Friday, May 28, 2010

Sex & the City 2 World Premiere. Yeah, I was there.

I am back in my hometown of Palo Alto, California and I have probably heard "Empire State of Mind" on the radio about 5 times since I have gotten back.  I do miss the city, but I am trying to soak up the sun here in Cali! What's funny is that even through New York's crazy heat and freezing chills, California is going through some really strange weather patterns as well.  It's almost June...and it's RAINING?! Something is definitely wrong now! It should have stopped raining in April! Anyhow, I'm back for my brother's middle school graduation - how cute! I still remember my 8th grade graduation. What a long time ago!

This past week has flown by so fast.  Last Friday I went to Empire Hotel Rooftop for a Sex and the City 2 Movie release party and invited Annabelle and Kelley.  There, I met the Warner Brother's promoter- Michelle and Bonds Entertainment CEO - Billy.  I went there for one reason, and one reason only: to get Sex and the City 2 World Premiere tickets, and this I did. People have asked me how in the world I got SATC2 world premiere tickets, and I have to say - be daring, dashing, and bold.

The rooftop of Empire Hotel.

I had a little inside information that they were giving a few screening passes out at the party...little did I know, only 7 people got tickets, we were 3 of them. I asked the concierge where the SATC2 cocktail reception was, and they guided me to the outdoor patio where Michelle (Warner Bros. promoter) was sitting with her friends and I introduced myself and began small talk - schmoozing, as they say.  She later introduced me to all of her friends and Billy Bonds - the guy with the tickets :) He was awesome and said "I know what you're here for." I played dumb and said, "Carrie Bradshaw t-shirts?" He laughed and passed me and my friends screening passes - which were later exchanged into hard tickets. He also passed out a few promotional items such as compact mirros, emory boards, martini glasses, and "Get Carried Away...Again" tshirts.  To say the very least, it was an amazing night.

With our screening passes.

Martini Glasses and SATC2 red bull?

Some more promo items.

Early Monday morning, I had to go transfer my screening pass into a hard ticket at Ziegfeld theater. I think it was just bad luck that I got a 3rd Mezzaine level ticket - aka FAR AWAY from the celebs...while my 2 friends got Orchestra tickets - aka sitting next to celebs. Anyhow I was sneaky and made my way down to the Orchetra level later - unfortuantely, after all the celebs had already been seated. Annabelle and I left work early to get changed and headed over to Radio City Music Hall where the premiere was being held.  Of course they put ticket holders on the OPPOSITE side of the building as the "purple" carpet. But we could watch it live inside.

Radio City Music Hall.

My hard ticket.

Gilles Marini - Samantha Jones' sexy neighbor in the first flick.

Inside the lobby of Radio City Music Hall.

Free drinks and popcorn!

Our free popcorn :) 

Michelle Trachtenberg - aka Georgina on Gossip Girl.

The Ladies of SATC on stage before the movie.

There were SO many celebs inside I almost fainted, nah but I sure was shaking when I finally talked with Alessandra Ambrosio! For the first time I was too intimidated to go up to each one I saw, but I sure did have a good night.  My opinion of the movie - funnier than the first, no as serious, I could sit through it and I loved watching Liza Minnelli dancing to Single Ladies.

Anyhow - life is a lot less eventful here in Cali, but I did make a day trip to Monterey yesterday to check out my grad school .  I think it is decided. I am going to grad school and am not graduating until 2014. Joy!

See you in a week, Empire State.




Monday, May 17, 2010

A Weekend in Paradise.

Smith College. Northampton "Paradise City", MA.
Graduation, a ceremony universally regarded as the end of one's current academic stage; in my case, undergraduate graduation from Smith College.  Yes, I "graduated" in December 2009, but I wanted to be a part of Smith's many traditions - which I experienced this past weekend, so my family flew out from California to New York on Thursday and we drove 3 hours to Smith, and I am so grateful that we did.

I was hesitant about returning to my alma mater because while I have amazing memories of the campus, most of my time spent at Smith was trying to figure how to get away! I went abroad junior year and graduated early, adding up to only 2.5 years on campus. I think that shows how much I actually wanted to be there.  However, arriving on Thursday and spending the weekend in my old room helped me reminisce of the 4 years that have passed so quickly.

