Live from the Red Carpet!

Finally home from a fun-filled day at the Oscars, and had to do a quick re-cap! JCPenney was the title sponsor of the major event, and they hosted a grand experience for us bloggers all day long. From Sephora touch-ups to swag bags, awesome seats and a viewing party at the El Capitan Theater (complete with dinner, popcorn, snacks, photo opps, make-up touch-ups and more), today was certainly unforgettable!

Highlights included seeing Brad and Angelina storm the red carpet in a frenzy, only to stop, turn around and go back through the press line for photos and interviews; shooting a quickie video for JCPenney and eyeing Mario Lopez and cheering him on as he nabbed interviews with Brangelina as if his life depended on it. So funny. (And yes, he is so cute.)

Sitting amongst the fans was definitely a different experience (not exactly in a good way--a sectioned off area would be nice in the future--just in case anyone's asking!), and it was strange to not be working the press line and hustling the red carpet for once, while I spotted many of my reporter colleagues doing exactly that just across the way. All in all, though, the entire day was a blast and I can't thank JCPenney enough for having me today!

Check out these fun pics from the whole experience:

Endless Glamour

Dame Elizabeth Taylor epitomized all things beautiful and glamorous. I was first captivated by her when I was little girl watching Cleopatra, and I'll never forget my mom's devotion to spritzing her White Diamonds fragrance daily.

With her breath-taking violet eyes, signature seductive makeup, bouffant hair and enviable curves, Taylor was very much the leading lady--on and off-screen. And to her credit, I, too, feel most flirtatious when my eyes are winged out dramatically, and my hair has a considerable amount of sexy oomph on top.

In light of her passing today, I wanted to post a few of my favorite images of this extraordinary actress, style icon and Hollywood legend.







She will be missed, but her glamour will live on forever.

You Heard it Here First: LIVE! on Sunset

So there's a new shopping spot in Hollywood that's trying to break ground in a major way. It's called LIVE! on Sunset, and naturally, it's situated right smack in the dab of touristy, traffic-ridden Sunset Blvd.

Here's the scoop: They've taken a few hip, quintessential L.A. boutiques like Kitson, Fred Segal Apothia, The Way We Wore and more and clustered them under one roof for a one-stop-shop experience. Add in a generous smattering of underground-ish yet uber-cool brands like U.K.'s Superdry (hello, those genius Brits strike again!), Crispin & Basilio, Dream Society, Monrow, Laila Azhar, Sretisis, Current/Elliott and Rhys Dwefen among others, and deck the space out with a live recording sound stage (literally) and a luxe Buddha Bar in the back, and you've got a brand spankin' new concept.







So how's it going to fare? Only time will tell.
The boutique definitely stocks a tons of really cute offerings, but if you're any kind of L.A. local, you probably avoid Sunset Blvd. like the plague--unless it's the weekend and you want to get your groove on.

And as for the shopping? It's highly unlikely that I'll be fighting traffic to get over there too frequently on my own, but for tourists who don't want to trek all over town to snatch up their trendy Cali style souvenirs, this might be something along the lines of a retail genius jackpot.

Oh, and I should add: one brilliant move they did take into consideration was constructing a decent-sized parking lot right in front of the store.
Unheard of, in these parts of town.

Well done!

Unforgiving Fashion

Herve Leger skin-tight bandage dresses are popping up on every starlet in town. They've always been around, but are currently being revived in Hollywood in a major way. Personally, I'm not a fan. I'd never wear one, and it goes without saying that I think they're, well, a bit slutty-looking, no matter your body type.





The iconic dresses will run you about $1250-2,000 online at sites like www.net-a-porter.com or www.intermixonline.com.





Or, check out this knock-off (pretty much identical to Posh's version) from Bebe I found at just $98 (available in a few different color combinations.)

Let's Hear it for the Girls!

Hollywood's leading ladies took over the Beverly Hilton Hotel this week for the Lucy + Crystal Awards, honoring Women in Film's 35th anniversary. I was there for all of the red carpet craziness and enjoyed the awfully inspiring awards ceremony to boot.

I chatted with just about every ravishing starlet there, including fierce femmes like Salma Hayek, Ginifer Goodwin, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes, Diane English, Nicole Richie, Debi Mazar, Debra Messing, Rumer Willis, Jennifer Morrison, Meg Ryan, Cameron Diaz and more! Check out my candids from the star-studded night.