While many a unique couple sets foot in the gym, rarely do two people possess such diverse and enjoyable qualities as Teri and Scott. Whether they’re running in to grab a CrossFit number or racing their daughter to the red wall of the gym, you’ll never see these two without a smile. Their work brings daily joy to many visitors of Old Sacramento, and we are very pleased that they grace us with their presence here at Sacramento Pipeworks. Say hello to our friends, Teri, Scott, and Vivienne Burge.
Bove) How and where did you meet, and what is your favorite trait in one another?
Teri) Scott and I met when we were living in Santa Barbara waaay back in 2000. I was attending UCSB and had a show at the college radio station, KCSB. I was really into old-timey radio dramas (think War of the Worlds or anything Vincent Price) and wanted to write, produce, and act in my own. With the help of a few other students, including Scott, we did just that. We became instant friends, and the more time we spent together
working on this project, the more our friendship and love for each other grew. I think my most favorite trait in Scott is that he can always make me laugh. No matter how stressed out I might be, Scott can always make any situation seem better.
Scott) Teri is super hot and laughs at my jokes.
B) Working over at Old Sacramento’s Evangeline’s Costume Mansion, it seems that you both get a unique chance to explore the joys of being a grown-up while maintaining an irreverent sense of play. Can you tell us more about what you do?
T) While we both work at the same place, we rarely work together. As the buyer for the store, I order all the product that is for sale. The majority of my day I am in the office working on orders. In the mornings before the store is open, I will sometimes work on displays and visual merchandising. I often travel for my job to attend various trade shows to find new and interesting products for the store. I definitely have a fun job and I truly enjoy what I do. I get paid to shop for things I love – costumes, novelty/gift items, wigs, theatrical makeup, and masks – so much fun stuff! Not to mention the job basically requires me to stay on top of movies, tv shows, pop and geek culture so seeing all the new superhero movies is a business expense, right?
S) I have designed and built an interactive séance, a heaven themed dressing room, pirate room, a hell-themed dressing room, a staircase to nowhere, a swinging 60’s room, antique trim reproduction, and a bunch more wacky, fun stuff, all from my workshop in the hollow sidewalks within the bowels of Old Sacramento. I have driven the Evangeline hearse, performed as a Sideshow Barker, and been a flasher for an April Fools news piece. I have represented Evangeline’s at The Best of Sacramento as Lurch, 70’s disco king and an urban cowboy. And sometimes, I remove gum from the carpets.
B) How does it feel working in the historical Howard House/Lady Adams building? Have you been able to feel any supernatural presence or ghost activity on the property?
T) Working in the Howard House & Lady Adams buildings is both quirky and spooky! Everyday, I am surrounded by history, beauty, and interesting things and people. There is definitely a sense of mystery and intrigue about the building and its former inhabitants. While numerous employees of Evangeline’s have had supernatural experiences, I myself have only had one encounter. I was by myself in the Costume Mansion and was listening to a CD in the multi-CD player (yikes! Did I just date myself?). As I was working on some displays, my music suddenly stopped and switched to a harpsichord CD. Thinking nothing of it, I went to the stereo and put my music back on. Five minutes or so later, the music changed back to the harpsichord. I went to the stereo and put my CD on, and before I was ten steps away the music changed to the harpsichord. While the logical side of my brain says it’s just a malfunction with the stereo, part of me wants to believe that I wasn’t alone up there in the Mansion, and whoever was with me really wanted to listen to the harpsichord.
Mostly though, it’s just the employees scaring each other, which is always fun. There are lots of good hiding places, and it’s easy to sneak up on one another!
S) I think the ghosts are cool with my music.
B) Are there any haunted places that you have stayed at in the past or would want to visit in the future?
T) One of my early childhood memories is staying at the Green Lantern Inn in Carmel, and there was a legend that it was haunted by a ghostly bride searching for her deceased groom. I loved the imagery of the story, and it really stuck with me so much that we went to stay there a couple of years ago. While the Inn is still there, the current owners claim to know nothing of its haunted past. My dream haunted vacation would be to visit the Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls) in Mexico.
