A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Today's post is appropriately titled, as I have a very random list of updates...

You may remember from my last post that we taped The Doctors Thursday, Dec. 13 at 9AM. It went really well, and we had a lot of fun! The guests that were on before us had a very touching story to tell. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say there wasn't a dry eye in the studio. We still haven't heard when the episode will air, but I will be sure to let you know! Here are a few pictures from the day:

Our very own dressing room!

Paramount Pictures

The parking lot can be filled with water for filming!

That big backdrop to the right is painted to look like the sky.

Post-taping lunch at ROFL Cafe.

(No, I did not wear my puffy North Face vest for the show.)

Last Thursday, Dec. 13, Kelly, Jennifer, Marisa, Hannah and I went to a holiday party hosted by a producer of the show 'The Bachelor'. (I'm surprised we made it considering we were all up early for The Doctors.) Hannah and I happen to be huge fans of the show (one of my guilty pleasures), so it was fun to see people we recognized. We ended up meeting Chris Harrison and Ali Fedotowsky, which was probably the highlight of our night. (Who am I kidding, it was definitely the highlight of the night!)

We had a little too much fun in the photo booth.

Dec. 14th was Roxie's last day at KMA, so we went to Duplex for lunch to celebrate the bittersweet occasion.

(L to R) Kelly, Sylva, Roxie, myself and Hannah

(Kip was unable to join us.)

Saturday night, Sydney and I decided we needed to "get out of the house." We often joke about being little grandmas (no offense to any grammys out there), because we stay in more often than not. I mean, after a long, busy week at work, who doesn't want to just put their feet up and relax? Anyways, we "put on our boogie shoes" and had a lot of fun dancing the night away.

Right before we headed out the door!

AV Nightclub in Hollywood

Sunday, we were back to being low-key. Matt and I ran a few errands during the day, and Sydney and I joined her aunt and uncle for dinner that night. The perfect way to end the weekend.

Standing in front of the Christmas tree at The Grove.

A bird's eye view of The Grove

Yesterday was Matt's birthday! He and Keenan met me at work, and we walked to a restaurant called 'Lemonade' for lunch. Last night, I invited a few people over at the apartment for a casual little birthday celebration. It wasn't anything crazy, but we had fun! It was also Hannah's last night in LA, so that made the evening a little bittersweet. She is from San Francisco and plans to go abroad for a couple months, so she's moving home in the meantime. I know she'll be back before I know it, but I'm still sad to see her go. We've become such great friends over the past few months!

Hannah and I

Birthday lunch at Lemonade

 Make a wish!

On a more exciting note, Cassadee Pope wore Shail K on 'The Voice' Finale Tuesday night! The pop-rocker from Florida wore the platinum dress during her performance of 'I'm With You' with none other than her idol, Avril Lavigne. At the end of the show, Blake Shelton's mentee was crowned the NBC hit show's third winner! Not only did she wear one of our client's dresses, she also won! As a big fan of the show, I could not have been more excited!

In case you missed it, here's Cassadee's duet with Avril.

Cassadee wearing Shail K for her last performance on 'The Voice'

A better look at the dress she was wearing.

The last, and most exciting, thing I have to share is that I'm headed home to Iowa tomorrow afternoon! I cannot wait!! Moving away definitely makes you appreciate home and family that much more. I'm so thankful I get to spend Christmas with my family. 

My picture perfect Iowa home.

Looks like my dreams about a white Christmas are coming true!

Merry Christmas!

xx

Mallorie

Happy 12/12/12!

It's crazy to think we won't see another day like 12/12/12 in our lifetime! I feel as though I should really be taking this in.

While I get ready in the mornings, I always have the TODAY Show playing in the background. (It's a good way for me to stay current on what's happening in the world, and it helps spark ideas I can use at work.) Today, they were discussing 12/12/12 (obviously), and I heard them talking about a boy who turned 12 on 12/12/12 at exactly 12:12PM. Now how amazing is that?! And what are the chances? He's bound to have extra good luck today!

Anyways...

The last couple weeks have been really busy at work. One of the accounts I handle, Shail K, had an event to celebrate the 2013 collection last Thursday night. Duplex on Third (another one of our clients) hosted the event in its upstairs lounge. I'm happy to say the event was a success, and everyone had a really great time!

Step and repeat in front of Duplex.

A little blurry... Sydney, Hannah and I.

