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| Melissa Allen of The Ebell of Los Angeles |
Name/Nickname:
Melissa Kay Allen
Nicknames:
Meliss (though my family still calls me
Missy)
Company and established date:
The Ebell of Los Angeles (women’s club
established in 1894, clubhouse/facility built in 1927)
Hometown (where are you from and
where are you now)? Las Vegas, NV is
my hometown; currently live in Burbank, California
Position and job title:
Director of Catering & Special Events,
Marketing
Credentials/Mini Bio about
yourself: Previous to The
Ebell, I worked as an independent wedding planner, founder and “Dapper Dame’ of
Deco Events. I’ve always loved
performing (singing, dancing, acting) and worked for 7 years at Disney Feature
Animation in Production Management. All
of those experiences provide the perfect amalgamation for special events and
weddings.
Fam Bam:
I have my sister and my mom (both still live
in Las Vegas), my hubby, and our two dogs (Gimlet & Sidecar). But I consider a number of friends my family,
too, and can’t imagine not celebrating life (daily moments and milestones) with
them. I collect family pretty much everywhere I go. In fact, my husband and I are working with an
adoption attorney so we can find the baby that will become the next member of
our family…! Wish us luck and keep us in
your prayers!
 |
| "I’ve always loved performing (singing, dancing, acting) and worked for 7 years at Disney Feature Animation in Production Management. " |
1.
Tell us 7 Random Things about
yourself (hidden talents and really RANDOM jazz about yourself)?
a. I've been a vocalist with the Fabulous Esquires Big Band for over 10 years.
b.
I
met my husband swing dancing. The
Esquires played our wedding.
c.
I
named my dogs after our favorite drinks (Gimlet and Sidecar)
d.
I
studied classic voice for one year in college before changing my major to film
and getting a degree with a focus on screenwriting.
e.
I’m
only partially kidding when I refer to myself as a “Butters”, like the South
Park character (eternally naive and easy to get along with)
f.
I’m
participating for the second time in the National Novel Writing Month, which
challenges participants to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (during the month
of November.) Almost at the finish
line!!
g. We've named our house Martini Flatts (and when the martini flag is flying, neighbors
are encouraged to stop by and hang out.) I've named my car Token (again, a South Park character.)
2.
Favorite Holiday Scent: Cinnamon.
Pumpkin spice.
3.
Favorite Holiday Activity: our annual holiday
party. We are planning our third one
now!
4.
Favorite Holiday Tradition: putting up the tree
the day after thanksgiving and avoiding all things Christmas until that day,
too. The holiday starts on Friday after
thanksgiving and ends on New Year’s Day.
Always.
5.
Favorite Holiday Food: Christmas Eve tacos.
Started out as a joke, but we've done it for years now and will do it
again this year!
6.
Favorite Holiday Memory: decorating cookies for Santa. Still love to decorate cookies.
7.
Favorite Holiday Present ever
received and given: Oddly, for me, the
holidays are not about gift giving anymore.
Every year my husband and I decide what our gift will be (it’s usually
an iProduct of some kind) and that’s it.
Last year, our family gift was Disneyland – no presents, just a day in
the most magical place on earth making memories together. Time with friends and loved ones are the best
gifts.
8.
Gift you wish you receive this
year? Ignoring everything I just said
in question 7, I would love a new iPhone 5.
9.
Favorite Perfume: Perfume tends to drive me crazy when I wear it, so I
don’t have a favorite scent. The only
scent that lasts well on me (and doesn't make me want to shower within 30
minutes of putting it on) is vanilla scents.
10.
What are the flowers, herbs and
trees that you can’t live without (Because we need plants to breath)?
a.
Flowers:
Hydrangeas and Peonies are my favorite.
And carnations; I've always loved carnations
b.
Herbs:
cilantro (mmmm…guacamole…) and basil (mmmm…everything Italian..!)
c.
Trees:
all of them..?? I think trees are pretty
but don’t know much about them.
11.
What is your secret beauty
regiment?? Please do share! Don’t have one.
I feel like I need to do something about that; copying down yours,
Katrina!
12.
CLOSET RAID! What types and brands of clothing do you own?
Aka, we want to know your fashionista style:
a.
