I’ve been doing the Hollywood run around for an overall thirteen years now, but my age isn’t a factor right now to breakdown that math (smirk) and when I tell you that the dynamics of how Hollywood use to run has done a 360°, that’s a pretty extreme change. I was always going to Invite Only parties, events and clubs where they actually rated you by how attractive you were, if you new the promoter personally or if you had credits. I mean LITERALLY. I remember club Area which then became Industry  which is now Greystone, where the promoter would stand above swarms of people including groups of girls and point at the ones he felt were deserving to be let in. I distinctly remember it being these three gorgeous tall model types one with big curly highlighted hair, and caramel skin.

During that time there weren’t any “lines”, no it was just people waving their hands hoping they’d be picked to be let in. Sad isn’t it?  Yeah well welcome to Hollywood…..then…but this is now and now you practically have ten freaking promoters in one club with randoms that they picked up off the street several days ago. There’s no consistency, they claim the whole “This is my crew card” which adds on the extra bull. Each table tries to out bottle the next with what they think is a cool glass bottle while getting an added bonus of some sparkly stuff on a stick to light up their life.

So now when I see Facebook mass invites, text messages… how the hell did you get my number?! Or flyers, I become very cynical and a skeptic to the point where I start acting like a snot. This city can really alter a persons perception once they’ve seen all that they’ve needed to. So when my friend Aubree invited me to attend an “Event” for LA Fashion Week, my cynic flag went up. I don’t trust flyers especially by text message, but because we haven’t hung out for some time I figured eh why not.

First thing I do is size up the flyer she sends me from text message. So considering how jaded I’ve become the  first thing I see are the glasses, then the trigger words; Supermodel, Actor and Who’s Hot in Hollywood. Ok, Sceptic Flag shot up real fast. Aubreeanna is such a lively person who always sees the good in the bad just how I use to be. Though my experiences were a complete different story, but I didn’t see any harm in letting my gaurd down and going.

The night of the event my energy was on a real low and everything was triggering my temperature rise. I’ve never been one to back out of plans considering I despise Flakes; People who have a track record of backing out of pre-planned events, typically the hour before. So I stayed true to my word and we drove to the location. I’ve learned over time that dressing up is overrated unless you’re attending the Oscars, Emmys, or Music Awards and dressing down to your particular style is what makes you appear more eye catching so… I wore all black to bring out my “Incognegro” mode Another term for incognito while being black as I like to call it. I wasn’t expecting to network that night just have a drink, look around and leave. Once we got there my Sceptic card skyrocketed.

The place was emty hence the time on the flyer for Drinks and Food was at 8pm though foolish me…no one shows up at the exact time. That’s for rookies,  so we were escorted, laughs, the fact that we were escorted just felt like it was doing too much I didn’t feel like I was some VIP, so we sat down, observed the five people not including the Djs, Bartenders and servers and gave each other an immediate look. Now Aubreeanna and I were both on the same page. Our server was a complete doll who approached us within minutes to serve our table. Being a side server myself I made her job easy and just asked for a glass of water that’s until I noticed the other five people getting the same drink.

Now, the flyer stated 8pm for Dinner and Drinks, but what it didn’t say was that they were complimentary. That could be confusing to some. Why even make that note if all the establishment had to do was have a menu sitting right in front of the person. With it being noted on the flyer some may think that the drinks are included with the party attendance and the food would be plates of Hors d’ Oeuvres depending on how you analyze the flyer. So we didn’t dare rack up a bill, though I couldn’t help myself to what the other five..oh wait more people just showed up, thirteen,  people were drinking.

Platinum paradise ( Tanquery Gin Raspberries, Cranberry Juice, Pineapple Juice and Ginger Beer)

This drink was heaven in a glass and definitely calmed my nerves as we waited patiently for our host Sam Sarpong, and the person who invited us arrival. I watched the tv screens as they were previewing a reality series that he was working on and realized I’ve seen him before. It surely wasn’t on BET being that I don’t watch that channel,  I’ve not seen him in any movies I would know of, and I haven’t familiarized myself with his modeling so I couldn’t pin point where I’ve seen him. Aubreeanna and I did a little walk around to the bathroom, down the hallway where assuming media coverage would take place, on the patio then back to our seats again. By the time people started trickling in we were shaking hands with people and introducing ourselves.

Photo Credit by: Nick Robbins Photography Sean Afable actor, producer, production company.

