Partied out

Sunday, January 20, 2008
Working the crowd

A week of parties has finally come to an end, and I am severely beat down.

(I know, I know. Sometimes my job is so rough.)

There's no way to recap everything -- hell, I don't necessarily remember everything -- so here are a few little tidbits instead:

* Alice Cooper was the very first person at the first party on Wednesday night. He sat by himself and nursed a Diet Coke. Seriously. Alice Freaking Cooper drinks diet soda and is punctual as all get out.

* From where I was standing on the cigar patio, you could see inside the club, and it was a clear view of a girl writhing around in a gold bikini on a stripper pole. Jimmy Fallon joked, "I TOLD my daughter to stay off the pole."

* Later I offered my beautiful leopard print heels to Jimmy in an effort to get him up on the pole. "Ew," he said. "Then your shoes might get herpes. There's not enough anti-bacterial gel in the world for that pole."

* He eventually jumped on stage to do a couple cover songs with the band. "Beast of Burden" and "You Really Got Me." I have to say, watching a sweet little hipster guy sing the Stones is pretty endearing.

* Golfer Robert Gamez said I'm pretty. Which automatically makes him my favorite guy on the PGA tour.

* Samuel L. Jackson is a fine dancer. We did a little spin on the dance floor during a disco song. I think it was "I'm Your Boogie Man."

* I told Taylor Hicks that I voted for him on "American Idol." But you know what? I lied. I didn't vote at all.

* A woman who was stalking comedian George Lopez was carried out of the VIP section by police, then taken away in a cruiser. She howled her face off the entire time.

* Former NFL player Sterling Sharpe lurved me. He kept saying, "Dang, girl. Let me look at your legs. How did you get legs like that?" (Uh, hiking?)

* Surfer Kelly Slater? Even hotter in person.

* I made good friends with a professional Cuban cigar roller from Miami. Which means that if I ever return to Florida, I will never want for a place to stay, Cuban food or fine tobacco.

* Some drunk girl was all belligerent around chef Ming Tsai and got all up in his face and was like, "Yeah, I cook too."
And that girl might have been me.

Turning Vegan

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Pasta Puttanesca ... kinda

We're going vegan.

Slowly.

I don't want to make it an overnight thing, because I've done that before and it sucks.

But I realized that for all the cooking that I do and all the food I eat, there aren't enough vegetables in there. Eating vegan is a way for me to be mindful about getting more produce into my diet.

Plus, I was feeling heavy and bloated. Something just felt off inside. And when I thought back about the moments in my life when I looked and felt best, it was always when I was vegan.

This time around, I'm armed with "Veganomicon," one of the greatest vegan cookbooks I've ever seen. I've had the book just a few days, and I've already made six of the recipes. Each one has been fabulous. Even my omnivore friends have loved everything, from the potato kale enchiladas to the corn chowder.