Holiday Sales!

I'm a girl & I LOVE a good sale! I find it very hard to pay full price for anything. If you shop online (which I love to do), I'm sure you've seen the "code" boxes at checkout. That means that somewhere out there is a secret code that will either give you an extra discount, or free shipping, or...something. There are lots of online sites that will show you current coupons & codes. I like http://reesycakes.com/ or you can google the name of the store you're shopping at & include the word "code" in the search. One of my favorite jewelry designers (Future Fashionista) is having a great holiday sale and her prices are reasonable to start with. Elana handstrung my favorite "kite pearl" necklace. I wore it to the TVLand Awards this year & wear it all the time. It's a classic & seems so much "younger" than my Grandmas' pearls. Future Fashionista is offering 35% off everything on their site until 12/31, with the code "ThankYou". I'm not getting a kick back, just letting you in on a good deal. http://www.futurefashionista.com/

Elf Yourself!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I've been an elf for Santa on more than one occasion. It involved volunteering to help out with kids visiting Santa at our local community center & it was tons of fun! One of my blog readers requested that I put a photo of me in a Santa hat on my blog for the holidays.
This is the best I can do & it probably won't be up for long (so enjoy & don't laugh too much).
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=efe8bab259932988dd881a9G06122408
Everyone have a wonderful holiday. I hope you're all surrounded by loved ones.

Almost Family

I think lots of people have dear friends that they consider family. One of those people in my life is Bill Asher, my "Uncle Bill". I've known him my entire life & he's one of the most charming, charismatic men I've ever met. He's treated me with love & respect since before I was two. He can tell a story better than anyone! He's had the most remarkable career in entertainment. Uncle Bill was the director of I Love Lucy (arguably the best sitcom ever!) & he even came up with the idea of Samantha twitching her nose on Bewitched! His life is so steeped in history that not only was he friends with the Kennedys (including Jackie), he actually spent the last day of her life with Marilyn Monroe. He was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Darren & I were happy to be there to help him celebrate.

Longtime Friends & a Very Patient Teenager !

Old Friends & The Lakers

I thought about calling this post "Longtime Friends" & The Lakers, but I'm the first to admit, we're kind of OLD! I'm sure some bloggers have lists of things to write about or some general focus to their blog, but since I'm sort of a "baby blogger" (despite my rather advanced age), I just write about things as they happen. So when my dear friend Toni called & invited me to join her & her adorable nephew Tyler at a Lakers game, I thought "I am going to blog about the Lakers game". Well as we drove from the OC to the beautiful Staples Center, I found a new topic for today's entry: "Things You Don't Know About Your Longtime Friends". I've known Toni for 25 years, but I just found out that she is a HORRIBLE driver! I don't know why I've never driven with Toni before, but let me describe some fun facts about our wild ride. I would consider myself a fairly relaxed person & I've taught 3 teenagers to drive, with no incidents or even close calls; but our short drive to LA was like a Disneyland E Ticket (once again showing my age!). I was alerted to Toni's "little problem" when she came within inches of the car in front of us before lurching to a stop. She casually said " I'm not a very good driver, I accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes." She then started telling a story, that involved a lot of hand gestures, with no hands on the wheel. Toni also decided to point out all the drivers on the highway who she deemed to be worse drivers than she was. This involved her actually pointing at the offending vehicles and her car heading straight at them! After about an hour, she mentioned that she was having a hard time reading the signs. She asked me to get her purse & the new glasses that she'd just gotten!! She casually added that her doctor had said something about her eyes being equivalent to someone 10 years older. People can handle stress in many ways. It turns out that Tyler & I are the type to laugh uncontrollably. Well the Lakers/ Houston game was amazing. They were 21 points behind, but won in double overtime. I'd like to offer a special thank you to Toni's nephew Tyler. He put up with two middle aged women who still occasionally act like silly teenaged cheerleaders. If you happen to meet Toni (she's a smart, funny, beautiful girl) please offer her a ride.
http://web.mac.com/tonimarano/iWeb/ToniMaranoPilates/About%20The%20Program.html

