Giveaway: The Flip camcorder

With YouTube receiving seven hours of video every minute of every day, everyone is getting in on the online video sharing craze. This Mother's Day make Mom the hippest mom on the block by giving her the new easy-to-use Flip camcorder. I've blogged about the tiny and easy to use camcorder before (here) and have been using it to film my coverage of Tribeca this week.

Basically its an easy and affordable way for mom or anyone to capture and share video memories. The pocket-sized cam fits easily into pocket or purse and can be carried everywhere, plus comes in fun colors like orange and pink. Their onboard software makes it a snap to upload video directly to YouTube, email video or send personalized greetings. There's even a clear underwater case available for filming under the waves at the pool and beach, which I've added to my bridal shower registry, lol.

Now how do you get one too? Well, the great people at Pure Digital, the makers of The Flip camcorder is giving me a Flip Ultra with 60 minute record time to give to one of you. The camcorder sells for $132 on Amazon and I'll also throw in some When Tara Met Blog goodies like a t-shirt in this giveaway. Excited? OK now to win, just post a comment here with your email address (If I don't know how to contact you already or if a blog link isn't provided) along with a quick suggestion of what video content you'd like to see on my blog in the future, IE me filming the beach for those not in L.A., more interviews, no video--you hate it, etc. Good luck! I'll be drawing a lucky winner on Sunday evening.

Update: Congrats to ProudPapa on winning the Flip camcorder, enjoy filming your boy!

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Curtains on Broadway

One of the big things that I miss about NYC is Broadway. I used to know all about the latest shows and would go quite often, but now I'm so out of the loop. I did however get to see Curtains, staring Frasier's David Hyde Pierce who I love and apparently the Tony's do too since he won for Best Actor in a Musical, 2007. The show opened last March but unfortunately will be closing on June 29th so do see it while you can.

Curtains is part murder mystery and part backstage musical. The show unfolds backstage at a Boston theater in 1959, where a new musical could be a Broadway smash, were it not for the presence of its talent-free leading lady. When the hapless star dies on opening night during her curtain call, Lieutenant Frank Cioffi (Pierce) arrives on the scene to conduct an investigation. But the lure of the theater proves irresistible and after an unexpected romance blooms for the stage-struck detective, he finds himself just as drawn toward making the show a hit, as he is in solving the murder.

David has a beautiful voice and is definitely charismatic on stage. His accent, a mixture of a Bostonian and 50s cop talk, is pretty impressive, very unlike his Niles voice and never wavered. He even sang in the accent. Anyway, I'm a huge fan of his so I'm sure I would have liked his performance no mater what, but he did exceed my high expectations. After the show, I waited outside by the stage door hoping to see him leave and was rewarded with a signed playbill and a photograph. I told him I loved his performance and owned every season of Frasier on DVD. He was super sweet and stayed to greet each person waiting in line, he even retook a photo with someone after hearing the woman declare that it came out blurry. Really nice of him.


To see the cast perform the song "Show People" check out this clip.

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Tribeca: Tennessee Red Carpet Premiere

Yesterday, an indie film called Tennessee gave its world debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Aaron Woodley and written by Russell Schaumburg, Tennessee is an intimate road movie with two brothers traveling to the hometown that they fled as teenagers to find their estranged father. When they are joined by a spirited woman (Mariah Carey) running from her abusive husband, they begin to grow closer and the truth of their journey comes to light. This is Mariah’s first feature film since the disaster that was Glitter. I’m seeing a screening of the film this week, so a longer review will be up at Film School Rejects soon.

In the meantime, I got some inside information on the film from Ethan Peck, the grandson of the famous Gregory Peck, who plays Ellis, one of the brothers in Tennessee. I also got up close and personal with the diva herself, Mariah Carey, who looked professional in her white top and straight hair. She also seemed pretty unphased by all the paparazzi's shouts and microphones being shoved at her. Apparently, according to her response to another reporter she lives nearby Tribeca in walking distance. Other guest celebs in attendance at the red carpet premiere included: Sir Ben Kingsley, Robert DeNiro and Soprano’s Edie Falco. Here’s the resulting inside video that I created:



For more photos, check out my Tribeca Photo Set on Flickr.

