My Stop @ LXTV

Happy Friday!! I stopped by NBC's LXTV studios the other day to share some smiles and recipes. I got to there early to go over the recipe with their staff culinary stylist and then went to the green room area to hang out and chat with people. There I was just chatting away and waiting for my time to go on when something special happened ... a blast from my happy past.

This is Wendy McSwain, head of talent relations at LXTV-NBC.
Why is it special I ran into her? Well, years ago when I was on HOT 97 here in NYC, she worked at MTV. Her title was similar, but basically she did the talent searching and hiring for the network. I was called into her office sometime around 2002 or 2003 and was asked to audition to host a show on MTV2. I went in a few times for call backs and each time, I enjoyed chatting with her more than trying to get the job. Imagine that, lol. So anyway, I did get to fill-in and I hosted a special and some countdown shows for her and MTV2. You may ask, why then did I not pursue television? Well, the answer to that is, MTV2 didn't make me catch the bug. I was already a radio host doing pretty much the same thing and MTV2 was scripted even in the interview portions, I really enjoyed the freedom of expression radio gave me. Anyway, back to Wendy. We kept in touch long after my stint on MTV2, but a few years back she up and left corporate life and decided to see the world and do some good at the same time. Last I knew, she was in Costa Rica teaching kids with an outreach. So, imagine how excited I was to see her in the LXTV green room! She totally gave me my first paying television gig and always told me she thought I had a future in this field. I guess it just took the right thing and timing to make me want it. Anyway, so she's back in the corporate world and while she was away working her dream, I was working mine. What a neat reunion and I'm so happy we reconnected. I really thought I may never hear from her again as she headed out on a different path in life. Incidentally, she also gave LXTV's host Sara Gore, her first gig in television as well.

So, we chatted, then I went on to prepare my Baked Salmon with Blackberry Ginger Glaze & Wild Style Grains n Thangs. I said quinoa before, but we switched it to one of my wheat bulgar recipes. Equally healthy and yummy as well.

Here's Sara, myself and Megan after our segment.
Sara has a stacked resume of hard work and we chatted some before we went on, really love that we have the Wendy link. The other host, Megan, works from like 4AM until 6PM or something, with a nap in the middle, but that's a long day!! And she's a mommy!!! Mom power is fierce! Ok, I have some recipes to work on and some calls to make, just wanted to share. If I get a video link, I'll post it here. Looks like Monday I'll have it.

Speaking of sharing ... if you Tweet, well tweet on over to @VivaTowels and follow em! Retweet, tweet and all of that :-). They just started the page yesterday and there should be some fun tweets and stuff up. Plus, I have some appearances coming up with Viva Towels that they'll update and tweet about over there .. ok, have a great weekend!!!