Marc Jacobs

Fashion designers love celebrities. They get tons of free press by giving them clothes. Nothing is better for a designer than having someone famous wear one of their outfits on the red carpet. Designers also love to feature celebs in their ads. Sometimes the celebs & the fashion lines are a prefect fit: Chanel uses Nicole Kidman & Scarlett Johansson is the new face of Louis Vuitton. Sometimes the celebs connection to the designer is humorous: Marc Jacobs featured Winona Ryder after she was arrested for shoplifting his clothes from Saks. The new face of Marc Jacobs is a little puzzling: Dakota Fanning. For some unexplained reason, folks seem to have very strong opinions about Dakota. They either love her or HATE her. I really don't get it. I think Dakota is an extremely talented child actress (much like Jodie Foster) & I think she's very pretty. She also comes across as poised & intelligent. But as far as being a fashion model, she's only 12! Marc Jacobs had to make custom pieces for her to model since none of his designs fit her (no surprise, since she's only 12!). I couldn't figure out what was weird about the photo on the left, then it hit me! The flower in Dakota's hair looks just like a white mouse jumping off her head! Oh well, who am I to question fashion?

Zillow!

I love to find cool websites. I also love to tell my friends about them. One of my favorites is: http://www.zillow.com. You can enter any address, plus the city, state & it will show you aerial photos from four angles. The photos are so high quality, you can clearly see your car in the driveway or your dog in the backyard. You can also scroll around the photos to get information on the neighbors. The site is a fantastic tool for home buyers & sellers because they give you a "zestimate" or accurate current value of the home. For my really nosy readers, you can even find out what your neighbors paid for their home.

Worst Nightmare?

If you ask a child about their worst nightmare, they'll probably tell you a tale about monsters. If you ask a student, they'll surely have a story about walking into class & having an unexpected test. But the worst real-life nightmare for most women involves swimsuit shopping. I think it has something to do with the fluorescent lighting and the three way mirrors. Let me tell you what just happened to me, exactly one week after Thanksgiving. My wonderful agent called to tell me that he had a job offer for me to host a fitness show...but there was one small catch. The producer needed to see a photo of my butt & thighs. Surely, this was an attempt at agent humor. We're in the midst of that fitness vacation that everyone is entitled to (between Thanksgiving & New Years). I'd just gotten back from a feast-filled vacation, it was winter. It turns out my agent was serious, so the morning after I went to a Christmas party (that had a chocolate fountain!), I found myself donning a bikini in my sisters' back yard as she snapped a photo of my butt & thighs. Luckily the product I'm endorsing is working & my rear end proved to be sufficiently photogenic & I got the job!

Almost Famous

Have you ever been on a flight with someone famous? Have you ever noticed how the buzz fills the plane, until everyone knows there's a celeb on board?
I remember taking a cross country flight years ago & Joan Van Ark (from Knot's Landing) was in front of me. I watched her put on makeup for at least an hour. Friday I took a quick trip to Vegas aboard Southwest Airlines. If you haven't flown Southwest, they're an airline that doesn't assign seats & doesn't have first class (you're put into groups A, B, or C depending on when you check-in. I check-in online 24 hours in advance, so I'm always in group A). On my first flight, I learned that Sinbad was aboard the plane. During the entire 50 minute flight, one flight attendant was trying to explain to the other flight attendant who Sindbad was. Sample conversation: "He's a comic, he had his own show." "You mean Martin?" "No, that's Martin Lawrence." "Is he the guy with all the jewelry?" "No, That's Mr. T.". I was so tempted to say "He was in Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger". But, I didn't think naming a 10 year old, slightly obscure film would have helped. Speaking of guys "with all the jewelry", on my return flight Flavor Flav was aboard. He was traveling alone & very friendly. In case anyone might not recognize him, he was actually wearing one of those giant clock necklaces. His other long gold chain got tangled in his carry on bag as he stowed it overhead. It was like watching an I Love Lucy skit. Even an older couple across from me knew who he was. A word of advice for Sinbad: Get on a reality show or hire Flavor Flav's publicist.

Identity?

Yesterday I filmed an episode for a new NBC show called Identity. The premise is that a contestant is faced with 12 strangers on pedestals (kind of like the Deal or No Deal Set). It's a game based on first impressions, hosted by Penn Jilette (from Penn & Teller). The game unfolds as the contestant picks an identity (off a lighted board) - ranging anywhere from a profession to a shoe size - and tries to match it with one of the 12 strangers. The amount of money the contestant accumulates increases with each correctly identified stranger. If all 12 are matched up correctly, the player is rewarded with the top prize of $500,000. Without giving away the outcome of the game, the contestant was convinced that I was...an Army Ranger!!
If I look a little tired on the show, it's because we didn't finish filming until after 2:00 AM, then I had to get up early to make lunches & get the kids off to school (Have I told you before how glamorous my life is?).
The show airs the week of 12/18 from 8:00-9:00 PM.

