Warming Up With The Rock in Florida

I love living in New York City, but during this time of year, I miss my LA days just a little bit. As a born and raised Jersey girl, I like to think 5 years of California living didn't completely make me soft, but I'll be the first to admit this winter has been brutal, with constant blizzards, single digit polar vortex days, massive slushpuddles and dirty snowbanks at every intersection.
So when I was invited to a set visit for Wake Up Call, The Rock's new reality show filming in South Florida, the answer was obviously yes. I've never gone on a set visit before so I figured this was a good opportunity to see another aspect of the television business and get some much needed vitamin D and sunshine. Win win.

While I've watched my fair share of reality TV (don't judge), I haven't ever really seen them filmed from a production aspect. There's so much prep and setup that takes place long before cameras even start rolling. When you're watching one single scene in a show, there was likely hours of work that went behind capturing it.
Wake Up Call premieres this fall but the premise of the show is that Dwayne Johnson, who was arrested multiple times himself before turning his life around, gives "wake up calls" to real-life people in need of help, whether it's a deadbeat dad or struggling business owner. Through his interventions, he helps people admit mistakes, face challenges and improve their lives. You definitely see an emotional side of the participants on the show as well Dwayne, who's a father himself. During our interview at the conclusion of the day, he revealed what gave him his own personal wake up call and memories of working on the Fast and Furious franchise with the late Paul Walker.

There are also guest stars involved in many episodes. On the day I visited, it was Juicy J from Three6Mafia...or you may know him from Katy Perry's current hit song "Dark Horse."

He took the red eye from LA just to be there (maybe that explains why he wore sunglasses indoors the whole time.)

The rapper dished about making the crazy music video for "Dark Horse," which comes out this Thursday, and features Katy as an Egyptian princess wearing a grill, as well as those crazy rumors about him getting Miley Cyrus pregnant.

I'll post the links to coverage when the stories are up on Cambio. I also got to hang with my parents, who live down here most of the year, at the pool today so that was an added bonus. I'm currently blogging from the Ft. Lauderdale airport since my flight back is delayed, but at least they have free wifi. Next time I'm posting, I'll be back home but I'm bringing some warmer weather with me, I promise!

Just like in any long-term relationship (my three year NYC anniversary is in March), every now and then you just need a break and some perspective to appreciate what you have, and this trip was the perfect time to reflect, recharge and refocus. Thank you to TNT and The Rock for having me and I'll see you soon, NYC! 

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Super Bowl Sunday and Awkward Moments

Happy Super Bowl Sunday from New York City!  I've gotten to cover Super Bowl in the past in other cities such as Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa and Miami but this year, the game came to me. Last night was DirecTV's annual Super Saturday night, which always features a live performance and this year definitely didn't disappoint. Jay-Z was the scheduled performer and not only was he awesome but Beyonce even joined him for a song too!

I am seriously obsessed with these two! Cutest couple ever. Justin Bieber is also in town for Super Bowl and was spotted skateboarding through the 11th Annual Leather and Laces party, which we went to on Friday. At least it's better than drag racing while high on weed and Xanax, right?

In other celeb encounter news, I got to sit down with the cast of That Awkward Moment recently, including Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. The movie is sort of a rom-com from a male perspective about three best friends who vow to stay single in NYC.  Living in Manhattan, you recognize a lot of the places they filmed and can definitely relate to some of the situations! You can see some of the interviews below:

For all those wondering, yes, Zac really is just as cute in person as he looks. I also realized I never wrote about my Sundance trip because I got sick afterwards and was trying to catch up on work and get better for this weekend, but it was amazing. The weather was perfect and our house crew was the best. I finally got to ski this year, too!

I've also been busy apartment hunting as I'm moving out of my current place, which I've lived in for 3 years. I'm happy to report that after a week of searching and seeing depressingly shoebox sized apartments, two of my best friends Katie, Lindsay and I found a spacious and charming new place with an awesome bar right off our lobby. Success! We celebrated last night with a delicious dinner at Benjamin Steak, where we sat by Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick who were on a dinner date. You can tell they're still totally in love. 

Besties and now roomies!

Success! If anyone has any great mover recommendations, holler. In the meantime, I'm off to get ready for the game. GO BRONCOS! 

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Golden Globes and Sundancing

The Golden Globes are tonight which means awards season is officially here! Back in my days living in LA and working at E!, I was covering the carpet and parties in person.

Awards season was always lots of fun but by the time Oscars rolled around in March, you're pretty exhausted! There's something nearly every Sunday starting now and culminating with the Academy Awards, such as the Grammys, Independant Spirit Awards, Screen Actor's Guild Awards, etc. It's a lot of late nights running around in heels and then coming home to transcribe your interviews and post your stories ASAP, not to mention finding dresses to wear to everything. So I'm actually pretty happy to watch at home from my couch in sweats for once.

