Haven House Pre-Oscar Gift Lounge

We were invited to attend several gifting lounges, but our schedule did not allow us to make it all. had to make a tough choice, and along with my photographer we decided to brave the wilderness of Beverly Hills on February 23, 2007, a Friday pre-Oscars. We were armed, fabulous and camera-ready. Our mission: check out the Haven House for pre-Oscar festivities, swag and celebrities. We'd received an invitation to enjoy the activities that were taking place all day long, which included "charitable activities, entertainment, refreshments." Needless to say, we were PSYCHED. How the hell a bunch of riff-raff like us had managed to worm our way in was beyond our comprehension, but we decided to do our best to behave.

The mansion was beautiful. Vendors had their stands set up both outside around the pool and in the backyard overlooking the beautiful views of the hills below, as well as inside the sprawling mansion. It seriously felt like we were going on an adult Easter
egg hunt, with each room holding more goodies than the last. There was
even a stage set-up for a band to play.

So, in our exploration, I stumbled upon Revlon's room, where they were offering some fun goodies, such as their Molten Metal Liquid Shadow, as well their Lash Jewels
Eye Accents. But the best part was the makeover that I received at the hands of Jessica deBen, a freelance make-up artist and stylist. Oh, and it gets even better. When Wayne and I started joking that we felt like we were on a reality show,
Jessica said, "Oh God, don't joke about reality shows." And then she told us she
had been the first contestant eliminated on Survivor: Fiji. Oh, L.A. You so silly.

We kept on strolling, and made our way through the gauntlet of free goodies, getting loaded down with some lingerie, t-shirts, skin and hair-care products and one of my faves, free biscotti for a year from Nonni's Biscotti. And there were celebrities to be found as well. I ran into DJ Skribble, who obliged me with a pic. Unfortunately, Wayne and I had only brought our teeny, little, unimpressive digital cameras to
take pictures, so we felt a little sheepish snapping too many pix of the stars in
their natural habitat without the aid of Wayne's big camera, which commands
a smidge more respect. So, that's why you'll have to take it on faith that I
spotted Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda"), Robert Iler (A.J. of "The Sopranos"),
and Eriq La Salle ("ER") in the mix.

And the eats was good, too. We ran into The Cheese Impresario, who informed us that her passion in life was informing others about the wonder that is cheese, completely destroying the illusion I had previously held that I was the one chosen
by God for that particular task. Additionally, we sampled Godiva's Belgian Blends which is a to-go coffee drink that threatens to make the Starbucks bottled Frappuccino obsolete, because it's EVEN MORE CHOCOLATEY and
therefore unimaginably awesome. Sigh. I'm still shuddering from that experience.

Until my next gifting lounge, if you happen to be experiencing pangs
of jealousy, well, YOU SHOULD.

In addition to the companies mentioned above, ASL gives much love to Amanda Adams Jeans, ASICS, Dermaquest, Desert Essence Organics, Eberjey, Everlast, Fruit Advantage, Gooby Dog Fashions, The Humane Society of the U.S.
Protect Seals, Ila Skincare, Madison and Mulholland, Naterra, Netflix,
Toto USA and Under the Canopy.

Today is: Thursday, November 21, 2024