LA / Another Ming Shoot

I am so behind on the blog. I still have 1 1/2 weeks of Europe to write about which I will probably never get around to.

Just got back from a quick trip to LA/Palm Springs for Walter and Kate's wedding, which was beautiful.

The day I landed, this time last week, I picked up my rental car and drove up to Calabasas since Ming had texted me saying she wanted to do a sexy shoot with her badass bod (she is in super good shape right now since starring in Agents of SHIELD.)

She greeted me with a delicious lunch of homemade fried porkchops. They were SO good. Garlic marinated and panko-crusted. We each had like three servings.

(If you want to know her secret to looking this good at 50, it's basically just eat everything you want except desserts and refined sugar. She carries her own tin of Coconut sugar that she uses in everything. Also she works out a lot and does lots of crunches and side crunches. And she is Asian. And she drinks baby's blood.)

We watched the latest episode of SHIELD together where she fights her own clone, she was SO excited about it.

Then we did an awesome photoshoot. (I will post pics once she picks out which ones she wants to use.)

I even photobombed my own photo.

LOVES my Ming-Na!!!

Beauty and the Feast

Natalie and I have known each other as acquaintance-buddies for years - ever since I lived here in LA and we were all crazy young twenty-somethings acting like idiots around Hollywood.

We had a bunch of mutual friends (her BFF Jess dated William forever ago), and I distinctly remember a handful of times I've run into her because she's always such a warm welcome sight.

There was a night out at Les Deux w/ Smershy where she happened to be doing bottle service.

There was a delicious dinner w/ Bobbo at Gjelina, where she happened to be the hostess.

And there was a really fortuitous encounter at the Dave Matthews Concert in 2006 where she saved us from having to wait in a thousand-person line to get in.

Over the past few years we've become Social-Media BFFs.

Even though we rarely see each other, we are always up to date on each other's activities and are constantly "like"-ing each others posts on Facebook/Instagram etc. and are generally just huge fans of one another's work and lives.

So FINALLY we set up a date to bring our mutual admiration for each other off of the interwebs and into the real world.

Since Nat is the host of numerous food shows, and since I just LOVE food...we decided that for our first official date, we needed to go make some porn.

Foodporn!

Natalie chose Milo and Olive, an awesome little spot in Santa Monica with communal dining tables and beautiful delicious food.

Meatballs were on the menu, so OBVIOUSLY we ordered those...

(Loves me a pretty girl that appreciates a good meatball!)

We also had the Wood-Fired Butternut Squash with honey date butter, vanilla, sea salt, crispy sage, and hazelnuts...

Parmesan Cauliflowers...

And THEN (no "and then"!)...

Sausage and Kale Lasagna which was SOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS.

After lunch we drove around West LA and took some photos. .

Nat is so bubbly and smiley...sometimes she has a hard time doing fierce face...so I coached her a little.

But mostly we just chatted and giggled and gossiped because over the course of her career she's gotten the inside scoop on tons of amazing things (e.g. The Katie Holmes / Tom Cruise contract. OMG.)

One of my favoritest photos from our quickie shoot is actually an outtake.

Probably because it reminds me of my favorite One Direction lyrics:

"Cause when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell, you don't knowwww---oh--oh....
"You don't know you're beautiful..."
"Ohhhh---ohhh-ohhhhh...."
"That's what makes you beautiful!"

Wanna see more Natalie?

Here's her hosting reel. I CHALLENGE you not to fall in love.



I guarantee it's only a matter of time before she has her own Food Network show that makes her a household name.

You can also view her food blog here: The Food Magician

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D!!!

ABC has picked up the pilot for Joss Whedon/Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."!!!

Here is the first promo.


The most exciting part of this news?

The show stars our fabulous friend Ming-Na Wen!!!



It premieres in September. It's gonna be a long wait!

Ball Boy FAIL

My buddy Granto works as a ballboy during the US Open (you may remember him from his Caylee Anthony Halloween costume).

The other night he ATE SH*T while trying to retrieve a ball.

And now he's famous.



Kind of...

American Ninja Warrior

Some of you might remember Dorian, my very first pseudo-friend in LA.

He recently competed in American Ninja Warrior and will be on tonight's show at 9pm.

Here's a vid from his preliminary qualifier.

People like this make me feel bad about my fitness.

LA LA

The last three days in LA were a welcome escape from sub-zero Manhattan.

It was literally 20 degrees when I left NYC.

Saw lots of special people over the past 3 days and ate some delicious foods.



OOooooooohhhh chicken lasagnaaaaaa



Oh hi gays!



Nachooooos




Impromptu roosterfish dance party!



Darts!



Oh and while we were at Cabo Cantina, Danny noticed Marky's new million-dollar Supercuts commercial airing on the big tv.



So I texted him to congratulate him and he happened to need a headshot update.

We did those the next day, and then got a DELICIOUS lunch afterwards downtown at Bottega Louie.






And then it was back to NYC!

