The Great Cupcake Caper

I received a knock on my door today to find half a dozen cupcakes greeting me from Crumbs Bake Shop.  Anyone that hangs out with me or follows me around the internet knows that I love cupcakes.  The note read "Get Well Soon, Matthew".  Hmmmm, no last name and no indication of which Matt in my life it was from.  I sent a text to my co-host of Toyota Live, called my Paris pal, Crabby, and I started to formulate an email to my cousin in Chicago.  I put a photo and tweet out on Twitter and on Facebook and the culprit was found!  A big thanks to Mathieas AKA Matthew for my Crumbs Cupcakes.  I already feel better after downing a ginormous Red Velvet cupcake.  As you can see, the cupcake never stood a chance:

My Top 5 Favorite Photos From Paris

Well, I'm back!  Although I don't feel like I am back given the jet lag I am suffering from.  Zzzzzzzzz.. during the daytime hours and wide awake in the middle of the night.  I need to get over the jet lag quickly though given that I start a job today.  I decided that instead of overwhelming you with the hundreds of photos I took, I would rather show you my Top 5 favorite photos from the trip.  I will share a few other photos later in the week with a couple of posts on my favorite stops in Paris and a few travel tips for your next big trip. Allons-y! (Let's go!)

1.  Who else goes to Paris and visits the Toyota showroom?  I am a total dork, but I am an all company girl and I love  that Toyota has a showroom that doesn't sell anything.  You can look at the cars, but it's not about purchasing.  It's about having a presence on one of the most prestigious shopping boulevards in the world, Champs-Elysées.  I posed with the Auris Hybrid which is not available here in the States....and yes, it was cold that day.  

2.  I have titled this photo:  "Make Your Own Damn Salad!".  I ordered a basil, mozzarella, tomato salad at Angelina's at Le Louvre.  They delivered the salad with 6 petite, vine-ripened tomatoes still on the vine, fresh basil olive oil, and incredible mozzarella.  I laughed when I had to assemble the whole thing myself, but it was worth it.  And let me tell you, the myth that Americans are fat and the French are skinny is true.  I will talk about this more later this week, but boy-oh-boy, there is such a huge difference in food choices and portion sizes. 

3. My trip to Paris was so last minute primarily because I booked a job there.  There wasn't time to invite friends to come with me, but I lucked out that my pal, Crabby, was in town the same time I was and my friend, Lydia, came in from Switzerland for a day.  The photo is of me and Crabby at Place-Saint Michel.  It was nice to see a familiar face after a week by myself. 

4.  On my last day in France, I decided to go to Monmartre and hit the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur.  Honestly, it wasn't on my radar until I got to Paris.  I knew of Sacré-Coeur from Art History class, but I didn't think it was a must visit....well, it is.  After I climbed up the hill to get there and then another 300 steps up to the dome, it was well worth burning the calories for the breathtaking views of Paris.  

5.  By the time I hit Le Louvre, I was a little cultured out.  I ran from room to room to see all of the important works and that is when I started to get goofy.  This is me posing with Michelangelo's Dying Slave sculpture.  I know, I know, my behavior is inappropriate, but the room was filled with naked men, I had to react!


I'll be back with more appropriate and inappropriate photos this week with travel tips, my thoughts about the food, and  my favorite things to do in Paris.  Passez une bonne semaine!

An Oscar Nerd's Dream

Me and Luz Pena, winner of the MTVu contest on the red carpet.

I feel like I am going to be showing you Oscar footage for weeks, kids.  There were so many incredible events to share with you, so we are going to kick it off with the MTVu Correspondent Contest.  College students around the country created broadcast submissions to win a spot on the red carpet, backstage in the pressroom, and at the Governor's Ball.  I was fortunate enough to befriend the winner before she and her partner won the entire contest.  Behind the Red Carpet on Mingle Media TV was there to catch all of the action. Congratulations, Luz and Phil!



The excitement continued as I interviewed one of the judges of the contest, Brooke Anderson, host of HLN's Showbiz Tonight.



And finally, my Oscar nerd dream come true:  I interview the accountants from PriceWaterhouseCoopers about how they count the ballots.  I don't think we have ever seen accountants so excited on camera before.  It is my favorite piece that we shot during Oscars Week. (You will also learn some great balloting secrets.)



If you missed my appearance on the Lori and Julia Show from 107.1 FM from Minneapolis, you can listen here:  Monday, February 28th, Hour 1  These gals are my favorite radio duo and I dished a lot about the red carpet foibles, fun, and fashion.

And as always, I leave you with a few more photos from Oscar Sunday:

 Me and my hairstylist, Ozlem Dalgic, post-hair, pre-makeup. (and a glimpse of my pal, Maria, in the mirror.)

 Next up, my makeup artist, Carolina Groppa, gets me all dolled up. The pink bow is holding back my bangs-nice look.  

The man behind all of the awesome footage we shot, JD Piche

My favorite annual post-Oscars date with fellow Oscar nerd, Matt Crabtree. 

Xbox 360 Kinect

Here's a quick round-up of photos from the Xbox 360 Kinect Launch at the Galen Center tonight at the start of E3 week.  I was kindly invited by Stephanie Piche of Mingle Media TV and I jumped at the chance to check out Cirque du Soleil present the new Microsoft system with flair in a way that only Cirque can.  The presentation did not disappoint:  walking on the ceiling, flying, dancing, and a light show the audience participated in with magical capes.  The idea of a gaming system without an actual controller is cool, but I wasn't super impressed with the games they showed us.  And I am talking about it from a casual gamer point of view.  I've got a Wii and an PS3 in the house, and I felt like Kinect gave me a rehash of the games I already own except for the awesome light saber game for Star Wars. (It also received the largest reaction from the audience.) Regardless, the evening was fun, enjoy the photos below, and Happy E3!

In line, while one of the Cirque drummers keeping us occupied while we wait.........

And wait........

Yep, me still waiting..........look, they finally let me in and I encounter a very tall man.....

We are given our magical capes to wear (Matt Crabtree and JD Piche)

Okay, they are really choir robes:

There was a family suspended from the ceiling and hanging out on a couch.  I wanted that job.....

Your typical Cirque shenanigans during the pre-show:

And my own shenanigans.....drinking virtual water:

                                               

We didn't have seats, until I asked the nicest usher ever.  He found us four seats.  This was our cool view.

Very Simba/Circle of Life/Lion King with the life-sized elephant:

And the reason we wore our capes...we were part of the light show!  Green......

Pink............

......and purple.

Be sure to catch the entire show on MTV on Tuesday, June 15th at 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PT.