Michelle Stafford's Y&R Blog

I did a photo shoot with Joshua Morrow (Nick) and Sharon Case (Sharon) the other day. It was really fun — or at least Sharon and I had fun. Josh couldn’t wait to get out of there. He had a softball game to go to, and taking pictures is not Josh’s favorite thing to do. Here he had two hot babes draped over him and he still didn’t like it.

Sharon just got married, so she’s in honeymoon bliss. It’s very sweet to see. Me myself, I’m alone, barren and lonely, ha ha ha. That’s completely a joke. Of course I'm not barren.

The Daytime Emmys are next week. It will be very fun I’m sure. It's always fun to see everybody. I’m very much looking forward to the lead-actress luncheon on Thursday. And I picked the place and put together the event, since Susan Flannery (Stephanie, B&B) was egregiously not nominated this year — although she will be coming to the luncheon. Unfortunately, Maura West (Carly, ATWT) cannot attend. I’m very bummed out about that. Maura West is my pick to win it this year. She’s such a great actress, and she really needs one of these golden tchotchkes.

I have an entourage of nine people coming with me to the Emmys. My family and a few friends want to attend with me. I said to them, “Don’t you want to be comfortable at home in your PJs watching it on TV?” But they were like, “No, no, no. We want to be there to support you!” I think that's lovely, but at the same time I gotta make sure my entourage is being taking care of. [Laugh] I’m extremely close to my family, so whatever they want comes first always.

I have not chosen my dress yet. I guess some women choose it weeks and weeks in advance. I sort of leave it to the last minute, just like when I go out at night. I never really know what I’m gonna wear; I kinda just throw something on. But it seems that these awards shows nowadays are more about the outfit, so I better get crackin’.

Talk to you after the Emmys!

Hey! I'm Michelle Stafford and I play Phyllis Summers Newman on CBS' The Young and the Restless. This is my first entry for my new TVGuide.com blog. TV Guide soap-opera guru Daniel Coleridge invited me to write this, so here it is....

My body is very tired because I've been crying for the last three days on the show. I’ve been working with Christian [LeBlanc, Michael on The Young and the Restless], and he’s out of his mind. When Christian and I rehearse, I like to walk around The Grove (great shopping center, right next door to where we tape at CBS Television City) and run our lines, and go to my favorite Brazilian restaurant at the Farmers Market (adjacent to The Grove). Even if we’re two hours away from shooting, Christian is hesitant to leave the studio. Christian likes to run, and run, and run the lines. I like to run the lines a few times. Peter [Bergman, who plays Jack] likes to run the lines a few times too. Josh [Morrow, who plays Nick] doesn’t like to run the lines at all.

Christian and I had lunch together yesterday. I had the chicken and macaroni and cheese. I am a big fan of the macaroni and cheese at our beautiful CBS commissary. I even go to the salad bar and put a couple big scoops of bleu cheese on top of the macaroni and cheese. I make my own three-cheese macaroni and cheese. Christian had a scoop of tuna on lettuce. I think he has a bed scene coming up. I noticed that some of the men get more nervous about “dropping trou” than the women do. Sharon Case [who plays Sharon] isn't nervous at all about it. I myself make the crew turn their backs to me if I have to take my clothes off. And I make Josh close his eyes. He’s a married man, after all. And I have to look his wife in the eye. One time in a scene, my bare back had to show, and I said to him, “All right, I’m going to have my boob right on you. Can you deal with it?” He said, “I think I can.” Then I put a piece of paper in between our skin, because he's a father of two young boys and I have to look them in the eye as well. Josh keeps on telling me he’s already seen them (my bare breasts), but I know he hasn't because I am very careful about hiding them when we have those scenes. When Josh and I do our love scenes, we are laughing and goofing off right up to the moment of action. I’m shocked that anything good ever comes of it.

When I do my love scenes with Sharon... Oh no — forget that — that’s a future story line. Nevermind. Oh shoot, I shouldn’t have let that slip.

What else? I was there last night until 9 o’clock. The cleaning crew was standing outside of my room waiting for me to leave. I’m very happy that we have a shopping center right next door to our studio. During my time off, if it's during the day, I usually go shopping at the Gap. I am a big fan of the Gap. What happened to the $25 t-shirts? That’s what I want to know. If I have a lot of time in between scenes, sometimes I'll see a movie at our fabulous movie theater inside The Grove.

We have a four-day weekend at work so we'll all get to relax and take some time off. We are now shooting six shows in four days at work. We are there longer hours, but we get more days off. I like this new schedule.

Anyway, stay tuned to this blog. I will have more fun and frolicking for you in the future. Those are a lot of F's right there.

Click here to read TVGuide.com's fresh Soaps Q&A with Michelle Stafford.