Wednesday, May 23, 2012

WW: carrots


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Doctor's Appointment

My television debut
Well, not really. I've been on TV before but not in this capacity so we willskip over that. Stephanie took us to the green room (which was really white)where there were about 6 other girls - 5 of whom were friends and clearly hadbeen drinking. Okay, maybe they weren't drinking but they were so damn chipper.It was 8 am for god sake's... pipe down! I plopped on the couch and tried to goa little unnoticed. I know I'm weird but dang I was tired. I had planned ongetting it together before we went on so no worries.

Then the whirlwind started. Literally every 5 seconds someone came in togive us instructions. Say your lines, be excited, and speak louder.

I have lines!!

OMG, did Ido the right thing here? I was a negative Nancy for all of about 5 minutes whensomeone came in the room and said time for hair and makeup! What? No one saidwe were getting hair and makeup! Okay, maybe someone did mention it on thephone but I didn't believe her. They took half of us to hair and makeup (therewere only 5 chairs) while the others stayed back in the green (white) room. Inhair and makeup I chatted it up with some of the drunkards. They were actuallypretty nice women. They were all sister friends like one was the sister-in-lawof another and then one was a friends of another. Some of them had been to theview as an audience member and two of them went to Oprah as audience members.  When it was my turn in the makeup chair themakeup artist looked at me and said “you don’t wear make up?” See we weresupposed to do our own make up and they were going to touch it up and enhanceit for TV. Well, I didn’t have time to do that this morning and I really don’twear makeup unless it’s really a special occasion. Yes, Dr. Oz should have beenspecial enough to attempt my make up but in the grand scheme of things I didn’twant to look ridiculous on TV. I just left it to the pros. At first I wasgetting a little nervous because she was pulling stuff out of her bag and itwas going in the direction of unsanitary. BUT then she reached for thedisposables. You know the stuff that you use to play in the make up at Sephora-yea those- little mascara brushes and such. He didn’t do much but I lookedpretty awesome. I was disappointed that she didn’t use any foundation but Iguess there was no time for that (remember we are still in this whirlwind) andI am not posting a picture of how I looked because I have a ridiculous triplechin in the pictures I took of myself.

hanging out in the green room that's actually white. And nope, that's not all MY stuff!


The hair stylist- this poor girl. She acted as if she really didn’t have any experience with doing Black people’s hair. *sigh* my hair wasn’t in dire need of styling but I wanted it to have a little more oomph. I went and got it done specifically because I was going to do this show. So she flat ironed it. Without heat protector. *sigh* I kept asking people if I looked okay and they all said yes. Although if I didn’t what was I going to do? Make her do it over? Give her a lesson? The first thing she asked me was my hair real. I guess I shouldn’t complain- they didn’t have to do that much.

So after hair and make up we got a few more practice rounds in the greenroom while the others went in. Daisy and I were split so I was very worriedabout her. If the hair stylist was stumped with my hair- I know she killed overwith her hair because she has a cute, natural, afro. In actuality they justleft it alone. Her makeup was cute though.

The the wardrobe girl walked in. She checked out all of our outfits to makesure we were TV presentable. She asked if we wanted to changed and we were allokay with what we came with so that was that. There were a few girls who weredoing segments that involved before and afters so they went with her to dotheir ‘afters’. Think they shot the before some point earlier that morning.

After we were all done with wardrobe it was time to rehearse. We lined up inorder in which we were going and headed out to the studio. It is a lot smallthan it looks on TV- at least to me. Standing right there in front of us whilewe waited was Dr. Oz! I really didn’t just expect him to be just standing therechillin’. He shook all of our hands and thanked us all for agreeing to do this.I remember he was doing the world’s quickest run through of his lines andalthough he was just practicing he sounded like we were taping. His inflection,diction, everything- I was amazed. At first he was reading from a book but thenhe put it down and stated he wanted to use the teleprompter. And without asingle stumble he did his part. He didn’t like how short one of the girl’slines were so he told everyone change it and they did. We did it from start tofinish twice. Then we were off – back to the green room until it was time totape. I asked one of our many ‘check on them’s’ and she said it’s not live butit’s called ‘live to tape’. I just had to make sure in case I needed everyone Iknow to run home and set their DVR’s.

 Back in the green white room the producers came in and handed us little blue bags. They gave us little gifts for coming :) How nice!



