Media Mondays...on a Tuesday

Hello, Chris Hardwick....young kids know him from his YouTube Nerdist channel.  Older kids know him from MTV's Singled Out with Jenny McCarthy.

Well, we can't always be on time, can we?  I am finally getting to this post on a Tuesday after hopping on a few planes to cover events in Las Vegas, LA, and Detroit.  I was all over the place, but I had a whole lot of fun.  Take a look at some of the events I covered last week:

IAWTV Awards:  I was grateful to be nominated with my fantastic co-host, AJ Gibson, for our AfterBuzz TV show of So You Think You Can Dance.  We had so much fun in Vegas.  It was also nice to be back on the red....uh, blue carpet interviewing the nominees for IAWTV.  Thanks to the Academy for giving me that opportunity. For my fashionistas, my dress info is here.



Oscar Nominations:  I then ran home on Wednesday to cover the Oscar Nominations for Starpulse.  All of my coverage is here.  Watch the Leonard Maltin interview.  He gives some great insight on the Oscars race.

With the cast of Squaresville.  I clearly need help with my square.

Tom Barnard Podcast:  We talk Elvis, Jake the Snake, and the Oscars race. Listen here.

Cocktails and Conversation:  I am back for a special episode to talk about....you guessed it..Oscar Nominations!  Robin also won the Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge this year.  She's going to get a $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice....once she tells me the store of her choice! Listen here.

Acting up on the red carpet with Misty Kingma.

SheKnows:  All of my Oscar nominations articles are here.  However, I wrote about a few other things last week.  The more interesting ones:
Ben Affleck gets the last laugh--He also did on Golden Globes night!
Charlie Sheen gets the LA mayor in trouble--Seriously, don't hang out with Charlie.
Demi Moore is keeping her cougar status--Because she can.

With the cast of The Digits at IAWTV Awards

The Radio Dish:  We talk about the Biebs and paparazzi in this edition of the Hollywood Bling. Listen in at the 20:00 mark.

 I speak a lot.......just ask my significant other.

 What?!!  Someone wanted me on their panel?  Wow.  Thanks, New Media Expo!

With the AfterBuzz TV crew....me, AJ, Phil Svitek, and Cathy Kelley.

My Top 10 Thoughts about the 2013 Golden Globes

I've been live-snarking the Golden Globes all night long. You can catch up on Twitter or see my Top 10 thoughts on the Globes here:

1.  Anne Hathaway:  I've said it all season long and I am a supporter of her performance in Les Mis, but I think she's trying too hard.  She's acting like this big underdog and she's not.  Anne is a young, talented A-List actress who is on her way to winning her first Academy Award.  I wish her acceptance speeches came from an authentic place....instead of jumping up to the mic to give another shout out during the Les Mis win.  Sorry, your moment already happened.  UGH.  Don't make me change my SAG Awards vote for you.  Rant over. (Although her Sally Field tribute was nice....and sincere.)

By the way, I am hearing baby bump rumors about Anne.  Could she be pregnant?

2. Ryan Seacrest:  This photo made me realize he is dying his hair hard core.  He looks really old next to Julianne Hough because of the bad dye job....and while Ryan isn't 25, he certainly isn't old.  He makes $15 million a year from American Idol alone, stop dying your hair from the box.

3. Claire Danes:  I've tried so hard to like Homeland, but I can't get into it.  I'm in the minority on that show, so let's talk about how amazing you look.  You had a baby less than 30 days ago.  Wow! Dress by Versace.

4.  Taylor Swift:  I'm over her songs about ex-boyfriends, but THIS look is good for her.  She usually dresses like a fluffy kitten in pastels.  This is fierce.  It looks like she's laying down the law, no more ex-boyfriends like John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal or Harry Styles.  Dress by Donna Karan Atelier.

5.  Halle Berry:  She's beautiful, but she has rocked this look for years.  I think it's time for a makeover.....new red carpet style.  It's so boring now.  It's pretty, but it's boring.

6.  Jodie Foster:  I'm pretty sure she officially came out during her Cecil B. DeMille speech.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  She did it in her own way.  I also have to say that 50 looks fabulous.  Wow!

7. Ben Affleck:  I've been talking all week about your Oscar snub.  The voting members of The Academy made a big mistake.  Last night proved it.  I think your film is way more interesting than Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

8.  Lena Dunham:  She's exactly what Hollywood needs right now.  She sends a great message to young girls everywhere:  Be who you are, be unique, and let your talents shine through.

9.  Amy Poehler and Tina Fey:  They were very funny, but I wanted to see more of them.  Just sending that thought out to Hollywood Foreign Press and Dick Clark Productions.

10. Bill Clinton:  I've met him twice.  I don't care what your politics are.....he's still the most popular man in the room.  Yep, he even trumps George Clooney.  No one has more charisma.  No one.

