I met Laurie through another single peep, Katie. They were eating breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast spots, Hugo’s in West Hollywood. Try the El Desayuno Burrito De La Casa. It’s less complicated than it sounds on paper. So is Laurie. She lives in Brentwood. She has two dogs — Maltese mixes. Her ideal is to meet a man and “live on the Westside forever.”
But Laurie, like the burrito, is easier to handle than she looks. “At the end of the day, if you meet someone and fall in love it doesn’t matter where you live. You just have to feel fulfilled and happy in your life and you don’t need the material things to achieve that — it would be nice, but it’s not what you’re thankful for at the end of your life.” As for her Malteses — both are rescues.
Laurie, 36, was raised a Conservative Jew in Philadelphia. “I went to Temple University, majored in broadcast journalism and minored in political science. I wanted to work in live news — elections and presidential summits — and I worked at ABC off and on for all those years in college. I worked at CBS News in New York after college.” After a visit with a friend to Los Angeles, they decided to move here together.
“A friend of mine had day-played once on ‘Felicity’ and they offered her a three-week job as J.J. Abrams’ assistant.” When the friend pulled out of the job for another one on ‘Seventh Heaven,’ she recommended Laurie for the job. “And that’s how I ended up in TV versus news. And I’ve really been in TV ever since.
“I assisted line producers, worked on a couple of pilots and a couple of shows, and then I got offered a job on the pilot of the show ‘Medium.’ I was on that show for seven years.” In the first season she was promoted to a producer. “While I was on that show I also produced a short film that won a lot of awards in the film festivals, and that’s when I realized I liked line producing but it felt like you get trapped in that job — all the guys were in their 60s — and I wanted more out of life than that. I wanted more choices. And I didn’t want to get home at 4 a.m.”
She’s currently transitioning to a creative executive position. She’s also developing shows — “getting my hands in everything and branching out. It’s been nice. I have time off which I haven’t had in over 10 years. It’s a luxury. I took a nice vacation. I went to Maui. I went to Cabo and went zip lining for the first time. I say that I’m not that adventurous, but my friends say, ‘What are you talking about?’ I went white-water rafting, kayaking, water skiing, but it’s not my idea. But if someone comes up with it, I do it and have the time of my life.”
I ask her about men. “I’m attracted to guys who are confident. Not cocky. Guys who are comfortable in their own skin — know who they are, [and] know what they want. I’ve dated guys who try to be what they think I want and it’s just not attractive to me. [Someone] close to their family, likes to laugh [and] is a decent human being. I like guys who are hard workers but genuine salt-of-the-earth kind of people.
“A lot of my friends are out dating three or four times a week, and they’re freezing their eggs and that gives me anxiety. I’m out there dating but I’m certainly not chasing it. I want someone to chase me for a change.”
If you’re interested in anyone you see on My Single Peeps, send an e-mail and a picture, including the person’s name in the subject line, to mysinglepeeps@jewishjournal.com, and we’ll forward it to your favorite peep.
Seth Menachem is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. You can see more of his work on his Web site, sethmenachem.com, and meet even more single peeps at mysinglepeeps.com.
