TV editor Cindy Sanz and I met up with “new TV stars” Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell at the Fox upfronts for the start of American Idol. It had to start somewhere!

Jake and Josh Harris, more used to hauling large crab pots in sub-zero temperatures on the Bering Sea, held up pretty well on a long shooting day for People. Corey Arnold took photos of them at both of their houses before driving down to Fisherman's Wharf in Seattle for some final images. 

Photo by Ian White.

Mark Burnett is a collector of classic American cars, like this restored milk truck. We went on a short drive south on the Pacific Coast Highway, where he reminisced about our time at the press junket for Survivor: Palau. To see more of Mark and Roma's home, please find the article under People Magazine in the Telling Stories section.

You know how Mark Burnett titled one of his memoirs Jump In! Even If You Don't Know How to Swim? Curiously the book came out after he showed me the sunken WWII wreckage in Palau and then offered me swimming lessons. 

Photo by Emily Shur.

Michael Vartan arrived at Pickwick Ice in Burbank, Calif., on a Sunday morning with a bag full of gear and a bundle of energy. He couldn't wait to share his passion for hockey. Also, "a shoot without makeup?" he said happily. "This is great!" Sure enough, you could see his joy even as he demonstrated to photographer Emily Shur how he could spray the lens with ice for a more dramatic picture. He told me he hoped his love of the sport could earn it more fans. "I mean," he said, "all these kids, to a man in the NHL, are well-spoken… and embody such values that America's all about." To read the story, go to the People Magazine tab under Telling Stories.

My biggest celebrity! Grover. I was lucky to get on Sesame Street three times, but here is my first, doing a piece on Tarah Lynne Schaeffer, the first child in a wheelchair on the series. To read the story, click here. 

Photo by Michael Cilnis.

Both Jessica Herndon and I covered American Idol's ninth season and had gotten to know the contestants so well, we celebrated their survival with a dinner at the London. We were joined by Michael Cilnis and Chloe Ellers, the tireless reps from BWR who worked with them 24/7. Pictured left to right: Siobhan Magnus, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Katie Stevens, Didi Benami, Tim Urban, Aaron Kelly, Jessica Herndon, Cynthia Wang.

On Sept. 4, 2008, Howie Mandel celebrated his series Deal Or No Deal going into syndication and his getting a star on the Walk of Fame. He told me, "Here's a guy who's the ultimate germaphobe, and the biggest accolade I've ever received is something that is going to be stepped on, spit on, stained and made filthy!" Mandel partied just fine later on with some Suitcase Models in close proximity.

I got to go on a group date at a New York Knicks game with hot guys in October 2004! Okay, it's not as exciting in that I was covering it for People and not actually the bachelorette. That honor befell Jen Schefft. Meanwhile, in some downtime, we got to shoot hoops at Madison Square Garden. Here's host Chris Harrison showing off his, uh, form, with Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss (black T-shirt) in the background. 

Dancing With the Stars is one of many reality shows I've covered and I've been lucky to have had the chance to take friends and family to tapings. The work for us comes after the show ends and all press converge to the dance floor and stand behind white stanchions waiting to talk to the couples. Here are Julianne Hough and partner Cody Linley.

Photo by Cecilia de la Paz.

Am I going to pass up an opportunity to take a photo with Debbie Harry? Of course not. She came to the People office and I and Pamela Warrick went in for the shot. Love her.

Larry King marked the end of his long-running CNN show Larry King Live with a celebration at Wolfgang Puck's Spago. Once King arrived, it was a crush to get close to him, but I managed this shot of him thanking everyone for coming. One highlight of the party was getting to tell Jimmy Kimmel how much I loved the Christoph Waltz "Der Humpink" sketch and having him elaborate on the making of it.