Okay, do you agree or disagree with me?  Chime in below!

My 2013 Oscar Nominations Coverage

Well, the longest day of the year has officially come and gone.  Yep, Oscar Nominations Day is always   a fun, but tough day to get through. This year, I woke up at 1:30am so I could get to the theatre in time to set up at 3am.  By 4am, I was happily eating bacon and a Jamba Juice in preparation for the big announcements. (By the way, Jamba Juice and Coffee Bean sponsored the beverages this morning.  That's a first and it was totally appreciated.)

No heels until showtime.  A girl has to be comfy at 4am.

As always, the nominations came at a fast and furious pace for a total of 8 minutes.  Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone were completely charming and I am excited for Seth's hosting gig.  Then the nominations came and wow!..... there some major snubs.

Here's my article on the Snubs and Surprises for SheKnows.

It's great catching up with old friends.  Megan Telles from ABC Las Vegas.

This year, after giving my video assessment with The Academy's nominations, I was lucky enough to interview legendary film critic Leonard Maltin and the executive producers for this year's show, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.  The producing duo gave me some great inside scoop on what to expect for this year's show.

Here's my video coverage for Starpulse.

And my pal Luz Peña from MundoFOX

Finally, my favorite thing to write is the behind the scenes scoop that you miss while watching the nominations on TV.

So, here's what you missed this morning with my Top 5 for SheKnows.

The dress was $74.99 retail, but I used Ebates to get additional money off.

The Dress:

This was the winning dress! Congrats to Robin who picked this "Luck Be a Lady" dress from Modcloth.  It fit like a glove and the PR team from Modcloth agreed after they saw my photo on Twitter.  Robin gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice. (By the way, I added a thicker belt versus the skinny belt the dress came with to slim down my waistline on camera.)

As for the Shabby Apple dress, Jennifer picked a beautiful dress for me.  However, the one that was sent to me was not the champagne color, it was gray.  The lining of the dress didn't match up with the lace, so it was poorly constructed.  I was pretty disappointed in the overall quality.  So, Jennifer has great taste, I just wish the Shabby Apple dress was exactly the same as what we saw online. The good news is that Jennifer can relish in the fact that she won the popular vote.  Her pick received 58% of the vote.


Finally, I had fun with James Molnar of Gold Knight Blog who assessed the Oscar Nominations in a fan chat for Spreecast.  Do you agree with our picks?

 My awesome cameraman, AJ, who did a great job shooting all of the videos today.

Hanging with Oscar

Dress Details: 2013 IAWTV Awards

It's always fun to have an excuse to wear a dress, so last night at the IAWTV Awards at CES in Las Vegas was the perfect excuse.  My co-host, AJ Gibson, and I were nominated for AfterBuzz TV's So You Think You Can Dance in two categories.  It was a thrill to be on a list with incredible talent like Leo Laporte, Beth Hoyt, Shira Lazar, Mark Keizer, and Wade Major.  While we didn't win this year, AJ and I knew our big "win" was the nomination.  It's the little show that could and we were proud to represent the network and our boss, Maria Menounos.

Now, on to the important details on my dress.

                  With fellow host, Misty Kingma, from Clevver Music.

Dress:  Aqua (Yep, worn this brand before and I really like their designs.) $188

Shoes:  Stuart Weitzman, Winter 2007 collection.....these were a great investment. $325 (Worn here)

Necklace:  Shop The Look  (I bought this necklace in 2010.  Finally found a dress to wear it with.) $16

Ring:  Rachel Zoe for QVC (Bought in 2010, this was another great find from a home shopping network.) $35

A HUGE thanks to my Las Vegas hair and makeup team.  They did a great job two years in a row.
Makeup: Aurora Nerone
Hair:  Candace Campbell

Influenster: Holiday VoxBox 2012

A couple of weeks ago, I received a fun and unexpected box in the mail.  I was excited to see that I was chosen for Influenster's Holiday VoxBox 2012.  So, let's take a closer look and see what was inside:

1.  Quaker Oats Medleys Oatmeal:  They sent me one in Peach Almond and I could not have been more excited to taste test this brand.  They are fun single servings, so you could eat breakfast on the go...genius!  However, I looked at the label...there was wheat in the ingredients.  Oatmeal can be a tricky thing to eat when you are gluten intolerant.  So, this was off my list.  (By the way, oatmeal doesn't need wheat as a part of its ingredient list.  It means it is a cheap filler.  I was kind of bummed to see that it was listed.)

2.  NYC New York Liquid Lipshine:  Let's go on to some great news because this lip gloss was a HUGE winner.  My color was "Nude York City" and it wasn't sticky, it tastes great (Yes, taste counts since we inadvertently eat pounds and pounds of lipstick a year.), and it went on smoothly.  At, $2.49 a tube, I would definitely buy this again.

