Amanda Mason

On September 26, 2009 I was in Florida for my third time participating in the “Rockin To Recovery event,” a fundrasier for the NCADD and Westcare Treatment Centers.  I’ve had the pleasure of raising over $3,000 for these causes.

Every year I have had the opportunity to showcase my talents as a Pop, R&B, Opera and Broadway Singer.  I have learned so much singing with Early.  As a Headliner in Las Vegas he is an amazing entertainer.   This year we had a blast singing Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Chain of Fools together.  Let us entertain you by watching our videos.

I look forward to seeing Early in January in Las Vegas while attending the Miss America pageant.  Also, Early’s show is at Planet Hollywood where the pageant is held.

Early Clover and Amanda

Early Clover, Chris Yarnold, John Sheehan and Amanda

September 20, 2009

The Emmy’s was an Amazing Experience!

I flew in from New York on Friday a day early to visit my friend.  We had a blast.  I had been to LA numerous times, but we went so many places I had never been before.  On Saturday, my dad flew in from Florida and my mom was visiting her family in California so she flew in from Sacramento at the same time.  We all met at the hotel and from there went shopping.  That evening we all went to eat dinner at the restaurant where the movie Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed.

The morning of the Emmy’s, my parents and I started the day with breakfast at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills were we were staying.  It was a delicious buffet.  We were excited to have Glen Close and her husband and friends sitting right next to us.  She visited with us and was so gracious.

Getting ready for the Emmy’s was very exciting. I had my dress from Regalia’s all ready to go. It was a beautiful gown made of gold chiffon material with a hint of purple.  My mother wore a chiffon purple dress and since my dad accidently left his tux at home, he wore a very nice suit and looked simply dashing.

When we were all ready we where on our way. We rolled up to the red carpet and stepped out, it was amazing. So many people, cameras, security and video recorders. It was exciting to walk on the famous red carpet.  The event was so much more than I ever expected.  I really enjoyed watching the winners accept their awards.  You could tell they were truly honored.

I am looking forward to attending the Daytime Emmy’s next year, as I already have my tickets.

Conan OBrien

Young and Restless Stars

After Walking the Red Carpet

My Beautiful Parents

Actress

The Milkmaid by: Vermeer

On September 16, I joined my very dear friend Corinne to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for the Special Exhibit of Vermeer’s Masterpiece “The Milkmaid.”

“It’s the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage to Manhattan from Amsterdam, that city’s Rijksmuseum will send The Milkmaid, perhaps the most admired painting by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), to the Metropolitan Museum.”

Looking up close at “The Milkmaid” painting and some of Vermeer’s other works, was amazing. The detail in his art work was incredible. It was almost like Vermeer printed these pictures from a computer.

For more information on the Metropolitan Museum check out www.metmuseum.org.

Thank you Corinne for the invitation!

September 14, I attended the only Young Professionals Heart Association Group in the U.S. The American Heart Association is a great organization. As well as extremely important since the number one cause of death in America is Heart Disease. Remember to eat healthy and exercise on a weekly basis.

For those of you in NYC here is a fun event to check out:

Bloomingdale’s SoHo invites you to the Heartbeat of Chic, an event to benefit the American Heart Association’s Young Professionals!
On Thursday, November 12th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, please join us at Bloomingdale’s SoHo (504 Broadway between Spring and Broome) for an evening of fashion, music and shopping! 100% of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. Shop ‘til your heart’s content! To reserve your ticket in advance, contact Barbara Berger at (212) 878-5914 or email nycyp@heart.org.

Unfortunately I am not able to make the event for I have a prior commitment. I suggest going if you can make it. It’s a great opportunity to volunteer while networking with young successful professionals.

Every other weekend twice a month I travel to White Plains, NY to take classes from the CASAC (Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor) program. I love this program, the professors and quality of education is amazing. Not to mention my peers in the program are so dedicated to helping others its very inspirational and priceless to work with them. These classes are really helping me understand the mental and physical effects of abusing drugs and alcohol as well, how to educate others.

