Last Sunday my friend and I decided to host an Oscar’s Red Carpet Viewing Party.  And thanks to my friends at Dove we were able to put on a festive show for a few of our girlfriends.

Dove provided the idea, funds for us to create a bangin’ spread, and a couple of goodies for our guests to take home – who could resist a reason to get the girls together, right? 

First up, the menu.  Since the Oscar’s on television would be an entire afternoon and evening event, we invited everyone to come over at their leisure and watch the arrivals with us and then stay for dinner.

With that, we put together a platter of vegetables and pita chips to dip in a spinach dip that I made for appetizers. If you’ve never tried Trader Joe’s Multi Grain Pita Chips, I’m telling you, you gotta try ‘em!

For dinner, we made a London Broil over garlic smashed potatoes.  For sides, I made individual ramekins of mac and cheese, roasted aparagus, and a spring salad.

Ah, let’s not forget the flowing champagne!

My friend did an amazing job with the table settings.  As a part sponsor of our party favors, Milani Cosmetics sent us makeup colors inspired by what they predicted the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress would be wearing on the red carpet.  We took face charts with the look on them as place settings.

Dove also sent us Oscar ballots and we used those as napkin holders – aren’t they adorable? 

If you ever need an easy and elegant idea for a centerpiece, pull together a couple of small bowl-shaped vases and fill them with colored rose petals (choose any color to match your theme!) and place a small round candle in the center to create an inexpensive, yet pretty table top.

We had a great time on Sunday and want to give a huge shout-out to Dove Visibly Smooth (more on this bangin’ new deodorant soon!) and Milani Cosmetics for sponsoring a totally fab party!

The event was hosted with gift cards, jewelry for gift bags and product samples furnished by Dove with additional products furnished by Milani.

This season, I was away for the long weekend so I wasn’t able to cover New York Fashion Week (I wonder why they hold Fashion Week over the President’s Day/Valentine’s Day holiday weekends).

However, I was able to make it back in time to catch the last couple of days.  Luckily, my full-time employer was one of the tent sponsors so I was able to sneak in to a few shows.

Second only to the awesome game of front-row-celebrity-spotting (Donald & Melania Trump, Grace Coddington, Veronica Webb and Russell Simmons were among the higher profile ones), strolling around and visiting the sponsor booths and their wares are the best part of the whole experience.  It’s fun because I get to see which products want to grab the attention of the fashion elite and luxury tastemakers.

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the tents this season, here’s what you missed inside.

Mercedes-Benz – As the marquee sponsor (It is called the “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week”), Mercedes parked two beautiful cars for attendees to lust after.  Though I’m not a big fan of Mercedes-Benz automobiles, I must admit that the SLS AMG and E-Class Cabriolet fit right with the fashionable crowd. With smartly positioned lighting and the spotless exteriors, the cars shined up like a pair of jeweled Roger Vivier heels.

Starbucks Frappuccino – I was extremely pleased to see Starbucks in the tent this season. For the last couple of seasons, McDonald’s McCafe satiated the caffeine cravings of the fashionistas.  This season, Starbuck’s appearance in the tent made me happy because Frappuccino’s are re-sealable and easier to toss in a bag if I can’t finish it before the show starts.

Starbucks also premiered their new 100-calorie, ready-to-drink Frappuccinos in Light Mocha and Light Vanilla flavors.  The new drinks are portable, weight management-approved, delicious and caffeinated.  What else could you ask for to help power through NYFW?

Chambord – Chambord, the French purveyor of a black raspberry, fruit, herbs and honey liqueur, is smart to sponsor the bar.  When you’re trying to kill time between shows and cannot get on the wait list for a touch-up at the TRESemme booth, sipping an alcoholic beverage will help pass the time.

As you’re elbowing your way up to the bar, you will inevitably meet other people.  By the time you make it up to the bar, you have a free drink and a buddy to chat with.  There might be another reason Chambord has had a persistent presence under the tent.  My theory is that drinking alcohol causes the pleasant side effect as a mild anesthetic for aching feet encased in gorgeous designer shoes!

Other sponsors under the tent include American Express, AOL, DHL, The Heart Truth, Maybelline, TRESemme, and Vevant.

I wonder who will be sponsoring the next NYFW.  The upcoming Fashion Week this September will be the inaugural event at its new home – Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side.

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Right now, Little Saigon in Orange County is bustling with outdoor markets and stands selling stuff and getting ready for the Lunar New Year this Sunday.

Last weekend, the boyfriend came down to visit me and after dim sum we decided to walk the streets of Bolsa and in to the Asian Mall parking lot (Phuoc Loc Tho) to check out the outdoor market selling items especially for Tết (Chinese New Year in Vietnamese).

There’s tons of red and gold items from home decorations, red envelopes “lucky” money, small boxes of firecrackers (the legal kind, of course) and tons of plants and flowers.

Of course, I am always drawn to the food and found my way to the fruit stand relatively quickly!

When I visited Vietnam with my mom for the first time in 1991, I ate these rambutan fruit (or chom chom in Vietnamese) for the very first time.  They ended up being my favorite fruit to eat the entire summer I was there!

The soft, prickly outer skin reveals a white fruit inside that’s juicy and sweet.  Just seeing these again reminded me of that amazing summer I spent as a kid getting to know some of my family members I had never met before!

At first I thought these were those stinky durian fruits but it turns out it’s a jack fruit! Much, much yummier in my opinion.  And look how big it is!

After you split it open, you can pick out the little pieces of jack fruit and eat it fresh or make delicious dessert treats with them.

I’m so excited it’s finally Friday!  Will you be celebrating the Lunar New Year this Sunday?  Or is one holiday, Valentine’s Day, enough for you

I’ll be in San Francisco celebrating both!

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I was really hoping that today was going to be a lazy Saturday after such a busy work week but it just so happened that a few fun things came up for today that I just didn’t want to miss.

In a few hours I’ll be having lunch with Miss Marisol who I became friends with when I lived in San Francisco.  She just so happens to be in the LA-area for a few weeks so we’re going to check out the Old Vine Cafe in Costa Mesa for lunch before heading out to ULTA in Huntington Beach.

Today, celebrity makeup artist and creator of LORAC Cosmetics, Carol Shaw, is making a special appearance at ULTA.  We’re going to stop by and see if we can get the beauty scoop from her on the best fall trends and how to wear them.

If you’re in the neighborhood, visit the ULTA in Huntington Beach today from 12pm – 5pm to get a beauty consultation from LORAC and ULTA makeup artists and a free full-size Co-Star Lip Gloss with any LORAC purchase.

And if you run into me while I’m there, please say hello! 

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