In the scramble to secure an interview with swimmer Michael Phelps, I finally landed set access privileges for the Today Show, where I waited to speak with Phelps in the time between his intro and his interview with Matt Lauer. In the process, I got to watch Daniel Boulud cook (with Meredith Vieira and Al Roker watching). I've interviewed them all before, but Boulud was especially appreciative of my past coverage and invited me to eat at his new restaurant in Beijing. I mean, of course!

Photo by Matthew Brand.

I met Amber Brkich and "Boston" Rob Mariano in Panama while covering Survivor: All-Stars, watching them go from competitors to lovebirds and being on-hand for their engagement at that season's finale when Amber won, Rob proposed, and their career as Reality TV's King and Queen took off. After reporting along with Ulrica Wihlborg at their wedding in the Bahamas in April 2005, I followed them to the One & Only Palmilla for their honeymoon, which doubled as my and my husband's "pre-wedding honeymoon," too!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of Cheryl Burke's Dancing With the Stars mirror-ball trophy while at her house for our at-home feature. You can read the story under the People Magazine tab for Telling Stories.

Photo courtesy CBS.

There was actually a time when NCIS was not on the air. I know, right? Well, this was the start of it all. People TV editor Cindy Sanz (center) got me to take a photo with her and the cast of NCIS when the show was first shown to advertisers in May 2003. In the photo, from left: publicist Diane Ekeblad, Michael Weatherly, Sanz, Mark Harmon, Pauley Perrette, me, and David McCallum.

What an exciting time to be at People magazine. It was Dec. 31, 1999, and every reporter had to cover something happening at the the dawn of Y2K. I got to talk to Billy Joel, who reflected on his decades-long career, and then got to see him perform at Madison Square Garden. My friend Erika and I later joined him and his crew backstage for a bit of New Year's cheer. That's how my 21st century started. So cool.

Photos by Damian Bennett.

As part of Peter Castro's January 2013 cover story on Jennifer Lopez for People, I and photographer Damian Bennett were sent to capture backstage action at her Dec. 18, 2012 Sydney show. Clockwise from top left: Manager Benny Medina and choreographer/boyfriend Casper Smart watch on; Lopez with son Max and an assistant; Lopez doing post-show interviews; Lopez's mom Guadeloupe Rodriguez having a blast.

Photo by Jonathan Alcorn.

If you knew me and Mary, you would know this was the dream. We were able to cover a Super Bowl together. I was later able to tell Warren Sapp, when he was on Dancing with the Stars, that I had actually met him earlier in his career, in the locker room at the time of his victory. 

In the midst of covering Andrew Firestone's Bachelor season and beyond, I took a trip to Vegas one weekend for some promotional events involving Firestone and ABC reps Alison Rou (second from right) and Jennifer Verti (far right). The kicker — at the airport, Jen won a ton of quarters from a slot machine just as we were about to board. Alison and I had laundry money for weeks!

When I was working in the Miami bureau for People, I flew to the island nation of Guadeloupe to interview Tori Murden, the first American woman to row solo across the Atlantic, who had arrived there after 81 days at sea. On the flight back to the States, though she had a window seat, Tori never once looked out of it to the ocean below. I suppose he had 'been there, done that.' Read the story here.

I think Homer Simpson qualifies as a huge celebrity. 

I was working on a profile of pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez when I got a chance to interview Joe Torre. Yes, it was very exciting. A wonderful photographer took pictures of my time there; otherwise it would have been only a memory.

Here is a very blurry photo of me holding Jeff Probst's Outstanding Reality Show Host Emmy for, like 10 seconds. Picture courtesy Lori Dellicolli!

Thrilling to join Trista and Ryan Sutter in Kona, along with their friends and family, for Ryan’s Ironman. Photos for People by Bo Bridges. Here is Ryan in the run portion, No. 178.

I got to spend 24 hours with the American Idol crew sent to Toledo for the homecoming of Crystal Bowersox. I should put all the images in a Flickr album because the day was exhilarating. So many emotions for Crystal, who ultimately placed second to Lee DeWyze.