lost / That was the e-mail response when I RSVP’d for the big LOST final season premiere at Sunset on the Beach. I got the invitation from a national reporter who always looks out for me (and reads this column, woo!) but by the time he realized I wasn’t on the exclusive media list and sent me the details it was too late. I had little time to dwell on my disappointment because I had a ton of work to do, and by Friday afternoon I had almost forgotten about it. Then I got an e-mail from the publicity director for ABC. “I know it’s last minute but the lovely Erika Kauffman suggested I should send you an invite.” Attached was the same invite I had received earlier in the week with the same RSVP details. I was scared to try again, so I just sent a reply saying I could be there. I could be there! On Saturday I was a half-hour early to check in to the press area and secure a spot on the red carpet. “Sorry, our camera spots are full. We just have you as a reporter,” I was told as I was given a non-disclosure agreement to sign. No problem. I shifted my heavy camera bag, borrowed from a friend who had every lens and flash I could ever want, on my shoulder and waited for the handler to show me my spot. After a while I was the only one standing in the holding area. I wasn’t even a little anxious because I had shade and the red carpet did not. Finally, someone came over and asked who I was with. I gave him my card and he said, “We don’t have a spot for you, but go ahead and ask that guy in the white shirt to fit you in somewhere.” Noooo problem, at least they didn’t send me away. The guy in the white shirt looked around while I waited by the Entertainment Tonight reporter. She was dressed up, I was not. He led me to the end of the carpet, between two other bloggers, scribbled “Weekly” on a piece of blue tape and stuck it to the carpet. I had a spot! After that it was a whirlwind of TV stars. People I’d only seen on TV who looked amazing close up. They were spending longer than expected with everyone else so by the time they reached me there was only time for one question: Where’s your favorite night spot in Hawaii? Michael Emerson quickly answered The Dragon Upstairs, and reminisced about Maria Ramos. “I used to just go wherever she was singing,” he said, letting his gaze shift over my shoulder to acknowledge the fans behind us, resulting in the biggest roar of cheering I’ve ever heard in my life from the 10,000 people on the beach. Daniel Dae Kim was quick to say thirtyninehotel, The Manifest and Nextdoor, which is why we are homies. Zuleikha Robinson who plays Ilana on the show, immediately said Tahiti Nui on Kauai, with a gleam in her eyes that was as bright as my own. Being on the red carpet at the beach in Hawaii in front of thousands of people was sort of new to both of us, I figured, admiring the silver high-tops she’d picked up from Aloha Rag. Things got rushed after that and I was only able to eavesdrop on other people’s questions because time was running for the cast to be introduced onstage. Thank goodness I have a photo blog, because the pictures I got were unreal. The talk at the afterparty was mainly about what was coming up next: Pirates of the Caribbean, Hawaii Five-0 and even Soul Surfer, which is filming now on the North Shore. Only in Hawaii do we have this beautiful outdoor venue to host so many people. Thank goodness we have so many major productions coming up as well, and thank goodness someone thought I was important enough to be there.

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