YESSSSS

So the only talk show I watch these days is Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, usually after each Beverly Hills Housewives episode.

This Sunday, Tatyana will be on with Nene Leakes following Real Housewives of Atlanta!!!!!



Set your TiVos!

AMAZING!

Kate on Conan Premiere

My friend, the recently engaged KateLarrrrrrsen, was indirectly featured on the season premiere of Conan:



I had lunch with Kate a few months ago when she was here in NYC, but the last time YOU saw Kate was when she got severely wasted face at her birthday party a couple of years ago.

LOLLLLLL

Nicole's Target Commercial!

I was just watching Glee when one of my favorite clients Nicole popped up on a Target commercial.



Around the time Nicole came to me I think she was in kind of a career slump. But I knew the first time I met her that she had this warmth and this energy that was really special and that she would do well, especially in commercials.

Nothing makes me happier than to think that my work is helping people achieve their dreams and make money! LOTS of money hopefully.

My job is the best. Although being in national TV commercials, pretty cool too.

Congrats Nicole!



You can read Nicole's blog here. It's a must-read for actors.

Viking Friend

I keep seeing my buddy / former client Ed in Capital One commercials and web ads and billboards everywhere I turn.




He must be making a fortune!



It's so nice to see my clients being successful!

The Kids Are All Right

Oh DUH!!!!!

LaurenLinderrrr brought to my attention that I forgot to mention that The Kids Are All Right stars our gorgeous friend and my former photo subject YAYA!!!



It really is the best movie I've seen in a while.

And Yaya, well, she must've enjoyed making it...because she gets SUPERNAKED with Rark Muffalo!!!!!

The New Face of Adidas

Matt was recently made the new face of Adidas's ClimaCool line.

Adidas. As in David Beckham's Adidas!

You can check out the website here.

There are also a bunch of funny commercials where he's Mr. Adidas surrounded by a couple of gym douches.





Congratulations Matt!

Adidas is awe$ome.

Please invite me to the next Adidas party and introduce me to Posh and Becks.

SUPEROMG - RJR on The Bachelorette!!!

I don't know how this slipped by me until now, but I found out yesterday through a chance encounter with MichaelTan that our childhood friend and eggfurious cast member Jay (RJR) is going to be on The Bachelorette...premiering TONIGHT!!!!



Jay resurfaced in my life about a year ago just as I was getting ready to leave LA.

We had a delicious lunch at Sur...



On the day we took these headshots...



(And at the time I didn't really know why he wanted headshots since he is a lawyer and not an actor...)

But we stayed in touch... and he attended my Incredibly Going-Away Party.



And hit on some of my pretty ladyfriends.



Wow wow wow wow wow....I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE BACHELORETTE TONIGHT!!!!!

It's on at 9pm on ABC!

I was going to be watching it anyway, but this just makes it SOOOOO much better.

Like...I mean...I've known Jay since we were 6 years old and we went to sleepaway camp with Mike and Charlie and Connor and Matt and played Go Fish! naked in a sleeping bag. So weird.

Some lives are just perfect.

On May 14, just a day before her wedding, Danneel found out that the pilot she starred in, "Friends with Benefits", was picked up by NBC.

It's probably an understatement to say that it has been a VERY good week for her.

Here's today's press release:

Newlywed Danneel Harris, who just said “I Do” to Supernatural hottie Jensen Ackles, is part of the NBC’s newest TV series Friends with Benefits. Instead of enjoying a relaxing honeymoon, the actress has hit the road to immediately begin promoting her new show.

First stop: NYC for NBC's Upfronts:



The remainder of the cast of "Friends with Benefits" includes Veronica Mars and Party Down actor Ryan Hansen, Jessica Lucas of Cloverfield, Ian Kesler and Fran Kranz.

Per NBC, Friends with Benefits revolves around:

“A group of twenty-something singles as they navigate the difficult, and often confusing, world of dating. Ben Weymouth (Ryan Hansen) is on the hunt for the perfect woman who meets his unique set of standards, while his best friend, Sara Maxwell (Danneel Harris) is just looking for a man to settle down with and raise a family. Ben and Sara have fallen into the habit of turning to each other for moral and physical support as they wait for Mr. and Mrs. Right to arrive. Their friend Aaron (Fran Kranz), a romantic at heart, doesn’t approve of Ben and Sara’s complicated friendship, but he, along with the womanizer Hoon (played by Ian Kesler) and straight shooter Riley (Jessica Lucas) are all distracted with their own dating trials and tribulations.”

The pilot was penned by the writers of "500 Days of Summer" and the series will be executive produced by David Nevins and Brian Grazer ("24", "Arrested Development", "Friday Night Lights").

Friends with Benefits will appear on NBC this Fall!

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The trailer looks promising!



And, I mean, come on. With that writing and producing team how can you possibly go wrong?

In the meantime you can check out Danneel in her upcoming movie projects "The Roommate" co-starring Friday Night Lights' Minka Kelly and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester, and "The Back Up Plan" starring Jennifer Lopez.