Grinch The Musical - You nauseate me

The other night, I saw Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical at The Pantages Theater in Hollywood. I love the popular cartoon, the song and even the Jim Carey movie, so I expected much of the same, but was very disappointed.

Let me start with the good things first-- it starred John Larroquette; there was some humorous parts and it was only an hour and a half long. There wasn't an intermission, which was smart, because I would have taken the opportunity to sneak out. However, the later half was better than the painful begining. I of course expected the musical to be childish, but it was so geared towards children even more so than the original cartoon, making me think this would have been better to take a child to as a great introduction to Broadway and not for my husband and I.

I was also surprised that John Larroquette wasn't in the title role of The Grinch, but played his dog Max from the future and the story's narrator of sorts. In fact, the whole story was told through the eyes of the dog now older, which I thought was weird, corny and forced. I know they were just trying to tell the famous story in a new way, but I liked the original and would have just preferred seeing that.

The show runs until January 3, 2010. Tickets range from $23 - $90 but their are also special deals via @pantages twitter and on Goldstar.com.

Food Network Wii prize pack giveaway

Calling all foodies and Food Network fans! The Food Network and NAMCO BANDAI Games just released a brand new cooking game for the Wii – Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked. Remember, when I had attended the sneak peek event for the game with Michael Symon a few months ago (post)? Well, If you still haven’t heard about it, the game features Food Network personality Susie Fogelson, of The Next Food Network Star, and Food Network Kitchens chef Mory Thomas – and teaches you 30+ real Food Network recipes and the skills and culinary tricks you need to execute them with precision.

In honor of the game's release they are letting me offer my readers a culinary cornucopia prize pack. The pack includes a copy of the Wii game, plus tools of the trade and other fun Food Network and Cook or Be Cooked branded items.

Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked Prize Pack
- 1 copy of Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked for the Wii ($39.99 retail value)
- 1 Food Network recipes DVD box set
- 1 copy of Food Network’s “Meals on DVD”
- 1 Food Network branded oven mitt
- 1 Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked branded apron
- 1 cooking utensil – varies (ex. peeler, can opener, ice cream scoop)
- 1 Food Network key chain
- 1 Food Network refrigerator magnet
- 1 Food Network pen

To enter, post a comment here for a chance to win. Be sure to reply with a valid email address in the body of your comment or link to a profile where I can find a way to contact you if you should win. Also, you'll receive an additional entry if you tweet this contest too. Ends Saturday November 28.

code.ai Launch Party

A few weeks ago, I blogged about using the prescription free lash and brow growth product called code.ai, and recently was able to attend it's launch party at Fred Segal Studio Beautymix in Santa Monica. They set up a red carpet in the popular luxury store and several bars were set up in their beauty aisles serving U’Luvka Vodka and a buttery La Parra Loca Sauvignon Blanc-Verdejo from Fresh & Easy Market, which definitely made for a fun event.

Since I knew that celeb brow threader Marco Ochoa would be at the party and doing threading, I purposefully grew out my eyebrows using the code.ai brow booster ($75) so that he could reshape and have something to work with. I've been also wanting my arch to be more pronounced, so took this as the perfect opportunity. I had never had my brows threaded before only waxed or plucked and I was surprised to find that it didn't hurt. My eyes still watered up nonetheless, but that's because I'm a baby though. He also increased my arch and left my eyebrows looking perfectly sketched on.

Also at the party was 7th Heaven's Actress Beverly Mitchell and Fernanda Romero from Drag Me To Hell and The Eye.

Oh and there was also these two bloggers ;)

You can read more about the party from my girls at Caroline on Crack and Shop Eat Sleep.

An Evening With Buick & Colbie Caillat

Last night, I attended the unveiling of the 2011 Buick Regal with a private concert by Colbie Caillat at the Hollywood Palladium.

I've been to auto shows (NY and Detroit), but never to a car unveiling before. It was actually kind of exciting. I walked into the theater and a large curtain was up in the middle of the room. Then, after some speeches by GM including the famous Bob Lutz, the curtain was slowly lifted to much applause. I have to say It wasn't the big Buick that I remember from back in the day, but a sleek compact.