Of all of the awards, Globes was always my favorite one to cover for a few reasons. It's more relaxed and casual than Oscars, and they serve booze to the celebrities during the show, which means everyone's in a pretty good mood.

It's also the most convenient, since everything is held in one place. It all goes down at the Beverly Hilton hotel. The awards are held in the ballroom and all of the after parties are on the premises too, making it much easier to hit as many as possible without having to drive and valet. It's one stop shopping! With all of the stars in one place, you never know who you might run into the lobby or bathroom. I remember when I bumped into Josh Duhamel and Fergie one year when it was actually raining (a rare occurrence in LA) and Josh was holding up the train of her dress as she walked so it wouldn't get wet. How cute are they?! I can't wait to see what everyone will be wearing this year.

One thing I'm not missing is the Sundance film festival, which kicks off this week in Park City. I'm going back for the third time and can't wait for another great year. In addition to the movies, there's lots of parties and events. And this year, I made sure I actually have enough downtime to the hit the slopes, which I hear are amazing and not crowded during the fest, since everyone's seeing movies and hitting up the swag suites. Last year's highlights included interviewing James Franco about his BDSM documentary and taking a gondola at night to the top of the Canyons to reach one of my interview locations, which was definitely memorable.

My tan from my Christmas in Florida is long gone but I don't want be the palest person in the hot tub at our house, so I've been on the hunt for a good self tanner. St. Tropez's new mousse which is formulated for sensitive skin is a winner. It's super quick to apply and dry, doesn't have that weird scent some of the other kinds do and will leave you with a natural glow instead of a Snooki-esque complexion.

You can see St. Tropez's golden tans for yourself on some celebs tonight at the Globes. Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn, Wolf of Wall Street's Margot Robbie and Sosie Bacon, Kevin Bacon's daughter and Miss Golden Globes 2014, will all be sporting custom spray tans by St. Tropez when they hit the red carpet.

Happy watching! Check back this week and weekend for more straight from Sundance.

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Happy New Year! 2013 Highlights and Inspirational Interviews

Happy New Year! 2013 was an amazing one where I got to continue and grow my freelance journalism career, travel to lots of fun places for both work and play and meet many wonderful people. I welcomed 2014 at a huge Host Committee party at 55 Gansevoort thrown by myself and some other friends.

Before ringing in the New Year, I joined Fox & Friends again to recap the biggest celebrity moments of 2013. You can watch the segment here...love her or hate her, you have to admit that Miley Cyrus definitely was a hot topic all year. Twerking is working, at least in terms of making headlines and getting people talking (and I'm not gonna lie, her new album is pretty good.)

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Tracy Anderson, fitness guru and Gwyneth Paltrow's trainer and BFF, for SheKnows' January Girl Crush. I met Tracy at her NYC home and she was so sweet and fun to talk to, not to mention in amazing shape for having two kids.


Hear the petite powerhouse and single mom explain why she hates juice cleanses and the best thing about having Gwyn as a best friend. After our sitdown, I took one of Tracy's famous cardio classes at her Tribeca studio and it was an intense yet fun workout.
For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm an avid reader (I think I'm the only one of my friends who carries a library card and actively uses it) so I also picked up a book she recommended for some New Year's reading called Within by Dr. Habib Sadeghi. I'm only a few chapters in but it's about the mind body connection and how it relates to weight loss and achieving your ideal self. The science behind it is fascinating and argues that we have complete control over the thoughts and feelings we create and the power of positivity. Good food for thought for 2014 if you're into that sort of thing.

Thank you all for reading my blog and articles over the years and for your support! I feel truly blessed for all of the fantastic people in my life and that I get to make a living everyday doing something that I love. Wishing everyone all the best for a wonderful year ahead filled with happiness, health, love, prosperity and peace. Here's to making all your dreams come true in 2014!

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Merry Christmas from Fort Myers!

It's Christmas Eve and my presents are all wrapped so I hope yours are too if you celebrate! I did a segment last weekend on Fox & Friends for SheKnows about great gifts for women in case any of you are super last-minute procrastinators and need some inspiration. You can view the whole segment here.

Thank you to Banana Republic, who dressed me in this red number from their limited edition L'Wren Scott Collection. It's much easier looking put together early in the morning when you have something great waiting for you to wear! I loved how festive and flattering this dress was...it's perfect for a party (or morning TV show).

Although I was born and raised in New Jersey, this year, we're celebrating Christmas in Florida, where my parents have a place and spend most of their time since retiring. Although it's definitely different doing Christmas among the palm trees, there are some perks, like getting to go boating in December. We went to Marco Island Monday and found Flipper and his friends.

I even got to captain the boat myself on our way home, which I've never done. I love holiday traditions but it's also fun to make new ones. For Christmas dinner, we're having stone crabs just to go with the FL theme.

Merry Christmas to you and your families and best wishes for a wonderful, blessed and prosperous New Year! May you spend it with your loved ones and get lots of rest and relaxation before 2014 arrives. Cheers!

