Today before 9:00 AM...

This morning at the gym, I overheard two girls talking about how they wanted to get a live-in maid.  They were not kidding. 

Then I saw sweet Victoria Beckham.  We said hi.  I just love her.

And finally, I shared an elevator with the handsome Jesse Metcalfe. Just the two of us.  We chatted, he asked me out... you know, the usual. (Okay... just kidding about that last part... ) 


It's mornings like these that make me stop and think, "What kind of crazy alternate universe is this and how am I in it??"  So nuts. 

Another Singles Awareness Day, Come and Gone.

I took this photo last Valentines Day at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood.  I entitle it: He's Just Not That Into You. 

Although I am continuing my (lifelong) trend of never having a Valentine, I had a lovely day yesterday...including a picnic on the beach with friends and buying a new beautiful ipod as a V-day present to myself. I hope you all had a lovely day as well, much unlike the poor old soul who this discarded box of chocolates originally belonged to last year.  ;-) 

Oscar Nominations: A Morning of Excitement, a Night of Work.

This morning at exactly 5:38:33 PST, the Oscar nominations were announced by Academy President, Tom Sherak, and Oscar nominated (and ever so lovely) actress, Anne Hathaway.  While this slightly obscure time may seem extremely early, it pales in comparison the group of Academy staff (myself included) who had been working straight through the night to prepare for this big announcement. 

As you might imagine, a huge amount of preparation goes into this announcement. I was lucky to get one of the later call times; I didn't have to be back at the office until 11:30 PM. As I entered the doors, I was completely cut off from the outside world: no cell phones, no land phones, no internet. The reason for this extreme lockdown is because we have access to the sacred nominations which have not yet been announced (gasp!). In fact, my first task of the night was to help stuff 800 press kits with all the information about the noms. 

After a few hours of stuffing, we got to eat a delightful breakfast before freshening up and changing for the big announcement where I acted as an "embargo monitor" for a certain well known news outlet. This is where things get really exciting and interesting. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is completely full of reporters and camera crews from all over the world, all frantically preparing to deliver the news of the highest achievements in film for the year to their loyal viewers. Some funny things I saw during this time: a man on a camera/production crew for a very well known news outlet fall completely asleep, an Asian reporter take several "MySpace"-esque photos of herself on her iphone.  When Tom and Anne announced the nominees there were sporadically squeals of joy, excitement, and surprise from studio reps and publicists as their movies and clients made the cut.  Afterwards I handed out press kits and overheard many other great exclamations like "Six! I can't believe we got six! I'm dying. Dying!", "Quentin [Tarantino] is so excited!", "I represent ___ _____. We're really happy!" 

Despite the extreme tiredness that comes with a brief stint of being nocturnal, I love working this event. The anticipation and excitement are palpable and to witness such a worldwide announcement in person is a true adrenaline rush.  Now I just have to start watching all these movies! Hooray Oscars!!

A Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Musical.

We all know that New York City is the mecca of live theatre, but occasionally Broadway shares some of its treasures with us here in LA. I recently had the great pleasure of seeing one of these treasures: Mary Poppins.

I never liked this movie. I don’t know if I just didn’t fully understand the plotline as a child or if the chimney sweeps and bird lady creeped me out too much, but it was on my LEAST favorite childhood movie lists (right after Willa Wonka... the oompa loompas are so frightening!). That said, I’m a sucker for (most) musicals, so when this came to the lovely Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, I put my childhood preferences aside and eagerly bought tickets. Thank goodness I did because this musical was an absolute JOY to watch. I honestly found myself with a huge smile on my face practically the whole time. The performances, set, costumes, colors, music and choregraphy were all exceptional. Also, there was unexpected humor throughout the entire show. While I enjoyed every song, “Step in Time” was my favorite.  (Skip the first minute of this video and) take a little looksie here .This was one of the most enjoyable musicals I’ve ever seen; I very highly recommend it. Get tickets and information here and remember, as the lovely and ever-wise Mary Poppins says, “Anything can happen if you let it.”  

Semi-related sidenote: the night I went to this wonderful show, I accidentally caught my hair on fire! I was leaning over to blow out a candel and my hair was down; the next thing I knew, a flame was rapidly singeing my hair. YOWZA. Luckily I reacted quickly enough to put it out and no serious damage was done, but consider this a PSA: be careful when blowing out candles with long hair! eek.

Goodbye 2009.

(Happy New Year (and new blog)! I, like Mary, am optimistic about the shiny new 2010 that looms before us, but I feel as though I need to properly bid farewell to the crazy roller-coaster ride that has been my 2009. So without further adieu, here are some highlights of my past year (and some of the ‘hows and whys’ about my life in LA, as Mary mentioned in the previous post).

The Oscars. 

I work in the marketing department at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  (I started in September 2008) and one HUGE perk is that I get to attend the Academy Awards, red carpet and all. It was amazingly surreal to be there, something I NEVER in a million years thought would happen.  Now I’m getting ready for this year’s Oscars (shameless plug: tune in March 7, 2010, on abc). 

Community Group.  

I started attending a community group through my church Pacific Crossroads last January, and it has become one of my favorite things I do in LA. We meet once a week to the study the Bible and just relax and be REAL with each other… something that is not easy to find in LA. Here we are at Bricks and Scones (my FAVORITE coffee shop ever). 

Colorado with my parents. 

My job at the Academy is seasonal, so it lasts from September to April. While I job searched and interviewed like crazy in the spring, the Academy kept me on as a floater until the end of July, and my boss offered me the seasonal marketing position again starting September 1. Since nothing else spectacular had come through, I accepted her offer and used the 5 weeks off in the interim to travel.  My first destination was Pagosa Springs, Colorado, with my parents. After the crazy stress of job searching and everything, it was so incredibly nice to relax and be with my parents in such a beautiful place.

My 24^th birthday. 

I invited pretty much everyone I knew in LA to come to my favorite bar Lola’s not really thinking that many people would actually come… but many of them did! It was such a fun night with my different groups of friends mingling together in one happy place. 

Europe. 

My biggest adventure during my 5 weeks off was traveling to England, Scotland and Spain! This trip was such a big highlight that I think it deserves 3 photos: sight-seeing in London with my college friend Katie, overlooking beautiful Barcelona at Park Guell with my LA friend Sheri, and participating in a 50,000 person tomato fight called ‘La Tomatina’ in a village near Valencia with one of my best college friends, Kayla.

Halloween. 

Halloween this year was so much fun, probably due in large part to what I consider to be the best costume of my life: a birthday cake.

New York. 

I was lucky enough to visit Mary in NY twice this year, both times full of great fun and entertainment. (most notably, two viewings of HAIR, my current Broadway obsession).

Wine tasting. 

To celebrate my lovely mother’s 50^th birthday we went to an amazing wine tasting festival near Santa Barbara.

Victoria Beckham giving me a Christmas gift. 

I’m a receptionist at the Sports Club LA in Beverly Hills (LINK) on Saturday mornings, which is the greatest part time ever. Not only do I earn a little extra pocket money, but I get to work out at this luxurious gym alongside celebrities like Taylor Kitsch (the MOST exciting celebrity interaction of my life), Amanda Bynes, Jesse Metcalfe, etc. I see V Beck there quite often; we chat sometimes. MUCH to my surprise, she brought Christmas gifts to a few Sports Club people she interacts with regularly I guess…including me! Thanks Posh Spice.

Wow…2009 really was a fun one.  I wonder if 2010 will live up to its predecessor.  I’m excited to find out. :-)

--Annie.