S) For six months in 1980, my family lived in what we were CERTAIN was a haunted house in the Santa Cruz mountains that was destroyed by a landslide while we slept inside. Obviously, an expression of the ghosts opinion of my Air Supply phase.
B) You have a very sweet and spirited daughter. Does having Vivienne change your daily perspective, and how does your home life mirror your work life?
S) Preparation. You ALWAYS have to be prepared for everything, every moment. I don’t know how we survived as a species, as we are divining rods for catastrophe from birth. Will she need a bottle? Is it going to be cold? Can I remove that, or should a doctor do it? Did anyone else witness that?
T) Vivienne is so playful and compassionate and is a wonderful reminder of how we should all be in life, and I try to be that for her too. It is awesome to watch the world through a child’s eyes. Viv has practically grown up at Evangeline’s. In fact, she came with me to work until she started crawling. She still loves visiting us at work, and we always play dress up at home. The creations she comes up with are fantastic: Minion-Snow White, Pirate-Kitty. Everything is fair game, and she usually dresses up in some sort of costume on a daily basis.
B) You both seem to enjoy taking part in the Crossfit program here at Pipeworks. What do you favor most about this type of workout? Would you recommend it to others, and why?
S) I discovered I might be a bit of a fitness lemming. When I see a bunch of other people doing awesome stuff, I think, “Can I do awesome stuff too?” When I work out by myself I can really work my jaw, but in Crossfit, there’s a clock that can really shut your bro-hole. As soon as my back looks half as good as those boulderers, I’d like to try climbing more.
T) It sounds so silly to say Crossfit changed my life, but it really has. I have never been so motivated to be healthy as I am now. I look forward to it, and it’s really part of my daily routine. I think what really got me so in love with the Crossfit program was the people at Pipeworks. It feels like family here. Everyone is encouraging, motivating and just down right friendly! I also love how everyone is so different in their strengths.
For example, I am decent at pull ups but I can’t seem to get a handstand push-up, which might be the complete opposite of someone else here. The best part of coming to Pipeworks is that Vivienne sees other people climbing, doing acro yoga, slackline, and Crossfit, and she wants to do it all too. Viv is especially infatuated with the Youth Climbing Team. She really wants to join and become one of those super-climber-kids, and probably in a couple of years she will!
B) If not at the gym or at Evangeline’s, where might be the best place to find you two spending extracurricular time?
T) Our free time is usually spent hanging out at local parks, or restoring our house in North Oak Park. It’s over 100 years old and needs a lot of work!
S) WE’RE ALLOWED TO GO OTHER PLACES?!?!?!!!
B) Please finish this sentence for one another: He/She is the ______________ one, while I am the _______________ one.
S) She is the thoughtful one, while I am the super sweet van-loving one.
T) He is the funny one, while I am the practical one.
B) Now, if you could please switch the previous question and answer it for yourselves. I am the ____________ one, while He/She is the _______________ one.
S) I am the funny one, while she is the fun one.
T) I am the emotion-driven one, while he is the level-headed one.
B) If you were the ring leaders of an imaginary humane circus performance with your choice of domesticated and/or wild animals, what would be the oddities/spectacles that you would choose to use to entertain the masses?
T) Cat circus! I would be so down to lead a cat circus. I think there would be lots of silly outfits involved and a lot of really unmotivated kitties, and maybe a spazzy cat here and there. You just never know with cats, so each performance would be unique.
S) World, political, and social adversaries dependent upon one another to pull off death-defying feats and stunts. Putin, Obama, and Rouhani on motorcycles inside the globe of death. Santorum, Izzard, and Jong-un on a tight-rope juggling chainsaws and bowling balls. Contortionists Jesse Ventura and Richard Dawkins. There would still be cotton candy and peanuts and stuff, so people wouldn’t freak out.
