The Friday Five

It's hard to believe we only have one more day left in 2011.  It has been a year of great strides for me both personally and professionally, so I look forward to a new year filled with challenges. My Friday Five today will encompass my favorite five things from this year.  It was hard to narrow it down given the fact that I covered two big awards shows, flew on a blimp, went to the opening night of a Broadway show, booked a job in Paris, and received an unexpected nomination for an award.

1.  Paris:  I fell in love with this city.  It's on my list to go back, like, immediately.  I think I will be celebrating a friend's birthday in Italy, so I know I'm going to hop on over to Paris before or after.....and maybe to London for the Olympics.....ah, dream big for 2012!

2.  Art:  I was lucky enough to go to New Orleans twice this year and invest in a few pieces of art by renowned Picasso muse, Françoise Gilot.  And then the art gallery invited me to meet her--what an honor!  I think my New Orleans visits made my trip to Paris that much more enjoyable, it was a taste of what was to come a few short months later.

3. Dreams:  I can't believe how many of my bucket list items were crossed off this year.  The little girl from small town Massachusetts got to do this and this.  How do you tell your 8-year old self that you will be standing on the red carpet at the Oscars or the Tonys or interviewing Meredith Vieira just weeks before she leaves the Today Show?  Unbelievable.

4.  Godspell:  This show means a lot to me.  It is being helmed by two old friends and I cannot begin to tell you how proud and thrilled I am for all of their success.  (And opening night wasn't too shabby either....thanks for the front row seats, KD.)  It's an incredible cast with killer voices and it's a show you can take your kids to see.  You can't say that about much these days, now go buy a ticket to see the show!

5.  Disney:  Disney World and Disneyland have always given me great joy, so it was a true pleasure to add some of my own Disney coverage to my reporter repertoire.  From the Cars 2 premiere to the Make Your Mark contest to the D23 Conference and the wild finale of Radio Disney's NBT, it was a blast covering the latest batch of Disney Channel stars and be a cool aunt to my 12-year old niece at the same time.  If you are wondering who the next Miley or Selena is, check out Bella Thorne.  Every little girl wants to be CeCe from Shake It Up right now. 

I will post a couple of my favorite photos of the year tomorrow, but I will let the photos do the talking tomorrow. I want to thank you for coming here and sharing my experiences and your stories.  I look forward to more adventures with you in 2012.  Enjoy your last Friday of 2011 and be sure to tell me your favorite things about your year in the comments below.  

Where in the World is.....?

I am all over the place this week.  I thought I was going to have a nice, relaxing week and then I was suddenly thrust into prepping for the 65th Annual Tony Awards!  So here's where you can find me popping up this week:

1.  Today at 12PM PT/3PM ET:  I will be a guest on The Final Cut with host, Matthew Robinson talking about all of the fun at the MTV Movie Awards.  I hope to slip in a few tidbits about the GBK Gifting Suite too.  You can listen or call into the show here.

2.  It's Meredith Vieira's last day on The Today Show.  She's one of my broadcast heros, so I salute her with a fond farewell.  I was lucky enough to interview her at The Gracie Awards last month.  My mornings won't be there same without you, Meredith.



3.  I will be on the red carpet for Starpulse covering the 65th Annual Tony Awards.  For a musical theatre geek like me.....holy cow!  This is exciting!  If you have any questions you want me to ask on the red carpet, feel free to leave your questions in the comment section.

4. After the red carpet, I am heading to the Broadway Space Tony party.  The party is hosted by Rachel Potter and Adam Riegler who play Wednesday and Pugsley in The Addams Family.  There are still tickets available, so come join me for all of the fun.

5.  Finally, I was asked to guest blog over at Elle Sees this week. You will find some of my online shopping tips and some of my recent deals.  So, stop over and say "hi" to Elle.  I think you will enjoy her blog as much as I do.

Choose Your Own Adventure

It's another edition of Choose Your Own Adventure.  I've been running all over Hollywood covering events, so pick the one that interests you the most.  I can't even keep up with everything I am doing, but it is all compiled in one central location.

1.  New Media Film Festival:  Eddie Carrington wrote a great article in the Examiner about the New Media Film Festival and he kindly gave me a shout out.  Thanks, Eddie!  Also, the LA Film School published their photos from the festival and they included a couple of them from the live stream.  You can see the photos on their Facebook page and a shout out to Ben for taking and posting the photos. Thanks, my friend!



2.  Gracie Awards:  You can see all of my photos here and check out the interviews above with Meredith Vieira, Peggy Fleming, Dr. Laura Berman, Linda Ellerbee, Mayim Bialik, and more.

3.  Diva Talk Radio:  A big thanks to Gina Parris and Kelli Claypool for having me on their show yesterday.  It was a 30-minute discussion on my journey and the myths of Hollywood.  Don't believe the hype, ladies!  If you missed the show, you can listen to the episode here.

4.  Godspell:  If you missed the news, "I'm a Broadway Producer!".  Find out how that happened here.  The opening night was officially announced yesterday, so I have marked November 7, 2011 on my calendar.  Yep, I'll be there opening night at the Circle in the Square Theatre as two of my longtime friends team up to bring the revival back to Broadway.  2011 is turning out to be the year of dreams for me.

Photo Courtesy of LA Film School.

36th Annual Gracie Awards

Last night was another dream of a lifetime:  The 36th Annual Gracie Awards.  The Gracies honor "programming for Women, by Women, and about Women".  It is presented each year by The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation and it is a powerhouse event.  What do you do when you have a room filled with your broadcast heroes?  It took all of my might not to burst into tears while interviewing Meredith Vieira.  Instead, I begged her to stay on The Today Show.  She's still leaving.  Okay, at least I got to interview the gal.  Many of these women paved the way for me to have a career in broadcasting from Meredith to Shaun Robinson to Linda Ellerbee and I had the opportunity to interview them for Mingle Media TV.  Here are the magical photos from the evening:

 A dress I pulled from the back of my closet and my vintage Via Spiga shoes. 

 Shaun Robinson from Access Hollywood.

A supermodel looks excited to meet me! Christy Turlington.

 A true pioneer in the industry, Linda Ellerbee.

 Holly Robinson Peete from The Talk.

 Yvette Nicole Brown from Community.  I think we should be friends, she's a lot of fun.

 The figure skating geek in me is dying here. Peggy Fleming and Gracie honoree, Anne Thompson from NBC.

 Kimberly Locke from American Idol performed.

 I just wanted to say, "Whoa", into the mic, but I didn't want to scare Blossom....er, I mean Dr. Mayim Bialik.  Yep, Blossom is wicked smart.

 Morgan Fairchild looks like she is 30-years old.  I don't know what she is doing, but it looks good.  She told me she is held together by "superglue".  Ah, the girl has a sense of humor!

 I just want to go for a cocktail with Access Hollywood Live's, Kit Hoover.  She's pretty cool.

One of my sports broadcasting heroes, Hannah Storm, and her awesome biceps.

By the way, I will be a guest on Diva Talk Radio with Kelli Claypool and Gina Parris today at 11AM PT/2PM ET.  Come join in on the discussion. You can listen here.

Photos courtesy of Mingle Media TV.