Also on display were the Buick La Crosse and Enclave, both of which looked really luxurious inside with their leather interior. Raphael had me sit in the Enclave, but since the seat was all the way back, I looked quite small in it, lol.

After the unveil of the newest Buick, singer Colbie Caillat took the stage to perform a rather long set considering this wasn't a real concert. I recognized Colbie's name, but didn't realize what songs she sang until I googled her and saw that I knew three of her songs including one called Bubbly which goes like "It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose, where ever it goes I always know..." She also sings Realize - "If you just realize what I just realized, Then we'd be perfect for each other and will never find another..." She also has a duet out with Jason Mraz called Lucky. You can click on the above titles to view the music videos. Basically, she has a soft, bluesy, earthy tone to her voice, kind of like a female Jason Mraz.

In person, Colbie was also very hot as is her guitar player, which all the girls were mooning over (including me). I was standing literally right in front of the stage with my blogging buddy Kaitlin and her friend Kimmy who is a huge fan of the double platinum singer-songwriter--her excitement to be there was contagious.


While walking around the party I had spotted Desperate Housewives Kathryn Joosten a.k.a. the older neighbor on Wisteria Land, Mrs. McCluskey, which I was pretty excited about. She also looks exactly as she does on TV, so it was pretty easy to spot her when she walked by the cars. The stalker in me approached her and asked if I could take a photo, which she willing did. Very sweet of her:


Note: GM is a Weber Shandwick client

Come tweet with me, twitter tutorial

This coming Monday I'm going to be providing a twitter tutorial with the awesome people at BlogOutLoud. If you're still confused by twitter, tweets and want tips on how to grow your twitter following, definitely RSVP to this event. I'm preparing a deck with some ideas, but am most looking forward to feeding questions from those that are there. Below are more details:

The workshop will be at Patio Culture on Abbott Kinney in Venice. Hopefully will see you there!

Update:
The class went really well, at least I think it did. I received a lot of positive feedback after, tweets and lots of questions through out. I also talked for 2 hours straight, which was pretty tiring, but at least it was on a topic that I enjoy and am passionate about. Here's a photo that someone tweeted during my tutorial and you can see me up in front of the room by the computer screen.

Dermalogica Review and Giveaway

The other day, after a long day of work, I was invited to have a complimentary 20 minute MicroZone facial normally worth $25 at the Dermalogica Spa in Santa Monica on Montana Ave. This quick skin fix was just the pick-me-up that my skin so desperately needed, removing black heads or as they say "congestion" and leaving my face healthy and bright again. Don't get me wrong, I love the relaxation of a longer facial, but you don't always have the time to change your clothes and spend over an hour on you. Thus, I really liked the no fuss MicroZone treatment, which left my skin looking as if I did have an hour long facial. I only wish it was closer to my office, because I so would go once a month on my lunch break or quickly after work, especially for only $25.

They also did a face mapping diagnosis where their skin therapist analyzed my skin from forehead to collarbone and marked any problem areas on a map and recommended different products I could use and ways to prevent future issues. With my face in her hands, the woman told me that I have beautiful skin, but she did suggest that I use an exfoliate more often as well as SPF lotion (guilty of not doing much of either). This service is complimentary to any customers that go into the store, so I definitely recommend it. Their skincare products developed by The International Dermal Institute are also pretty reasonable for a professional beauty line. Besides their Santa Monica shop here they have one in SoHo, New York too and at locations across the world.

Giveaway: Post a comment here for a chance to win a free Dermalogica MicroZone treatment gift certificate for their Santa Monica location. Be sure to reply with a valid email address or with a profile where I can find a way to contact you if you should win. Also, you'll receive an additional entry if you tweet this contest too. Ends Friday November 13. Update: Congrats to Nanette!

Wii Fit Plus Party

Thanks to Marsha at Sweatpantsmom, I was invited to her Wii Fit Plus Party and demo. We were told to come in our yoga gear for a Wii workout and mingle.

Although I own a Wii console, I had never played the original Wii Fit never mind the Wii Fit Plus, so I was really eager to try it out, especially since I'll use any excuse not to go to a real gym!

