Don’t look a Gifting Suite in the Mouth

I realized I never blogged about the insane Celeb-Baby-Gifting-Fest I went to the other day. First off, it was fabulous!! So many good things, and lots of stuff I’ll be writing about in the future. (Products that is!) Who were the celebs? Seriously the gifting was so insane the celebs took a back seat! But here’s who was there that I saw: Bridget Moynahan! Looking fabulous but also a little out of it and maybe a little pissed off? Does she always look a little pissed off these days? But then, wouldn’t you be if your boyfriend of four years leaves you when you are pregnant for Gisele??? I was standing in line behind Bridget at the check-in and EVERYONE behind the desk was making a HUGE fuss—lots of security guys talking into their walkie talkies and going “Bridget is HERE! You are not READY!” Hilarious.

She was pretty much the only big star that I saw. Here are some little stars: Harry from Sex and the City! Remember the bald guy who was Charlotte’s husband? Well he was there with his family, cute wife, cute baby. They got TONS of stuff. (You know all the gifting suites are according to your fame rank, right? The more famous you are, the more you get. Well, since there weren’t that many celebs, Harry (I don’t know his real name) got tons of stuff. In fact, they needed a hotel cart and a bellboy to haul away the loot. And they packed it all into his tiny little Prius. That’s Hollywood for you. Their poor baby was squished in the backseat with all the free stuff!

Another star: The little kid from Pushing Daisies! I don’t watch this show so I was just wondering why everyone was kissing up to some ten year old boy. Another star: Gary from Boston Legal! He plays the transsexual black receptionist on the show and is hilarious. Gary is a co-parent at my daughter’s preschool and has a great sense of humor about all this. I’m pleased to report he had so much stuff (even more than Harry from Sex and the City) and when he saw mine and my sister’s loot (considerably less than the celebs but a decent haul for a journo and her sis!) and wondered why we didn’t partake of everything, we told him “Gary! We don’t have the right wristband!” And he laughed and offered his. The celebs got a red wristband and their own minder who walked them through all the suites and made sure they got everything. Everyone else has to fend for themselves.

Gifting suites are kind of…well, they make some people feel bad because of the “ranking”. It’s VERY naked. It’s like the rank calls I write about in The Ashleys. If you’re famous, you get more stuff. If you’re press, you also get a lot of stuff. If you’re just a plus-one, well, they hand you a box of plastic sunglasses and that’s it. Some of my friends hate going to gifting suites. They think it’s a measure of your self-worth. (Even your publication is ranked!) But really: it’s all about marketing. They give to the celebs because then they can say, So-and-So was HERE, and now owns one of my stuff. It’s free publicity for them. So it’s not really a gift although it looks like it. It’s just PR, which is just business, and something you can’t take personally.

I don’t take anything personally…I just enjoy getting free stuff!

Tomorrow I am traveling to New York and I hope if you are in the tri-state area or somewhere nearby you will come see me! Check on the Events link to see where I’ll be.

xoxo
Mel