Life is an adventure and always full of surprises! I’m so thankful to have amazing friends (and fans) to share it with! I write this blog to you. To you who’ve been supportive and happy to share in my exciting career opportunities.
Thank you for your love, support and encouragement!
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Ok. So a lot of you have been asking how my past weekend was…so here it is…
AMAZING!
I should start from the beginning.
I received an email from the talent relations person at MTv Productions explaining how they came across my profile on Model Mayhem (an online community of models, photographers etc.). They invited me to pair up with Mike Holman from Jackass at his booth during the Horror Hound Convention and sign autographs if I wanted. At first I declined because I didn’t think a horror convention reached my fan base. After her explaining that it was also more of a “pop culture” convention, I agreed thinking it could be a great opportunity for face time with the public to help promote Nightlights. Once I explained to her about the show I host and that we were thinking about turning the opportunity into a LIVE webcast, she suggested that we have our own exhibit booth. Pretty cool. So thus began the scrambling around in last minute preparation for exhibition. I won’t bore you with the details.
Posing for a Fan Photo at the Horror Hound Convention (photo by Scott Romer)
Scott and Andrea (Annie) Romer, who we met during Nightlights’ LIVE webcast of Midwest Fashion Week’s “Food Meets Fashion” the previous week, agreed to come out for the weekend and take fan photos. Turned out to be a great hit! I’m glad they came, they do a fantastic job! (Check them out! Photos from “Food Meets Fashion” and other Midwest Fashion events are up!)
On Friday, Annie, who sort of became Nightlights co-producer at the convention, was able to…last minute and on the fly…set up an evening of entertaining Sean Patrick Flattery and Norman Reedus (who were also at the convention) from the movie Boondock Saints. You should’ve seen her. She was running around like a chicken with her head cut off, frantically but still maintaining a level of sternness and professionalism, making calls and connections to pull this last-minute invite together. Shout out to Annie! I was impressed…you are amazing, I don’t know how you did it! *Kudos
Donny , from A Class Act Limousine Service, provided the transportation to Iaria’s Italian Restaurant (serving Italian Food since 1933). And of course, we stocked the limo with Indiana Vodka’s new infused flavors. At dinner, I sat in-between Sean and Norman, had some great conversation and received some valuable career advice! Then of course before we left, everyone wanted pictures. The two did the infamous double shot pose with one of the restaurant guys!
Boondock Saints: The Infamous Double Shot Pose!
(photo by Scott Romer)
Sean and Norman hanging out in the limo from A Class Act Limo Service
Saturday was nuts! Running on 4 hours of sleep in stilettos all day is not easy! I was definitely feeling over-whelmed, over-stimulated, and way too hopped up on caffeine and energy drinks! Annie was at it again, coordinating an evening/night of entertaining Corey Feldman who was signing autographs at the convention. Not to mention we still had to run over to Birdy’s that evening to tape a segment for an episode and then rush back to the convention to pick up Corey and his people to continue the night’s activities. Annie had been able to again, at last minute while juggling the photography and other jobs, reserve a place for dinner at Iaria’s Italian Restaurant for our party of 13 and she also reserved a VIP section at Hyde at Blu.
Dinner at Iaria’s was for the second night in a row, nothing short of perfection and they graciously stayed opened after hours for our party. I had some interesting conversation with Corey as he talked about his struggle in eventually accepting his celebrity status. Corey was thrown into acting at a very young age and explained how he felt he never really had a choice. He told me how he’s wondered what it would be like or wished he could’ve had a “normal” job. I was perplexed at this notion and offered up the cliché, “well I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side”…because it seems a lot of people dream of becoming celebrities. I was surprised when he said, “that’s because they don’t know what it’s really like… you spend a lot of time hiding in dark corners”.