Update: The Mother's Day GiveSimple.com Giveaway winner is Katelin from Gorgeous Footsteps in the Sand.

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I saw Robert DeNiro

and a dream of mine has finally come true. While at the Tribeca Film Festival today covering the red carpet premiere of Tennessee I got to see stars like Mariah Carey, Ben Kingsley and the great Bobby D, my favorite actor ever. I already finished my interviews and most of the press left the minute Mariah Carey went by. For some reason I was taking my time gathering my stuff and good thing because a last minute suprise arrival was in store for the remaining 15 or so press. Robert DeNiro came walking down, gray hair and in a nice suit. I swear I was stunned and I ran back to my spot to get a photo, however in my haste I stupidly hit the stop button instead of record. I'm kicking myself now because when I daringly yelled out "Bobby" to him, he looked right at me, smiled, nodded his head and continued on into the theater.

I was freaking out. My cameraman said I looked like a little girl and that my voice went all high pitch. I started crying after he walked by. I know this sounds pathetic, but I swear this is literally a dream come true for me and I cursed like a truck driver when I realized I messed up on the video. I would have had a video of him staring right at me, dammit!!! Anyway, it was still awesome. I'm so surprised he was even there since he's known to be reclusive despite the fact that he was the founder of the festival and for rebuilding so much of the Tribeca area in Manhattan. It doesn't help that he looks so much like my deceased father, for a second it felt like my dad was smiling and nodding at me. In fact, my dad often got mistaken for Robert DeNiro when he was younger a la Midnight Run time. Once we were at the airport and someone asked him for his autograph, instead of clarifying that he wasn't the actor, my dad signed the paper Bobby D, lol. After seeing him I was elated for awhile and then it felt like I was coming off a sugar high. Hell, this whole post is just an elated mess.

Update: I saw him again and this time I got video (see Speed Racer post), however it wasn't as intimate of a moment though ;)

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Pinkberry opens 50th store

Just three years after the first Pinkberry frozen-yogurt shop took Los Angeles by storm, the company celebrated the grand opening of its 50th location at Fashion Island in Newport Beach today and I was in attendance as were lines of other fans.

Pinkberry co-founders Shelly Hwang and Young Lee were also there for the grand opening event and were serving up their tangy non-fat frozen yogurt to customers. The company was also giving away exclusive Newport Beach Pinkberry t-shirts to the first 200 customers that ordered yogurt, thus the lines. Also, all the proceeds from the grand opening are going to The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. Pretty nice.

Despite rumors from competitors and misreported articles and blog posts, Pinkberry’s recipe contains real yogurt with live and active cultures and is certified by the National Yogurt Association. Their yogurt isn't "all-natural" since their recipe contains some FDA approved additives as reported recently by The New York Times, however it IS yogurt, non-fat, low calaroie, contains live and active cultures and is a good source of calcium--what more do people want?

The first time I tasted their fro-yo I wasn't prepared for the tart and tangy taste since I was always used to frozen yogurt that tasted more like ice cream, however their frozen-yogurt tastes more like yogurt. Now, however, I'm addicted. I took my mom twice while she was out here and went four times last week!!

For those in the know, they have some secret menu options like In and Out Burger does, for example my favorite is ordering their off the menu topping, Mochi. It's a gooey rice ball but it tastes like marshmallow, I love it! So I usually get their original flavor with fresh pineapple and mochi. Another secret menu ordering tip is that you can ask for any Pinkberry flavor to be swirled with another, yet this isn't noted on their menu. So, the next time you go, you can order one of these options and seem like a regular ;) Unfortunately they only have stores in NY and the Los Angeles area right now, but they have plans to continue to open in other areas.

Here are some photos of the shirts, lines, and a photo of me with the Pinkberry CEO:

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Its mold news

So our condo has mold, well not our unit but our neighbor’s, but since they share a wall with us we now have it too. They had an undetected leak for some time. We smelt the moldy smell awhile ago, but it has since grown stronger. It was our questions that even alerted them to the problem to begin with—a leaky pipe in their bathroom vanity unit, which is aligned with ours. The vanity we just put a new granite countertop on. Anyway, the leak was so bad on their side that their wooden cabinets were corroded. They used our carpenter to repair their set and figured that was that, however as I mentioned the smell got worse on our side. So bad that poor Raphael has been getting the brut of it by sniffling, coughing severely and has even had to sleep out on the couch to escape the fumes. Apparently, if you are allergic to mold it affects you more and we just discovered that he must be, since it doesn’t really bother me, I just wake up a bit congested. I can definitely smell it though.

