3 Celebrities, 30 Minute Meals, and a 6 Hour Show

It has been an eventful day. A very fun, New York, friend-filled, eventful day.

It all started a month ago when a friend received information about possible Rachael Ray tickets, but she could not attend. So, I took over selecting the random show time and day and luckily we were able to get 4 tickets to the show taping this morning!

All was going as expected. I received the confirmation email. All plans were set. Then, I received a call from the segment coordinator at The Rachael Ray Show yesterday afternoon. That is an odd phone call to receive, by the way. She wanted to know if I was interested in participating in one of the segments of the show. It is a segment where a celebrity comes on and discusses controversial current events with Rachael and a few members of the studio audience. Well, they have no idea who they called, and so I answer yes with a controlled level of excitement and a slight, "bring it on!". I had to read these two articles and report back my thoughts on them in 3 bullet points, each.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09010812.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-08-23-cactus-or-finger_x.htm

Yea. That was my reaction as well. I can let you guess which one I was more passionate about and I will refrain from stating my points here, but would love to hear your thoughts.

After freaking out and praying and taking deep breaths at the thought of speaking on national TV over these controversial subjects (God - you DO have a sense of humor, don't you!?), they decided not to use this segment for tomorrow's show, but will contact me if they address them or something similar in future segments. Sounds great to me! I got to attend the show as a regular audience member. Sigh of relief. Question of what lesson was in this for me. Let's move on.

Three of my sweet girlfriends went with me to the show: Sarah, Katy, and Ginger.

We got in line close to 9am and the show started taping around noon. The best part for us was being selected to sit on the FRONT ROW! It was amazingly fun. In 6 hours, we were able to be apart of these 5 different segments that will air on 3 different shows over the next few weeks:

1. Kevin McKidd - the new doctor on Grey's Anatomy

2. Nancy Grace - on to discuss the new issue of 'sexting' among teens. Really sad.

3. Rachael making a 9 layer casserole - think 7 layer dip goes full meal. Yum.

4. Meeting the new family with 12 kids that will replace 'Jon and Kate Plus 8' on TLC

5. Rupert Everett - discussing his role on broadway right now and how much plastic surgery he has gotten since we all saw him on My Best Friends Wedding.

OK, so Rupert didn't talk about the plastic surgery, but it was uh - pretty darn obvious. I would not even recognize him in a crowd, but still love him and think he is hilarious.

There are so many stories to tell, but it's just not possible on the blog. The most fun thing is that Ginger might be selected to be on another show for Rachel Ray re: "germs" and how to keep them at bay living in the City with children. Interesting and super fun.

Want to see us? I'll keep you posted when they air, but I know the Rupert Everett segment will be on this Thursday, March 24th. Check here for the schedule and future segments as they get posted. Should be fun to watch them back and see how much "air time" we all get on the front row. I'm kind of nervous. Was I making that weird face or wrinkling my nose? Did it catch me whispering something to Ginger next to me? Oh well.

I must say, while Rachael's voice can be a bit annoying on TV, I am a fan of some of her recipes and I really liked her personality in person. She started out the morning a bit cold, but I chalked it up to just getting back from SXSW in Austin. As the day went on, she became really relaxed and funny and just, well, entertaining.

I have been to Regis and Kelly, Martha Stewart, and Rachael Ray now and I think Rachel gets my vote for the best "talk show audience experience" award.

It's days like today that I think, I can't believe I live in this City. It's really so fun and yet my day-to-day world is just so different than the New York that everyone sees on national TV. Sometimes when those worlds collide, it makes me smile and then...well, it's time to get back to the real world with these real and amazing girlfriends!

Here's to another memory made.