PYTs: Selena, Rosie, Anna, Katie

Ashley Olsen is starting to embody the granny look with her mannerisms, too. She has been doing some fabulous photoshoots with her sister lately. Why do they fight so hard to be odd when they are so pretty and make such pretty clothes?  Ashley Tisdale wraps up a date night dinner with her producer boyfriend in the Valley.

 Wow. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley treats the Moscow red carpet like a runway in Gucci.  Selena Gomez, who always plays it safe but pretty, wore J. Mendel to her premiere of Monte Carlo in New York.

 Her dutiful boyfriend the Biebs was on hand to catch the flick. Earlier he was assaulted after a perfume promotion at Macys. By an adult man, not little girls.   Katie Cassidy turned up even though Leighton Meester did not. She wore Bec & Bridge.  Somebody give Andie MacDowell a straight iron please.

 Hooray for the return of True Blood! For newer readers, last year I booked Ryan Kwanten to host a party and decided I needed to actually watch the show before talking to him. I'm now totally hooked and looking into another TB stud for an upcoming event.  I am not into Anna Paquin's Versus dress. Underboob is not a good cleavage option, nor is sequined boning. Deborah Ann Woll looks nice in Tadashi.

Back in the office for a day...kinda. I have a long lunch send off for our PR rep and a site visit of a couple clubs for an upcoming video game launch, then home to pack for an extremely early roadtrip up to SF for my bestie Rena's wedding! Hope you all have fun weekends in the works and I can't wait until I have a free minute to catch up on all your blogs.

XOXO,

D.O.N.

LA Ladies: Duff, Seyfried, Perry, Tiz, Richie

Amanda Seyfried is back out with the living again, running errands in West Hollywood. Hilary Duff heads into a meeting in some really giant earrings. She is not normally one for wide legged pants, but I like her Current Elliotts.

 Sophia Bush is planning some kind of event. She left a party planning company following a meeting. Katy Perry lightened up her locks. Is she over the black?

 Nicole Richie finishes up a workout at the Tracy Anderson studio. Ick, I could never wear a beanie after a workout!  Ashley Tisdale seems to be based back in LA for the summer. She stopped by one of her favorite stores, Planet Blue.

DON's Deal: The Rainforest Experience

The past two times we were here, we heard guests raving about the rainforest experience as if it were a religious experience. We finally got to try it out and we keep discussing it, trying to decide what we think of it (I liked it more than my boss). It's a long series of experiences that you go through in your swimsuit, starting with this path below.  You walk barefoot over the rocks back and forth 5 times while it rains down on you from above. It's supposed to be reflexology, but it was seriously hard to balance while water is pouring down your face.

From there it is a series of hot then cold and repeat. Hot auromatherapy steam room followed by what I can only describe as a human car wash shower (think The Jetsons) that alternated cold and warm water blasts, then a hot dry sauna. After that one, they bring you out and rub snow all over you. It was at this point where a woman was shoving snow down my bikini bottoms that my boss and I crossed paths. Oh hey there.  Next up an infrared sauna, car wash shower with light show & loud music, another hotter steam shower (which I hid in until my boss was out and nearly melted to death), and yet another car wash shower. I have a whole new layer of skin I think.

Then you get in this pool which was my favorite part. You sit on those underwater lounge chairs and they shoot jet bubble up at you, which is nice, but kind of hard to stay on (I had to hold on to the sides to not float away). The pool changes colors constantly, too.  Then you move into those hot tubs for awhile. Finally at the far end of the pool are these dual giant faucets that you sit under. The water comes out and it feels like you are being hit with a fire hose...twice.  My top came clean off (again, glad the boss was gone), but once I recovered it did feel nice on my shoulder when appropriately positioned.

The finish it off with washing and speed extracting the water from your swimsuit and you're on your merry way, left wondering if you were just tortured or relaxed. I did spend a lot of time praying since I was just sitting there, which was nice. And I also think it would probably be the world's best hangover cure with all that sweating and cleansing. But as to whether we are doing this with all our guests? Probably not. :)

I'm crushed that we are leaving tonight; two days just isn't enough time here. I'm flying United back so hopefully this one will have wifi and I'll get back to blogging about the celebs.

Sand and Sun,
D.O.N.

Celeb Potpourri: Selma, Jessica, Emma, Amanda

  Amanda Seyfried finally resurfaced! Since splitting from Ryan Phillippe she's been totally MIA. She did some grocery shopping in Los Angeles, as did Emma Roberts who skipped her typical crazy high heels.