We had the carpenter open a hole in the wall from our side and discovered mold all over the sheetrock, thus their leak had spread to the walls. We sprayed some bleach to kill it but now he has to repair the sheetrock from their side and hopefully that does the trick! Our neighbors though aren’t well off, in fact, the husband is mentally handicapped, so it’s really an unfortunate situation and it also sucks that we’re suffering from a leak that we didn’t even cause. In the meantime, we have the windows open and a fan on at all times blowing the mold spores out. Yeah, so that’s what I’ve been dealing with the last few days. Who knew mold could be so problematic?

We’ll be away next week, I’m going to be working from the NY office and covering the Tribeca Film Festival again as press (did so back in 2006 too), so hopefully all the mold airs out while we are gone. Stay tuned to my blog for Tribeca coverage next week and I’ll be having another exciting giveaway this time for a Flip camcorder!

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The Governator

While staffing a pro bono event this morning for the LA Free Clinic I got to see Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and hear him address the crowd.

The LA Free Clinic unveiled its new name, The Saban Free Clinic after celebrating its largest donation in its 40-year history, a $10 million endowment from philanthropists Cheryl Saban PhD and Haim Saban. Turns out Mrs. Saban once turned to the free clinic when she didn't have insurance and needed medical care and now that she's in a position to give back, she is, $10 million dollars worth, wow!

Hearing Arnold up at the podium during the program with his unmistakable voice, I felt like I was on a set of a movie or in a movie. Scenes of Kindergarten Cop, Terminator, Total Recall and Twins fluttered through my brain and I could picture being in the theater with my dad when I first became a fan of the actor. Yet, this was real life, although during his speech, the Governor/Actor dressed in a grayish blue pinstripe suit did revert back to a caricature of himself by restating his popular line "I'll be back!" He's also bulked down a lot and is looking older now, yet still very charismatic and powerful. Take a look:

Also in the crowd was clinic supporter and Will & Grace actor, Sean Hayes. I didn't speak to him but often crossed his path during my runnings around for the press check-in, in fact I did get to say "excuse me" as I dashed in front of him. From a distance I snapped the following photos:

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Mother's Day Giveaway

Mother's Day is right around the corner (May 11th!) and below are some of my favorite simple and fun gift ideas from GiveSimple.com.

For the Working Mom...Stylish Florence file folders $14.00 or Venezia Memento Boxed Note Cards $15.00:

For something a bit luxurious there is this cozy Pine Cone Hill Robe in Peony $70 (free shipping):

For the fun loving mom there's a watermelon colored Peace Love Mom t-shirt for $38 (My girl Marilu Henner is apparently one of the celeb mommy fans of Peace Love Mom):

And how cute are these Polka Dot and Stripe Tea Towels $12.00 and Salad Servers $15.00?

Oh and here's something a bit more extravagant but it's too cute. I want this French Picnic Set too! $140:

Now for the giveaway...the site is letting me raffle off their decorative file folders above, which I have a set of myself and their Murval Brown Patent Handbag for a total giveaway value of $44.00. In order to win, just post a comment here mentioning your favorite item from the GiveSimple site, one I didn't already feature as one of my picks. I'll then randomly select a winner on the evening of April 27th. No, you don't have to be a mom to enter, heck you can be a dude looking to give your mother or girl something nice, whatever. Good luck and please leave your email address if I don't already know how to contact you.

All of you though can receive 10% off your total purchases on the site when you enter the GiveSimple coupon code--TARAMETBLOG--good until May 7th.

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BabyCakes Baking Company

My LA Cupcakes MeetUp group headed out to Torrance today to visit BabyCakes Baking Company. This cupcakery came recommended by one of our members that live near the shop and it was a great choice. A bit far out out for some, but the only cupcake shop in the south bay.

