Last Sunday already seems like a while ago, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to “dish” a little bit about the Oscars and recount a few of my own red carpet experiences.  I think “Oscar Night” for me is like Super Bowl Night for most men.   I love the challenge of trying to see all the nominated movies, watching the buzz on the red carpet, the gown sightings along with the associated commentary and the show itself.   I have had the great privilege to attend the Oscars in Los Angeles twice. The first time I attended was in 2004 and then again eight years later in 2012.  I love that we celebrate movie stars in this grand fashion but also wish there were “Oscar-Like” awards given for those people in other professions/industries.

The first time I attended the Oscars I was unfortunately “sick as a dog”.  I will not share details but suffice it to say, I had a nasty GI virus all weekend.  I “sucked it up” knowing it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  (As it turned out, I DID  get another opportunity 8 years later under different circumstances. That said, I am very doubtful a third opportunity will ever arise).   My husband and I “scored” tickets to the ’04 show but we were way up in the “nosebleed” section of the Kodak theater.  We also got to attend the Governor’s Ball for the post show dinner (Wolgang Puck). I remember simply pushing the food around my plate.  I wanted to go back to the hotel and climb into bed but we had “scored” tickets to the coveted Vanity Fair Party too.  My husband convinced me that we should go.   (Anyone who knows me would know that I must have been felt very awful to even require any convincing under normal circumstances).  I sooooo wish I had not felt so miserable.  I arrived and sipped on a glass of ice water all evening.  With every quarter head turn there was someone uber famous in my view.  One highlight was meeting and talking to Kate Spade at the party.   The biggest highlight though was waiting in the limo line after the party next to Nicole Kidman who was wearing the most stunningly beautiful blue Chanel dress. She was an Oscar Presenter earlier that evening.  I found this photo of her from that night:

I couldn’t resist, turned to her and said:   “You are so beautiful!”.  She was very kind and replied the same back to me.  (Though in all honesty, I was on the verge of tossing my cookies.  It just shows you how gracious and charming she is).  Needless to say her limo arrived long before ours did (the stars get preferential limo service) and she disappeared almost magically into her “carriage”.  A modern day Cinderella to be sure!

*I also saw Nicole once on the Red Carpet at the Golden Globes.  She is truly gorgeous in person.  One thing I feel compelled to say is that I think most of these “stars” are even tinier, more flawless and beautiful than they appear in magazines and on screen.  In days gone by, we were able to walk the red carpet among “The Stars”.   They now segregate the star path and the “nobodies” or (as my husband always referred to us as) “the re-loads” (i.e. when we walked past the photographers on the red carpet, they realized we were “nobodies” so it was an opportunity for the photographers to re-load the camera).  While walking amongst those stars, I felt like a ginormous midwestern “heifer” in comparison to these mostly petite, lithe actresses.  One year, I decided to really give it my all and try to lose weight to feel like I was red carpet worthy at the Golden Globes.  I had a personal trainer at the time too. I was so strict with my post Christmas diet that I remember counting out the number of honey roasted cashew nuts I was consuming.  I got down to an all time low weight by that late January.   Yet,  I still felt like a large person on the red carpet next to the super skinny stars.   Truthfully, as soon as I was seated at the dinner table, I began eating the pre-placed chocolates at the table and recall continuing to eat my way through the rest of the evening.  Never again!  I’ve decided it’s ridiculous having the Hollywood population as my standard for acceptable weight.  Sometimes you almost want to feel sorry for them that that is the standard they aspire to adhere to.

This year (and probably for the first time ever) I saw each one of the nominated films. In my humble opinion, none of the films were among my very favorite movies ever.  What I appreciated was that two popular films I liked, “Still Alice” (Yay Julianne Moore) and “The Theory of Everything”,  centered around diseases and will get more attention as a result.   I have a monumental DREAM that someone out there in Hollywood will produce a movie about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and/or childhood cancer that wins an Oscar some day!!!  My personal favorite was “The Theory of Everything” but certainly enjoyed all the other nominated films too.  Last Friday evening, I saw “Whiplash” just in time for Sunday’s show and really loved that too.

As for the Fashion, here are MY FAVORITE gowns of the evening and a little bit of commentary too:

Hands down my FAVORITE- Pearls, Pearls, Pearls!  Love it!!!

I never grow tired of seeing Gorgeous Gwyneth and PINK!

I love her earrings too!

I just like her!  She seems very likable !!!

No one seems to quite “Rock It” like J. Lo-STUNNING!

11 Years after I saw her in person and she is still breathtakingly beautiful in my opinion!

I loved her in the movie and I think she’s very pretty!

I love her dress and I LOVE that she WON for her amazing portrayal as an early onset Alzheimer’s patient.

So there you go-Just a few little bits…I’m already excited about next year’s Oscar Season!

I’m wondering what any of you out there reading this thought of the film nominations, of the show, of the dresses etc.  Please share your thoughts, opinions on the Hollywood scene, standards or anything else you’d care to share.  I’d very much love to hear!