Types:
I prefer pants to skirts and dresses but this year I bought three dresses and
am trying to get used to being comfortable in them.
b.
Brands:
being my size, I tend to just shop at Lane Bryant and let them decide my
fashion for me
c.
How
do you keep them organized? I arrange by
type and them by color too (are we both weird?)
13.
Tell us your favorite clothing
item (keep it PG please)? Black pants? I seem to have a lot of them. I've started wearing higher heels and kinda
dig the power of being taller.
14.
Home and Kitchen Furnishing: Is it horrible that Target is my go-to for all of
that?
15.
Publications in your rack other
than the wedding kinds: Vanity Fair, Mental
Floss, Entertainment Weekly, Smithsonian Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, Sunset
Magazine
16.
Book Collections in your
library: The ones I've held
on to over the years are reference books mostly, none of which I can remember
because I don’t reference them. But they are there just in case.
17.
What would you do with $100
million dollars? (No Judgment here!) Put some of it
toward retirement, pay off the house, buy a new car, create an endowment for
the Esquire Music Foundation so they can keep teaching big band music to the
next generation of musicians, and then take a vacation. The rest I’d invest toward retirement. After I reconstruct my kitchen. And launch my recording career. Damn!
I need more money!
18.
Vacay Spot, hit us with good
travel ideas, or maybe your tranquil retreat center? (It’s a stressful working world yah’ know!) I haven’t traveled enough to give suggestions. Sedona was pretty and restful, but I don’t
feel the need to return. Napa was cool,
but it’s gotten expensive so I’d not likely go back there either. Vegas is my home town, so its not a vacay spot
for me. I haven’t been to Europe but I
dream of going. So, I guess I’ll have to
say… DISNEYWORLD!!!
19.
How do you relax? Sleep in. The most relaxing thing for me is to not
wake up to an alarm clock. And I do love
a good cocktail…
20.
Your SPOT ! What is your favorite
spot? Any coffee shop? Restaurants? Places of Interest? I do love Chevy’s. Table side guacamole. And this time of year is the Cranberry Margarita
– my favorite! But I don’t really have a
regular haunt. I guess I’ll have to come
up with one and report back later.
21.
Fill in the blank with a
technology item: I feel naked without
my ________? iPhone and Stitcher
Radio app
22.
What is your rendezvous food and
drink? And what must your pantry/fridge
have, can’t live without food/drink item?
I've built up quite
a home bar, especially after taking a mixology class recently. So I always have to have lemons and limes for
mixing and zesting.
23.
Music playlist essentials : It would probably be easier to list what I’m not
really into because I love SO many styles of music. First of all, I gotta be able to sing along
and/or dance to it, or I’m not all that interested. I’m not a huge fan of modern country music
(though vintage tunes are pretty cool.)
Essentials (lately) have been Adele, Jane Monheit, Bruno Mars, Duran
Duran and Tears For Fears (they are never not on the play lists), …I could go
on and on…
24.
What songs stuck in your head
from this season? Holiday
season? I love Jane Monheit’s Christmas
album. And Vanessa William’s first one
(Star Bright). And South Park Mr. Hankie
Christmas plays frequently (love that one!)
But from the year, Adele and Bruno Mars were always top of the shuffle
25.
What’s in your Fave Channel list,
DVR or movie collection?
a.
TV = American Horror Story, Parenthood, Modern Family, The Good
Wife, L&O: SVU, Restaurant Impossible, Smash. Still hanging on to Glee.
b.
Movie collection = this time of year, I’ll be breaking out While
You Were Sleeping and The Holiday (two must-sees during Christmas) and I’m sure
we’ll watch South Park’s Woodland Critter Christmas episode again (another
holiday tradition.) I think I need to
add Love Actually to the list.
26.
Favorite people and public figure: I admire people who are confident in what they want
to accomplish and don’t let fear stop them from trying. I want to be that person when I grow up.
27.
Any regrets in life? Not being that
person described in question #26. I’m
working on it. If I had been fearless, I
may have pursued a career in performance and dropped these extra pounds ages
ago. But it’s hard to regret anything
when I consider that the path I was on brought me here, and I love my life and
all its blessings.
28.
What would you change or try to
regain about yourself? See question #27
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