When Tara Met Blog: June 2010

We're Moving

No, not back to New York (not yet at least), but to Downtown Los Angeles. Having spent the last four years (wow, it's really almost been 4 years!) on the Westside near the ocean and LAX, we decided that a change would be good. As would having more space than our 1 bedroom condo offered. Plus, my commute is now 15 to 20 minutes instead of an hour *sigh*.

Somewhere between going to Vegas and New York for work, we managed to pack and move all our belongings and cat to our new 2 bedroom apartment and find a renter for our condo. We now have a real dishwasher (not my husband), a washer and dryer and central air in our new place. The building also has elevators, a concierge, a hot tub on the roof, a private movie theater that you can reserve (hello Golden Girls marathon!) and a gym. Thus, amenities are key here.

Our new digs are also in a historical building--the former Subway Terminal Building from 1925--and is often featured on daily guided walking tours, which is kind of cool. In the magnificent lobby, decorated and soaring ceilings, Italian marble floors, mosaic tile and hand-carved woodwork welcome residents and guests to a grander era, and the rich architectural details throughout tell a story of timeless elegance. The elevators still say "this car up," the only thing missing is Bogey and Bacall.

Downtown is definitely a new beast though. We are already enjoying being able to walk to hip restaurants or even venturing out to buy milk without starting up the car. It's more like Manhattan in that sense. However, it's definitely not as dense or safe as NYC. I've found that there are more aggressive homeless people and less cops here. My new building though has a lot of security and guard at the front desk at all times, which is very comforting. Anyway, expect more posts about downtown in the future.

Disney's Toy Story 3 Designer T-Shirts Party

This week, I've been busy promoting Disney's new designer tees inspired by Toy Story 3, which comes out today. For this project, they teamed up with some really hot "new-school" designers--Henry Holland (he has over 60k twitter followers, so jealous), Victor Glemaud (a real sweetie), Jonathan Saunders, Costello Tagliapietra, and Cassette Playa and had them pick their favorite character as their design muse. The resulting shirts are really edgy and modern and are available at the popular shopping site REVOLVEclothing.com for $70-$108. Yup, couture ain't cheap, but if you could feel how soft the fabric is and see the different details and styles, you'd understand more.

To launch the line, we had a private celeb-studded fashion unveiling last night at REVOLVEclothing's boutique on Melrose in West Hollywood. Although when we started planning this event back in early May, little did we know it would fall on the final game of the NBA finals and that the LA Lakers would be playing. Pretty tough to compete with, however, we still managed to have a super packed party with celebrities in attendance like Dancing with the Stars Cheryl Burke, supermodel Agyness Deyn, actor Mark Pellegrino (Jacob from Lost) actress Krysten Ritter (the friend in Confessions of a Shopaholic), and actress Jennifer Taylor (Two and a Half Men), among others.

Being a Lost fan, I was really looking forward to seeing Mark, but it was also eerie too. I'd turn around and see him and kind of gasp thinking I was on the island or that he was here to make me a candidate.

I don't watch Two and a Half Men, but Jennifer Taylor was really nice and especially loved the new designer Hamm t-shirt, in fact, she put it over her own shirt and wore it throughout the party.

Also, here's a fun photo of my blogger friends Esther, Maya and Katelin on the big chair prop outside the party. It makes us look so tiny.

PS: Next week I'll be in NYC!

Meeting Wayne Newton

Last week for work, I was in Vegas at the Licensing Expo. During the trade show my team was working on a special surprise Vegas-style musical number with the iconic singer and entertainer Wayne Newton as he sang the theme song to Disney Channel's hit animated series Phineas and Ferb. Joining Mr. Las Vegas for the crowd pleasing performance included costumed characters from Phineas and Ferb dancing with Vegas showgirls dressed in platypus embellished outfits to resemble the show’s character— Perry/Agent P.

My colleagues were unfazed by working with Wayne Newton, but I was a little giddy during rehearsals. I had seen him in concert in Atlantic City back in '94 where I unexpectedly had a really good time. Although he might not have many hits, he definitely has a presence and is a true entertainer. I'm also an old soul, so that might have something to do with it too.

In recent pop-culture, in the movie The Hangover, Wayne Newton is shown in one of the pictures during the end credits getting in a fight with Phil, lol. Apparently he also has a reality TV show coming out soon on WeTV called "Wayne's World."

Anyway, during rehearsals I timidly went up to him and luckily he was more than welcoming. In fact, he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and a big smile. He graciously posed for photos with me and my colleagues too, shook hands, etc. (He's pretty tall!). He gave me another kiss goodbye and that was my Wayne Newton encounter 16 years after I saw him perform in AC :)

My latest Huffington Post article: The Many Offerings at the LA Film Festival

COVERGIRL's Red Carpet Makeover with Rashida Jones

Before the MTV Movie Awards a bunch of beauty bloggers and I were able to watch as actress Rashida Jones of Parks and Recreation, I Love You Man and The Office got ready with hair and makeup at the popular Byron & Tracey Salon in Beverly Hills. The event was hosted by COVERGIRL and their makeup artist--Molly R. Stern talked us through her choices and provided tips as she applied the different makeup products on the actress for her red carpet appearance.