3.  Kiss Nail Dress:  This is the perfect kit for those that love the nail art trend.  The gold designs that I received were fun and a great way to add a little pop to your outfit.  All you need to do is peel, apply, and shape these bad boys.  At 6.99, it sure beats salon prices for cute nails.  While I wouldn't buy these all of the time, it's worth it for something different.

4.  EBoost:  This might be my second favorite item in the pack.  I was sick all holiday season and now I'm in Las Vegas with everyone else in the world.  It's germy and packed here, so I used a little EBoost in Pink Lemonade in my water bottle.  It was tasty and I know I would used it again.  It's a great alternative to Emergen-C.

5.  Goody QuikStyle Brush in Half Round Styler:  I was a little skeptical about this product at first.  The brush promises to remove 30% of the water in your hair with microfiber bristles to dry your hair faster. My hair takes forever to blow dry, so I gave it a shot...and it works!  I was amazed.  I have really thick hair, so I think the paddle version might be a bit easier for me to maneuver.  It also has an affordable price:  $11.99.  It's a winner!

6.  Sole Society:  You had me at shoes.  It's a curated collection site and the prices all are under $100.  They kindly gave me a $25 off coupon, so I bought these funky bad boys to add some color to a drab winter outfit.  The shoes were $59.95, but minus my coupon, I got them for a nice $34.95 price with free shipping/returns.  Yes!

7.  Montagne Jeunesse Face Mask:  I used this last night since I'm in the driest part of the West Coast:  Las Vegas. With the smoke and dry desert air, my face needed a moisturizing pick-me-up.  This did the trick and I am camera-ready for today!  The packets are under $2...a total bargain for good skin.


What do you think of my Holiday VoxBox?  Chime in and let me know if you have tried any of these products before.




Products were provided complimentary by Influenster.  All opinions are my own.

Media Mondays

It's hard to get back into the swing of things after the holidays, but I'm doing it big.  It's going to be a busy 10 days with stops in Vegas, Chicago, LA, and Detroit.  Currently, I am in Vegas for the New Media Expo, CES, and the IAWTV Awards.  Don't forget though, I will be bringing you all of the Oscar nominations on Thursday, so make sure to stop by to see what happened and what dress I picked.

In the meantime, here were a few of my media appearances from the first week of 2013:

If you live in LA, you have probably seen me in your living rooms. I am currently the spokesperson for Kia of Cerritos, so thank you for all of the tweets, texts, and emails!  This the commercial that is running right now:



Cocktails and Conversation:  My first show of the year with Robin and Erika...and it was good one.  We talked a lot about the use of the N-word in the film Django Unchained and a little exchange Samuel L. Jackson had with a reporter friend of mine.  I come in around the 15-minute mark, listen here.

The Radio Dish:  Ahhh, we talked celebrity babies and the one bump we are going to hear about all year.  No, not the royal baby.......the Kardashian baby. Sigh.  Join me at the 18:00 mark here. (I was also sick as a dog that day...you can hear it in my voice. UGH!)

SheKnows:  My favorite articles from last week:
Website Reveals Possible Oscar Nominee--I got the exclusive on this one.  Find out the answer!
Reality Steve Sues again by The Bachelor's producers--Yep, another exclusive quote from Steve himself.
Jenny McCarthy wants you to choose her NYE kiss--This was my most popular article last week...guess you all wanted a say in her midnight kiss.

Don't forget that tonight is the first #RadioBurtt night of the year!  Listen in at 6:35pm PT/9:35pm ET at KWSS.org.

And if you happen to be at #NMX in Vegas, I will be moderating a panel on Monetization in Web Series at the Rio Hotel today at 10:30am PT.  See you there!

The Finalists: Oscar Nominations Dress

It's year 3 of my Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge! Is your dress among the finalists?  Here are this year's two finalists chosen for very different reasons:

1.  Dress 1:  Shabby Apple
     This is a shape that I don't normally choose, but I like the elegance of it.  It's simple yet perfect for the tradition of the Oscar nominations.  My only concern is if this color will wash me out on camera, but like Jennifer said when she submitted this dress, "I know you want bright colors, but I love the lightness and texture on this- maybe have some deep red lipstick in hand? A la old Hollywood."

2.  Dress 2:  ModCloth

ModCloth was a runner-up in 2011, but the fit was a bit off.  Let's hope this year I got it right.  The color is great for camera and it has a bit of Mad Men glamour that is perfect for the sophistication of the event that morning.  As Robin also mentioned when she submitted this dress on Facebook, "They have wonderful good looks - really affordable too!"

Both dresses should arrive next week just in time for the Oscar Nominations.  Which one is your favorite?  

Vote below and be sure to see the dress I choose on Thursday, January 10! Winner receives a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. Good luck!

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