The Golden Globes. The day of the Elite where many of Hollywood’s most sought after stars come out to accept the honors of all that they’ve done on our beloved silver screens. As they walk the red carpets in their designer dresses and suits, hammered with questions of who they’re wearing, as if anyone could actually afford the pieces, and whose winning what award. It’s the day of the year like many when it’s go time!

Before the Golden Globes Awards, comes the parties, catered events and gifting suites; and for those of us who are lucky to attend, we find ourselves catching a glimpse of what celebrities might be promoting while living their luxurious lifestyles. Many think that these celebrities are spending money as if they have their own casino chain in the comfort of their own homes; and while it may be true that they tend to spend frivolous amounts of money on the odd, the stupid and was that even necessary, a lot of their swagger, they actually get for free. Free, the words that most Americans or any person likes to hear. As the average person is working tooth and nail just to pay a bill within their lifestyle, stars get handed these things in a strategic marketing tool for doing and gaining business. Once you catch a celebrity rocking the new phone or head piece, our society has to race to get one too because it’s the coolest thing to do.

My friend Rachel with TheMcCordList invited me to a gifting suite event in order to collaborate our work in blogging. Typically with any types of events that I attend, I like to take a little for myself and give the rest away to those who don’t get these types of opportunities, so I figured it would be great.

The GBK luxury gifting suite was being held at the Hollywood W. I’ve frequented the W many of times for their routinely Sunday Jazz Night events. The upstairs section I only thought was a dressing room for the dancers and had not realized that there was much more to what meets the eye.

I was coming from Downtown where I was at my other job and had expected to meet Rachel there a little after the time that I would arrive which was 3:45. Being as punctual as I am, I had also wanted to kill a few birds with one stone so that way we wouldn’t be so pressed for time when six o’clock rolled around and everything started wrapping up. I approached the check in line where I was greeted by a very pleasant woman with a smile on her face that glowed for days. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the clients inside were extremely meticulous about the structure of speaking with people, I calmly waited for Rachel as I had wanted to respect how they wanted things done. Sitting on the couch I observed the people walking in and out of the venue that had this beautiful florescent glow from these man made trees that were propped up.

Almost like a magical forest set up in the space where all the sponsors were standing.

The music was bumping and from my observations of the workers and interns, there was food! I heard a very loud and distinctive voice coming out of the hallway to which sounded as that of a raspy man. An extremely tall medium build person who was more than excited to have been able to attend started to thank whatever staff was in ear shot. Once this person turned around I noticed it was actress Dot Jones, who plays Shannon Beiste from the hit show Glee. I would’ve never known if she hadn’t turned towards my direction.

Anxiety started kicking in and I was becoming more antsy with time passing. I walked over to the check-in line not really knowing if I was just going to check-in on my own or respect the way of the system. Time is of the essence , and I needed to essence myself in. I recognized another familiar face and voice of a beautiful black woman with full lips and a smile for days. It was Niecy Nash. I worked on a set with her a few years back, so I always remembered her being a very warm spirit.

An hour went by due to traffic, and Rachel and her sister Angel had finally arrived.  I was ready to check-in and get right to work since so much time had flown by. Once we walked in, we got a few drinks from  Bare organic Mixers. Now, because I really don’t like the tase of hard liquor or to have my drinks made strong, the gentleman who made mine knew exactly what he was doing.

Pictured is myself, The CEO and founder of GBK Gavin Keilly and Rachel McCord of TheMcCordList

Without bothering to ask what type of drink would appeal to me, I received a semi tart and fruity concoction. The Bare Pom Tequila-tini which was one of the best tasting drinks that I’ve had since my Croatian from The Umbrella Co. I Savored every sweet and tangy taste. These hand crafted cocktails are every socialites dream being low calorie, organic and gluten free under 150 calories. You can find more about their signature drinks at BareMixers

After I got my drink, I was on my way to doing business and socializing my way around the venue.

The Dj set the tone for the day with her style and spins. I mean check out the hair, that’s a look that only someone as  hip and cool as herself could pull off. In the first small space, I made my way to some of the Sponsors to get an idea of who was all there and what types of goodies were being given out to the celebrities for the last two days. One of the first sponsors I approached were for some of the most expensive pens I think exist in this time. As beautiful as they were, I just couldn’t wrap my brain around why anyone would spend an X amount of thousands of dollars. Call me practical and simple, but I just could never. The one positive thing is that when you sign up your favorite charity organization, they then donate to that charity if your name is picked out of a drawing. I’d say for the amount that you’re paying for a pen you could just put that towards the donation…..but that’s non of my business (Sips tea)

Next spot was at the Samiah Fine Clothing. Some of the most eloquent and regal coats I have ever seen.

Based out of my hometown of Orange County in Huntington Beach, you can find many of their quality pieces through their online boutique at Samiah Fine Clothing. I was lucky enough to try on my favorite looks that immediately caught my eye. It was a gorgeous and vibrant purple gold embroidery hooded coat that in my opinion fit beautifully, I like to have just enough room when wearing anything underneath that might make the fit feel a bit more snug. I like the feeling of comfort and being able to breath. The designer herself, Samiah Hinton, felt that I needed a smaller size for my petite frame, so she had me try on a royal blue and black coat with a high collar. Both coats looked amazing and I thanked them for my press kit gift and allowing me to feel royal for the day.