At the party, I quickly partnered up with LAist's Julie Wolfson who already played the game, so she was coaching me and of course beating me at all the competitive challenges, lol. We did some yoga stretches to improve posture, which were fun and made me miss when I had belonged to a yoga studio in NYC. The most fun part though was the activity games that incorporated the sensor balance board, which included a ski jump, hula hoop, kung fu and some other wacky games. No matter what activity you play or physical routine you select, the game counts the calories you've burned and calculates your BMI and daily progress, thus motivating you to continue. I was also surprised to find that the board also doubles as a scale--yikes!

Another cool feature is that the Wii Fit Plus allows you to add a pet as a family member, so that you can create a profile for them and even weigh them too. So, when I went home with the Wii Fit Plus parting gift that I received (yay!) I quickly held my poor Patches on the board to see her weight and received a scratch from her in the process, lol. She's 9.5 pounds, so not bad. Now, I'm going to have Raphael try it out and create a profile too, but hopefully he'll be more accommodating than Patches.

A Hello Kitty Halloween

For Halloween, while my husband practiced learning the steps to Thriller with his friends to re-enact at the WeHo Festival, my girlfriend and I headed to the Hello Kitty Halloween Party at Royal-T Cafe in Culver City. Although I'm a fan of the festival and Michael too, I didn't have time to practice the routine due to my recent travel. Plus, I already recieved a free Seven 'Til Midnight Snow White costume at The Silver Spoons Emmy party, but as one of our friends pointed out it looked more Ho-White than Snow White, lol. Luckily, my friend Karen went as Belle so we had our own little Disney Princess theme going on.

At the Hello Kitty Halloween Party, 30 years of memorabilia and new inspired artwork were on display and will be up until mid November. There were also some special Halloween touches including a Hello Kitty Pumpkin Patch:

Here are some of my favorite Hello Kitty infused artwork from the JapanLA exhibit:

Also, here is a portrait of Lady Gaga glamming it up Sanrio style:

I am Woman! The Women's Conference

I feel very fortunate that I was invited to attend the amazing Women's Conference in Long Beach again, this time thanks to Lean Cuisine, one of the show's major sponsor for the last two years. Under the leadership of California First Lady Maria Shriver, The Women’s Conference brings together 14,000 women across the nation and aims to empower and inspire women to become architects of change. For the second year in a row, it's easily the most inspiring conference or event that I've attended. Tickets sold out in less than two hours and the speaker list is a who's who of entrepreneurs, female leaders of industry, activists and people changing the world. Below are just some highlights, soundbites and the insight gained from such speakers.

Paula Deen
I have never watched her cooking show before, but I do know who she is due to an episode of Kathy Griffin My Life on the D List. However, I definitely know a lot more about this likable Southern cook as she was being interviewed by Martha Beck about living an authentic life. Apparently, Deen started her career in her 40s after she was divorced and found herself alone raising her two sons. She had heard that you should do what you know and so with only $200 to start her business she bought $50 worth of groceries, a business license and a cooler to cart her homemade meals for sale. Before this, she also suffered with agoraphobia for 20 years and felt hopeless until she realized the words behind the serenity prayer and that YOU are the only one to stand in your way, to stop your happiness. She went on to say "ya'll if you have a passion go for it, the sin is to not try!" Overall, she was very open, honest and heartfelt as she shared her wisdom with the audience, even at one point leaving her interview seat to walk out to address everyone and standing inches away from me in the front row. I would have snapped a photo, but she was looking right at me as she talked and that would have been weird and of course rude. Ah well.

Madeleine Albright

OK now we're talking about a real architect of change here! I was so excited to see the first female Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in the panel "How a Woman's Nation Changes Everything" (twitpic photo). She also delivered my favorite line of the conference, when she said that she thinks "there is a special place in hell for women that don't help each other." CLAPPING! The panel itself focused on women having the right to choose...work that is, having kids, having both a career and kids, the lack of flexibility at work and how there aren't any policies in place to let women do both effectively.