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Just For the Heli of It: My First Time in A Chopper

I got an interesting email this week from a producer at Keep in News, an international news wire service I've worked with before. Their segments air on the French network TF1 and usually consist of them interviewing you about whatever entertainment story they're working on at a normal location, but this one was way more unusual. They were doing a report about the rumor that Angelina Jolie was buying Brad Pitt a heart-shaped private island with a house designed by his favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright for his 50th birthday, which is on Dec. 18, and wanted to interview me during on a helicopter tour over the island.

(FYI, I told them this story was never confirmed and there's been conflicting reports about its validity, but they wanted to proceed anyway so I agreed to discuss it from a rumor perspective.) The idea made me excited but also apprehensive. Anyone who's traveled with me knows that although I fly often, I'm a slightly nervous flyer. I've taken small "puddlejumper" type planes before and really dislike them. And while I was a little hesistant to do a taped interview while flying on a helicopter for the first time where I could quite possibly freak out, I felt like it was a cool opportunity so I agreed. We met at the heliport by Wall Street on a clear and very cold afternoon.

Helicopters are pretty noisy so everyone has to wear big headphones with microphones so you can hear and talk to each other, which was actually kind of fun. We did our charter through Zip Aviation and our pilot, James, was super nice and totally calmed my nerves before takeoff. I had no idea what to expect, but flying in a chopper feels way different than a plane. It's almost like you're floating when you takeoff.

We flew up the Hudson river and around Manhattan, which gave us amazing views of the famous skyline and landmarks like the Empire State building. Because helicopters fly lower than planes, you get insane views of all the skyscrapers and you also have cell service the whole time.

I was originally worried about turbulence since you feel it much more on a small aircraft, but the ride was fairly smooth and the sights were so impressive, I quickly forgot about my fears and started enjoying the experience.

After about 25 minutes, we got our first glimpse of heart-shaped Petra Island, which is in the middle of Lake Mahopac and accessible only by boat or helicopter. In the winter when the lake is frozen, a helicopter is the only way to get there. It's a completely private island with only two houses on it. The first, a small cottage, was built by Frank Lloyd Wright himself in 1950 and second was built in 2008 from his original plans.

The main house is 5,000 square feet with 2,000 square feet of outdoor decks with wraparound panoramic views. There's rock and wood elements throughout the entire house in typical Wright style.

The famed architect has factored into past birthday presents for Brangelina. For Brad's 43rd birthday, Angelina arranged a private tour of his Fallingwater estate, where they celebrated with champagne and caviar in the living room. It was so incredible to see Petra Island and the Massaro house from above. We circled it a few times before heading back down the Hudson to Manhattan, where we were treated to more amazing views of the Freedom Tower.

When we touched down on the helipad, I was almost sad to be back on the ground.

I'm so glad I didn't let my fear hold me back from missing out on such a wonderful and unique experience. It's important to challenge yourself and keep pushing your limits whenever the opportunity presents itself. You can watch the entire segment here. I'd definitely recommend a helicopter tour to anyone after the great time I had. And speaking of great times, I haven't written about Art Basel yet because this week was so busy. We had nearly perfect weather and one of the best parts was cruising around South Beach on the free bikes from the Mondrian, where we stayed.

It's hard to believe that picture was just one week ago, as it's blizzarding outside at the moment in NYC. 

Stay warm this weekend!

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Miami Me! Art Basel, Here We Come...Again

It's already December and tonight feels a little like Christmas Eve to me because I'm so excited to be going back to Art Basel again tomorrow! But instead of making a list and checking it twice like I did in my younger years, it's more like checking the weather forecast in Miami obsessively and making sure you're confirmed for all the fun parties.

Art Basel is an annual art festival where people from around the world come to enjoy the beautiful beaches, star-studded parties and oh yeah, the art! Last year was my first time going so I thought I'd revisit some highlights from 2012.

Basel is all about the bashes and one of my favorites was the Dom Perignon Luminous Rose party at Wall, which is the club inside the W. The party brought out a bunch of bold-faced names like Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Kourtney Kardashian, Scott Disick, Demi Moore and many more.

Photo credit: BFA

Sure, it's cool to see celebs but I loved the bubbly, which was freely flowing all night. This particular type of Dom is pink and comes in a cool glow in the dark bottle, which were on display everywhere at the party.

But I think my favorite memory is when I went on a random boat ride with a bunch of friends on my last day in Miami. It wasn't a yacht or anything fancy, but we had the best time cruising around the waves and enjoying the sun and sea. There's just something magical to me about being on the water.

We even got to see a dolphin during our boating adventure, which is way cooler than a celeb any day!

This year, I'm staying at the Mondrian South Beach and I hear the pool is amazing so I don't even mind that I'm getting up at 4 a.m. to make my 6 a.m. flight down because that means I'll be working on my tan poolside before noon! Signing off for now so I can get some sleep before the big weekend, but check back for more updates soon from South Beach.

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