Vanity Village in 1943 Algeria

I met Lorena on the set of "No Time For Holiday" -- I came on as Key Make-up Artist (a big XoXo for Stacie Munoz, a frequent employer of mine, her productions are always a treat to be on :) and Lorena was the hair stylist. After spending many years in a salon environment, it was Lorena's first on-set experience, and we made quite the team together. We decided to apply for productions together, and appropriately named ourselves Vanity Village.

In November of 2009, Lorena and I joined the crew of "Fortress" (trailer)-- a WWII film with a cast of crew of ALL men, what a delight being the only two women on-set.  This was my first feature as Department Head, so naturally I was excited. We arrive on-set the first day in Aqua Dulce, about 45 miles NE of Los Angeles. Julian, our producer, was instantly our favorite, quite the comedic relief. We spent four days and one freezing night in the middle of nowhere. Week two and three were luckily in a warehouse in North Hollywood. The cast was very unique, all of them blossoming with talent. Any one of them could explode into Hollywood stardom at any moment, with some of them already well-known from childhood roles.

Vanity Village with Bug Hall, bringing him back to his Alfalfa days

Actor Tim Hade

I'm blogging about this particular project because it has been my favorite project I have worked on so far in my year and a half professional make-up career (and I just might be giving it some much deserved PR -- because who am I if I'm not a publicist?!). Some of these boys I'm sure I will remain life-long friends with and I hope to see them on the cover of US Weekly one day, hopefully not for something ridiculous -- unless it's Julian, then it's completely understood if it's total ridiculousness.

Probably shouldn't mess with us...

Actor Edward Finlay

Vanity Village found some wardrobe props!

Actor Edward Finlay

Actor Tony Elias

Producer, in wardrobe, Julian Moss

You're Going To Let A Girl Beat You In Football Knowledge?!

I was on set not too long ago for a filmed called "Between The Wish And The Thing" -- absolutely wonderful cast and crew. Two of the lead actors were southern boys -- Shawn Parsons from Dothan, Alabama, and Josh Waters, from my hometown of Marietta, Georgia. So naturally we bonded. The Big Chicken. Sweet Tea. Chick-fil-A (which was a surprise treat while filming in Barstow, California). The SEC. Shawn went to Bama. Now if you're reading this and you're located in the south and an Auburn fan, you're probably thinking "Oh no." But actually, here on the West Coast, when you run into another SEC fan, regardless of the team, you're instantly football family.

Notice the cup -- it was sweet tea :)

The West Coast simply does not do football like the SEC does. Part of the reason we as SEC fans love our teams is because of the southern traditions that go along with game day. Tailgating at any SEC game is bound to be a great time. I've tailgated at of course Auburn (can I get a WAR EAGLE?!), University of Georgia and Louisiana State University and each one of these schools knows how to do it right. Then there are other game day traditions. At LSU, Mike the Tiger has a beautiful habitat that fans will flock to on game day. At Ole Miss, fans tailgate at The Grove. At UT, there's the famous painted rock. At Auburn, there's Tiger Walk, Toomer's Corner and the flight of the eagle (which I still get chills watching!).

Auburn vs. Georgia 2004

Not that I'm saying other teams not in The SEC don't have similar traditions, but there just seem to be less of an enthusiasm for game day here on the West Coast. In the south, each campus has it's own Bodhi Tree, or Western Wall, or Church of Holy Sepulchre -- the football stadium. I have been on USC's campus at least a fifteen times ... I've never seen the stadium. I've driven around campus looking for it. I've asked a handful of USC students where it is located, non of them could even point me in the direction. See? Lack of enthusiasm!

On set for "Between The Wish And The Thing," the three of us "southerners" met a lovely young man named Cameron. Cameron is a student at UCLA, which is a great public school here in Los Angeles. I had on an Auburn sweatshirt ... Cameron asked if I was an Auburn fan. I said yes and that's where I went to school. He said he was sorry ... which lead me to say that The SEC is the best football conference in the nation. Cameron said he could vouch for two of The SEC's teams being good -- Alabama and Florida State. Yes you read that right, Florida State. I then went on to a five minute argument (I would say debate, but a debate is two-sided and clearly this "debate" is actually fact) that Florida State was not in The SEC, it's in The ACC. Clearly our friend Cameron had confused Florida State with University of Florida ... but needless to say, I got to use the phrase "you're going to let a girl beat you in football knowledge" (it's really the simple statements like this that make my father proud).

