All of the hustle and bustle of the holidays has been murder on my daily schedule. But when my editor (I’m “press” now remember?) asked me to go cover a live red carpet fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Hospital with some of the New York Giants I jumped at the chance. I have never covered a live event before but I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants so far I figured I would continue. The event was held at the Build a Bear workshop in New York. I knew there would be some reality stars there that the editor wanted me to attempt to get an interview with. He had really low expectations of me but little did he know how charmingly awkward I am.
When I arrived at the Build A Bear I had a fantasy of some outdoor 100Ft red carpet that everyone stepped out of their limos onto before they entered the event. Well that’s not at all true here is what the actual red carpet looked like:
It was about 6Ft wide and extremely unglamorous. Well when I realized that was going to be the “red carpet” I remembered my editor said to stake out a good spot early and don’t let anyone push you around. As the first one there I stood alone for about an hour before anyone even arrived. I couldn’t leave my post for fear someone with serious camera equipment would try and steal my spot. (Really some of these guys had shoulder attachments for the cameras) Thank god my mom let me borrow her real Nikon or else the other paparazzi may not have taken me as seriously.
The only real problem now was that I was dying of thirst, which led to paranoia about bad breath. I usually don’t leave the house without a water bottle or at least gum; but I was so nervous about the event all I managed to put in my bag was paper and pen.
Finally the red carpet began and all the other photographers tried to elbow their way in and I was having none of it. The guy next to me was a definite pro and was really taking the lead in telling the celebs where to look. He was saying things like “ok we’re going to start here on the left and just work out way down the line” So before he got 2 shots in I would shout “Ok now here!” and waved my hand around like a maniac until they looked at me.
The red carpet ended and I got some sweet paparazzi shots. Now it was time to hunt down my interviews. My editor told me to “be brave and act like you’re supposed to be there” This was easy enough but my palms were sweaty and there was no way I didn’t have bad breath. I tried to hunt down a drink and I stumbled upon some “lemonade.” Just as I was about to swig the attendant told me if was part of a “cleanse.” I panicked a bit and asked “Wait is this going to “cleanse” me?!?” She responded: “ I don’t think so, I’ve had two glasses so far and I haven’t cleansed yet.” Yes two grown women had a conversation about diarrhea at a red carpet fundraiser.
I left the cleanse behind, I really didn’t need explosive diarrhea at a Build A Bear Workshop, and set off to get my interviews. When I usually meet celebrities it’s on the street and I blurt things out like “Christian Siriano, I love you!!!” Or it’s with my mom and I’m pleading with her not to go up to them. But this was an event and I had to get my story so it didn’t matter if I had sweaty palms or bad breath I had to get in there. Thankfully everyone was very gracious, they probably felt bad for me because I was slouching over from carrying the 10 lb Nikon around my neck like an Olympic gold medal.
At the end of the night I finally got some water and a sweet swag bag from the events sponsors. My editor was very happy with my piece and I took one step further into the world of “press”.
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