I hate to be the one to break it to you, ladies, but this life we lead is not entirely one of glitz and glamour. Many women around the world have never heard the names Manolo Blahnik or Miuccia Prada as their daily lives are more affected on a day-to-day basis by Hezbollah or Mao Tse Tsung.

Tuesday, I attended the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Awards, honoring some among us who literally put their lives and limbs on the line in pursuit of truth. The lunch reception was held in the majestic Waldorf=Astoria ballroom; 638 power-suited attendees sipped Sauvignon Blanc, savored salmon and sat enrapt as they honored four fearless women.
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Alaska was the site of my summer vacation this year—a week with two friends and thirteen other travelers on a fully-supported group trip, organized by Backroads, consisting of hiking, biking, rafting, kayaking, and camping. Yup, camping. Granted it was at very nice campgrounds in very nice tents that we didn’t even need to set up ourselves, but camping nonetheless. I’m not a camper—I spent nights at Girl Scout camp huddled under my sleeping bag with a flashlight and the latest issue of Vogue. But on our first night in Alaska, when one of our guides passed up a tent in favor of sleeping on the ground under a tree, I knew it was time to buck up. Roughing-it (well, pseudo-roughing it) in the 50th state would be fun.

Strike a Pose. I imagined what pose I would strike for the cameras as soon as I received my first movie premiere invite from Vogue. When supplied with the “+1″ status, I did what any glamourite would do and grabbed my phone out of my clutch, passed by tall-dark-and handsome mens’ numbers and quickly called one of my partners in crime. Glamourite Lauren is a seat-of-her-pants mover-and-shaker who could talk the talk and walk the red carpet with the best of them. As we got ready in my midtown apt, it was “Cocktail dress. Check. Heels. Check. Business Cards. Check.”

When the Glamourite life calls for coverage of the Surface Magazine party, I shook off my tiredness from the previous bacchanal evening, called my girl friend, Victoria, and we were at hotel QT (a boutique hotel right off Times Square) at 7 p.m. on the dot. We were fashionably on time as experience has taught both of us that if it takes a woman that long to get pretty, then the right man has probably come and gone.

The Vanity Fair Magazine Green Issue event, hosted at ABC Carpet and Home, was special not for the way it looked or the people in attendance, but for the steps popular culture is taking towards the environment. Finally we are recognizing a serious issue in terms of human waste and pollution. With the ozone layer dissipating and the polar icecaps melting, it’s about time solar energy and bio diesel becomes the norm.

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