At BabyCakes Baking Company everything is made from scratch daily using all-natural ingredients and you can tell just by looking at how organic and homemade their cupcakes look, not artificially colored either. Almost like muffins with a slight glistening of icing on top. They also make sugar-free and gluten free cupcakes every Wednesday and Saturday to accommodate special dietary needs.

In addition to their everyday flavors, they offer up to four to five daily specials. All of their flavors are available in mini size BabyCakes as well. They also bake a variety of yummy cookies, brownies and other goodies and people love their gourmet Italian coffee (I stuck to skim milk though).

The owner's name is Khryste Langlais and she opened her shop up only four months ago with the help of her husband who works there on Saturdays too. Note that they are closed on Sundays. Khryste says she started baking when she was only twelve and hasn't had professional training, just a home baker with some inventive recipes.

My favorites were her German Chocolate Cupcake that was so rich I couldn't finish it, plus her tart and sweet Zesty Lemon cupcakes and her light Strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry butter cream that was super light and fluffy that I had to order it just seeing how whipped it looked behind the glass. Other interesting flavors included the Apple Streusel with real apples inside, the dark vanilla bean cupcake and the Italian Orange made with corn meal, olive oil, white wine and a fresh orange zest but no icing. Really unique and not too sweet, I really enjoyed these cupcakes. One member commented that she liked how the shop seemed to be aimed for adults instead of children. I'd definitely come back to try their other specials.

The shop itself was simple with old family photographs on the wall and pink and white stripes painted vertically.

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Party with Omarosa

On Sunday night at BOULEVARD 3, we attended the 35th birthday of Claudia Jordan, best known for being a Barker beauty on Price is Right and currently is suitcase #1 on Deal or No Deal. Eddie Murphy was supposed to attend along with some other stars/models, however I never saw the Nutty Professor, but I did see and took some photos of Apprentice bad girl Omarosa. She was looking really good actually, but her boobs were way out in the open though. I don't remember her always being that big? But as the show's theme song sings "Money Money Money!" Personally, I was rooting for my girl Marilu Henner (met her years ago at the stage door of the traveling production of Annie Get Your Gun) to win Celebrity Apprentice.

Everyone was in cocktail attire, which consisted of cool looking blazers on the men and way too short and skimpy dresses for the ladies. Although the guys there told me there was no such thing, lol. I can't really talk since my girls were out to say hi too.

The outside foray had cool fireplaces with water surrounding them and inside the nightclub was a really spacious two level room with white walls and blacklight lighting. Sexy female dancers were on the elevated dance floor providing a show for the surrounding guys. The party was thrown by Jin & Quinn, the Quinn being Alex Quinn the son of late academy-award winning actor Anthony Quinn.

Hollywire.com also reports: Deal or No Deal’s Claudia Jordan turns 35

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Heat wave

My Mother and the heat came into town this weekend.

L.A. experienced record temperatures this weekend and boy was it hot. Since we live on the west side near the water, our condo does not have air condition and our fans were not cutting it. So we headed to the beach on Saturday. Below are some resulting photos of my mom and the heat:

In order to escape the heat on Sunday though, we headed to the Beverly Center mall for some free AC, Jamba Juice and shopping. Changes in the weather means I need to start preparing for the annual wardrobe seasonal switch, right? So poor Raphael became "my elephant" (I stole the term from the short story Just Curious by Jude Deveraux) holding onto all my clothes and sitting tiredly outside the dressing rooms. He was also nursing a hangover, which didn't help matters. He was more than a good sport though, even let me take this degrading photo of him in all his misery:

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Geek Goes Chic

On Thursday night I headed to the TechCrunch/Pop Sugar "Geek Goes Chic" party in Hollywood's The Vanguard club. I thought it was going to be more like the Glam.com or LADaddy blogging parties that I've gone to in the past where I got to meet some other bloggers, however this was more of a business development party, with sponsors hosting tables and demoing new software and sites while music was playing and drinks were being served. I kept getting asked advertising questions about my blog, and strategy questions, to the point where I felt like I was still at work. It was like a conference masquerading as a nightclub social. Beer and wine was free though and there were lots of glow in the dark flashing rings being given out, yet I never found out from where.

I did get to see my blogging buddy M.K. from PopBytes again (he gets so many site visitors a month it's ridiculous), spotted a reporter friend from CNET, one of my fiance's groomsmen and hung out with my client MusicIP.