Thursday
I arrived at Smith with my family greeted by a really messy apartment... not the way I left it! I made it in time to Baccalaureate at 330 in Helen Hills Hills Chapel.  I ran into a few old friends and we listened to Carol Christ, president of Smith, talk about our journey over the years - the losses we have faced, etc... There were inspiration readings by fellow classmates and slideshows of campus and friends..We concluded the event by performing one of our school songs with Kazoos...yes Kazoos, and stomping!

I had a great dinner with my family at Osaka that night. My first and last time at a wonderful Northampton Japanese restaurant.  It's too bad that I didn't try more food in Northampton while I was there. It probably would have kept me sane during those long winter months...


Friday
Woke up bright and early for graduation rehearsal...2 hours of boredom followed by free food! 
My parents made a spur of the moment decision to drive to Boston since I had no other plans for the day.  We drove 1.5 hours East and  ended up in Boston Commons.  We walked around the park, enjoyed the beautiful weather, had some bubble tea, and ate a large seafood dinner before heading back to Smith. However, there is one thing I realized about my family vacations: no matter how blue the sky is or how serene a park can be...we end up looking like this...




Pretty depressing, huh?

Saturday
800am alarm clock. Get dressed in your crisp, white dress. Put on those dark, shined shoes. Seniors, it's IVY DAY! 845am: red rose distribution in front of the President's house. What is Ivy Day? Smith tradition, duh! Ivy Day has been a part of Commencement since 1879.  Ivy Day convocation includes the recognition of faculty members, student prize announcements, class gifts to the college, etc. This day has been a Smith tradition for over a decade! "Junior Ushers" carry the ivy chain to lead Seniors into the quadrangle, following alumnae of the prior years. The last part of the tradition is the planting of the class ivy. 

Friedman B4!

Lining up on Paradise Road.

Junior Ushers and the Ivy Chain.

Following the parade, my family and I grabbed Thai Garden for lunch.  A great meal I hadn't had since my birthday in 2007, I think... That afternoon, Smith held many receptions for parents to meet faculty and staff.  Of course my parents were too tired after lunch so we visited the Art Museum - only my 2nd visit ever, then I went to a few receptions myself - President's reception, East Asian Studies, and Economics reception.  I will definitely miss my professors- especially the ones that challenged me to the point of tears. Professors, it was well worth it.  I am a wiser, more knowledgeable person because of you! You will be greatly missed.

That night, I made a reservation at Mulino's Trattoria for dinner at 630 since I wanted to make it back to Smith at 800pm for Illumination Night. But it took them so long to even bring out our salad, we left after an hour and a half of waiting so that I could make it to Paradise Pond on time for the lighting ceremony. The Senior Class Candle-lighting Ceremony is a more recent Smith tradition - seniors holding lighted candles assemble on the shore of Paradise Pond as our class- year sign is lit up along the pond. 


Candle lighting by Paradise Pond.

Smith 2010 sign!

Illumination Night - thousands of rice paper lanterns adorn the pathways of Smith for a couple hours after the candle lighting ceremony. 

Pathway to Nielsen Library lit by rice paper lanterns- real candle inside.


Senior Step/Sophomore Push - As Seniors walk through the lantern-lighted pathways, they walk to their "push" off of the Nielsen Library steps by Sophomore "push" (Sophomores volunteering at grad). Each wave of seniors is serenaded by the Sophomores then PUSHED off of the stairs. Literally! 

My view from Senior Push...getting ready to get pushed off the stairs!

Around 930 my family headed back to Mulino's for the food we deserved hours before...only to be underwhelmed with the undercooked pasta. It's okay - family time is well worth it.

My brother and I waiting and waiting for our pasta!


Sunday
This is where it ends. 915am line up on Mendel Road in the Quadrangle. Found the King house sign and stood by with all my King house friends I made first year.  Even though I never lived in King, I was "honored" as the King house honorary member for practically living there my first two years. The procession wrapped around the Quad as the graduates lined the street and waited for the faculty and staff to walk through, including Rachel Maddow- our commencement speaker! Bagpipes and all led the procession followed by 733 women in black gowns adorned with black, white, and gold satin on our hoods. 