Then it was time to tape. We had a special section reserved in the audience.When we walked into the studio, the normal audience was already there gettinghyped up by the hype man. We took our seats and listened to the guy. I forgotwhat his name was too but apparently he was corny. I mean he made ya chuckle ifthis is the first time you’re hearing him but one of the girls in my segmentwas at a taping the prior week (she got asked back which is how she ended uphere a week later) and she recited his skit almost word for word. It was alittle annoying at first because she has no intentions of paying attentionbecause she already heard it. But it was my first time and I wanted to hear hisjokes- no matter how corny! She was so busy the entire time. First she couldfind her phone then she had a crap load of stuff with her that all had to bestuff under our seats because they don’t want it to show on camera. The phonething was worrying me because they said if a cell phone vibrates the mics wouldpick it up and make it sound funny. She eventually got it together and westarted. The first segment was about plus size super model secrets. They didhave to retape their introduction. There was a notable difference- the firsttime the models came out they each came down the runway, posed and then went toher seat while the next model came down the runway. In the retaped version theycame out kind of back to back. Then we taped the last segment- ‘in case youmissed it’. The models were a part of that so we did the beginning and then endback to back. The rest of the show went by so fast. I guess an hour isn’t anhour when it’s live.

During one of the ‘commercial breaks’ we went and got mic’ed. That was alittle different too. First I had to stuff this little black wire down my shirtthen hook the pack onto the back of my pants. Awkward! Especially cause it kindof weighed your pants down a little.

Then we were on. There were 10 of us and we each had a line to say. 2 of usgot to do what they refer to as ‘crossover’ meaning go stand next to him. I wasa huge ball of nerves. Like really, really nervous. I didn’t want to mess upand I didn’t want to look or sound crazy. So number one went and messed upright away. It was actually pretty funny. Doctor Oz chuckled and called us allinto a huddle. He was very sweet. He reassured us that we don’t need to benervous and that we should take our time and have fun. He hi-fived us all andwent tried again. This time we all went through it- perfectly! It went by superfast and we were done. Just like that- I became a superstar! Doctor Oz cameover and thanked us all again. I asked him for a hug and he obliged!! It wentlike this

D.O.: Thank you for coming you were great
Me: Thank you for having me!!
        ::shake hands::
Me: Wait, Doc can I have a hug?
D.O: Of course you can!
       ::hugs::

I nearly died. He was just so nice. I tend to get a little star struck withreally nice celebrities. Then it was over. We had to get demic’ed and then gohome. The girls who bought themselves here went back in to leave with thestudio audience and the girls who had a car service went back to the green roomto collect our belongings. When we got back into the green room (that wasreally white) I got another text stating our car was on location. Then everythinghappened in reverse. Stephanie met us in the green room, took us down theelevator and back to John. I asked Stephanie was their day over and she saidnope- they had another taping to do. John escorted us out to our car where thedriver was patiently waiting.


We must have giggled the entire way home. At least I did. Daisy and I kept taking pictures of our new 'made up' selves. I know the driver thought we were nuts. He asked us if we wanted to stop anywhere for food. I declined (probably much to Daisy's dismay) because we (my husband, son, and I) were leaving town that evening so I really had to get going as I had some work to do back at my office before we left.

You can't really tell but I promise it's me!

Needless to say- I can't believe I did it! Well, we will let the final television airing be the judge as to if I really 'did it' or not, lol! We still don't have an air date yet - but I'll keep you guys posted!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Doctor's Appointment

I had an appointment with one of the more relevant doctor's of our time right now. How lucky am I??!


That's right I went to visit Doctor Oz! Not as a patient (sigh of relief), or as an audience member, but as a participant!!

How it all started

On April 24, 2012 I received a call from an assistant producer (let's call her Cara) at the show. She left a voice message stating she's contacting me from a post I did on the website (huh?) and she had an opportunity for me to be on the show! She also stated that it was time sensitive and it would be imperative that I called her back ASAP because the show would tape Wednesday May 2. I have absolutely no recollection of posting anything on the website but I wouldn't put it past me. I am a fan of the Dr. Oz and I have been recording the shows since it's inception on September 14, 2010. Yes, I know the first air date because it's my birthday :)

So back to the message. Guess when I actually checked my voice messages? On Thursday May 3th.

Crud. I am notoriously bad for checking my voice messages. It used to be because you have to go through a lot to check. You have to call your mailbox, enter a password, listen to her tell you how many messages you had, etc. It was a little time consuming and cumbersome for a world of instant gratification. Now that I have an iPhone all of that has been eliminated but old habits die hard.

Despite the missed call, lack of voice message checking, and passed deadlines- I called Cara back. I really just wanted to know what the heck I had posted and what the show was about. If she jogged my memory I would keep a look out for the show and watch because I clearly wanted to know more about this subject. Well, whaddayaknow... I had to leave a message because she didn't answer.

The phone call

A few hours after I left Cara the voice message I got a phone call from an unknown number. Because it had a 212 area code I assumed it was her and boy was I surprised to hear her voice on the other end! I was driving home at the time and although I have bluetooth in my car I still pulled over because I was talking to an assistant producer from the Doctor Oz show... com' on.. wouldn't you?!

