Panicked. And, WTF?! These wrinkles came out of NOWHERE! I was breaking up with my boyfriend, my checks were not steady and not covering the bills, and consequently, I felt my career was nowhere near my potential.

Thank god I’m over 21 because the tequila shot I just drank was delicious.

So I decided to change my approach to life and play to my strengths. I’m an excellent student. In order to gain wisdom and find new answers, I dove into self-help/psychology, the major I always wanted to have, if it wasn’t so damn impractical. My broadcast journalism major hasn’t turned out to be so practical either, but, I digress.

Which brought me to TED Talks. Specifically, this one by psychologist Meg Jay titled “Why 30 is NOT the new 20″.

gulp.

diaper change.

Watch the video, but I will summarize the main points below.

WHY DECISIONS IN YOUR 20′S REALLY, REALLY MATTER

She opens this talk by diving into every insecurity a single, underemployed, approaching 30 year-old may have about life… AND tells you all your fears are true! Oh, and she has stats to prove it.

– 80% of life’s defining moments happen by age 35.
– 50% of Americans are living, dating, or married to their future life partner by age 30. (I thought it would be more, score one for Team Single)
– Your brain caps its 2nd and last growth spurt in your 20′s to re-wire for adulthood. If you want to change anything about yourself, now is the time to do it.
– 20′s development for adulthood is equivalent to the first five years for children; your mind and body make fundamental changes that have long lasting effects.
– Female fertility PEAKS at 28. (Translation: F*ck. Literally. Start doing it… now!)

Good news- I just lost my appetite by being scared to death. That dress is going to fit good tonight!

My freaked out reaction, I think, is all part of her grand plan to light a fire under your butt. Or, to put it more eloquently, this was a perfect segueway for a well-timed Leonardo Bernstein quote.

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”

Oh, don’t worry, I know there’s not enough time now, because that biological clock just started ticking louder than a Skrillex set. And the fact she just said this brilliant quote:

“The new midlife crisis isn’t buying a red sports car. It’s realizing you can’t have the career you always wanted, or the child you wanted to have, or give your child a sibling.”

Yeah. Let that sit. It’s heavy.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

First, sip your cocktail and compose yourself. There’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not a white light, more like a disco light.

1. Forget About an Identity Crisis- Get Some Identity Capital
Do something that adds value to who you are or is an investment in who you want to become. No more dead end jobs, no more overanalyzing, just do it. Identity Capital begets Identity Capital; this is a ball you want to start rolling.

2. Get New Friends
Not only does this expand your way of thinking, but also expands your options. Your acquaintances, or “weak ties” as Meg puts it, will get that ball rolling. Half of new jobs aren’t posted, and a great way to find them is by taking advantage of your weak ties. This is also called networking (I know, I hate that word, too).

3. Start Picking Your Family Now
The best time to start working on your marriage is before you have one, says Meg. Be as intentional about your love life as you are with your career. Don’t try to make it work with whoever is choosing you at the moment. Figure out what you like, don’t like, and what you inevitably want by trial and error of dating. NOW.

GOOD NEWS

You have control. Yay! I mean, you always have control, but now you can feel like really you do.
AND
You know those evil stats at the beginning? Those can work in your favor. Because your 20′s are such an important developmental stage, you are malleable and small changes in habits and thinking can have a huge (positive) impact on the rest of your life.

So, according to Meg, 30 is not the new 20, regardless of how the socially acceptable timeline of career, marriage and kids has stretched. Take control of your life. Don’t be defined by what you didn’t know or do, because whether you like it or not, you’re deciding what you do now.

I found a lot of truth and inspiration in this TED talk. We know not to procrastinate on work, why procrastinate on our development? Although, I would love to know her sources for some of the (scary) stats.

What do you think?

Kesha/Pitbull “Timber” Parody

My alter ego – Ke$ha 2.0 – is back!

This time, the Barely Political crew and I take on the infectious Ke$ha – Pitbull song Timber. The parody was shot over two days in New York City. It was pretty surreal, because while I was filming in this itty, bitty bikini, there was a full-on blizzard going on outside! And that blizzard was none other than the Polar Vortex Part Deux!

For those who are curious about the wardrobe choice – specifically the sheet hanging over my bottom- we were just being true to the original. Our theory is that the outfit was a little too revealing (you think!) and the real Ke$ha asked to have something added to cover up. This is just a theory and in no way authenticated by anyone close to the production. 😉

Enjoy the video!

10 Things I Did This Year

af-8739lr glasses

 

1. I Sold Beer… in Japan

I was in a Suntory beer commercial!! Yes, like THE Suntory, made famous from Bill Murray’s character in Lost in Translation. If that wasn’t cool enough, I starred alongside Ken Watanabe!!! (Inception, The Last Samurai) I played a reporter- shocking, I know- and made some funny faces. If you’ve seen any of my Key of Awesome stuff, you can probably guess where I got those from.

This was one of those moments where I thought, “I can’t wait to tell my grandkids about this”… which is also the first time I ever thought about having grand kids. Go figure.

2. Media Makeover

I upgraded with new headshots, website, demo reel, and boobs. I’m just kidding about the last part. These B’s are real.

3. And We’re LIVE

This was the year of performing on Live TV, which is basically an adrenaline rush equivalent to sky diving, but without all the potential bodily injury and stuff. I had major live projects for Ultra, SOS Island, and covering the Thor: The Dark World red carpet for Yahoo! and Marvel. It’s fun and I can’t wait to do more. img_3577 fotor

4. Call Me Feczko-pova

I learned how to play tennis! I went to Mexico, and after finding the perfect margarita, I decided to start taking tennis lessons! As one naturally does in such circumstances. Now this is a tequila decision I don’t regret, because now I play tennis a couple times a month with friends. Did you know LA has free tennis courts?! One more reason why I love LA… and the Nike Outlet store. I don’t know which came first: the desire to play tennis or the desire to have a place to wear a tennis skirt.