I realized I lost Rachel, and didn’t even see her slip out of the last room. So I figured she was making her rounds as well and I just continued on. I noticed that I didn’t get a carrying  bag when I had checked in and I was already trying to juggling too many things in my hands as it is. So I went back outside to grab one and made my way back inside again. I walked into one of the first rooms that I seemed to have missed when we went straight for the bar. The first thing that my eyes caught were these deliciously bite sized chocolate squares. I’m not big on sweets, but after watching some of the crew members stuffing their faces I wanted to try some. Barry’s Gourmet Brownies

There were different assortments in these scrumptious sweets. German Chocolate, Rasberry, Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Caramel Turtle. German Chocolate is by far my favorite type of cake, so that’s the first one I picked. Typically, I like a little more warmth in my sweets just to add that moist goodness so trying to eat it while keeping it classy just wasn’t happening. So I popped it in my mouth and moved right along to the next sponsors.

Right behind me was a table filled with photos of individuals holding hand written signs saying, “SAY YES to HOPE”. This organization is to help those fighting cancer on their own or just to let them know that they’re not alone. I was able to share my story where I’ve been affected by cancer myself through the loss of friends and family in recent years. The women who started this group were an inspirational success story themselves who too have fought and won their battles. I promised them that I would share and hash tag throughout my social media while having others do the same. To find out more information about this wonderful team of women please either call their toll free survivor line at (877)937-7478 or you can go to Beat Liver Tumors

As the last hour was starting to wind down, I made my way to some of the other sponsors, as there were so many and less time to make my rounds. Beyond the Rack, seemed like any girls online dream for those who prefer the online shopping over the stores. Me, I like the stores and can be a bit skeptical about using my credit card through the Internet. Jacqueline Stein-Elman, the Vice President gave me the run down of how the site actually works. Still hesitant, she walked me through with a more visual of all the top name brands, from cosmetics to even luxury shoes at a whopping deal that you wouldn’t normally find in the stores unless the items were going out of style. She gave me a gift for free credit to make my shopping worth the worry, but for all those who enjoy the benefits of online shopping make sure to check them out!

I continued on into the next room and good thing I did….food! I’ve struck gold. Cupcake Fusion LA put a whole new spin on cupcakes. Now we have Sprinkles, Crumbs…wait are they still in business? and Magnolia Bakery some of the places I’d stop off at if I had a sweet tooth, but these ladies are on a whole different level. At first I was just hungry and saw what looked like a spicy tuna with a baked shell. One of the women introduced the cupcake to me as a “taco cupcake”, which at first kind of threw me off. Even though she was trying to give me a break down of how they came up with the idea to correlate these two treats, I just couldn’t get that idea out of my head. I looked closely at the bite size treat and saw meat topped with cheese, but no icing.

I’ll eat anything as long as it’s not still moving or not too foreign, so I grabbed it, took a bite and Holy Moly that was a serious party in my mouth. Tangy, savory with a hint of sweetness and just enough for one bite. They introduced me to a few of their actual cupcakes which I wasn’t really in the mood for as I had wanted another one of the tacos, but the ones that had been sitting out, they didn’t dare let my stomach take a hit. I gave in and tried their Margarita Cupcake and ended up just eating the icing since it was that damn good! I will definitely be locating them as you all should too!
FB: cupcakefusionlallc

I must have been in the best room because from there, moments after meeting up with Rachel, we came across Brave Chick Now, I’ve been promoting Brave Chick throughout my social media, but it’s far more deeper than that in the sense that they too like SayYesToHope, are meant to empower and uplift women as it’s clearly in the name. I am a woman of strength who carries many scars from my past. So to be able to wear their jewelry makes me feel even more empowered. It’s so inspiring to know that there will always be people out in the world with a huge heart and open arms. “A portion of Brave Chick profit is donated to a charitable organization that supports marginalized girls and/or women. Purchase helps Not For Sale to bring restoration for the exploited, empower survivors of human trafficking and bring freedom to those who are enslaved.” ~Brave Chicks. To find out more about their story and or to purchase in order to help their amazing cause please like, share and follow their Social media page(s) @BraveChicks.

Our last stop was with Burke Williams, which I know far too much about. My mother use to have a yearly membership there and we would frequently make a trip whether it be just to kill time, to throw a girls day party or to celebrate the month of motherly love. I was excited to see what they had since I’ve been frequently giving myself beauty treatments.  I picked up a stunning deep purple lip gloss that surprisingly didn’t show up that dark on my lips, but I’m going to try and combine it with some other lipsticks. Thank you so much for my gifts!

Rachel and I definitely made our rounds and I even had time to grab another drink. Unfortunately, the second one almost made me fall down from the excessive amount of liquor,  but I tried to sip the juice and leave the alcohol with the ice. If there’s a will then there’s a way. We made a couple of friends towards the end of the night and ended our evening with smiles and laughter. I enjoyed my time and experience and look forward to doing it again. Thank you to GBK , Rachel from The McCord List and all their sponsors you made my Saturday enjoyable and filling.

Xox
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