Iaria's Italian Restaurant with Corey Feldman
After dinner, photos, and everyone trying to figure out who the mini celebrity sculptures displayed on the shelves at Iaria’s were, it was off to Hyde at Blu in downtown Indy! We rolled up in the hummer limo from A Class Act Limousine Service stocked with Indiana Vodka. My good friend Erica came along that night and we were the first ones of our group to enter the club. We turned around and none of our party seemed to be behind us! As we stood there waiting, I became amused at the sudden wave of energy as I heard some girls pass by whispering “Corey Feldman”. Still no sign of our party. Erica, being the smart person she is, figured out that they probably went around back for a more discrete entrance. So we pushed our way through the crowd at Blu where we were met by one of the club managers who took us to the rest of our party over at Hyde. Dinner at Iaria’s latest longer than expected because we were all engaged in conversation, so we didn’t get to Hyde at the original planned time. We called to let our contact at Hyde know we were running behind but still planning on coming and on our way with Corey. The call went to voicemail. By the time we reached Hyde, they apologized and explained they had to release our booth to a military party. Understandable. Corey liked the vibe over at Blu much better anyway and after about 15-20 minutes they were able to accommodate our party with a different VIP section upstairs at Blu. It was a little hectic at first, but things have a way of working themselves out. I asked Corey if he was having a good time and he seemed to be. He said in L.A. it’s never a party until someone dances on a table! Haha … Because I enjoy entertaining people, I promised him after I had a couple more drinks that I’d do it…but then the lights came on and it was too late! We closed the place down and continued the party elsewhere.
It was interesting to see Corey’s guard come down as the night progressed. Not because of drinking… (he actually doesn’t drink)…but because I think we established a level of trust with our group. And likewise it was interesting to see his guard go back up when he was approached by new people. My first impression of Corey when we all first got into the limo was, this guy seems stone cold and it’s going to be a long night. Au contraire! Corey was one of the nicest, most respectful and non-judgmental human beings I’ve met! By the end of the night, he was motioning for me to come over and sit by him. He’s a cool guy. Even gave me his number and invited me to his big 40th, 7-day long, birthday party at the Palms in Vegas!
Out on the town in Indy: Amy Beers, Corey Feldman, Erica Stikeleather
I will never forget this night. It is still unreal to me. I’ve worked so hard for over three years doing Nightlights. It’s been a difficult and challenging road. There has been many times where I’ve almost walked away from the show, wondering if it was even worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy what I do, but it’s not always as glamorous as some may think. My dedication drives from the conviction that someday it will pay off.
It’s starting to pay off.
There was a moment, sitting across from Corey in the limo, where I smiled to myself thinking about the beginnings of Nightlights; where it was, where it is and where I am now, and where it’s heading. Never in my dreams when we first started Nightlights, had I imagined I’d be sitting across from a major celebrity in a spectacular hummer limo that through part of my and Jason’s (the producer’s) hard work and dedication had obtained. Nightlights is about local nightlife in Indianapolis; what to do, where to go. Corey Feldman was in our limo (special thanks to A Class Act Limousine Service) and we were entertaining a celebrity for the night. It was surreal. It may not seem like a ‘big deal’ to some, but to a girl from a small town who was once too shy to talk to just about everyone, it was a rewarding experience.
*Special thanks again to A Class Act Limousine Service, Indiana Vodka, Iaria’s, Hyde at Blu, and of course Scott and Annie Romer of Scott Romer Photography for taking all the photos and especially “Wonder Woman” Annie for coordinating and making the nights come together! Thank you to Jason Jolliff who literally never takes a break to make Nightlights happen. Thanks to MTv Productions and Jeremy for making our own exhibit booth possible in the first place! Also thank you to photographers, Jay Auskalnis and Peter Matthes for the photos for the autographs!
We’re still in the beginning phases. I’ll be talking with the VP of Sales at Olinger Distributors next week about the direction the label needs to take visually and then I’ll be sending off the photos to the artist who’s going to create a pin-up style illustration of my image.