Cameron took on the challenge to debate three southerners, well-educated southerners I might add (we can count the top 25 most winningest college football division 1A teams and see that there are seven SEC teams and two Pac-10 teams -- seven is clearly larger than two, thank you Auburn for teaching me math) by saying that the Pac-10 is better than The SEC. This is ludacris, and you don't even need to know a thing about football to see this, you just have to be able to count to 25. Here's the list ... enjoy the seven SEC teams that clearly dominate the list.

Division 1A Top 25 Most Winningest Teams (*=SEC **=Pac-10)
1. Michigan
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama *
7. Southern California **
8. Nebraska
9. Tennessee *
10. Penn State
11. Georgia *
12. Louisiana State *
13. Auburn *
14. West Virginia
15. Georgia Tech
16. Syracuse
17. Virginia Tech
18. Texas A&M
19. Pittsburg
20. Arkansas *
21. Colorado
22. Washington **
23. Florida *
24. Stanford
25. Miami Ohio

Poor Cameron was in such a tizzy. He then tried to spread his word about the Pac-10 with the director, who went to Tufts, Division III ... not hating on Tufts, just saying it's Division III, there's no comparison in football. In the mean time, the three of us southerners were really being quite defensive about our conference. It's moments like this when an Auburn fan teams up with an Alabama fan to unite the glorious beauty of The SEC. Josh came up with a fair compromise -- The SEC is the best conference for football in the nation and the Pac-10 is the best at recruiting Asian students for academics.

And thanks to Cameron, you really are a sport for dealing with the three of us :)

Everyone and Their Southern Mothers (and New Jersey Mothers)

I've finally sat down to start this blog that I've been asked to create for almost two years now. Ironically, I am currently the busiest I've been in the past two years, but I have somehow found the time to do this. All of my friends and their mom's continually ask me what's going on in my Hollywood life, so I decided to document it along with some of my on-set experiences. I left my home town of Marietta, Georgia and moved to the big city of Los Angeles on July 1, 2008. Not that Marietta is a small town, it's not actually. It's quite large, close to Atlanta, very middle to upper class suburban, overall not at all a bad place to grow up. I don't miss living there though (sorry Mom). Ok, I do miss a few things -- Chick-fil-A, Zaxby's, Williamson Brother's BBQ, Scalini's, Atlanta Bread Company. Although, it has been confirmed (through Twitter of course) that Chick-fil-A will be opening a location on Highland and La Brea in early 2011 -- that news totally rocks my world. It means I don't have to drive all the way down past LAX anymore, although I can imagine this will be the busiest place in Hollywood the first few months it's open ... they should probably re-think the whole closed on Sunday thing and maybe consider staying open late night, it is Hollywood after all.

So here I am living in Los Angeles. When I first arrived here in Summer of 2008, the make-up school I first attended had a house in the Hollywood Hills. I had the "privilege"of living literally right under the infamous HOLLYWOOD sign. By privilege, I mean lack of cell service, and by lack of cell service, I mean absolutely none. And let's not forget the loud coyotes that were on the patio yelling at 4am, power blackout on my birthday, plumbing issues and just overall irritation (much of it from the school). The first month I lived here was a major test, and I passed with a perfect score.

After living the the "glamorous" hills for a month, I then moved to Sherman Oaks. Quite the lovely suburban area, but in "The Valley." Not that The Valley is bad, it's not at all. There's less traffic and always parking. I met my West Coast Mom, Em, in my apartment building, so that alone was totally worth the year and a half I spent there. And it was my first big girl apartment. I had a few places in college, but this was the start of my adult life, moving 2300 miles away from home and beginning my career. I cherish apartment 131 at Sonoma Gardens, it will always have a little piece of my real estate heart.

I recently made the transition from Sherman Oaks to West Hollywood. I moved in with my soul tribe mate, bestie, and past life sister, Murisa. I met Murisa on a film set over a year ago and we instantly bonded. Living with her has been a treat. We're in an amazing location, right off Sunset Boulevard and Laurel Canyon. We painted our living room purple because we like to act like we're Monica and Rachel. We cook elaborate dinners together, throw themed parties and fancy dinner parties, and our favorite -- try new wines and cheeses. We naturally fit into the Glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.

In this blog, I will be telling my "Glamorous Hollywood" stories and on-set adventures for everyone and there mom's to read. As much as I am spreading around my Southern Belle Hospitality here in Hollywood, I hope this blog brings a taste of Hollywood to the South! XoXo