If you want to check out some new sites and tools, some of the companies that pitched me included: MyThings.com, dimdim (saw them back at DEMO) PicApp, ucubd and ShopItToMe.com.

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Thank goodness for the Tide pen

Insert LeAnn Rimes song "How do I live without you?"

Seriously what did I do before this magic pen? I used to use the Shout wipes, but it just wet the problem area bringing more attention to the spot. Granted the Tide to Go pen doesn't always get eveything I drop on me out, but it definitely helps in most cases. Almost daily I get something on me or knock over my drink. I'm not clutsy per se, but so overly enthusiastic that things tend to fall in my wake or food slips on the way to my mouth. Well, whatever the reason, I seem to always be grabbing for the Tide to Go that I have in my desk drawer, or in my car, or the two pens that are in my home (they are by both of my sinks for easy water access for a full out war). I found the quicker you rub the better results, yes still talking about the stain remover.

According to their site: Tide to Go works well on the following stains:

• Tomato Juice
• Ketchup
• BBQ Sauce
• Grape Juice
• Coffee
• Wine
• Tea
• Chocolate Syrup

It does not work well on greasy stains, which unfortuantely was today's culprit. A balsamic vinigerette straight to the pants. The poor jeans didn't know what hit them. Poor bastard.

Note: No, Tide is not one of my blog sponsors. However, Tide, If you'd like to approach me--my stains are all ears and my clothes would surely thank you ;)

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Ski bums

I started skiing when I was four, an ankle biter without the poles. My mother and I had learned at the same time actually. I used to be fearless, but as I get older I'm more comfortable on the blue intermediate trails than the diamonds. I still like finding my own path and going around trees for fun though. Last year, Raphael started learning how to ski so we could go together.

Over the weekend a group of us headed to Mammoth Lakes to ski Mammoth Mountain in continuation of Raphael's 30th birthday and his friend's bday as well. I had never been to Mammoth since it's a 5 to 6 hour ride away, but it was worth it because the mountain offered more variety and had less people. I still can't get over the fact that we can even ski in April out here. Pretty amazing. Here are some action videos I took of Raphael and I skiing, hehe:

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The Magic Castle

Raphael turned 30 last Thursday and we all had a laugh about it at The Magic Castle comedy and magic club ;) It's a real castle in Hollywood circa 1908 and is only open to members and their guests. Formal attire is required so the guys had to wear jackets and ties and us ladies wore dresses. One of our friends had a special invite pass that allowed us entrance, but we still had to pay a door fee of $20 each, but that gave us access to all the shows happening that night in the many different rooms of this Gothic mansion.

Inside it looked like the waiting area for the Tower of Terror ride at MGM or some bordello with the rich Victorian fabric on the walls and antique furniture. There were silly mirrors, candlelit chandeliers, paintings where the eyes moved and to enter past the reception area you have to say "open sesame" to the owl sculpture in the bookshelf for the case to open and give entrance to the rest of the castle. Here we are in front of the aforementioned bookshelf.

Before heading to the dining room for dinner we caught a quick magic show by a lawyer/magician, who really impressed me with his ability to read people. The food was good, albeit pricey and when it came time to deliver the cake and sing Happy Birthday to Raphael the waiter had a beautiful cake in his hands, but just after Raphael blew out his candles they pulled it back to reveal that it was only a fake shell and a lonely cupcake without the icing was left for him instead. It was an unexpected surprise.

After dinner we saw the headliner Kevin James. No, not the actor from King of Queens, but a magician and former contestant on America's Got Talent. His act was pretty silly with a little person dressed as Charlie Chaplin and a chick swallowing fire for the entertainment, but Raphael and the guys were cracking up and enjoying it. His final trick though was impressive and involved a guy's body being separated but without the typical box and saws.

All in all, it was a magical night out, pun intended and definitely different than the typical night in L.A.