Molly said normally she'd do red carpet prep at a celebrities home or hotel and that first she'd ask what they were looking to accomplish, how they were planning to wear their hair and lastly what they were planning on wearing. Rashida had her hair up with extensions and braids added in and said that she wanted a natural look, but something colorful just not heavy handed. With that in mind, Stern sprayed some rose water on Rashida's face and then applied COVERGIRL's new Simply Ageless Serum Primer, which comes out next month. Stern told the watching audience that "less is more" and reminded us that it was easier to build than take away.

Rashida and Molly both said that they loved using blush (especially a creme blush) because it makes you look more awake and alive. Molly went so far as to say that if she was on a dessert island and could only grab two beauty tools it would be blush and an eyelash curler. Some other upcoming COVERGIRL makeup was revealed like their liquilineblast, which is like a liquid eyeliner, but a cream stick on one end and a smudge tool on the other side to blend it in more. All along Molly kept putting the different COVERGIRL colors on her hand like a painter's tray and then applying to Rashida.

Rashida meanwhile was very down to earth and kept interacting with all of us. Surprisingly, it was discovered that she recently wrote a comic book called Frenemy of the State and is eager for Comicon. She also mentioned that one of her pet peeves is grammar and people using regimen instead of regime (guilty!).

Now, here Rashida is--as my Nanny would say--"with her face on"

Being Married to a Blogger

As my husband can attest, being married to a blogger has its perks and disadvantages. Take recently, going to the L.A. Kings game in a VIP box was definitely an advantage, but having to watch the game in a Snuggie = disadvantage. Although by the end of the night he seemed loathsome to give it up, lol.

The same thing with the Grammy's. I told him we were going to a Grammy Pre-Party red carpet event, but he soon found out that what I meant was that he was working as my photographer in the pit with professional paparazzi. He took some good photos though. I was at the end of the carpet with most of the online publications doing interviews with the different guests and I'd hear him shout, "Ashanti, right here, right here!" I was so proud. It also ended up being several hours on our feet and way past Midnight before we could call it a night and actually check out the party itself. No such thing as a free ride I guess, but at least we got to be inside the W Hollywood the week it opened, sip some free drinks and walk away with a goodie bag.

Recently, my husband and blogger assistant has been annoyed with my tweeting at the dinner table and in front of friends. The other night, when my plate was delivered it looked so pretty I had to tweet it and while I was on my blackberry, of course I had to check in on FourSquare too. After all, if you give a mouse a cookie it's going to want some milk, or in this case, if you give Tara a blackberry she's going to want to tweet.

When I take him to blogger parties, he hates having to say he's not a blogger since everyone in the room IS a blogger. At some point, he just started responding that he was a "Mommy Blogger" just to fit in. I'm not sure it worked.

Then there is the fact that I’m always complaining about fluctuating traffic to my blog or the knowledge that everything we do could be blogged about at any moment.

So, for guys marrying a blogger… make sure you know what you’re getting into ;)

Road trip in the 2011 Buick Regal

The folks at @GMNewsWest kindly offered me the chance to drive the 2011 Buick Regal over Memorial Day Weekend. Raphael and I didn't have plans made for the holiday, but quickly made some as to not pass up the opportunity for a quick road trip. So, we headed up the PCH, taking in the beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and toured the famous Hearst Castle. We also spent the night in Pismo Beach at a hotel right on the beach and boardwalk, very romantic. The following day, we visited two Central Coast wineries--Edna Valley Vineyards and Baileyana Winery in San Louis Obispo. Neither of us had been before, but the area is known for its appearance in the movie Sideways and for their Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals.

Here is a photo of our chariot in wine country:

Observations about the new Buick Regal:

Awesome GPS navigation system, far superior to the Lexus, which Raphael has and we find difficult to use or customize, thus not as user friendly or intuitive as this Buick's navigation system.
We also enjoyed clicking on the OnStar button in the rear view mirror and speaking with a live person in order to get directions to the Hearst castle. No more, "did you say California?" "YES!" Instead, we just told our destination to the operator and once she located it, she sent the details to our navigation system, which then took over without us entering the address ourselves or using voice activation prompts. Luckily, we didn't get in an accident and have to use OnStar's other features, but I have to say it felt good knowing that it was there if we did.
Yay to Sirius XM radio! I haven't listened to a real radio station in over 3 years now. Also, it has a USB plug-in and we tried Raphael's iPod shuffle in it and was amazed at how easy it worked and showed the song names on the dash display.
I felt more elevated than I do in my Jetta and I liked the extra visibility
It was easy to excel in the Buick and didn't require the force on the peddle like other cars do.
It's quiet. Despite traveling on the freeways, when inside the car, typical outside noises like the highway and car sounds were blocked really well.
Roomy inside, but not bulky outside

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