Katie Couric

The anchor spoke to the crowd reflecting on her trail blazing career being a prominent female anchorwoman and covering hard hitting issues as well. She shared her failures in broadcasting as well, including CNN saying that she would never be on there again after her first gig on the network. Katie then reflected on how former Meet the Press' host Tim Russert helped give her the break that she needed and that "it takes just one person to see something in someone else, everyone needs a cheerleader." She also made me tear up as she talked about losing her husband to cancer. She said her biggest challenge was smiling on The Today Show after her husband died of cancer and while he was battling it. With her bright smile in place, she read some quotes from others including, "Some days you're the pigeon andsometimes you're the statue," and "A boat is usually safer at the dock, but that's not what it's made for." She received a standing ovation.

Geena Davis

I was surprised to see this actresses' name on the speaker list at first, but soon heard about her athletic past and her institute on Gender in Media, which focuses on dramatically increasing the percentage of female characters and sharply decreasing gender stereotyping in movies, TV and other media aimed at kids 11 years of age and under. She started this project after watching cartoons with her daughter and noticing the stereotypical female characters even in G rated shows. She also spearheads www.genatakesaim.com, which champions Title 1X legislation and girls' participation in sports. She still looked the same btw.

Robin Roberts
I had met the Good Morning America anchor once before during President Obama's inauguration weekend, while visiting the Air and Space Museum. The young kids that I was with for a client project even interviewed her here. Anyway, we all know how Robin bravely fought cancer and shared her battle on the air, even shaving her head and not hiding under a wig. She briefly discussed this and said she was inspired by her families motto, "make your mess your message."

Ashton Kutcher

As you can imagine, there was a long line to attend the panel Changing the World Through the Web, which featured actor and social media guru Ashton Kutcher, Facebook's Randi Zuckenberg, Kiva's Premal Shah and Joe Rospars who was the new media director for Barrack Obama's Presidential campaign. Ashton was trying to channel his inner geek, wearing all black. At times I thought the session moderator was being too snarky with him, even cutting him off just as he was delivering some useful insight especially for me in PR and who lives on Twitter. One gem, that he shared was that the Web allows for town hall meetings from home and is a faster way to mobilize people around a cause or issue. I really liked that comparison of the old and new way to gain support (Additional twitpic of Ashton).

Jillian Michaels

The Biggest Loser fitness trainer Jillian Michaels (photo) rallied the audience by saying it's in our DNA to dream, we just have to allow ourselves. She also challenged everyone there with, well behaved women rarely make history so find a rule and break it! On a side note, I couldn't help but think she looked like actress Linda Hamilton.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
This was now the third time I've heard the Governor speak, outside of movies that is, and again I had to admire his deftness at making fun of his film career, while also providing some interesting insight. Last year, he was a bit more inspirational though, but the crowd appreciated his comments about his wife saying that she is a true partner, beautiful, smart and that she gives good advice. As a result, he went on to say "she's a female Terminator" lol.

Maria Shriver

Such an amazing and smart women, I really do admire her and the work she's done with these conferences and her warmth when she spoke to all of us. As expected, she spoke about losing her mother and how she was her hero and how her death brought her to her knees. Of course everyone was crying. I was twittering just to keep myself from going into full sobs.

The sob fest continued during a panel on grieving with Elizabeth Edwards and Susan Saint James, who both lost a teenage son. They were joined by a surprise guest, Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze's wife for 34 years. Like everyone there I was of course remembering my own losses and for the millionth time admiring my mother for being so strong despite losing her other daughter. I was so emotionally drained after this panel that I didn't go to the next scheduled one with Arianna Huffington, instead I walked around to the different booths in the exhibit hall.

In the sponsors area, I received a lot of pamphlets and branded knickknacks (not as good as last year though and no CVS flu-shots either). I also got to speak with the lovely ladies at Not Done Yet, which creates t-shirts around this slogan and a portion of every sale supports Cancer and Alzheimer's research (my two causes) as well as grief support services. Do check out their awesome and soft-to-the-touch tees, especially for holiday gifting this year and as their motto says, "Live agelessly! You're 'not done yet' - in fact, you're just getting started!"

