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Oh, to be famous. It really is as fabulous as the movies—and tabloids—make it seem. OK, I’m not a celebrity, but I got to (pretend to) be one for a day. The 2009 MTV Movie Awards were in town—so were the gift baskets—and I was invited to a few events in honor of the awards.

My first stop was Melanie Segal’s 5th Annual Celebrity Gift & Charity House, which donated 100 meals to LA’s needy for each celebrity that attended the event. Ian Ziering, Beverly Mitchell, Caleb Carr and Monique Coleman were just a few of the stars on hand. We strolled around the beautiful three-story chateau-ish house and visited the vendors who were promoting their celebrity-worthy products. Among the many items was a manicure/pedicure station, where I was treated to a fantastic pink polish job by the techs from ManiPediCutie Salon in Hermosa Beach, California. (This was after the eyelash extensions by Makeup Mandy and before I stopped by the L’eggs booth to pick up a pair of their new Profiles—a spanx-style wardrobe piece that I will call hold-inners. They’re amazing!)