Oscars-Inspired Looks

We all want to know the secrets to how the stars get that red carpet glow. With the Oscars this week, I interviewed a celebrity makeup artist about Oscars-inspired looks to do at home. Check out the video below.  

We also answer beauty questions you've asked on my Facebook page. Flaking mascara?  Dark undereye circles? Solutions to those problems and more for an A-list look - anytime you feel like it!

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Daring to Stay in the Race

getting on-camera ready

It's been almost a year since I left my day job to pursue TV hosting and acting full-time in Hollywood.  

Ironically, I hadn't planned to quit my marketing job that day.  In fact, my boss and I were meeting to discuss my big promotion.  But as we talked, I just got this sense of...seaweed. wrapping around my body. suffocating. salty tears. 

Then I heard this quiet, wavering voice. 

I think I need to give you notice.

Was that my voice?!?  Give up my private office with the dual monitors?  Company happy hours? Secret stash of neon Post-it notes?  No way. I need security. I need stability. 

I need...freedom...to chase a dream that won't. go. away.

And then my boss, saying:  Don't be a fool.

So incredibly foolish throwing away a golden opportunity...except when the opportunity is killing something inside that refuses to let you be happy until you find courage to embrace it.

This might be the most foolish thing I've ever done...but I need to leave.

It was finished. I was leaving the small company I had helped build the last five years.

Has it been tough?  Absolutely.  Do I regret my decision?  Absolutely not.

Of course, there have been costs.  Not gonna lie - I miss the little extravagances that don't come with a downsized budget. Spa mani/pedis. Victoria's Secret body wash. Salon shampoo. But those luxuries don't matter much in the big picture.

Of course, there are greater sacrifices - the emotional kind.  Loneliness (even if you don't miss your former boss' wakeup calls!).  Feeling misunderstood; friends seem to think you're "unemployed" and should be available 24/7. Self-doubt. Feelings of rejection when you get passed over - after four call-backs - for a part you were 100% right for.

At times it's just downright scary.

You know, money scary.  I'm one of those people who likes to pay my bills  all on the same day every month, no worries about late or skipped payments.  Goodbye to that system without a direct deposit.  And the car? It'll have to wait for that timing belt. But, Lord, what if it breaks down on the way to an audition?!  Then the phone falls out of your pocket.  And shatters...

But when breakthroughs come, well, those are priceless.  Booking a TV pilot.  Getting published on big websites. And today, waiting to hear back about the hugest network audition of my life, one I could never have imagined.

And of course, it's confidential for now. So you can't even share the victory of finally getting in the room...

Some days the greatest success is just having dared to stay in the race. Is it worth it?  You bet your purple pedicure.
 

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