Last year, I had walked away from this conference determined to blog more about social issues like cancer and green topics, which I'm proud to say I accomplished. I also planned to continue to be more of a mentor to young women at work and in the blogosphere, which I'd like to think I've done as well. This year, I plan to continue the above goals, but because I was so recharged and inspired hearing from such strong and successful women again, I plan to continue that inspiration going all year long, by reading some autobiographies and essays from strong women and keeping more up-to-date on women's issues, like I did back in college. I also want to do some hands on volunteering again, even if it's just a once and awhile roll up your sleeves thing.

For more photos from the conference, do check out e*starLA's flickr photo stream (she has a nicer camera).

The Lavender Harvest

I've always liked the scent of lavender, but like most I never gave it much thought. However, I know have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the plant after attending the Fall Lavender Harvest Festival at The Langham Huntington in Pasadena. The event celebrated all things lavender and included a live lavender distillation demonstration, lavender infused desserts, educational sessions covering the history and health benefits of lavender and 15 different types of lavender essential oils to sniff.

Similar to the making of alcohol, lavender is distilled in order to capture the essential oil. As you can imagine, it smelled lovely. Take a look:

Below are some interesting lavender factoids that I learned from the team at Ajne Pure Essentials, which grows and harvests lavender on their farm in Carmel, California and offers their beauty products at the hotel:

• There are approximately 39 different lavender species and over 300 variations.
  
• An infusion of lavender is claimed to soothe and heal insect bites and bunches of lavender are also said to repel insects.
• If applied to the temples, lavender oil is said to soothe headaches.
• Lavender is frequently used as an aid to sleep and relaxation: Flowers buds of the plant are added to pillows.
• Lavender oil is claimed to heal acne.
• Lavender will grow in nearly any climate - with the likely exception of the arctic. It does best in Mediterranean climates though.

Gloria Gaynor celebrates 30th anniversary of I Will Survive

Last week, I got to sit front row during an intimate concert with disco icon Gloria Gaynor at The GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live. The Q&A and concert was celebrating the 30th anniversary of the diva’s hit song "I Will Survive." Other hits for Gaynor include, “I Am Who I Am” and “Never Can Say Goodbye,” which were also popular in the dance days of the 70s.

In the small conference-like auditorium holding about 75 people, Gaynor answered questions about her 40-year career, revealing that her favorite re-recording of her song "I Will Survive" is by singers Gladys Knight and Chantay Savage. She was surprisingly quiet and had a deeper/gravelly voice than I had expected, but she was very gracious and sweet. She also said that growing up she was inspired by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Before singing a duet "Tell Him" with soap opera actress Nadia Bjorlin, she mentioned that she is talking to Days of Our Lives (her favorite soap) about being on the show. Interesting.

She of course performed her popular song to much clapping as well as a few gospel songs that will be in her upcoming gospel album next year. Another story she shared with us was that a year before recording "I Will Survive" she fell during a performance and was temporarily paralyzed and was in the hospital for several months. Her mother also passed away that year, both tragedies she credits to helping her sing her hit with such conviction.

Overall, it was a very intimate affair, part of the museum's Legends series and was followed by a signing and meet and greet with Gaynor herself. I had her sign her CD and got to take a photo with her.

Tara's Got a Brand New Bag

Take a look at my latest purchase! Actually, I'm thinking of it as an extremely early birthday (Dec. 9) and Christmas gift for myself. I've been wanting a new purse, so I headed to Coach since I'm loving their new big interlocking C designs from their Madison collection and purchased the OP ART CHAINLINK MAGGIE ($298).

Besides being chic and loving the colors (purple magenta, silver, black and a bluish gray), it's super light due to the microfiber fabric. I almost bought one of the similar solid colored leather bags, but they were more money and heavier and that was without my many accessories that usually bog down my arm. There are also three section dividers and a lot of pockets, which will hopefully make finding the afformentioned gadgets and crap in my bag easier to locate. The purse's handles though are from glazed cowhide trim, which again isn't as heavy as their traditonal leather straps either. Lastly, the inside lining is so purpley bright and colorful that it makes me happy just seeing the hidden splash of color.

I didn't stop there though, after all if you give a mouse a cookie...or rather a new bag, she's going to want some milk, I mean, a matching wallet :) But come on, it's so tiny and cute! It barely holds all my cards, but it helped me streamline a bit.

All week I've been wearing clothes that have the above colors so I can match and show off my bag, lol.