The recap

The good
10 days in LA with Dave & JC on an expense account.



The bad
It rained all 3 days of the shoot, so we were working outside in chilly, damp weather.

Forecast is... troubling.


Pam (the producer) huddled by a space heater.


The ugly
The “wrap party” for the shoot was at Bar Marmont in Chateau Marmont. I slept through my 7:25 am flight to Georgia the next morning.


Eating & Drinking
We managed to eat well and drink a fair amount.
Chow: Ketchup, One Sunset, Matsuhisa, Asia de Cuba, Sea Bar, Giorgio’s, Formosa Café
Booze: Sky Bar, Saddle Ranch, Bar Lubitsch


The sushi bar at Sea Bar.

Dining room of Ketchup.


Yee ha! Mechanical bull at Saddle Ranch.


Celebrity sightings
Jon Voight in LAX, Mekhi Phifer at Ketchup, and Mary Beth Evans from Days of Our Lives in Pasadena.

The guys saw Sylvester Stallone on Rodeo Drive and Dog the Bounty Hunter outside Spanish Kitchen on La Cienga (I was with them for both sightings, but apparently wasn’t paying attention either time).

It’s different out here

I fly into New York from Buenos Aires Wednesday morning. But instead of going to my apartment, I stay at JFK and board a flight to LAX to join my team to shoot a TV commercial.

Check into the hotel. I’ve always stayed at the beach for shoots, but this time we’re on the Sunset Strip. It’s actually an OK change.

Saying LA is different from NYC is a gross understatement. LA is not for me. However, it’s freezing in New York, and it’s sunny and 60s here. I’ll be the first to admit it’s awesome to be outside in December without a jacket.

Paparazzi outside Kiehl’s on Robertson. Someone famous is buying moisturizer!


Intense valet action outside the hotel. Is this really necessary?

Step into my office... we've been doing a lot of work pool-side.

Go ahead, make my day

There’s another Mama Sands in town… Eastwood joined Robyn and Paul's household on November 30.

Dia Siete - Ciao, Argentina

I give Buenos Aires two thumbs up, way up! Buenos Aires doesn’t have a high dazzle factor; there's no Eiffel Tower or Chrysler Building. It’s the kind of city you need to spend some time with to understand and appreciate.

- Portenos are friendly, sociable people with a welcoming nature
- The city is easy to navigate; cabs are plentiful and cheap
- I got around well with my Sesame Street Spanish, but a lot of people speak English
- The city struck me as very safe overall, and seemed quite safe for women
- Obviously tourists go to Buenos Aires, but the city didn't seem overly touristy

I can't say I was enamored enough with Buenos Aires to want to move there, but it was a great vacation experience overall.

Galerias Pacifico.

Dia Seis - Another day, another country

Take the high-speed ferry to Uruguay in the morning. We wrongly assume it will be a casual trip, but there's almost as much involved with boat travel as international air travel (passport, buying ticket, boarding pass, security screening). This is a little stressful. Note to self: don't take a cruise because you will be That Girl running to make the ship every night. The boat ride takes about an hour. Once there, we walk around the charming town of Colonia del Sacramento and discover Uruguay is even cheaper than Argentina. Have drinks at a cute little cafe called El Drugstore.




Back in Buenos Aires, we go to dinner at Casa Cruz, a slick restaurant in Palermo that serves modern urban Argentinian cuisine, with a large side of people-watching. The dinner is better than most we’ve had, and the setting is very cool.

The bar in Casa Cruz.

Dia Cinco – I see dead people

Meet in Recoleta for breakfast at 2 pm. Afterwards we walk through the cemetery. It's immediately obvious this is simply not a functional burial place. The tombs are very elaborate. Many of the tombs have glass doors, and inside you can see altar-like places for living relatives to go and spend time with the coffin(s)... which are very visible. This was a little more than I bargained for.

Intricate angel statue in the cemetery.


Bell tower of Basilica Nuestra Senora del Pilar in Recoleta.

Lots of people out & about on a beautiful summer Sunday. Go back to Palermo Soho for shopping, and we have drinks at Lele de Troya, a lovely little café/restaurant. Wound up going to a tango/dinner show at Michelangelo in San Telmo. Tango has a lot of big, elaborate movements – the dancers cross the stage quickly, and the guy flings/swings the girl around a lot. Personally I prefer to watch flamenco (and dance salsa), but I’m glad we did this.

The tango show.

Dia Cuatro - Training to be a vampire

Wake up around 2pm. Have breakfast at 4 pm. Go to Palermo Soho to shop and walk around. Have lunch/dinner at Cabernet around 9 pm. Everyone gathers for drinks in Hotel Faena’s library lounge around 1 am.

Design hotel = weird shit. One of a few bejeweled gazelles at Faena.

We meet Luis, a furry guy from Mexico City. He suggests we accompany him to Jet, a nightclub in Costanera Norte, and we do. Jet is on the water near a small city airport, so the location seems pretty remote. We wind up in the VIP area again, but do a little more dancing this time. Leaving is a little dodgy since there are not many cabs coming by. Also, the sun is coming up. Pour back into the hotel around 5:30 am.

Luis, it's OK to wax.