Jessica Alba spent some time with her family out to lunch in Los Angeles. Any guesses on what she's having? I still think it's a girl.

Kim Kardashian readies for her honeymoon with a shopping spree at La Perla lingerie. 

Leighton Meester generally goes back to her natural dirty blonde when Gossip Girl wraps for the summer, but instead added some bangs. She's filming in NYC.

  

Selma Blair is still pregnant?!?! It's gotta be any day now, right?

Buenos Dias from Cancun!

I have all these celeb pics to post, but blogger is failing me at present. I'll try again when I'm back in my room later, but if you are interested, there is a little room tour below the jump. Hasta luego!

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DON's Deal: Packing Perfectionist

I travel.  Constantly. 

It took me awhile to figure out how to make it work so I didn't fidget on the plane wondering if I left a window open or my prescriptions at home. It's an ever improving process, but here is a peek into my packing system that has helped me relax and pack with relative ease.

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Summer Salad Series: Pasta Primavera Salad

Kicking off my Summer Salad Series is an extremely simple and versatile pasta salad from the kitchen of my very own Mama Maria.  If you keep pasta and these simple dressing ingredients on hand, you can throw just about anything in your veggie drawer in and have a side dish ready in 20 minutes whenever you need it! I've also made this with chickpeas thrown in for some added protein. Enjoy!

Just us plus veggies of your choice. You can even toss in some chicken if you're so inclined.

Celeb Potpourri: Miley, Brooklyn, Christina, Vanessa, Zooey

Miley Cyrus is traveling with Liam Hemsworth while she tours. Funny, I thought they had broken up, but I guess they're back together.  Andy Roddick finally gets some together time with his busy wife Brooklyn Decker as they shop in Wimbledon.

 Vanessa Minnillo spent her bachelorette party working promotional opportunities in Sin City.  That's one way to score free drinks. 

 At the warm ups for the Critics' Choice TV Awards in Bev Hills, small screen stars Zooey Deschanel (she will be come Fall), Sarah Hyland, Christina Hendricks and Sarah Michelle Gellar (looking gorgy!) turned up to charm the judges.  Zooey's outfit is not summer appropriate IMO.

 Finally, how cute is this pic of Neil Patrick Harris and his partner with their twins on Father's Day? They hold their babies the exact same way.

LA Ladies: Kim, Jen, Hilary, Rosario

Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton attended a birthday party for Justin Bieber's manager in Hollywood. Frenemies reunited!

 Kim and Khloe (with their significant others) celebrated Khloe's birthday. Kim is wearing Herve Lerger.  Did you catch the season premiere of Keeping Up with the Kardashians? I realize the majority of you hate them, but I really enjoy seeing their clothes and homes. I could happily watch it on mute.

 At a poolside party hosted by Khloe, she wore a silk Helmut Lang sweater that seems to be in the hands of every it girl in Hollywood. They love this thing! You can pick up your own for around 300 bones.  Rosie Dawson, Jaime King and Paris Hilton (below) also attended. Paris seems to have missed the memo on appropriate poolside attire.

Jennifer Garner and Emmy Rossum run errands in Los Angeles.  Jen's looking cute, no?  Nice to see her out of her schlumpy jeans.

  Hayden Panettiere grabs a bite at Mel's on Sunset.  How do you guys feel about her? I'm basically on the fence. Don't love her, but don't hate her either.

Hilary Duff hauls her "gym bag" post workout, while Kim shows off her newest Birkin acquisition. I think my fav jacket of hers is that Rick Owens leather jacket. Grabby hands, want badly.

DON's Deal: Rolling Stone

Morning dolls!

I owe you posts on my oh-so-facsinating packing procedures and the beginning of our Summer Salad Series, but as you can see from my June calendar below, I haven't had much time to myself.  I wasn't kidding when I said I barely have a life here in LA. I spend every weeknight trying to catch up with friends since I'm never home on the weekends.

You may have also noted a little sumpin' sumpin' happening tomorrow. Yep, it's time for another whirlwind trip to Playa del Carmen for the very best part of my job: testing out the best they have to offer in preparation for a client excursion in November. I know, I know you hate me, but allow me to smile for just a minute as I consider 3 days of menu tastings, activity scouting and massage sampling. It will be non-stop and a million degrees, but I cannot wait!

I'll be blogging from my private swimming pool in my room like last year if the rain holds off. I'm totally laughing at how obnoxious this sounds; please read it is completely overwhelmed with gratitude for a job I know how lucky I am to have. So very thankful am I!

XOXO,

D.O.N.