Vegas - Day 1

Flew in last night. Gordon drove out yesterday morning. We have to get to Henderson for his friend's thing (wedding reception - no ceremony) so it makes sense to have a car. Then we drive back to LA together on Monday. Whoohoo.

He's awesome. Got us a 1-bedroom suite at our favorite hotel, the MGM Signature. The Signature is on the MGM Grand property, attached by a series of moving sidewalks. Doesn't seem so far as you're cruising along, but I'm looking out my window and see about a half mile of the covered path between the two hotels. This one is newer and better than the Grand. Much better. Three non-smoking high-rises, most with balconies and views of the strip. There are Jr. Suites, 1-bedrooms and 2-bedrooms. All have little kitchenettes (with refrigerators, stove, microwave and dishes), big whirpool tubs, separate glass showers and nice sitting areas. This 1-bedroom also has a dining table for 4. Pretty handy. I'm all about hosting a cocktail party!!

The bedroom is nice. King bed, desk that - Gordon's favorite - holds a plasma TV that pops up via remote control. Corner unit with big windows on 2 walls. Views of the hotel's 3 pools as well as the Grand's lazy river, McCarran airport, path to the MGM and the NYNY and other Vegas strip hotels.

Okay, gotta run. Need to do some work, then head out to this wedding reception. Here is more info on the hotel, if you want it...

http://www.mgmgrand.com/accommodations/the-signature-studio-apartment.aspx

Back in L.A.....

.....and jumping right back into the events. Our next project was a store opening party for Chanel's new Boutique on trendy Robertson Blvd. Robertson is the edgier, more expensive version of Melrose. The building is GORGEOUS. White with black and gold accents... Peter Marino designed, like the Beverly Hills store (which we also did the opening party for). We didn't want to interfere with the clean design, so we kept it simple. Cool white furniture for the patios, event lighting, sound.

Part of the event was a silent auction of 24 celebrity photographs, including one really great one from Karl Lagerfeld. We had to find a way to hang these photos around the store. Obviously we couldn't drill into their beautiful (not to mention expensive) walls, so we built temporary walls to hold the photos, and a couple more that held plasma screens that flashed bidding updates.

The event - particularly the timeline - was challenging, but we had a great team on it and ultimately everything worked out.

Here are some photos, and a quick review.

http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=6610517

Heading to Vegas for the weekend. Gordon's friend is getting married in Henderson, so we're gonna take a couple days to relax and enjoy a nice hotel. We're staying at the MGM Signature and G thoughtfully chose a 1-bedroom suite. It's AWESOME. More to come....

Cannes - Day 12 - Last Day

I leave tomorrow. How sad! I am still exhausted, but woke up early so that I could squeeze every last minute out of the day. First I went on a little run. It's kind of funny that I saw only Americans running. There were locals out, but they were swimming, walking, drinking coffee, smoking... seems like a nice life. I just found out that marathon training starts again this weekend. It's not for the LA one though... I think San Francisco. I need to get back into it, though, and figured Cannes is a fun place to start. So I began on the flat Croisette, heading east (away from the main touristy area). I followed a path along the water for about a half mile, passed a beautiful rose garden until it merged into (what appeared to be) a bit of a highway.

None of the roads are very fast here. They're all quite windy and hilly and there are always a lot of scooters, bikes, pedestrians and dogs. Nice going, Ferrari owners. Happy you shelled out for the 660 hp? It's worse than LA traffic. More like Vegas on New Year's. But, again, it's more about appearances. And driving a Ferrari... well, that sure LOOKS hot!

Anyhow, I followed the road for a bit. There are solid sidewalks on both sides. People walking everywhere. I ran along the water for a bit, then the road curved left, inland. It's turning back towards my hotel, so I followed it some more... took a few pics along the way, stopped for water, explored a couple of residential side streets that took me way up to the top of the hills. Yeah, that was more walking than running.

Then after another turn I found myself back at the top of my street and cruised the last hundred meters to the hotel.

Gotta go to lunch - pics to follow.

Cannes - Map

This is a map of the area. The Palais is the venue where all of the premieres are held. Huge "Cannes 2008" sign on the front, massive steps with red carpet. It's near the water at the west end of the Croisette. A few blocks to the east is the Carlton Hotel. That's where all of the major studios have their offices. Kind of like a Four Seasons. I've only been in the studio suites, which are pretty nice. Everyone stays at the other hotels along the Croisette - Majestic, Miramar, The Grand, Martinez... those look fabulous from the outside (the French are very concerned with appearances) but most have rooms that are more on par with a Travel Lodge. Our hotel is quite comfortable. It sits off the beaten path, just a bit, about a 10 minute walk to the Carlton. The Croisette hotels are mob scenes. Celebrities, publicists, journalists, security, fans... sometimes it's hard to push through the crowds. I like being able to retreat to our (relatively) quiet lobby, where we have the run of the place. The staff are quite polite and accommodating and - most importantly - we have wifi and power outlets.

Cannes - Misc. Photos

Cannes - Day 11

Finally, a clear day! No rain, few clouds, 75 and pretty. We spent most of the day inside, of course. Now that the work here is clearing up, I really need to focus on my upcoming LA and NY events. So we went to the usual place for lunch... found a special treat in my fries... walked the Croisette a little to snap a few photos. Later met with a vendor in the Carlton lobby - great people watching. There are some crazy outfits here. It's very, uh, amusing what some people consider "black tie". And the cars - WOW. There are Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Mazeratis, Bentleys, Maybachs, Mercs, RRs.... and a mini Hummer. WTF? Dude is driving around, thinks he looks cool. Real cool. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking someone wanted his photo, so I snapped this when the golf cart was parked and he was off being cheesy.

Then we ended up at L'UpSide Down for dinner. I had the pasta carbonara. Basically ham in a cream sauce, it comes with a raw egg yolk on top. It's everywhere here. The idea is to mix the raw egg into the hot pasta, which is hot enough to cook it. So good. So bad. LOVED the Manhattans. Yes, plural. Served in a margarita glass, not chilled, with a straw and fruitcake cherries.... Yeah, it was heaven.

Cannes - Day 10

It's Wednesday now, and only a couple days to go. I leave Saturday morning, 7:30 am flight. I'm trying to think of all of the things I still want to do before leaving town. Let's see... pick up some goodies for friends, rent a scooter and explore a little... um, that's about it. And I might skip the first one if it weighs me down. Anyhow, today was more of the same. Work, wait, work, wait... work. And then wait some more. So we got out for some food - lunch at the usual place on the beach. Dinner at an Armenian place on the Croisette.

Cannes - Day 9

Every day gets a little easier, as we get closer to the end of our stay. People have already started leaving town, it's not raining as much and we're quite comfortable taking over the lobby of our hotel every day for our 12-hour meetings. Good times.

Our client has left for a couple days, so this gives us time to regroup, do a little laundry and shop for groceries. We are now getting a little bored by the local food (you can't have pizza every day) and stopped by a little gourmet food place to grab snacks for lunch. Later I went to the local grocery store, Casino, and picked up a bunch of cheeses, meats, tomatoes, basil... all yummy items to have for dinner. It was just us girls (me, Allison, Christine) for dinner. As Christine points out, it's good that the boys are out - this is a perfect chick dinner.

Cannes - Day 8

Worked through most of the day, except to get out for lunch and dinner. Lunch at the beach front place. Dinner at the Vietnamese place. Best meal yet. Weird, huh?

Cannes - Day 7

Christine and her "Sicilian Warning Pizza" - anchovies, capers and olives.

Sunday, beautiful Sunday!! Weather is sunny and almost 80. YAY!! We worked in the lobby for a while, then walked La Croisette to pick up some premiere tickets at the Paramount office, say hi to friends in the Universal office, drop off some gift bakets, and find a place to lunch. We first tried L'UpSide Down Cafe, over near the carousel, but it was packed and we didn't feel like waiting because Sean was about to pass out from hunger. We walked to La Pizza (2nd time and counting) and got right in for a table of six.

Beer (they never ask what kind - I just order a "bierre" and they bring me something), a 4-cheese pizza add pepperoni, housemade tiramisu. MMMMmmMMMMmmmmMMMM!!!

Then we walked back, stopping at the festival gift shop to pick up a few things (anyone need any Cannes crap while I'm here?) to take back. Cool "official Festival de Cannes" poster, btw. Passed through a cute shopping area - though it's Sunday and most of the shops are closed (smart, huh?) - and got stuck in a quick rain shower.

Now I'm back at the hotel to do a little non-Cannes related work (yeah, we've got a really busy summer) and wondering what we'll do tonight. We're planning to do dinner somewhere, then meet up with my buddies Adam, Cathy and Fernando for drinks at some point. Probably late night.

Cannes - Day 5

We were in charge of the guest list for the Friday night party. Unfortunately we were weren't in charge of setting up the arrivals area. That was left to the crew, who set out a nice table and chairs. Sounds perfect, except that it was pouring rain and pretty dark. We were at the Gare Maritime (marina). We checked in the guests, then they boarded a tender and were shuttled out to the boat for the party. Good times.

Check out how close the boats are parked next to each other. It's like spring break at Lake Havasu. Separated only by bumpers, near enough that you could hop from deck to deck.

Cannes - Day 6

Friday was a late night. Went to sleep around 8 am and got up at 11. We snuck out to grab some breakfast at about 1 pm. We all wanted something breakfast-y, like pancakes or waffles, but all the restaurants were on to lunch. We ended up at one of the places on the beach side of La Croisette. Food was nice. We were served an amuse bouche... very interesting. Trio of sorbets to share - beet, cucumber and wasabi. Deeelicious. Then steak with an herb butter. Then a really awful creme brulee. It looked better than it tasted.

We then went back to the hotel and worked more on the event list. Whoohoo. We worked all afternoon. Exhausted, we decided to eat dinner at the closest place, Papa Nino's. We trudged two blocks through the rain (what up Cannes weather?!) and sat down for a bottle of red wine and spaghetti bolognese. I don't mean to talk about food all the time here, but it's the only thing I get to do here besides sit inside the lobby and work.