Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!

 Ever since I've moved to California I've wanted to see at least one famous person!  Well my dream came true on Friday night!  Our friend Kasee has been interning with the Nancy Davis Multiple Sclerosis Foundation in LA.  Every year they put on a "Race to Erase MS" Gala where lots of famous and rich people come and they raise lots of money for their foundation.  Kasee has been helping them prepare for their 2010 Gala.  A couple weeks before the big event she text me and asked if P and I would want to come to the event and help.  I was shocked that we would even be invited (tickets to the event were $1000+ a person!) but of course I said yes!  So on Friday I picked up P and Jason from work and we headed to LA to mingle with the stars.

The event was held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.  Once we got there we went up to our hotel room and changed and then met Kasee downstairs to get our credentials.  We got a sweet pass that basically let us get in anywhere at the event (minus the red carpet, I guess you have to be a celebrity to walk that :) and made us look super official.  Although we didn't really wear them because they said staff on them and we didn't want the stars to think that we were just staffers, haha, jk. 

 From 6:30-8:00 was the red carpet and cocktail hour.   We watched celebrities walk down the red carpet (the carpet was actually orange because orange is the foundations signature color) and we also browsed the silent auction room where they had thousands of items to bid on.  Most of the items were signed memorabilia, gift bags, or jewelry.  We enjoyed watching famous people like Tom Arnold, Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Melissa Rycroft (from the Bachelor), Robert Knepper (from Prison Break), Tommy Hilfiger, Buzz Aldrin, Sophia Bush, Brody Jenner, Brooke Burke, Avril Lavigne, Nancy O'Dell, Apolo Anton Ohno, Lindsey Vonn, Mark Dacascos (Iron Chef), Louis Van Amstel, Chelsie Hightower, Aiden Turner, Damian Whitewood, Kym Johnson (the last 5 people I listed are all people from Dancing with the Stars) walk down the carpet.  The red carpet was lined with paparazzi and lots of camera flashing going on.  It was crazy.

 a very sweaty Tom Arnold, just off the red carpet 

Melissa Rycroft, she totally posed for me in this pic and her teeth are SO white

Sofia Bush, she's the one in the middle

Avril and some guy

the best picture we could get of Paris.  She ran off the red carpet, while talking on her phone, and went straight to the ladies room.

Apolo, he was very nice

Around 8:30 everyone went into the Ballroom for dinner and entertainment.  First up was a fashion show put on by Tommy Hilfiger.  Most of the models were celebrities that attended the event.  I realized I really like Tommy Hilfger's style, or at least the styles that he was featuring that night.  Then we ate our delicious asparagus/spinach/cheese first course.  Followed by mini grilled cheese sandwiches, which were grilled to perfection and oh so good!  Then the group Heart performed.  We only knew one of their songs but they are some pretty good rockers for how old they are.

Then came the live auction, this is where we had to help.  We were spotters, meaning we stood between two tables and flashed a light stick above a person's head if they bid on an item.  Brooke Burke happened to be at one of my tables, I watched her eat her meal, she finished her whole pot pie, this was impressive for how teeny tiny she was.  I didn't think she would even be able to fit this pot pie in her tiny belly but she did!  She is SOOOO small and I think she has like 5 kids, I don't know how she still has a rockin body after all those kiddos.   I also had a super rich man at my table, he wasn't famous but he was bidding on the lamborghini (sold for $214,000) and a trip to Bora Bora (minimum bid 10,000!).  Paris and her sister and mom were at the table in front of me, I also tried to watch her eat her dinner but I had to focus on the people at my table who were bidding.  Paris walked right past me though and on her way out she asked P(who was in charge of the tables right behind me) where the bathroom was! Other stars that walked past me during this time, Melissa Rycroft, she is also tiny and so cute, just about all the dancing with the stars people who were there, and Nancy Davis, the one who who started the foundation.

After we were done helping we went back to our table and ate our dinner while Avril performed.  She did a good job.

 Tom and Lindsey Vonn presenting

 Some ladies singing "Lean on Me" the closing song.  You can see Brody Jenner in the background.

Nancy Davis is the one in the orange dress with her mouth wide open

By this time celebrities were leaving and the night was winding down.  We ended up in our room around midnight and didn't get to sleep until 2 AM but it was well worth it.  We had so much fun! 

Kasee and Jason lookin' hot on the red carpet

 P failed to inform me that he was doing his modeling pose in this picture

 All four of us!

 Jumping on hotel beds, with, what is that P? oh it's water, good cause I thought it was beer from the hotel room refrigerator that we are getting charged for!

This is us on our way up to check out the penthouse suite. We got the keys to the suite and the okay to stay in it for the night but it was kind of trashed because the band members had been using it to store all of their stuff/hang out in it before they performed.  Lots of empty beer bottles and half eaten food.  We decided to stay in our other "regular" room.

Overall thoughts on the night:
1) It was really cool being so close to so many stars but I realized they are just people.  Normal people who happen to have a lot of money.  I wasn't as star struck as I thought I might be.  And yes, most of the people at this event aren't super famous people, more like B or C list people, except for Paris and a few others.  So maybe if I had the chance to get up close with say Sandra Bullock, Brad Pit, Julia Roberts, or Oprah I might be more star struck?
2) Surprisingly, P and I freaked out most when we saw Robert Knepper aka T-Bag from Prison Break; we love that show and he is such a great actor in it!  We didn't even get a picture of him though, big bummer.
3) Wishing that I would have hung out in the girls bathroom more, Paris seemed to be spending a lot of time in there, maybe I could have gotten a picture with her.
4) Wished that P and I had more guts to just go up to these people and ask to take a picture with them.  I didn't want to bug them, especially since we were at an event where technically you weren't suppose to even take any pictures with your own camera.
5) Celebrity gift bags are awesome.  We were lucky enough to get one, and getting free stuff (esp *nice* free stuff) is amazing. 
5) THANK YOU Kasee for hooking us up with tickets to the event and a free hotel room! 

*FYI, I read on the their website that they raised over $2 million at the event.  All funds that were raised go to doctors and researchers who are trying to find a cure for MS.