The weather was beautiful, although a bit hot in our dark gowns, but clouds rolled in with perfect timing. The President spoke and honored global leaders, then Rachel Maddow got up to speak-with her cute red, horn rimmed glasses! She was hilarious and instead of the boring "life is short" speech, she gave us an insightful speech of how "life is long" and we should not settle for self-triumphs but be a change in this world. Tis is true, Ms. Maddow. I want to tell wonderful stories to my grandkids! All of this insight was said in lightheartedness but also with sincerity.  I have even more respect for Ms. Maddow now than when I watched her show :) 

Rachel Maddow


Following the procession of 733 women graduates, we filed out to the King/Scales rotunda for Diploma Circle, yet another Smith tradition. All the graduates were given a random diploma on stage so that afterwards we could spend 30 minutes trying to figure out who has whose. We get in a LARGE circle and start passing our diplomas to the right until we receive our own. I was seriously one of the last 50 waiting for my diploma... Someone must have been holding onto it because I saw a few names go around multiple times. Anyhow, I finally received mine and tried to find my parents.

On our way to Diploma Circle. Hey look- Rachel Maddow talking it up.

Part of the Diploma Circle...someone had mine...


While walking towards the President's house to find my parents, I bump into guess who? Rachel Maddow. I quickly asked if I could take a photo with her, and nicer than any celeb she happily took a photo and congratulated me on my hard work and good luck with my future endeavors.

Yay! What an honor to have such an intelligent brain next to mine.

In front of the President's House. 

And that's that! Four years of undergrad (or should I say 3.5 years) have gone by so quickly. I am older, a little wiser, and much fatter than when I first stepped foot onto Smith soil. I have made friends that I will come to know forever, friends that will go forever in history, and a friend within myself. Enough with the sappy-ness. I am excited to finally have my undergrad diploma, but who knows- I may be going through another couple years of schooling ... So long, Smith- Maybe see you for my 5 year reunion?








Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Food Network Taste Tests & Carmen Electra Shaves Chests

Food Network Taste Tests:
On Thursday, Annabelle, Yaniv, and I finally made it to the filming of Food Networks new TV show "24 Hour Restaurant Battle".  However, I signed a confidentiality contract so I cannot say much more than this... The show is a lot like the restaurant challenge on Top Chef. There are 4 judges, two restaurants, and 24 hours.  The winner of the challenge gets $10,000 to start their own restaurant.  We got to taste the food, and to our surprise, were extremely displeased. Hopefully they will use our critiques on the show, because I can't say much more than that. Catch the show in July!

We snuck in some photos...As always.

The judges table.


Annabelle and I, plus a girl we met at the filming in restaurant number 2 -  "Alive".

Carmen Electra Shaves Chests:
On Friday, Joe and I were notified by PULSEJFK.com that Carmen Electra was only going to be a few blocks away from work to promote "Reforesting the World" by "Deforesting Yourself".  It was advertised that she would be shaving the chests of a few lucky men in the audience.  Of course Joe was on board so we hopped over to Madison Square Park at noon and waited a pretty long time for her to show up. She got on stage and introduced the organization then began to choose men from the audience. I was hopping up and down for Joe to get picked and he was one of the last to get up on stage! You better thank me one day Joe... you stood there idly. The funny part was he got booed once he was up there because he did not have a hairy chest like some of the other guys up there!

Pictures are worth more than a thousand words:

Carmen and Joe posing for press photos.

Joe, I bet you were shaking just like when we met Matt Bomer.

The same security that stopped me from taking photos with Rob Pattinson were Carmen's security...so this was the closest picture I took. Still pretty close!

I didn't do much this weekend except reminisce about my childhood by watching 80 episodes of Sailor Moon. Yes, 80 episodes. I think while traveling back to yesteryear I gained a few years staying up late watching the damned show.

Sharks have been DOMINATING conference semifinals, winning 3 out of 3 games so far, only needing one more win to push them to conference finals. Funnily, each games' score has resulted with 4 - 3. Is this some weird sign? If so, what does it mean? We can only tell if the winning game's score is 4-3...

Sharks have been eating wings for dinner!


Anyhow, happy cinco de mayo everyone! 
Some of last year's Cinco de Mayo festivities: 
At Bulldog Shanghai







Til next time, New York! 


 
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