Okay so she said although I never called her back there was another episode coming up that I met the credentials for. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! So we discussed the details and she invited me to be on! For real! real live TV!! She also said that I should and could bring a friend because it's always better with a friend! Lastly, I had to email her a picture and she would give that along with all my info to the producer and if she 'liked' me she would call me Monday. In hindsight that sounds really weird but whatevs. I immediately called my hubby but he was working (I hope to post more on the event in the future) and didn't answer so I called my mom. She happened to be in the same room as my dad and brother (perfect) and s I shared the good news with them. They were all with me when I actually listed to the voice message so they were super excited that I called her back and then she called me back, lol!

Finding a friend

After I told them the good news and I pulled up in front of my house (I can talk and drive to them) I spent a good 2 hours trying to 'find a friend'. It's amazing how many people are excited but scared. But I knew I couldn't pass up on this opportunity so I kept searching.

I texted and tweeted everyone I knew.



Cara was very limiting (age, personality, etc) in the people I could choose and those that fit the bill were too scared or couldn't clear their schedules. Finally I texted my co-worker. While I try to keep my personal and professional life VERY separate she has succeeded in breaking that barrier. She has been an awesome friend since my first day of work so I would be happy to share this experience with her. She actually thought I was playing a prank on her and demanded that Cara tell her the truth. After some laughs she was signed up to be on too!

I also tried unsuccessfully to get my mom on. Cara suddenly dropped off the face of the earth and stopped returning phone calls and emails. Seriously?!

The Process

All day Monday my co-worker, my mom, and I (we'll call her Daisy) were on pins and needles. Although Cara didn't get back to my mom over the weekend I was hoping on Monday we would strike gold. My mom even took the day off- just in case. Daisy was the one who got the call for the producer with instructions. They were sending us a car service to make sure we got there and we also had clothing instructions. On Tuesday the producer called me with more instructions (my lines.. yes I had lines!!!) and when I asked about my mom she broke the bad news that Cara has been out sick and didn't pass along the info regarding my mom. Crud. No wonder she dropped off the face of the earth. It would have been wonderful to have her there as well. This was really nerve wracking. It seems as though everything was happening haphazardly. Daisy got some instructions, I got some instructions (my mom didn't get any) and I guess they were assuming we would communicate the fill in the blanks to each other. I was nervous... what if none of this actually panned out.

Getting there

I woke up at about 5:30 Wednesday morning. There is only two other things that I can think of right now that would get me out of bed at such an unworldly hour- an airplane flight to vacation and my son. Now Dr. Oz is a part of that elite group. The car was picking Daisy and I up at 6:45 from a location about 20 minutes away with traffic. At 6:29 I got a text stating the car service was 'on location'. WHAT?! And then Daisy called me asking me where I was. Really people? I have 16 more minutes before I need to be rushed. I got there at 6:44 and we were on our way!


The car ride over was pretty uneventful. I was tired as all get out and there was traffic going into the city. I really just wanted to take a nap in the car but a) I wouldn't be able to monitor where this guy was taking me and b) Daisy wanted to talk. I will admit I was barely listening as I was in this sleep deprived stupor and the driver's cell phone and the most obnoxious text alert. It was the sound of a blaring fire horn and every time it went it he kind of looked around confused for a second. Who the heck does that?? After more traffic, more conversation, and no more sleep we finally were in Manhattan. Towards the end of our ride the driver confessed that the phone stays with the car so someone must've set it up to ring like that and it was aggravating him. Poor guy.



We arrived in front of NBC studios and I immediately woke up. This was really happening. We were met at the car door by a guy. I forget his name. He was nice though. Let's called him John. All those obnoxious phone calls and text messages were from John. He needed to know when we going to pull up in front of the building.  John held up an umbrella for us as we exited the car. Daisy had bought a wardrobe with her so he helped her while she unloaded it from the trunk. John escorted us inside where we met Stephanie. I guess that's her name- I really don't remember. Stephanie took us to security and checked us in the took us to the elevator. I remember thinking 'wow! this is a really nice elevator'. Then the doors opened and there it was. A pile of stuff tagged with 'Dr.Oz show'. How dare they leave their deliveries in the middle of the floor. Whatever- I'm about to become a star. At least that's what I'm saying in my head.

So... what happened next?! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

swimsuits

I have had a long standing battle with swimsuits. I just can't fathom the concept of spending a hundred dollars on a piece of barely there cloth. I'm on the hunt once again for a decent swimsuit *sigh*. My current swimsuits are too small or no longer flattering for a 33 week postpartum belly (yea, that's right). My days of H&M swimsuits are long gone so I need something a little more MILFish.

where to buy
However once again, I'm just not seeing the point of a $100 bathing suit. Is it just me? Should I just bite the bullet and get the Rolls Royce of swimwear?? Where do you get your pool gear?




Monday, May 14, 2012

Mother's Day

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all the Mama's, Mama's-to-be, and Mama-likes.

I am so excited to have celebrated my first mother's day!!!! There (hopefully) will be a post to come.

In the meantime for your enjoyment...

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