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Nice to meet you

It’s funny, now that I’m not going on dates anymore, but have been actively trying to make more friends out here in L.A., I can’t help but notice the similarities of making a new friend and dating. There’s the exciting getting to know you phase, the interview like questions, the awkward moments and then you either bond or some annoying habits or personality traits arise that you don’t like in a friend. Or maybe it turns out that their just not that into you either ;)

Most of all, new friendships take work, just like new relationships. You have to actively make an effort, plan events and outings, think about what you’re going to wear, etc. I’m not saying I’m like this with all my friends, just the new ones. My friendships from college, high school and in New York City have already been forged and the cream has already risen to the top and our rough patches are already over and done with (hopefully!). I miss them.

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Lessons from the beauty parlor

Earlier this week I attended another Citysearch Eat.Drink.Learn event, this time the topic wasn't on how to take care of orchids, but "Haute Locks: How to Look Fierce for Spring."

Held at The Parlour on 3rd, a cozy salon in West Hollywood. The parlor's normal cashier station was turned into a mini bar serving up cocktails consisting of the world's first Acai infused spirit, VeeV. The little Acai berry is the new super food that is replacing the recent pomegranate craze due to it's higher count of natural antioxidants, vitamins, protein and fiber. What I also found interesting about the spirit is that VeeV donates $1 for every bottle sold to help protect and replenish the Amazonian Rain forest. The cocktails were refreshing, like lemonade, albeit a little strong for me to drink before dinner and after a long day of work. Luckily they had some really fresh sushi on hand from nearby Sushi Roku (I had only been to the one in Vegas) to help balance out the cocktail.

During the party women were getting highlights, cuts, blowouts and eyelash extensions from the beauticians and hairstylists. I keep seeing spas and salons out here offering eyelash extensions, but had never seen it done or knew anyone who had done it. Although, I hear more and more brides are getting hair and eyelash extensions done for their wedding. So instead of a fake row of eyelashes like you'd buy at the drugstore, they meticulously and individually apply curled plastic lashes in between your real eyelashes. I'm not good with things going near my eye, as my friends have found out the hard way when they've tried to apply eyeliner or eyeshadow for me. I get squeamish seeing anyone put in contacts even, which is why I was relieved to see that the model's eyes were closed during the entire process, which can take up to 2 hours the first time and then 30-40 mins for reapplys. The extensions last for up to two months. Sounds like a lot of work to me, but the end result looked pretty dramatic. Something to think about for my wedding in September though.

10 Quick Tips to Healthy Hair:

From the Parlour on 3rd

• Apply treatment and brush prior to shampooing

• Limit the number of times you wash your hair


• Shampoo in lukewarm water since hot water will dry out your cuticles


• When using hot styling tools, make sure to use a protective serum


• Always use color protective products to prevent from further damage and fading


• Deep condition once a week (IE the hair masks I blogged about before)


• Frequent hair cuts are absolutely necessary to maintain healthy ends (Which reminds me, I need a cut!)


• Timed color touch ups are key in maintaining vibrant color


• Make sure you use the appropriate products for your specific hair type
  
  

Where's Tara? If you're super bored, see if you can spot me throughout the photos on Flickr!

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Lucky Strike

A couple of weeks ago my colleagues and I went to Lucky Strike bowling lanes in Hollywood. I had been to the one in New York before and drove by the one in Vegas. The fun thing about Lucky Strike is that it's fashioned to look more like a bar/lounge with a waitstaff, dark lighting, bouncer, hostess, etc., so definitely not the typical bowling alley feel.

The Lucky Strike in Hollywood only had a few lanes and our group split in to two teams of four, Fierce vs. Fabulous. I was both, meaning I played a game with each team, but yeah I am fierce and fabulous too ;) I bowled two strikes and a few spares to make me the high scorer, being the competitive girl that I am, I was happy. Here are some funny pictures of us:
Oh and there was a photobooth which we then turned into a clown car:

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Head shots

I just got a new company headshot for work. We had a photographer, David Fairchild, come into our offices and take shots of our team. He had me laughing in many of the proofs after asking me to lean in like a cat. I had fun with it and ultimately picked the following photo:

What do you think? There were other shots where I wasn't leaning like that, but I looked too serious or stuffy in those. Previously for new biz pitches and bios, I had been using my journalism looking photo:

Or this one, where I'm doing my best CEO imitation:

I have a fondness for the ones above because I like that they are set in my favorite place in New York City, The Chelsea Market and they do set the scene a bit more. However, they clashed with the more corporate headshots of my peers.

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