I'm a Cindo de Mayo Parade Grand Marshal?

Me along with my three other beautiful Hola LA! co-hosts we were the Grand Marshals for Cyress Park's annual Cinco de Mayo Parade!

What an gift to be included in the Cypress Park Parade which has a 22-year old tradition of having a Latino Celebrity serve as Grand Marshals - and this year Bel Hernandez, Dyana Ortelli, Naibe Reynoso and myself took that coveted honor - wow, even as I write this, I realize how so darn cool that is!  

Personal moments that happened behind the scenes:

As Grand Marshals, our duties included a VIP Meet and Greet breakfast reception where we got to mingle with fellow entertainers and meet great people from the community.  But it's never an Hola LA! outing without some sort of  "excitement"  happening.  As it turns out, poor Dyana was lost and could not find the VIP reception location (so she missed breakfast, coffee and the meet and greet).  Many calls and texts later and still lost, her phone died at the very point the parade was starting and our parade car was taking off...with out Dyana!!   We three took off sad that Dyana got lost and had to miss the parade but, we had to go on and wave and say HOLA to all the beautiful faces of Cypress Park.

A favorite heart fullfilling moment on the parade route for me was when I would lock eyes with a little boy or girl and say "hi mija" or "hi mijo"...their eyes would grow wide as saucers and their smile would grow really big...that made my day each and every time. 

Was the parade route really short?  Or was I having too much fun?  because before I knew it, we were parked at the festivities location - where we were to be introduced on stage and the fun party would continue with food and entertainment.  As we were parked, still sitting in the car chatting and taking pictures, out of nowhere DYANA shows up!  She missed the whole parade but she made it to the festivities.  Apparently she found a cop who kindly drove her to us.  As she sat shotgun (although it would have been hilarious to hear otherwise) she regally waved out of the cop car window - getting in her parade experience...lol.   Reunited, we finished out our Grand Marshal duties strong and had a very fun day!

Excited about our sign!

Ready to take off, missing our colorful Dyana, no really behind the smiles we were sad :( 

Still sad :( we managed to lift our spirits
I'm hoisting our Hola LA Celebrity Grand Marshal trophy!  Cue song... "We are the Champions..." 

Ta-Dah!! Real smiles of JOY as Dyana magically appears
Dyana was born wearing that sombrero LOL

On stage introduction to the crowd and officially presented our wonderful trophy

Special Thanks To:

Rafael Lopez, the parade’s celebrity liaison - you were just wonderful Rafa!

Ed Reyes, L.A. City Councilman has partnered with Cypress Park Neighborhood Council in helping with some of the city logistics and permits to host the parade

Cypress Park, for having us represent your wonderful city

New Episode Airs

Saturday, May 25th at 6:00pm on KCAL9

Sunday, May 26th at 4:30pm on CBS2

Latin Heat Article on the Cinco de Mayo Parade:
http://www.latinheat.com/2013/04/24/hola-la-hosts-grand-marshals-at-cinco-de-mayo-parade

5 Things You Don't Know About the 'Hola LA!' Hosts

Hola LA! returns to CBS/KCAL9
on March 30, 7:00pm

And the hosts are getting personal!

 I've asked my co-hosts to reveal five things about themselves that only their closest friends may know.  Check out what they reveal to only my Livin' la Vida LA! blog readers.

Photo by:

Bel Hernandez

The CEO/Moderator

1. My life's motto is Just Do It!
2. I lived in Mexico City for 2 years working as a Mexican Folk dancer
3. I'm one of the authors and also on the book cover for 8 Ways to Say I love My Life and Mean It
4. I have 3 children, 2 grandchildren and the BEST husband in the world!
5. I recently made the switch from an iPhone to a Galaxy III 

Photo by:

Kikey Castillo

The Actress/'In The City Gal'

1. My last audition was for an NBC TV Pilot
2. I take it as a huge compliment when people say I look like Eva Longoria
3. My favorite place to eat is Gratitude Cafe, and it's great for celeb spotting too!
4. I was very shy as a child
5. I once interviewed Anjelica Huston who's now on one of my favorite TV shows, Smash

Dyana Ortelli

The HAC (Host, Actress, Comedienne) and Fashion Victim!

1. I'm Spanish and Aztec.  Does that make me"Spaz-tec"? 
2. The first time I realized I was funny was when I tried to sing "Killing Me Softly" without being funny
3. I've been featured as "fashion victim" in The National Enquirer, Star, and People en Español (for reals!)
4. I hyper-ventilated in the ladies room at the Laugh Factory the first time I did stand-up comedy!
5. I don't play any instruments -- except for the organ :P

Naibe Reynoso

The Mom/Award Winning Journalist

1. I worked a red carpet event 10 days after giving birth to my son
2. I was once a guest co-host on The View
3. The book I would recommend to the first lady is "The Four Agreements"
4. My husband is a writer for the Disney show A.N.T. Farm
5. I used to host a weekly show dedicated to the Twilight franchise

We're baaaack so tune in Saturday, March 30, 7:00pm on KCAL9.  We LOVE our wonderful viewers!!!

Kikey Co-Hosts, 'HOLA! LA' on KCAL9 Los Angeles

The first and only English-language TV talk show with a Latina POV !

HOLA! LA hosts and guest LtoR: Naibe Reynoso, Dyana Ortelli, Esai Morales, Kikey Castillo and Bel Hernandez

A not to miss premiere show 

with VIP guests Esai Morales and John Leguizamo 

Sunday, September 30th at 5pm

 on 

KCAL9/CBS Los Angeles 

This is a dream come true!!!  After so, so many YEARS of long hard work to bring our very own sweet show from concept to fruition to our ultimate goal - Network TV, it has finally happened.  

How we got started with a goldmine of a show:

It started with a handful of talented people in a friends casting office in LA to brainstorm on realizing a talk show that included Latina women, because none of the shows anywhere on network TV were including the Latino voice and perspective.  This lead to 'Let's Talk!' and we launched a successful run on the Internet for a few years winning over male and female fans all over the nation.

What the "Little Show That Could" did next:

We always had our sights set on TV, so we jumped onto KJLA a digital local cable station with a limited reach within the LA market.  But no matter, we were finally on TV and our loyal fans continued their enthusiasm and support for our show.  After a season run on KJLA we went into hiatus and bless our lucky stars...it was during this break that the BIG TV Dogs came a callin'.

My, how far we have come - Network TV: 

We were elated beyond belief when we found out we had a meeting with CBS to talk about bringing on the show.  In sports terms it would be like, "being called up to the majors" ...it was a BIG DEAL. The meeting went like a dream, CBS was IN and 'HOLA! LA' was born.  Same great hosts, same great chemistry, same great type of content just elevated because hello it's CBS.  I am personally so greatfull to CBS and everyone there who helped make 'HOLA! LA' possible.    

Right after our very first meeting with CBS

And here we are the 'HOLA! LA' hosts LtoR: Naibe Reynoso, Dyana Ortelli, Kikey Castillo and Bel Hernandez

What's next for 'HOLA! LA':

We hope to keep brining you many more great 'HOLA! LA' shows, but it's really in the hands of the viewers, our awesome fans and the TV gods.  It's just the way the TV industry works, so if I could ask for my Christmas present early :)  I would ask for our fans to please support our show by:

• spreading the word about our premier show, Sun 9/30 @5pm on KCAL9 (LA Only)
• watching our premier show (you can even set your DVRs)
• and finally writing/emailing CBS letting them know that you want to see more of our show - believe it or not letter campaigns to keep a show on the air work

We hope to keep bringing you more great shows!