As a wife, I get special privileges, one big one being that I get to say how proud of my husband I am.

This week Jason received a special honor at work.
Jason received the "Encore Award" in "Recognition of Special Achievement" for working on some doodad at work (the project name won't mean anything more to you than it did to me).
But it does make me very proud!

As well as being a very big honor for him, quite impressive for an intern, he also received a framed certificate [nifty] and a nice little cash bonus [really nifty].

Please congratulate him and make him blush!!

Sincerely,
The Proud Wife

Do-Gooder (Part 3)

Well, by now hopefully you have seen the preparation (Part 1) and the final product (Part 2) of the hard work I have put in at my internship yet perhaps you are still wondering exactly what all that hoo-ha was for!

Like I said before, all the money that we raise through the event night (& from various other small fundraisers & from all of our Orange products and partners) funds research on finding treatments and the ultimate cure of Multiple Sclerosis.

On Saturday, the morning after the event, we hold our MS Forum & Expo. 

This is where we invite individuals with MS and their friends and family to come hear what our money has been doing in the past year. On Friday morning, our doctors meet together and discuss their findings. Then Saturday, we share some of the updates with our attendees and have a question & answer session. This is what we work all year round for. This event changes the lives of so many people that come and find support among other people just like them who have MS. It is truly amazing! Many of the attendees are already in advanced debilitating stages of MS and it makes what we do that much more tangible.

I helped sell our Orange products and register forum attendees. 

Web MD also came and interviewed the doctors about what new developments there have been.
Click to see their short video here!

David Osmond (son of one of the Osmond brothers) also is a big supporter & came and sang! He was great!

Anyways, now with the money we raised, doctors from the top seven MS institutions at UC San Francisco, Harvard, Yale, USC, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins and Oregon Health Sciences University can continue researching. 

Sorry if I have exhausted the topic, but it really is a great organization who does great things! Support us here! I have had a great time interning there!

Orange You Happy? (Part 2)

So, on to the story of the big night. Each year we have between 1200 & 1500 celebrity and distinguished guests. I helped check in guests and then helped guide celebrities to (and other people away from) the red carpet.

While celebrities get photographed in front of the red (really ours is orange!) carpet, other guests peruse through the silent auction room. Jenny works all year round gathering more than 400 amazing donations including jewelry, art, fashion items, gift certificates and tons of other stuff. We had Evan Lysacek's award winning skates, Miley Cyrus's guitar  &lots of other famous people's stuff that I can't remember at this point. 

Anyways, if you want a great short look at the orange carpet, view this CNN video and then proceed to the following pictures. (Click the link to see it bigger and clearer or to send to someone else!)

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/showbiz/2010/05/10/natpkg.erase.ms.orange.carpet.cnn

Now for some candid pics of those famous folks (Courtesy J + P since I was working):

Press on the orange carpet 

Tom Arnold

Melissa Rycroft of the Bachelor

Avril Lavigne is a big supporter & performed that night

Paris Hilton on her cell phone..haha

The gorgeous Sophia Bush

J & P were lucky enough to get a picture with Olympic gold medalist Opolo Anton Ohno!

Lindsey Vonn was also a presenter. 

Here is a list of some of the other famous people there:

Nicky Hilton, Robert Knepper (from Prison Break), Mayim Bialik (Blossom), Buzz Aldrin, Loni Anderson, Brody Jenner, Brooke Burke, Tommy Hilfiger, Nancy O'Dell, Mark Dacascos (Iron Chef), Louis Van Amstel, Chelsie Hightower, Aiden Turner, Damian Whitewood, Kym Johnson (the last 5 people I listed are all people from Dancing with the Stars) walk down the carpet. 

Anyways, after the red carpet & silent auction were over, guests entered the ballroom to begin dinner. Dinner began while a Tommy Hilfiger fashion show took place on stage. Then dinner continued with presenters like Dr. Phil McGraw and Nancy Davis gave her speech. Then the live auction began!

Jason, Jessica, Porntepp & I all helped during this part. We were spotters who had to show the live auctioneer where bids were coming from. Being an intern doesn't come without pressure, as I was placed at the front 2 tables (some of the wealthiest people there!) and 3 out of the 9 live auction winners came from my tables. Boy was I busy. Live auction items included tickets to the American Idol & Dancing with the Stars finales along with a Maltese puppy, private yacht vacation and a trip to Bora Bora. The biggest item was a Lamborghini that came from my table for $210,000, pocket change right?

Then Heart, Dr. Hollywood and Avril Lavigne all performed. They were all amazing performers, particularly Heart & Avril Lavigne who really got the crowd going!

Avril Jammin'

It was a great night. Here are some pics of us!

Orange Carpet!

Amazing friends!

With my good looking bro!

We were up until 2 cleaning up & partying and it was quite fun. Although I must say, even though I wore flats, my feet were killing me. On the up side though...we raised 2 MILLION DOLLARS for Multiple Sclerosis Research.

Look for Part 3 to tell you even more about that!

Where I Spend My Days...(Part 1)

Since January, I have been interning a few days a week at a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles called the Nancy Davis Foundation for Multiple Sclerosis. Nancy Davis created the organization 19 years ago after being diagnosed with MS. She found that there was no governing/cohesive body of research regarding treatments and cures of MS. She founded the Center Without Walls which is made up of the nation's top seven MS research centers. For those of you who don't know, MS affects 2 million Americans and 3 times as many women as men. My office works year round coordinating a one night event that raises a majority of money for the research centers, but more on that later! To learn more about the organization & for pictures etc. visit www.erasems.org

Anyways, so here is a rundown of a few things that I did to help out (and still currently do):

Every Hollywood event has one coveted thing in common: The elusive Gift Bags.
In my office, Whitney works year round gathering goodies for the Gift Bags. Getting companies to donate 1500 items is quite a task, this year we had awesome donations from MAC, OPI, Jelly Belly, Maxx Bags, Tommy Hilfiger, Avril Lavigne, etc. just to name a few. These are awesome but they also require tons of work. We have to unpack and organize 1500 items in 40 varieties... yay!

Here Eunice (the other intern) & I are unpacking socks...so many socks....

But its worth it for the final product: (just a few items as examples!)

Anyways, gift bags are just one thing we do. During my internship I have also helped fill orders from our website, manage our client database, call celebrities and clients, edit our publications and dozens of other things that are needed in the office daily (less picture worthy).

Anyways on to the good stuff. This year our event (gala) was on Friday May 7. We have our event at the Hyatt Regency Century City and its a gorgeous location. Just another tidbit...Although we are called the Nancy Davis Foundation, our campaign/slogan is "Orange You Happy to Erase MS." We sell lots of items in orange and our whole office and whole event are in orange (we even have an orange carpet in lieu of a red carpet) Just FYI.

Here are some pictures during the day before & day of event (since I got to stay at the hotel for 2 nights!)

Planning stuff in our office at the hotel...haha

Being an intern has its perks...all access credentials for all aspects of the event!

In front of the step & repeat banner

I have so much to tell and so many pictures, I will tell the rundown with pics & videos of the night next! Come back for more! It won't disappoint I promise!