Yenith & me.


Jet at 4:30 am. Kinda dead.

Dia Tres – Continued sampling of the nightlife

Wake up around noon, eat breakfast and meet everyone around 3 pm for a tour of the city. Our guide is a starving actor named Adolfo. The tour is actually really informative tour, and we see a lot of good stuff. We go inside a house from 1880 in San Telmo. We drive past the futbol (soccer) stadium; soccer is practically equated to religion in Buenos Aires. We also go to a very touristy bit of La Boca, but it has some cool signage and colored buildings. The tour ends in Recoleta around 7 pm. We nosh on bar food and have some beers outside at Buller Brewing Company.

Melissa & Grace.

Have dinner at Sushi Club at midnight. The fish is fresh, but the 5 rolls we order all basically taste the same. Melissa's work colleague Santiago (who also happens to be a somewhat famous Argentinian rugby player) meets us at the restaurant to take us out for the evening. Hit Asia de Cuba next; it’s not like not like Asia de Cuba in the US. This one has much a darker interior and more like a night club.

We heart Santiago.


Chris sidles up to the bar at Asia de Cuba.

Due to a little miscommunication/language barrier we wind up in a college-y bar in Palermo called Jackie O. Then we head to Crobar, a full-on dance club. Ironically, we actually don't dance here; we sit in a lounge area and drink champagne. When we walk outside, day is not breaking; it's full daylight. Get back to the hotel after 7 am.

Excellent juxtaposition of two American icons.

Dia Dos – It’s all about the cow

Walk around in the morning & take the subte (subway) to Casa Rosada (Pink House), the presidential palace, where Evita (Eva Peron) gave speeches from the balcony before she died of cancer at age 33.

"Don't cry for me, Argentina..."

Adjacent to Casa Rosada is Plaza de Mayo, which historically has been the city’s site for protests and political demonstrations. I happened to be there on a Thursday, when the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo march to demand justice for their children who went missing during the “Dirty War” in the late 1970s/early 80s.

Banner with photos of young people who "disappeared."

Grace and Melissa arrive. Yenith's friend Chris has also come into town. We all meet for drinks by the pool at Hotel Faena, a luxury hotel designed by Philippe Stark. We head to La Cabana for a proper Argentinian beef dinner. To start, they give us the Argentinian equivalent of an amuse bouche: a spoon of chicken ceviche, a shot of broccoli soup, and a mini-empanada. We ordered more empanadas and some sausage for the table. I got the tenderloin medallion for my entree, expecting it would be small pieces of beef. Instead, I get a massive piece of steak, the largest steak of anyone at the table! I make a valiant attempt to tackle it, but it is way too much food.

Awesome stained glass at La Cabana. It's imperative to be reverent towards the beef.

We sat down for dinner a little after 11 pm and finish around 1:30 am. The neighborhood surrounding the restaurant is very residential (think Madison Avenue @ 72nd Street), but we want to go out a bit more. A guy at the restaurant tells us to walk several blocks to the cemetery (the famous Recoleta cemetery is nearby). Although it sounds creepy, we follow his instructions and do find a couple of blocks lined with bars and clubs across from the cemetery. We have a drink at an open air lounge that’s re-playing the 2005 Live 8 concert, and then we go to Sahara Continent, a bizarre Indiana Jones-themed bar/dance club. Stay out til about 4 am.

Dia Uno - Hablo espanol

I arrive in Buenos Aires. Grace and Melissa are detained in NYC and Yenith is on a different flight, so I’m on my own for the day.

My cab driver from the airport wants to chat... in Spanish. He asks many questions, some of which I am able to comprehend and respond to. I manage to tell him: I’m from the US; I flew out of NY; my name is Ann; I’m staying in Buenos Aires for a week; my hotel name and address; it's OK if he pays for the tolls and I reimburse him at the end of the ride. He asks me if I'm married, and when I tell him I'm not married, he asks me why. Due to my limited Spanish vocabulary, I'm only able to tell him that it’s because I like to party, which frankly is not that far off the mark. My spouting of Espanol continues as I check into my hotel, buy a pair of sandals, and order lunch.

I only started looking at hotels 48 hours before I flew to Buenos Aires, so there was limited availability. The hotel I ultimately chose got mixed reviews online, but what can you do at the 11th hour during high season? When I check-in, they upgrade me to a suite. Sweet.

Happy Hanukkah from Buenos Aires!

I meet Yenith for dinner at an upscale seafood restaurant in Puerto Madero, a dockside/seaport area that reminds me of London’s Canary Wharf. The restaurants seem to line a canal-like waterway vs. the ocean, and you can see corporate office buildings across the water. The meal is embarrassingly inexpensive: appetizer, entree, dessert and a bottle of wine is less than $60 for both of us. We're a little jet-lagged, so it's not a crazy night.

Christmas decorations on Calle Florida.


The cranes around Puerto Madero are lit at night, almost like art/sculptures.

I'm heading to Buenos Aires Tuesday because...

• I've heard it's a cool city
• I need to take some remaining vacation days in 2007
• Grace & 2 other girls are going
• Temps are in the 80s there, compared to 20s and sleeting here in NYC

Stay tuned!