Where do all the years go? If you were to quantify time through television, you would notice that it is at once vast and fleeting. Though reality television captures life’s quirks, trivia and more mundane aspects, the best dramas, comedies and acting performances are timeless because they all have something to say about the human condition. When nominees are picked the right way, the Emmy Awards honour the elements of television that strike a chord or a nerve.
And then there are those pre-Emmy suites and parties. They too have changed with the times. What is best about them—an opportunity to drive awareness for different charities provides a showcase for budding entrepreneurs and inventors—endures.
La Bohème rhapsody
 
Our beloved event planner and Lucire supporter Doris Bergman was back in fine form with her third annual Primetime Emmy Style Lounge at Café la Bohème, noted for its “Tuscan villa” flavour. Shrewdly staging her event a full 10 days before the others, Doris’s knack for timing once again proved to be a hit with bona fide A-list Hollywood guests getting the Emmys party started. The invitation-only event, hosted by Qmadix, co-headlined by Whitening Lightning (and founder Jennifer Gerard) and co-produced by Michelle Faulkner, drew the likes of Primetime Emmy Nominees Mare Winningham (Hatfields and McCoys), Dot Marie Jones (Glee), Jason Ritter (Parenthood) and Ben Feldman (Mad Men). Some of our other favourite television fixtures, such as William Shatner and Eva La Rue, were also in attendance.
As Bergman believes it is never too early to start planning for the holidays, she teamed with television presenter Christine Devine (of Los Angeles Fox TV affiliate KTTV) to position the Emmy part as a pre-holiday gift drive benefiting the Wednesday’s Child charity. The philanthropic enterprise, supported by a weekly segment on KTTV highlights “harder to place” children in the LA county foster care system who are in need of adoptive families. ‘In Los Angeles County, there are over 35,000 children receiving child welfare services,’ says social worker William Wong. ‘This event reached far beyond the Hollywood “glitz” and into the heart and soul.’
Gift donations to the Wednesday’s Child pre-holiday gift drive from event sponsors was tremendous, and newly formed relationships developed from this altruistic venture, according to Devine, who was almost unrecognizable in a fresh, youthful way, wearing some of the finery from the gifting sponsors. Relishing her role as a ‘September Santa’, Doris Bergman invited two foster children to join in on the festivities and experience what it felt like to be treated as a VIP. ‘The love from the sponsors was tremendous!’ added Wong.
Gifts and services offered had a heavy environmental flavour. Among them: clothing and accessories purveyor Roadkill Ranch, Handmade Hearts’ lovingly crafted art glass jewellery, Nature’s Flavors (a unique line of home fragrances and foods devised by a perfumer), Twisted Silver’s widening line of jewellery fashioned from reclaimed metals, Michael Marcus Cosmetics’ beautifully formulated cosmetics, legendary Hollywood milliner Baron Hats and Nu-4-You eye make-up fallout protectors that are designed for today’s mineral-based powder cosmetics.
Other innovative sponsors included the very cool Radar Watches collections (Swatch, watch your back!), Nitrocream LLC (along with entertaining ice-cream-making demonstrations) Undiepads, Spongeables, Honest Tea, Lusciouss Jewelry, Prana SpaCeuticals, Model in a Bottle, Chocolate Shop Wine, Bon Bon Home, Spontuneous Games, Inc. and made-in-USA sandals from Terox Footwear that came in handy after two hours of bopping about in stilettos. Also on hand was Art Lewin Executive Clothiers, designer Ali Rahimi for Mon Atelier, Qmadix’s speakers and freshly-minted Iphone 5 cases, other essential computer gadgets by SimulTalk, Total Healthy Lifestyle, Ollin Arm Candy (made from candy wrappers and recycled paper and metal), Kind Snacks, Lance Christopher Hair Salon, Cotz Face SPF 40 sun-screen, Crunch, Book Beanie and It’s a Glam Thing (helmed by Lisa Coccuza).
Beauty Secrets
Eddie Sakaki
With animals often being the unsung heroes of television production, it was only fitting that Amy Wright made the Los Angeles SPCA the charitable focal point of the one-day-only Secret Room at the SLS Hotel. You could argue that pre-award show events have gone to the dogs in recent years, but in the case of the Secret Room (as well as GBK and Debbie Durkin’s Eco-Emmy events), that proved to be a good thing. Though some celebrities in attendance had pampered pets in tow, others proudly brought in their beloved rescue dogs to show off.
SPCA Los Angeles was on site collecting donations and having celebrities sign dog bowls to auction off. Secret Room Events also donated partial proceeds from sponsorships to the SPCA LA and a gift bag for future auction. The Tiniest Tiger (conservationcubclub.com), which helped fill the void of goodies for cat owners at Secret Room events earlier this year, was back with its expanded line of awareness-raising accessories, also accommodating dog owners. While several independent confectioneries fuelled the human guests (Chuao Chocolatier of San Diego; Chocostry of Memphis, Tenn.), dogs were properly nourished with custom-blended dog food from Frenchie’s Kitchen. Livening things up all the more was a Wolfgang Puck coffee bar with espresso drinks named after Emmy-nominated shows, Nothing Bundt Cakes and a Lollipop organic manicure bar.
If this Secret Room had a theme beyond the well being of pets, it was innovative beauty and health essentials that, for the most part, came from companies that are not yet household names. Freeze 24-7 (which is available at www.freeze247.com and Sephora stores) rolled out their newest time-freezing lotions and cleanser. Lynex’s all-purpose beauty cream (www.lynex.com) is made with dragonfruit, while Marrakech (www.marrakeshhaircare.com) products were positioning themselves to compete with the popular Moroccanoil line. MuscleMist, a pain relief line from Canada, handed out handy spray bottles of their topical herbal remedy, sure to come in handy after several days of carrying around heavy bags.
There were also some excellent fall fashion accessories of note. With all of the Belle Époque and art déco-inspired designs prevailing at other suites, the work of Dallas Ciurluini was a breath of fresh air (www.dallasfineart.com), loaning out exquisite pieces that had a slight goth edge but otherwise could not be pigeonholed into a genre. Shuzi, meanwhile, got everybody’s attention with a line of stainless steel jewellery with its magnetic element intended to reduce stress. GlitzyBella.com brought some red carpet glamour not only to casual everyday items, but also bottles of our favourite spirits. New York-based designer Erica M., meanwhile, (www.facebook.com/EricaMNewYork) brought sexy back with her provocative line of textured fishnet hosiery.
Celebrities spotted included Samantha Mumba, Shannon Elizabeth, 2012 Emmy nominees Mayim Bialik (Big Bang Theory) and Mark Margolis (Breaking Bad), Aldis Hodge (Leverage) and Edwin Hodge (Cougar Town), Hatfields and McCoys nominee Mare Winningham (no doubt making the rounds), and Eva Amurri.
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Eddie Sakaki
JC Olivera
Eddie Sakaki 
JC Olivera
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‘In Los Angeles County, there are over 35,000 children receiving child welfare services,’ says social worker William Wong. ‘This event reached far beyond the Hollywood “glitz” and into the heart and soul’
Elyse Glickman is US west coast editor of Lucire. Cheri Fox and Elva Zevallos are correspondents for Lucire.
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