Hannah and I are wearing Shail K :)

 Matt and I at the party.

Iowa State Alum in front (Colin, Anna, myself and Morgan)

A couple "lost boys" in back (Keenan and Matt) :)

Exciting news! Last Friday, Hannah (intern at KMA, but more importantly a great new friend of mine) and I delivered footage from the jump to the producers at The Doctors. Later that night I received the email stating the good news: they wanted us for filming on Thursday, Dec. 13th! I'm so excited that the producers support what we are doing and want to share our story.

You have to have a pass to get onto the lot. Sadly the man at the gate managed to spell my name wrong, even though he was looking at my photo I.D. How is that possible?

The Paramount Pictures Christmas tree.

For those of you who aren't aware, The Doctors is filmed at Paramount Pictures. I drive past the studios on a regular basis, so it was really neat to be able to go behind those mysterious gates. Ironically, the show had just finished finished taping when we were leaving, so we saw The Doctors (Dr. Travis Stork, Dr. Lisa Masterson, Dr. Andrew Ordon and Dr. James Sears) leaving the studio. If you've never seen the show, here's a photo for your reference :)

Meet The Doctors!

The Doctors films on Stage 30. Their offices are in the building to the right.

We have to be at Paramount tomorrow morning at 6:45AM (Yikes! That's early for us non-morning people!) Filming begins at 9AM, and we'll be finished around 11AM. I'll be sure to let you know how the taping goes, and of course keep you posted on when the episode will air!

Unfortunately, I don't have any other major/exciting updates to share. By the time the weekend comes around, I'm usually so tired and worn out that all I want to do is relax and watch movies. Right now I'm just counting down the days until I get to go home for Christmas... 9 more days! (I can hardly contain my excitement!) Speaking of Christmas, I do have some pictures to share from The Grove. Remember when I was talking about the tree lighting? Well Matt and I went to see "Killing Them Softly" last week, so I took a few snapshots of all the lights. Enjoy!

Not sure what I love more...

The palm trees wrapped in lights or that Topshop is opening this Spring :)

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Do you see Santa and his reindeer flying over The Grove?

 

Lots of lights!

Tallest Christmas tree in SoCal.

I couldn't fit the entire thing in the picture.

I had to cut off the entire base, which is taller than me!

I'll leave you with a great quote I found the other day...

A good reminder.

xx
Mallorie

Post-Turkey Talk

Today is especially exciting! My best friend, Miss Ashley Hokel (still seems so weird saying that!) is finding out whether she and Ethan will be having a boy or a girl!!! I can hardly contain myself! I wish more than anything I could be home with her tonight. Ashley, if you're reading this, I love you and am thinking of you always! (And call me ASAP to share the good news!)

Kim Jensen posted this on Instagram earlier :)

Ethan and Ashley had a doctor's appointment earlier today to find out the sex of the baby. The doctor put the answer inside a sealed envelope, which they gave to Kim.

She wrapped a little outfit inside to reveal the answer. The suspense is killing me!

On Wednesday, Kyle by Alene Too in Beverly Hills partnered with Bullets 4 Peace for a night of food, friends and fabulous fashions. The event benefitted Safe Passage, which is a charity that helps underprivileged children. Each guest was asked to bring a wrapped toy for the holidays. It was neat to see the toys pile up as the night went on!

KMA helps with pr for the Kyle by Alene Too store, so we went to enjoy the night and help make sure everything ran smoothly by checking guests in and helping collect the toys.

The turnout was great - a lot of people came out despite the gloomy weather to support a really good cause. However, I must admit the highlight of my night was meeting "Big Mike" from the movie The Blind Side. His name is actually Quinton Aaron, but we was just as sweet in person as his character in the movie.

Display in the middle of the store.

Bullets 4 Peace

Step-and-repeat set up for photo ops

Lots of presents for Safe Passage!

Hannah and I with Big Mike! I mean Quinton Aaron.

KMA girls (minus Kip)

(L to R) Rachel, Roxie, me, Hannah, Sylva and Kelly

Kyle's sisters Kim Richards and Kathy Hilton were there to support her and the cause. Other guests included Kyle's husband Mauricio, their youngest daughter Portia, Mauricio's mother Estella, Beverly Hills Housewives Camille Grammar (who is gorgeous I might add!) and Lisa Vanderpump, and Lisa's husband Ken Todd (no Jiggy this time though).