Am I A Geek?

I'm sure you've all seen the lines of people waiting to pick up one of the latest cool game systems. I've seen stories on the news about shootings and people being robbed while they wait. I've also heard about people camping out for days in tents. It reminds me of when the Star Wars movies come out & you see all the people in costumes waiting for the very first screening. If you're like me, you probably wonder: Who ARE those people? Well, today I was one of the "line people". I got "insider info" about a shipment coming to my local Best Buy that would be released this morning. Did I camp out? Of course not, I'm not totally crazy! I thought the store opened at 8:00 (chalk it up to bad info, from a confused employee), so I got there at 7:45. There was already a line of about 100! I guess my "inside source" was a little loose lipped. The store was only supposed to get 12, but I decided to wait. Even if I couldn't get a system, I could still do some holiday shopping. An employee came out & made an announcement that there were 63 systems & they would be checking drivers licenses since they would only be selling one per household. Guess what, I was number 63! I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but number 64 (right behind me) was not too pleased.

Improving The Wheel?

A few years ago, Dean Kamen hyped an invention that he described as "being bigger than the Internet or the PC". It was nicknamed "Ginger" and it was supposed to change life as we knew it. Well, Segways were introduced to much fanfare and now they're EVERYWHERE!! Just kidding, I've seen them in a couple cities used by mailmen or police officers, but I don't know anyone who owns one. I took a spin on a Segway last week & it's really fun, but not really a practical mode of transportation (where would you put the groceries?).
I did come across another transportation advance that can only be described as genius. On Tenerife they have automatic sensors on the escalators. You approach the escalator and your foot triggers a sensor that automatically starts it. Then the escalator stops a minute after you get off. Works perfectly & probably saves a small fortune on electricity.

Celebrity Fit Club! I Coulda Been a Contender!

The new cast of Celebrity Fit Club was announced today and I'm going to share a little secret with my loyal blog readers. I was almost on it! No, I'm not overweight, so I wasn't going to be a contestant. I was being considered to replace the psychologist, Dr. Linda Papadopolous (who is pregnant in the UK and unable to travel). Since I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, and I certainly didn't have time to get a Masters in Clinical Psychology in 4 weeks, I was going to be a life coach to "motivate & inspire by example" the contestants into losing weight. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. The network has hired Stacy Kaiser (a real clinical psychologist & licensed marriage & family therapist). I'm sure she'll be great, but when you're watching, you can pretend that she's me ;-)
Even without me, it should be a fun season with : Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady), Dustin Diamond (Screech), pop singer Tiffany, rappers Da Brat & Warren G, Ross The Intern (The Tonight Show), country artist Cledus T Judd, & American Idol contestant Kimberley Locke. Since I have no plans to gain forty pounds, Celebrity Fit Club is probably not in my future.

TVGASM!

Don't you love when blogs have video clips in them? So do I, but since I don't know how to do that you're going to have to visit my friends over at TVGasm ( http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/images/rocky111506.php) to see our interviews with Rocky & Alex from Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. For a little background, the kids on Laguna Beach aren't actors, they're high school students. So for our interview with Rocky we met her at the restaurant where she works. First she was our waitress, then we interviewed her. Talk about turning the tables on your subject! We filmed the interview the week before Halloween and the episode that had just aired was her big, ugly breakup with her boyfriend Alex. Much to our surprise, Alex came walking in to meet her. Since we're very mature "journalists", B-Side kicked me under the table. Well, they're a very sweet couple. Alex looks just like the actor James Franco & Rocky is incredibly beautiful in person. Not surprisingly they both have TV aspirations. Ahh, young love.

Fantasy Reality Challenge!

