From the www.facesinwine.com website!

Faces in Wine: Monique Soltani Wine & Food Journalist to Judge at IWWC in November

October 6th, 2011

Heading South on the 101 at 6am on a Saturday I couldn’t silence my mind as I made the trek from SF to SB. My restless brain was occupied with racing thoughts ranging from wondering if I was coming down with walking pneumonia to whether or not I was brave enough to ask Nicole Kidman about her time married to the big TC. However, never once did I stop to think about what must have been going through the minds of the students set to steal the spotlight from the celebs at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Each year students take center stage participating in the 10-10-10 student film making competition and this year one 14 year old budding screenwriter was a sure fire show stopper. When I interviewed Aija Mayrock on the red carpet I could literally feel her excitement, she was radiating brighter than the best chemical peel money could buy. This high school screenwriter might be pint sized but her subject is larger than life tackling the tough topic of teenage suicide and social justice. The Laguna Blanca High School student was the youngest competitor and she shocked the competition when walked away with the high school screen writing award.

As I made my way North on Sunday my mind was no longer racing but focused on one thought for the next six hours. Inspire a child and you change the world. Aija and the rest of the future filmmakers of America are using their voice to make a difference. My ten minutes with Aija was more inspiring than the past 10 years I’ve spent gathering celebrity soundbites.

Check out my SBIFF coverage of the 10-10-10 education story sponsored by The California Lottery on this week’s episode of California Life airing across the state or watch online by visiting www.californialifehd.com

moniquesoltani@gmail.com

moniquesoltani.com

Change is word that we have heard a lot of lately. It quickly caught on during the 2008 elections and has been spreading like a video gone viral ever since. While the six letter word is simple to say it’s not always so easy to implement. In the words of one of my best friend’s “Change is hard but change is necessary.” This week’s story on California Life affected me in more ways than I care to share on the world wide web but let’s just say I can relate. Summer Search’s goal “is to find resilient low-income high school students and inspire them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network.”

While that mission statement might not be meaningful to you it’s life changing for the students it’s looking to uplift. Thanks to this Non Profit “Change” is a word these kids can finally believe in.

Watch my education “Summer Search” story sponsored by the California Lottery on California Life airing Statewide or visit www.californialifehd.com

moniquesoltani.com

Ben, Natalie, James…
Oh my this list of red carpet royalty isn’t making their way to L.A’s Kodak Theater they are strutting their stuff down the red carpet at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Who knew so many Hollywood hot shots would show up and make the Coachella Valley an even hotter spot? The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs from January 6-17, 2011, is the second largest in the country, draws in hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and hands out awards to Hollywood’s heaviest hitters.  So with the A list names reading like a 4.0 report card you can imagine working the red carpet and covering the toast of tinsel town the tension would be like walking a tight rope. While the quarters were cramped rocking the red carpet with Heather Dawson didn’t have the suspense of a super natural thriller it had the fun of a slap stick comedy.

Watch our coverage on this week’s California Life TV show airing statewide or visit our website: www.californialifehd.com

msoltani@californialifehd.com

Can a new hairstyle heal you? That is the question I asked myself as I walked into Santa Monica’s Byu-Ti Salon
(pronounced beauty) two days before Christmas. I know that excise can boost my spirits like no body’s business, and a good glass of wine is worth it’s weight in therapy gold, and I recognize a classy cut can repair my hair but sooth my spirits? Don’t get me wrong I like getting glammed up like the next gal but the idea of getting my hair done does slightly send chills up my spine and not the good I see a hot guy kind of chills more like the I’m going to have a panic attack kind of chills. The thought of being confined to a chair listening to the catty chatting is not my favorite way to spend three hours on a Saturday. I can’t even watch Jerseylicious without breaking out into cold sweats. Needless to say, I was a little suspect. Byu-Ti Salon prides itself by both beautifying their clients and giving them the gift of goodness. Celebrity stylist Natasha Sunshine-Antonioni founded the hair boutique and has tamed the manes of some of Hollywood’s A-list elite. She specializes in The Healing Haircut which combines a cut with massage, reiki and acupressure. Natasha starts with the question: What do you want to let go of? and then the cutting and healing begins.

While I didn’t get The Healing Haircut I did get one heck of a mind, body and beauty boost. I walked into the salon stressed and exhausted and I skipped out energized and uplifted. I don’t know if it was my new fancy do, the positive energy that was flowing through the place, or the amazing experience I had with stylist and my new BFFE Sura that made me feel like a giddy school girl as I left the salon and my locks behind. But I do know that as we begin the New Year many of us will be asking ourselves the very question Natasha asks of her clients. What do you want to let go of? I don’t know if scissors have the power to shed the past but I do know getting a new do is one way to start the New Year off in style and hopefully help find and define a new you.salon images

Check out my new “do” on California Life airing Statewide or visit www.californialifehd.com

msoltani@californialifehd.com

moniquesoltani.com

I love the holidays. Let me say that again I LOVE the holidays! I love being given a license to be a kid again! I love the tradition, the decorations, the Christmas carols, the parties, the baking, I even love the bad weather, but what I love most about the happiest time of year is the spirit of giving that is synonymous with the season. I’m not sure what happens between late November and early January that makes people truly believe it’s better to give than to receive. Maybe it’s reflecting on the year that’s past, maybe it’s looking forward to the year in our not so distant future, or maybe it’s simply seeing the smile on someone’s face that makes the idea of playing Santa so alluring?

When you watch my story this week on California Life I hope you relive what it’s like to be a kid again and remember Kris Kringle doesn’t have to only come at Christmas…we all have the power to keep the spirit of the season alive no matter what the calendar reads.

Check out my TV coverage sponsored by The California Lottery on a special Holiday California Life airing statewide or visit www.californialifehd.com

msoltani@californialifehd.com

moniquesoltani.com

I don’t want to toot my own tech horn..but when it comes to gadgets, gizmos and all things digital I like to think I’m dialed in. My generation didn’t grow up with the world wide web, we didn’t have a computer in the classroom let alone one per student and social networking was something you did cruising the local galleria or specifically the Glendale Galleria in my case. So for me walking the halls of this Bay Area High School wasn’t a flashback it was a flash forward. Talk about Fast Times at New Tech High…these kids aren’t just learning the three R’s they are redefining what the R’s are. But more importantly, they are not your typical teens these kids are actually giddy about going to school. Excited about education and taking on tough topics like 1984 (the timing couldn’t be more appropriate), genetics and a few other subjects that were clearly over my head. If Big Brother is watching he will see these kids could outsmart Orwell and if they keep up this 40 gigabits per second connection they might even make Zuckerberg look sooooooo 2010.

Check out my Education Story sponsored by The California Lottery airing this week Statewide on California Life or visit www.californialifehd.com

Monique Soltani

http://www.wineoh.tv

http://www.moniquesoltani.com