When Tara Met Blog: September 2010

Blogger Prom 2010

Last night, in the hilltops of the Hollywood Hills at the classic Yamashiro Restaurant, 200 Los Angeles bloggers gathered for the 2nd annual Blogger Prom. Last year, the theme was 80s, this year though it was "Hollywood Confidential," which made the 88-year-old restaurant perfect to showcase the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

To glam it up, I wore a silk backless gown with a plunging neckline reminiscent of a femme fatale leading lady of the time. I finished the look with some baubles and a faux fur shawl (photo) for when it got cooler. My hair was curled and put up with a matching fuchsia feathered hair clip and my face painted thanks to Studio DNA, which styled all the female Blogger Prom committee members.

I definitely wasn't the only one all decked out and having fun with the theme. I especially loved Recessionista's hat and Katelin's husband's white tux and spats. Take a look at some of these pics:

As a committee member, I was responsible for securing sponsors and getting goodies for the gift bags. In the end, I put together a bag valued at over $300 with donations from Disney Store, LuxLash Beverly Hills, The GRAMMY Museum, The American Cinematheque, Pinkberry, Dermalogica, Degree® Women Natureffects, Proactiv, O.N.E. Coconut Water, Pinky Vodka, Border Grill, Hugo's Restaurant, Sprinkles, The Manila Machine, Cost Plus World Market, Oroweat Sandwich Thins, UNITE Hair Care, 7ElevenSoCal, and Goodberrymint mintwater. Thanks to all the sponsors! Pretty sweet, no?

I also worked with the amazing folks at Verizon Wireless again to help make our event connected. After all, what would a Blogger Prom be without the ability to tweet live? They also were on hand with computers and Droid phones and did their own twitter giveaway for a MiFi.

The amazing food for the evening was graciously provided by Yamashiro's handsome and sweet Chef Brock, along with cheeses from Barrie Lynn--The Cheese Impresario, cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop, chocolates from ChocolateBox Cafe and ice cream sandwiches from Cool Haus.

Also, a warm shout out to my fellow committee members for all their hard work and friendship:

Maya - Shop Eat Sleep
Esther - E*StarLA
Caroline - Caroline On Crack
Marni - Happy Go Marni
HC - LA and OC Foodventures
Lindsay - LAist
Natali - The Liquid Muse

The Glass Menagerie and Leap of Faith now playing in LA

Lots of theater options in L.A. this season, whether you enjoy plays (Raphael) or musicals (Tara).

Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie is playing at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown now through Oct. 17th. Although plays can sometimes be hit or miss for me, I've always enjoyed this stifiling family saga since I first read it back in high school. The two time Tony award winner Judith Ivey stars as Amanda Wingfield, the controlling former Southern belle desperately seeking a gentlemen caller to provide for her shy spinster daughter. The New York Times says it's "the performance of her career.” Personally, I recognized Ivey from her stint on the later seasons of Designing Women playing the rich character B.J. Poteet. The play also starred Ben McKenzie from The O.C. Definitely go see it, tickets aren't too expensive ($45) and the theater is intimate. I also saw a few celebs in the audience taking in the play too--Richard Chamberlain and Tim Bagley from Monk.

In the same week, I also watched the musical, Leap of Faith at the Ahmanson Theatre next door to the Forum. It's a new musical making it's world premier in Los Angeles and stars Brooke Shields and Raúl Esparza. The story is about a con artist that prays on a rain-starved town in Kansas by putting together a gospel-charged tent show and asking for money to perform "miracles." Sound familiar? It's based on a film also called Leap of Faith with Steve Martin, Debra Winger and Liam Neeson. I've always been a fan of the film and it was interesting seeing it turned into a musical. I liked the Gospel and bluegrass type music from 8-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast). However, the show was a half hour too long for me and I thought some of the lyrics were corny. Although I'm a fan of Brooke's and liked her in Broadway's Wonderful Town, I wasn't too impressed with her here. I think she's better off with upbeat songs, yet was given a lot of sad love songs to sing. Either way, it was a fun show, but not the greatest. It's still new yet, so maybe they can iron out some of the kinks and hopefully remove the annoying ballet transition scenes that seemed so out of place. The production leaves L.A. on October 24th so see it while you can, tickets are only $25 to $47 via GoldStar.

Art Deco Signs in Downtown Los Angeles

Since moving to downtown Los Angeles, I can't help but be in awe of some of the nostalgic Art Deco signs that can be spotted throughout the city and are now fading amidst more modern architecture and blatant neglect. These gems from the first decades of the 20th century are reminiscent of downtown L.A.'s more swanky and booming times of cable cars, fancy hotels and film premiers. They just don't make elaborate signs like these anymore.

Take a look at some of the ones I've spotted:

My fav though is the Eastern Columbia Building, a thirteen-story building located at 849 S. Broadway and is considered to be the most beautiful of Los Angeles' historic buildings, as well as its finest surviving example of Art Deco. It is easily spotted due to its bright turquoise color and it's rumored that Leonardo DiCaprio has a penthouse here. However, I recognized the building from the pilot episode of Moonlighting when Cybill and Bruce are hanging from the clock's face as they searched for hidden diamonds at gunpoint.

Oh, and this one is just funny. Rooms for $1!

Photo Essay: The Doors of Lower Manhattan

Say hello to my little kitty

Almost two years ago, I announced the addition of Patches our Tortoiseshell kitty to our home and proudly showed how she could do tricks on command in this YouTube video.

Now, my husband who used to not want cats at all, brought home another kitty that he rescued from animal control. Her name is Bandit and she's a very loving and tiny 7-week-old Calico.

The poor thing has a respiratory condition that we are giving her medicine for and she even had worms when we first brought her home, only a day after she was spayed. So, she's had a rough couple of days, but has been oblivious to her aliments at least.

We were hoping that by getting a new cat it would help keep Patches entertained while we are at work and when we travel. At first, I felt guilty for disrupting Patches' charmed life when they were hissing at each other and she refused to play or do her tricks. Yet, now they aren't exactly close, but they are getting along and Patches is becoming more and more like her old self. Bandit simply doesn't take no for an answer and continually wants to play with Patches. As a result, they are constantly chasing each other around the house, which is fun to see.

Video interview with Sara Rue

Last week, at the Entertainment Tonight Emmy after party, I saw celebs like Cyndi Lauper, Brooke Burke and Ali and Roberto from The Bachelorette, but I particularly enjoyed chatting with Sara Rue from TV's Eastwick and Less Than Perfect. You might also recognize her as the new spokesperson for Jenny Craig having recently lost 50 pounds on their system.

Here's our chat:

On the Emmy Red Carpet

Maybe this post would have been better titled, "I survived the Emmys," because I was there from 10:30 a.m. straight on to the ET after party, which I left early at 10 p.m. It was exhausting. You can read all about my adventures though in my Huffington Post article: http://huff.to/cf1qqq

Also, in the below slideshow are 104 of my best photos from the red carpet. Which pic is your favorite? Who would you have most wanted to see in person?

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