HoH Muse Sarah Utterback Shares Some of Her Favorite Things
Sarah Utterback in The Open Robe in Olive
Our very first guest Sarah has been a special friend for many years, fellow dog, dance & adventure lover and an actor, most notable for her role as Nurse Olivia Harper on ABC's medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. She is also a producer in her exceptional theater company IAMA.
Discover more about Sarah:
Instagram
The Q&A:
Sarah Utterback
January 2023
Tibet, photo by Sarah Utterback
Last great thing you watched:
I'm currently savoring every second of Dead to Me, Season 3 (Netflix). Applegate is a masterclass. Her brand of comedy is so smart and biting, and her vulnerability makes me ache. I'm a big fan of Liz Feldman, and I love the ensemble on this show -- including my friend and fellow IAMA Theatre Co founder Brandon Scott!
Last great thing you read:
Be Holding: A Poem by Ross Gay
You Gotta Be You by my friend and human sparkle Brandon Kyle Goodman (@brandonkylegoodman). Highly recommend tuning into Brandon's Messy Monday's on Instagram -- they are GOLD.
Issue 16 of Broccoli Magazine. I am so thankful to Sael for discovering Broccoli: A Magazine for Cannabis Lovers and our sweet tradition of reading the issues aloud together when we can. Founder/Editor in Chief Anja Charbonneau has excellent taste and her curation of enlightening, informing and delighting cannabis-related material is chef's kiss, every time.
Last great thing you listened to:
Song Chest Radio Hour -- Justin Vernon's radio show on 88.9 Radio Milwaukee is my new favorite thing. No one's taste, knowledge, curation and love of music do I enjoy more than Justin's. It's wonderful and I love the discovery of music I would have never explored otherwise (@songchestradiohour).
Last great thing you ate:
It's been raining in LA and I love nothing more than making my own ramen. It's so nourishing and comforting. I've included the recipe below. You can make it veg, but the one I made is with organic ground chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and chard. When I roast a chicken, I make my own bone broth, which I used in this recipe.
Home-made ramen, photo by Sarah Utterback
Favorite restaurant:
S.Y. Kitchen is one of my faves in SoCal and where I spent my 40th with my best gals. So lovely. And before the holidays, I quite enjoyed a beautiful dinner at Bacetti in Echo Park per Sael's kind invitation. Can't wait to go back!
Favorite place you’ve traveled to:
I traveled to Nepal in 2009 and am pretty certain it changed my DNA. It was a trip of a lifetime on so many levels -- a traditional 3-day Nepali wedding, followed by a safari and swimming with elephants in Chitwan National Park, and ending with an 18 day trek in the Himalayas. What I love about traveling to places that feel far outside my comfort zone is the large amounts of growth and maturation that result in the months and years to follow. When I reflect on the trek, more than the ferocious awe of those mountains and the final summit to see Everest, I think about our sherpa Deek. He was our guide and helped to carry our packs at points. He went up the mountain with a knapsack, and we each had 60 lb packs. It's stunning how little we actually need and how little so many have. Deek became an instant friend. We made up songs to sing, we laughed, cried, learned about each other's lives in the most insane setting. Present moment awareness is essential at over 17,000 feet -- to simply be in the breath or step you are taking. I literally fell if I thought about anything other than that, like a purging of mental noise. Those peaks exposed sobering truths and forced me to see myself more clearly. To say that experience was humbling is an understatement. It was a life-altering privilege.
Another favorite place I've traveled to is The Isle of Skye in Scotland in 2018. Something in me awakened on those coordinates of the Earth, up by Portree, like a cell remembrance of ancestral origin. I was giddy and buzzing. I want to return for like a 2 week stint and hike everyday... large amounts of walking seems to be what I love most about traveling. And getting lost.
Sarah in Tibet, photo courtesy of Sarah
Place you haven’t traveled to yet but is at the top of your list:
Japan, baby!
First thing you look at on your phone when you wake up:
For a moment there, it was Wordle. But I quit! I reach for pages in the morning -- usually the pages I'm learning for an audition or whatever I'm working on in scene class. I give that a quiet read first thing. Or I try to do three pages of longhand writing, stream-of-consciousness ala The Artist's Way. And then I meditate and say a daily prayer. I use the Insight Timer app on my phone or listen to a binaural beats track while I do my morning 20 min and try to keep the "Do Not Disturb" on for as long as possible.
Any objects you’re obsessed with at the moment?
A beautiful heart-shaped rock that I brought back from the gorge on your folks' property in Santa Fe. It has the coolest blush pink/aqua marbling. I collect heart shaped rocks and this one is such a find.
I'm also obsessed with a face oil my friend Nousha makes, called The Reset. It feels like putting pure love on your face before bed. It's divine!
Lastly, my infrared sauna blanket. It's like a heated sleeping bag. I put on an hour-long show and sweat it out. So many benefits.
Heart-shaped rock, photo by Sarah Utterback
Is there a charitable organization or cause you’d like to shout out/ promote awareness of?
I just applied to volunteer at the Downtown Women's Center in LA. I want to offer more time and energy to my community in 2023 and supporting organizations that protect and empower women and children is important to me. Also, Futures Without Violence, which supports programs, policies and campaigns that work to end violence against women and children worldwide.
What’s the last thing that made you cry?
Brandon Kyle Goodman's book mentioned above, and also, Avatar: The Way of Water … It got my dad weeping, too!
What’s the last thing that made you laugh?
Comedian Brian Jordan Alvarez on Instagram. You have to scroll back through his IG and watch the progression of his characters from their inception -- Pop Star "TJ Mack" and his wife and Marnie are my faves. If I could only follow one IG account, it would be Brian's. Endless joy. @brianjordanalvarez
