Fortunately, Monday night brought a new and decidedly happier zenith of absurdity to my life and that would be: walking the red carpet.
Imagine the scene: paparazzi everywhere, flashbulbs exploding, celebrities, an actual red carpet... so glamorous right? Maybe I can pass myself off as a plus size model?? Or, maybe I can set one patent leather peep-toe pump on said red carpet, smile broadly and watch as 20 or so photographers don't even bother to glance my way... there is a great lesson in humility there... much like a tree falling in an empty wood, if a nobody walks the red carpet, is the red carpet even there?
I immediately text my husband with the following message: I am the Prom Queen of Loserville.
And then helped myself to a glass of wine.
Lest you get the wrong idea, it was very fun and something I am glad I got a chance to do... unlike my fellow bloggers, the darling Sarah of Hollywood Flakes and the chic and very-L.A. Liz, I did not take a photo of my feet on the carpet and I am sorry I didn't... it would have been the center of next year's Christmas card.
As usual, I am getting ahead of myself... I arrived in L.A. at 5 on the dot, to the very chic and very swanky W Hotel in Westwood... overdressed in a hotter than hell Michael Kors tunic top with heavy trouser jeans because my original outfit of white linen pants with a Pucci inspired blouse had a run in with a cup of coffee less than 25 minutes into my journey necessitating a quick jaunt home for a change and, as I only have 2 "going out" ensembles, I ended up looking stupid and being hot.
I digress.
Events of the Heart is an organization founded by Pamela Serure and Carolyn Isenberg following Pamela's heart attack and eventual triple bypass. Pamela was a Hollywood health guru - the "Juicer" to the stars. Devoted to yoga and organic eating, full of energy, she was the last person you would expect to have a heart attack. But she did. And through her experience she learned that 44% of women will be diagnosed with heart disease, most of them when they arrive by ambulance, most of them dead, to the hospital.
Pamela and Carolyn have devoted themselves to raising women's awareness about heart disease and have recently partnered with Metamucil to reach more people with their life saving information.
Metamucil, as anyone who has every been near a pregnant woman
knows, is full of fiber and helps keep a body regular... but, studies prove that fiber does more than keep your insides clean, it also lowers your cholesterol and in lowering your cholesterol you lower your risk for a cardiac event.
Metamucil has a 30 day challenge up on their website... the numbers are significant and I would encourage everyone, especially those with a family history of heart disease, to give it a try and watch your cholesterol drop.
Brenda Strong, most recently of Deperate Housewives fame, but forever beloved as Sue Ellen Mischke by my Uncle Ed, has partnered up with Events of the Heart and Metamucil as an Ambassador for Heart Health.
I was fortunate enough to spend some time chatting with Brenda (I think it was supposed to be a formal interview as well as about 5 minutes, but, we had such a nice time talking, she is so lovely and easy to speak with, that I sort of ignored the guidelines) about heart health, being a mother, infertility, yoga and womanhood. And, although I really wanted to, I managed not to pet her and murmur, "You're so pretty" over and over again...
Instead of asking some of the good questions you good people suggested, I copped to being wayyy out of my league and we ended up just talking the way you would with anyone at a party... she told me about her mother's stroke and how sad it was that she (her mom) couldn't be the grandmother she wanted to be...I told her about my surgery and Jack's surgery and she educated me a bit about yoga as well as her passion for healthy living (again, I'm with the links, but Brenda has an informative and interesting website).
Then it was off to The Event itself which brings us to the red carpet, good wine, and nice conversation with a personal trainer named Maria.
The show was a series of one acts... each written by a person affected by heart disease; from patients to survivor's children to doctors and performed by actors representing some of the best of Hollywood - Eva Longoria, Markie Post, Stephen Collins, Kathleen Madigan, Judy Gold, Holland Taylor (squee! I love her!), Dana Delany, Jeffrey Tambor, Alex Kapp Horner, and AnnaLynne McCord, and, of course, Brenda Strong who told Pamela's story.
And it was so good! I laughed and I cried and maybe I ended with a song (in my heart people, a song in my heart)... but please, don't become one of the stories... stay healthy my Internet friends.
Me and Sue Ellen Mischke