Kathy, Kim, Kyle, Lizzy and Debbie

Lizzy and Debbie own the original Alene Too store in Boca.

They partnered with Kyle to open the new store in Beverly Hills.

In other news... "winter weather" has begun to set in here. I suppose I'm not allowed to complain considering temperatures are still in the 60s. However, when you get used to warm and sunny, 60 starts to feel a little chilly! All a matter of perception I suppose. What's worse than the cold is the gloomy/rainy forecast for the next few days. Cold and gloomy is perfect weather for staying cuddled up on the couch, sipping hot chocolate and watching movies! My desk faces the window, so it's a little bit depressing staring at the grey clouds all day long, not to mention it's not good for my motivation. (Luckily the weekend is in sight!) I decided today was the perfect day to plug in my headphones and turn on my Christmas Pandora station. It really has started to get me in the Christmas spirit, which is hard to do when you live in a place with sun and palm trees. Christmas just doesn't seem the same without snow and freezing cold weather. Luckily I will be home in a few short weeks! :) 

The first time I've seen rain in the forecast this many days in a row.

I must say, I'm not especially loving it.

Counting down the days and singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" now until December 21st.


xx
Mallorie

Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap-Up

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Mine was spent with Sydney (my roomie), Matt and Keenan (his roomie) at Syd's aunt and uncle's house in Silver Lake. Spending the day with family and all the traditional Turkey day fixings was wonderful. (Especially considering I couldn't be home with my family.) Aunt Kathy and Uncle Len have the most beautiful backyard, perfect for entertaining guests. It was a gorgeous, sunny Los Angeles day, so we spent the majority of it outside socializing while the boys played a competitive little game of bacce ball. As the night ended and the four of us were headed out, we all got a good laugh. Between Matt hula hooping and Sydney's grandma's confusion with the song "Call Me Maybe," we were nearly in tears laughing so hard. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around the meaning of the song: "Does he call you, do you call him, or what are you supposed to do?" It was quite funny! They say laughter is the best medicine, and we most definitely got our daily dose!

Face time with my three favorite siblings on Thanksgiving morning.
Very thankful for my loving family.

Also very thankful for this boy.

Backyard bacce ball.

Keenan, Mark, Uncle Len and Matt

I love this backyard.

Future Christmas card pic?

Thankful for such a great roomie!

Rewinding back one day to Thanksgiving-eve, Matt took me to The Boiling Crab for a messy, crab dinner. I've been talking about how I wanted to put that dorky little bib for a while now, so I was beyond excited. The experience was definitely everything I was hoping it would be...and more! We had so much fun cracking our King Crab legs and creating an absolute mess of our table. Not to mention the food was delicious!

We had some time to kill. It was a looong wait.

All gloved up and ready to go!

I was mostly excited for this bib :)

Feeling crabby!

Hard at work cracking crab legs.

The claaawww. 

 Making a mess and loving every second!

Post-Thanksgiving, Matt and I had a yummy breakfast at Doughboys Cafe, which is just down the street from my apartment. I couldn't figure out why I was so hungry the day after Thanksgiving, but then I realized we only ate once the day before. So no judgments on the full plate of french toast below ;)

French toast, eggs and turkey bacon. Delish!

Saturday was spent brunching and bronzing by the pool. Sydney and I could not believe we were soaking up the sun a month before Christmas! I must say, the gorgeous weather is a definite perk, and I don't really miss the bitterly cold Iowa winter winds.

Poolside in November? Not complaining about that!

Yesterday it was back to reality. However, this Monday was especially exciting, because the jump was featured on Inside Edition! It was "so surreal" to see our story featured on national news. Granted, I wish they would have explained more about WHY we were jumping in our lingerie, but I appreciate them helping us share our story. Here's the feature on their website in case you missed it: http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/5395-women-skydive-wearing-nothing-but-lingerie. Also, check out the preview of Esme & Eve's upcoming documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPi8WCp74f8

A little photo summary of the feature.

I really love this. (L to R: me, Marisa, Elizabeth and Rachel)

To wrap up a weekend all about giving thanks, I decided to take time to think about what I'm thankful for. The list could go on and on, but a few things I'm especially thankful for are: a loving and supportive family, amazing friends both old and new, good health, an exciting job, endless opportunities, a bright future, an extra-special guy, a roof over my head, food in my refrigerator and faith in something bigger than myself.

Thanks for reading!

xx

Mallorie