This handsom gentleman, I noticed walking around and I had a feeling that he was the “Asian guy” we were told to approach while waiting for our friend Jovi. He had a distinguish look of importance. Aubreeanna of course was the first I found talking to him. I wasn’t immediately drawn to his personality as I’m sure he wasn’t immediately drawn to mine, but through out the evening our conversations started to pick up. I found that we had common interest and obviously similarities in our lifestyles. Considering that I hate networking, as I find it to be a pretentious scheme to size up a persons worthiness, I chose a more genuine approach to our conversation and asked him about his night.

Sean in response to the event ~“Fashion week was excellent!  My favorite designers of the night were  Andrea, Altaf Maaneshia and Walter Mendez. Tonight was a fantastic way to support Sam and his reality tv “

Although I’m frequently known as being a socialite there are those few times that I might feel out of my element and begin to feel a little reserved. I didn’t do much research on the evening considering that this year I chose to limit my attendance to fashion week, especially Style Fashion Week for their lack of consistency in having organization and structure. As much as I love some of the people affiliated with BubbleFish Media it’s always becoming an issue. Once I started seeing a few friendly faces I came to realize how legitimate this party was.

Pictured in this collage Left to Right is Designer Paris Fashion, Film Producer Eric La Barr, Female Designer CherylKoo CM2K and models with Sam Sarpong, Actor and music artist Leon Thomas, and Actor Trey Smith and son of Will Smith.

Leon, I recognized immediately with his fellow Disney actor friends because I’ve been friends with his manager for a number of years. I’ve never formally met him, but he was such a sweetheart when I had approached him for a photo. Paris Fashion, whose hello catch phrase is Fashion, I met a couple years back at my restaurant when I had served him. During that time when I was headstrong about my acting I had auditioned for him Downtown. Eric and I have the same best friend and he is pretty much a male version of myself when it comes to being social. He never misses a beat in being at every party. Of course his attendance wasn’t even considered as being “fashionably late” it was just late and not even on CPT Colored People Time. Designer Cheryl whose fashion line is out of this world for her hip, stylish and bad ass in black collection,  that I fell in love with.

In fact, I plan on getting a few looks from this line. And Trey, well at first I just thought he was a cute looking guy…jailbait, but cute. Not until Jovi mentioned who he was and that’s when I found the perfect opportunity to talk to him…so I thought. In minutes he became a human tug of war rope. Ladies he is a hot person and not a thing! Unfortunately I had to join into that game being that it was survival of the fittest. There is nothing more attractive to an already attractive guy that is when they are genuinely nice. I truly did appreciate the time of Leon and Trey as I handed them my business cards. So thank you!

Finally! Our host Sam Sarpong arrived with his entourage including Designer Cheryl Koo. Cameras were flashing as he made his entrance into Xen. His table in seconds filled up and we were in the middle of all the love and positive vibes that people were sending. At first I tried to stay in the background, but Aubreeanna and Jovi made it a point to include me. Sam was the complete opposite from how I would of imagined him, as he was an absolute gentleman. Glasses at night tend to throw me off and sometimes they can give off the wrong impression so I was really surprised at how welcoming and engaged he was with us and his guest. We took pictures and videos which you can find at Www.JBProImages.com . This is definitely a guy who also is a Jack of all Trades once the Dj started playing two of his records. What doesn’t this guy do?!

Sam Sarpong Born and raised in London, United Kingdom, where he moved out to Los Angeles at a young age to pursue many goals in both sports and entertainment.

Throughout the evening I made new friends and contacts until running out of business cards.

Photo Credit by Nick Robbins Photography

Photoed from Left to Right is Tina, Celebrity Publicist and owner of Film Girl Production Sabrina J, Actress, Model and Host Aubreeanna Carol and Desean Black editor in chief of Astound Magazine.

These three were my lucky numbers as I was drawn to each of their individual energies. Desean and I were able to have a thorough intellectual conversation about life, ambitions and the future which I found such a breath of fresh air. Tina and Sabrina were the smiles that a girl needed on a stressful day. They were full of life and positive energy who were able to appreciate my crazy personality where I could truly be myself without a facade. Overall I had an amazing night. It started off slow, but it ended with fireworks (And thats with out getting laid). Sam thanked us for attending and exchanged information. Aubreeanna and I made our way home and left the evening on a good note. Thank you to our friend Jovi for inviting us to an amazing night and most importantly thank you to our host Sam Sarpong. You are truly loved and admired.

Xox