I'm winning at Fantasy Reality Challenge! http://www.foxreality.com I'm competing against my fellow panelists on Reality Remix with the winner getting a generous donation for charity. It's sort of like Fantasy Football, only with contestants on reality shows. You pick six contestants from a variety of reality shows & you get points each week they stay in. We picked our contestants at the start of the season, so we only had limited info. I'm the only player left with all of my contestants. Unfortunately, I'm going to lose my first player tomorrow night, since we're down to the final 2 (& I picked them!) on Dancing With The Stars.
Here are my contestants & the reason that I picked them. I know my TV!
Dancing With The Stars:
Mario Lopez: Naturally good dancer & America loves dimples (although I consider Ali Landry a friend, so I only put him on my list for the points).
Emmitt Smith: Jerry Rice came in 2nd when he was on the show & Emmitt Smith is a better dancer & he was a Dallas Cowboy.
America's Next Top Model:
Caridee: beautiful blonde girl with an outrageous personality (although a beautiful blonde has never won ANTM)
Melrose: I picked her the week after she was in the bottom 2, because I saw her potential. She'd won the runway challenge & she was accused of being lazy on the shoot (when really she wasn't). Plus I like that she changed her name from Melissa Rose to Melrose since she didn't think she needed the "issa".
The Amazing Race:
Tyler & James: I picked them only because they're athletic, attractive guys (not such a bad reason!) & athletic, attractive guys always seem to do well on Amazing Race.
Survivor:
Yul: He won the immunity idol, which means he'll be on for a while. It's impossible to pick winners on Survivor, because if you look at the past winners, the only consistent is that they're the one you wouldn't pick to win: Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Amber (of Rob &), etc.

Root for my contestants to win, since I'm pretty sure I'm the only panelist on Reality Remix who actually has a charity picked out ;-).

We've Got a Winner!

I'm home: healthy, happy and just a little bit jet lagged. We've got a winner to the first ever "Where in The World is Erin" Challenge! I was visiting the Canary Islands, so the winner (for posting first) is Arfies. I did visit Lanzarote, as some of the later posters guessed, but we also went to La Gomera (which was very unspoiled and beautiful), Las Palmas & Tenerife (which had more night life, restaurants, and all of the luxuries of home.) . Arfies, please e-mail me your mailing address & I'll send your autographed photo (& let me know how you want it personalize: Arfies?). Vacation was fabulous & totally relaxing, but...

There's NO Place Like Home!!

World Wide Web?

Remember I mentioned about my internet service on my trip being inconsistent? Well, that turned out to be an understatement! I'm finally back online, so we can continue the "Where in the World is Erin" challenge, since we still don't have a winner. I'll give extra credit to those who guessed that I was in Morocco, since I did stop in Morocco, before I started the challenge. For anyone who has seen the movie Casablanca, I found it interesting that the movie was really filmed in Florida & that in the real Casablanca they can't have bars so they have a Rick's Cafe (see photo). I also learned that The Clash song "Rock the Kasbah" was about the real earthquake in Agadir, Morocco in 1960 that almost totally destroyed the old city & resulted in the loss of 15,000 lives.
OK, back to where I am:
I'll give you a bunch of clues, since I've been neglecting you.
There are volcanoes where I am & they use the heat from the volcanoes to cook.
A semi-precious stone called Olivina is popular to make jewelry.
Fishing is a major source of income & the beaches are beautiful.

I Went For a Ride!

I've gotten several e-mails asking about the animals in the land I'm visiting. There are no kangaroos or koalas, but we did ride a camel! For anyone interested, a camel isn't a very smooth ride (quite a bit like a seesaw actually). Instead of saying giddup, the camel driver says something like "zhiggy zhiggy". Then the camel stands up and starts walking. Really an amazing, cool thing to try if you ever happen to be in camel country. Any new guesses where I am?

Where in the World is Erin?

In case you're wondering where I am, I'm on vacation! I was planning to post regularly, but internet & phone service has been rather unpredictable. To keep my loyal blog readers entertained (and assure you that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth) we're going to play a little game called "Where in the World is Erin?". First clue: It took 18 hours to arrive at the first leg of our adventure.

Happy Halloween!

In every neighborhood, there's one really popular house on Halloween. I'm talking about the house you want to go to twice. It could be the house that gives out full sized candy bars or the older couple who give out money. Some families go all out & create a real haunted house with smoke machines & costumed monsters. In our neighborhood, we're the most popular house...with the parents! For the last five years, we've been giving out alcohol (little bottles of wine & coolers). We noticed after the first year that the parents were lining up early outside our house. I've even heard kids say "Dad, we've already been to this house!". Don't worry we don't serve minors. Have a wonderful Halloween!