5. The Launch of How 2 Travelers

Since creating my YouTube channel in 2010, I had a vision for it to be an edgy, inspired, travel-based channel. This year, I finally made that vision into a reality by teaming up with travel expert Rachel Rudwall and re-branding as How 2 Travelers. H2T is a how to guide for everything travel: from tips, to adventures, to reviews of places you want to go. The response has thus far been amazing, with Vagabondish regularly featuring our videos.

6. We Broke Twitter… and some Records

We all knew Ultra Miami was going to be big for its 15th anniversary, but at UMF TV we didn’t realize just how much of an impact our livestream has on artists and the fans. Due to a 10 minute interview that was completely spontaneous thanks to technical difficulties (hey, it’s live TV!), we broke Goldfish Live’s website. Hardwell’s mainstage performance that aired on UMF TV was so insane that Twitter shut down his account, because, according to Robbert, his name was taking up 30% of the bandwidth! And, our finale, Swedish House Mafia’s last set as a group, brought in over 200,000 concurrent viewers, which is the most amount of viewers for a livestream of a North American music festival. I feel so blessed to be part of this awesome team. I must say, the Dutch do it better… with an American host. 😉

7. I’m Gold!

My frequent flyer status is officially 14K on both American and Delta airlines, which makes all the difference when it comes to flying: short lines for security AND customs, random upgrades, and your luggage is always the first to come down the carousel. Basically, I travel like a 45-year old male businessman. And if I must say so, I look good for a dude.

This is a huge thanks to Ultra, which has me traveling all over Asia, South America and Europe hosting the livestream of their music festivals. In 2014 we’ll be adding South Africa, Tokyo, and maybe other locations that haven’t been announced yet. Stay tuned…

8. Close Calls

2013 was the year of getting on the proverbial podium. I tested for a network game show for Freemantle (aka my dream job) and a Discovery travel series, made it to the top three for an NBC travel show, and was the runner-up in the nationwide search for FX’s DVD on TV replacement. In Hollywood, it’s usually considered a big accomplishment just to get a call back, but luckily for me, I was cast in other shows based on these auditions: SOS Island with Survivorman’s Les Stroud and FX’s Hershey’s Sweet Cinema.

9. I’m Home Alone

I put my big girl pants on this year and am now living in total freedom with my own place in the heart of Hollywood. You don’t want to know what goes down when a girl has a place to herself… or maybe you’re going to find out. My princess pad was decorated by Frugal but Fabulous‘ Georgie Smith. The Webisode on the Feczko photo(14)Residence Makeover will arrive early 2014.

10. I fell more in love with Ibiza

I mean look at it! I went there for the second year in a row, which means this could just be the start of a serious relationship. And seriously, why can’t Ibiza be man? Because then he’d be blue and perfect… and things just got weird.

 

 

Can’t wait for what’s ahead in 2014. Looking forward to seeing your sexy selves in the new year!

Catch Me On FX

Fotor1216192630

 

Time to set your DVR’s! This face will be popping up in between your favorite movies for FX Presents Hershey’s Sweet Cinema.

Check out the dates and times:

December 18th at 8pm for Real Steel

December 28th at 8pm for Thor

February 10th at 8pm for Crazy, Stupid, Love

This Hershey’s Sweet Cinema is a little different from the rest as it’s part hosted segment and part skit. Yes, I get to use my acting chops in these… now you really want to set that DVR! I went really method on this one, and by that I mean I ate a lot of candy to get in the zone. It was awesome.

Enjoy the movies!

xoxo,

Andrea

And the Winner of SOS Island is…

Fotor1211122511

GRAHAM HUGHES!!!

Congratulations! Graham is already a seasoned survivalist, going down in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first person to go to all the United Nations countries without flying.

And now.. he is the winner of Samsung’s SOS Island: Survival of the Smartest and has $100,000 in the bank toward his very own private island!

What was interesting about Graham’s win was that he was an excellent source of knowledge for contestants on the island, building fires without knives or flint, but had a difficult time translating those skills into challenge wins. He finished his time on the island with a modest two coconuts (wins), but then put his social media efforts into high drive. With a well received TED Talks speech and articles in the highly respected The Guardian, Graham was able to garner an incredible amount of votes, which made up 40% of the overall score, that ultimately made him the winner.

I am so proud of all the contestants and crew on SOS Island. Everyone pushed their physical limits on what could be done on a deserted island, and the results were outstanding. I won’t be cheesy and say we all walked away winners, but we definitely all walked away with a once-in-a-lifetime experience we will never forget.

Here’s a look back at my favorite episodes from SOS Island:


Down with the Ship” – This is my favorite challenge. It was the most fun to participate in- as well as the most fun to watch!

 


Food Forager” – Graham’s first, and very impressive, win on the island.

 


Survival of the Smartest” – This challenge caused many injuries, greatly effecting the rest of the time on the island.

 


Fish Food” – Graham’s second win. Do you sense a theme with the challenges he won?

 


SOS” – This was the most difficult challenge both physically and mentally. The ending was a surprise!

 


Gift From Above” – This was inspired by the Hunger Games: Catching Fire. As a huge fan of the book, it was fun to let my inner Katniss out for a day.