Recently I attended my classes this past weekend and one of the main topics was how certain drugs affect your brain. Alcohol being the most dangerous drug, mimics neurons and when they reach the brain, the brain receivers accept them. Making the cliché term “drugs can control you” a medical fact. Scary, I know.

For more information on the NYS OASAS approved CASAC program check out, http://ncaddwestchester.org.

I will be performing “Amazing Grace” at the upcoming Marty Mann Benefit Awards Dinner for the Westchester NCADD on November 12. Check out the link above for more information on the event.

On September 12, 2009 I was proud to be a part of the 2nd Annual Recovery Rally, where over 10,000 people including myself crossed the Brooklyn Bridge in Celebration of Recovery. The Recovery project was designed to generate awareness that addiction is a treatable disease and recovery is possible.

This was an amazing event. I meet people who have been sober for over 35 years and are still going strong. I was very honored to represent as a member of the NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence) who partnered with A&E to help make this event possible.

The weather was nice, a little cloudy but that didn’t matter. As my first time walking across the Brooklyn Bridge it was a sight to be seen. Not only was it a beautiful view of the sky line, but the thousands of the people that came together as a community to help promote recovery. Once we crossed the bridge we enjoyed a concert by Smokey Robinson.

What was really exciting was this was not only a New York event, but nation wide. There was at least one person from every single state in the US.

I had an opportunity to meet many amazing people and here about their organizations. I interviewed with Neil Scott for “Recovery- Coast to Coast,” met the “Friends of Sober Education in New York” who are working on getting a sober high school set up in NYC, Rosalie Bischof from the monthly newspaper “Together,” “Stand up for Recovery NC!,” the “Addictions Care Center” (Albany, NY) and author of iWant Jane Velez-Mitchell.

I am looking forward to more events, to continue raising awareness of addiction and recovery.

Awarding Helene Benton for Mastery

Tonight September 12, 2009 was the 1st annual “Brightest Star Preliminary Awards” Hosted by Block Institute. The Block Institute is located in Brooklyn, NY and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for the developmentally disabled and their families.

The “Brightest Star Awards” recognizes the amazing talents and achievements by individuals with development disabilities. At the Preliminary reception all of the 32 applicants were honored in their accomplishments and the 10 Finalist were announced followed by a special performance from Carla Kelly (recording artist). The 10 Finalist had outstanding achievements in specifically one of these categories:

-Independence, Talent, Mastery, Community, Fellowship, Wellness, Citizenship, Leadership, Spirit, Growth

Each of the 10 finalists with be assigned a mentor. As a mentor I will be working with Helene (Mastery Winner) on preparing her to show her best personality in her video and help her shine as brightly as she can on stage. The video will “tell the story” of the award winners achievements as told by the individual and important people in her life. Each contestants will film a video, that will be shown on Nov. 14th at the 1st Annual “Brightest Star Awards.” I am very excited to work with Helene and the Block Institute on this exciting production.

It was so exciting receiving the Supermodels Unlimited Magazine September/October 2009 Issue with my pictures in it. I am on pages 34, 35 and 62.

You can find the magazine at any Barnes and Nobles bookstore along with many other venues. I hope you pick up a copy from your nearest bookstore.

On September 10, 2009 I attended the exciting Metropolitan Opera Preview party. There were many new faces among the members of the Metropolitan Opera Young Associates Group. What I love most about the Met Young Associates group is that there is such a mixture of individuals with one main thing in common, we love Opera. It is inspiring as an opera singer myself, to see so many people that love opera. These are the individuals that will continue to keep opera alive to its fullest capacity. After the reception on the terrace located on the Grand Tier of the Met Opera House, we watched a performance from 3 members of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. The singers were Matthew Plenk (Tenor), Layla Claire (Soprano) and In Sun Suh (Pianist). They were fantastic! After the performance I had an opportunity to meet the executive director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Brian Zeger who was such a pleasure to talk with.