Finding My Way In LA

My last weeks in Los Angeles have been bittersweet.  It’s hard to leave such a busy place with so much to do.  My only big regret would be not making a trip up to San Francisco. The trip would have been too long for just a weekend plus, there just wasn’t time with everyone’s busy schedules.  I am very excited to be getting back to Ithaca for Senior Week and seeing all of my friends.  After that week, I will be heading home for the summer to work in Albany.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the internship I wanted at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center after many back and forth conversations with them.  For a communications organization the department I was applying to work in was seriously lacking in proper communication skills.  Kind of makes me wonder if it would have been a good idea to work there at all.  Now, with this job in Albany the pay is better so I can make up for all the money I spent in LA.  

On my second to last day at Ellen, they had an animal expert on and I was able to go into the green room and help the trainers with their animals before the show.  It was neat to experience the pre-show production from the producer's briefings with the trainers to actually helping coordinate the guests. My favorite part was playing with the mother and baby wallaby.  Carly Smithson, one of the top ten American Idols this season had just been kicked off the Idol that week and was now a guest on the show.  She told the producers she wanted to see the animals, so as we were walking down the hall she took a baby wallaby from my hand and started playing with him.  

One weekend, some ICLAer’s and I volunteered for the annual Autism walk at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. ICLA usually offers a volunteer opportunity at an AID’s Awareness walk in the fall and the Autism walk in the spring. We all worked at the advocacy booth with our media law professor who is heavily involved with this organization .  Our job was to encourage people to sign two different petitions for more funds to benefit families with children who are affected by autism.  That morning alone we got over 200 signatures.   

Another benefit to interning at big companies like NBC, Warner Bros, and Paramount is the access we have to free movie screenings.  I wish that I took advantage of them more throughout the semester, however, last weekend I did attend a screening of Baby Mama with my colleagues from Ellen.  Some of us went out to dinner after and it was a nice way to say goodbye and enjoy one last time together.  

Only being 30 minutes from Malibu we decided to take a trip to Zuma Beach.  This was the first time since I have been in California that I actually swam in the ocean.  The temperature outside was 90 degrees, but the ocean was numbingly cold.  The biggest excitment of the day was seeing dolphins jumping in the ocean.  I am really going to miss the beaches in California...

In the past weeks we found some great deals on restaurants around LA.  El Guapo is an open air Mexican restaurant that has dollar tacos on Tuesdays.  On the last night of our semester in Los Angeles I dressed up and went out to Dolce with a group of my friends.  The hip and expensive restaurant is actually owned by Ashton Kutcher.  The only reason we went to this place is because on Monday’s everything on the menu is half price.  I treated myself to Filet Minon and a delicious gelato dessert.   

Kelly's boss at Warner Bros had given her two walk on passes, so before one of my finals on Monday we took our own self-guided tour  of the Warner Bros. lot.  We got to see where they shoot ER and the vampire television show Moonlight.  The special effects manager from ER noticed us wandering around looking like we were lost. When we told him we weren't, he decided to give us a more interesting tour himself around the set of Moonlight.  As we spent more time walking around the set with him he said the word groovy about ten times and we could definitely see how he job has a special effects guy fit his personality.  

The Getty Museum is a must see if you are in the Los Angeles area. We looked at artwork from the 1800’s to modern day.  The Getty is also known for their beautiful gardens so we were very lucky to have gone on a gorgeous day.  The California Video exhibit was one of our favorite things to go through that day.  I think we spent almost a half an hour trying to figure out how one of the exibits worked.  We just could not wrap our brains around it!

Dimples is a Karaoke bar in Burbank and another must see if you are in LA.  One night Kelly and I had just got into our beds when our  friends called and said we should meet them in at Dimples.  Deciding to be spontaniuos Kelly and I got out of bed, put on some nice clothes and made our way to Dimples. We had surprised our friends by coming down because it wasnt until after we got off the phone with them that we decided to go.  After much deliberation Kelly and I decided to sing Kiss Me by Sixpence Non the Richer.  I was nervous about singing our first song but after I faced my fears I was ready for another.  We watched some other people make fools of themselves just like us and then decided to go.  If anyone would like to see the video of us singing, just ask!

Saying goodbye to all the people I became close with at both internships was sad, knowing I most likely will not see those people again unless I come back to LA.  My last day at Ellen actually ended up being kind of crazy because everyone was busy getting ready to fly to Chicago for a few shows she would be doing there.  Becky Goodling (a fellow Ithaca student and Ellen intern) and I stayed an hour later than usual and helped the travel guy pass out flight itineraries for everyone in the office.  I have been writing in an internship log throughout this semester and in my next blog post I will fill you in on more details about each internship and how I feel each helped me gain experience in my field.  

I finished my internship at Make-A-Wish Foundation the following Monday and Tuesday.  I wasn’t officially saying goodbye to those people because I told them I would volunteer that weekend at their biggest charity event of the year.  It was a wine & food tasting and auction in Santa Monica.  Some of LA’s best wineries and restaurants were represented at this event.  I got The Ellen Degeneres Show to donate 2 VIP tickets and merchandise to auction off at the event.  The night of the event, I was stationed at the wine glass distribution tables and auction item distribution at the end of the night.  I was happy to be at the station with my supervisor to chat with her about my experience at MAW.  The theme of the event was Mulan Rouge and the whole night they played music from the movie and had these Glamazon dancers doing actrobatics on rings from the ceiling.  It was a great way to end my time at Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles.