The Envelope Please...

I was invited to participate as an event volunteer at Esquire Magazine's Oscar viewing party to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA).
My celebrity Oscar experience began as my friend and I waited in traffic alongside Oscar Nominee Dame Judi Dench. While Dame Judi’s limo crawled up Santa Monica Blvd. to the Kodak Theatre, the West Hollywood Sheriff’s department directed us onto Robertson to the appropriate valet queue.
There were at least three Oscar benefits on Robertson (Esquire Party to benefit APLA at the Abbey, The Trevor Project next door, and Celebration of Artistic Freedom across the street at Pearl) while the Vanity Fair Party at Morton’s was around the corner on Melrose and the Elton John Fundraiser was at Pacific Design Center.
We were escorted to the guest check-in table after taking the express walk BEHIND the press wall (you know, the wall of sponsor logos that al the celebrities get to walk in front of for the paparazzi). The event sponsors were kind enough to put a smaller logo wall on the non-celebrity side for those of us who wanted our “red carpet moment.” I started a trend for cheesy group photos after my friend took my photo with my cell phone.
Our official duties began after we were escorted to the volunteer waiting area (the lawn behind the restaurant was very glamorous) and given our staff badges – finish assembling the “goodie bags” (3 cd’s from the Disney, bottled water from the Abbey, current issue of Esquire, a mini-bottle of Finlandia vodka, and Marc Jacobs perfume for the ladies or cologne for the men). While guests arrived, we also served as Escorts from the registration area to the restaurant and then to their tables. One guest who received the VIP treatment was Olympic snowboarding gold-medalist Shaun White (http://www.shaunwhite.com/). I got to escort Michael Maloney of “EXTREME MAKEOVER: Home Edition.” (He’s 6’3”, has a super-dark tan, and is absolutely adorable!)
Sandwiches were provided for the staff/volunteers but the event planners were actually quite generous. They encouraged us to go through the buffet line and try some of the FABULOUS food and let us know they “have no objections to a volunteer having a drink, but if we see a “sloppy” volunteer, [you] will be escorted to the door.” No such advice was needed, (most of the volunteers were either abstaining or mindful of Monday being a workday) but the open invitation to enjoy ourselves was greatly appreciated. I enjoyed the Brokeback Martini recommended by the bartender.
The theme for the Oscars was “return to Glamour” and most of the wardrobe definitely reflected that. There was a lot of 50’s retro fashion on both the men and ladies and it looked MAH-VO-LUS!
Jennifer Love Hewitt was the official hostess of the event but I didn’t see her there. Other celebrities “scheduled to appear” were Lauralee Bell and Sheryl Lee Ralph. We saw Sheryl being interviewed as she was coming in and we were leaving.
After the awards show when our shift ended, our event host said we could stay if we wanted because the dancing would start at nine. My friend and I boogied for an hour and I had a great time.