Let's have a little FUN today!
This past Thursday, Lisa and I had the opportunity to cross something off the ol' bucket list: to see a taping of Ellen. Now, before y'all get too excited, we didn't get in. Well, not exactly, not this time. But, we will be there, in the studio (for sure), at the beginning of January!
This is how it all went down:
A few weeks ago, Lisa discovered that there were tickets available for the premiere week of Ellen. (Note: This is hardly ever the case- at least, whenever we've tried to check in the past.) So, obviously, we decided to try to get tickets (Lisa, me, and her friend, Michelle). You could request up to 4 tickets at a time, but only for one day. So, okay. We put in our requests, and waited to be contacted. Time passed and as it got closer to the show dates neither Lisa nor I had been contacted. But then Lisa said Michelle was contacted, and because Lisa was the one who told her about getting tickets in the first place, said she could invite someone (me!), so did we want to go? Having stand-by tickets wouldn't guarantee that we would get into the studio, but it would get us into the 'riff raff room' to watch the show, as well as reserved seats for a future show. Basically, either way, we would get to see a show. So, YES! One problem: childcare. Rachel, our beloved babysitter, recently moved to New York City, and our other awesome babysitter can now only sit at night, on the weekends. (Yes, we need to find a new babysitter.) Brian was working late almost every day because of an impending deadline (which was, conveniently (not) the day after the show. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to take off early to come home. Enter, Reid The Awesome, who happens to be on hiatus right now, who very generously offered to watch Lucy (and then Kyra and Ally after school). I humbly jumped on his offer. Yes, please!!
Lucy and I went to Lisa and Reid's house around 1:00pm. The plan was to drop her off, Lisa and I would leave with Michelle and Lisa's other friend/neighbor Cheryl around 2:00, then Reid and Lucy would go to pick up K&A from school, and then much fun would ensue. :)
Ellen usually tapes one show Monday-Wednesday, to be aired the following day, and two shows on Thursday, one to be aired on Friday and the other to be aired on the following Monday. Our tickets were for the second Thursday show, to be taped at 6:00pm. We had to arrive by 4:00pm.
The waiting experience was long (we arrived by 3:00) and ridiculously HOT (it was over 100 degrees). But, I will say, very organized, and if it weren't for the heat, wouldn't have been bad at all. We are all moms of little ones, so we were excited just to be child-free and doing something fun. We all admitted that we wouldn't have minded one bit if we weren't able to get into the show, because then we could do this all a second time. ;)
The first waiting area was in an area on the ground level of a parking structure across the street from the studio. We waited in one line to get checked in, then we waited in another line to go through another check, then we waited to be called to go across the street to the studio, then we waited to go through an airport-like security check (at this point we were just excited to be inside, in air-conditioned space!), then we waited to be called into the riff raff room, then we waited to see if we would be called into the studio.
The riff raff room is a large room adjacent (just on the other side of a wall) from Ellen's studio. It's got lots of seating, a little store where you can buy Ellen merchandise, and several big monitors for everyone who doesn't get into the taping to watch the show. We made a pack: all or none. Meaning, either all four of us would get to go, or none of us. Like I said, we really didn't mind either way. Well, wouldn't you know, we were right on the cusp- like, literally. Two of us would have been the very last two people allowed in that day! But, we kept to the all or none thing. We watched the show from the riff raff room. We were plently pleased about that. :) I will gloss over this next part quickly, because it is heartbreaking and embittering: they raffled off three pairs of tickets for Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways shows (Ellen's version of Oprah's Favorite Things episode)! GAH!! I would DIE! However, as promised, we were able to choose a date from several options in January, to come back for guaranteed seats. YAY!
All in all, we had a great time! Child-free for an afternoon and evening, watching Ellen, a freebie bag of chips, dinner out, and guaranteed seats and a chance to do it all again in a few months! Win-win! By the way, the show we were there for will be shown on Monday (tomorrow), and the guests included Bethenny Frankel, Kellie Pickler, and (the ones I was most excited about seeing-) the four finalists (Eliana, Tiffany, Chehon, and Cyrus) of So You Think You Can Dance. :)
It was a great time! And Uncle Reid survived! :) Lucy went with Uncle Reid to pick up K&A from school, then they all went to the pool after K&A finished their homework, ate dinner, got a bath, and then Brian picked up Lucy after work. So thankful for these awesome dads who stepped in so that Lis and I could have this fun day!
Can't wait to do this again - and really get to see Ellen - in a few months! :)
A few weeks ago, Lisa discovered that there were tickets available for the premiere week of Ellen. (Note: This is hardly ever the case- at least, whenever we've tried to check in the past.) So, obviously, we decided to try to get tickets (Lisa, me, and her friend, Michelle). You could request up to 4 tickets at a time, but only for one day. So, okay. We put in our requests, and waited to be contacted. Time passed and as it got closer to the show dates neither Lisa nor I had been contacted. But then Lisa said Michelle was contacted, and because Lisa was the one who told her about getting tickets in the first place, said she could invite someone (me!), so did we want to go? Having stand-by tickets wouldn't guarantee that we would get into the studio, but it would get us into the 'riff raff room' to watch the show, as well as reserved seats for a future show. Basically, either way, we would get to see a show. So, YES! One problem: childcare. Rachel, our beloved babysitter, recently moved to New York City, and our other awesome babysitter can now only sit at night, on the weekends. (Yes, we need to find a new babysitter.) Brian was working late almost every day because of an impending deadline (which was, conveniently (not) the day after the show. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to take off early to come home. Enter, Reid The Awesome, who happens to be on hiatus right now, who very generously offered to watch Lucy (and then Kyra and Ally after school). I humbly jumped on his offer. Yes, please!!
Lucy and I went to Lisa and Reid's house around 1:00pm. The plan was to drop her off, Lisa and I would leave with Michelle and Lisa's other friend/neighbor Cheryl around 2:00, then Reid and Lucy would go to pick up K&A from school, and then much fun would ensue. :)
Ellen usually tapes one show Monday-Wednesday, to be aired the following day, and two shows on Thursday, one to be aired on Friday and the other to be aired on the following Monday. Our tickets were for the second Thursday show, to be taped at 6:00pm. We had to arrive by 4:00pm.
The waiting experience was long (we arrived by 3:00) and ridiculously HOT (it was over 100 degrees). But, I will say, very organized, and if it weren't for the heat, wouldn't have been bad at all. We are all moms of little ones, so we were excited just to be child-free and doing something fun. We all admitted that we wouldn't have minded one bit if we weren't able to get into the show, because then we could do this all a second time. ;)
The first waiting area was in an area on the ground level of a parking structure across the street from the studio. We waited in one line to get checked in, then we waited in another line to go through another check, then we waited to be called to go across the street to the studio, then we waited to go through an airport-like security check (at this point we were just excited to be inside, in air-conditioned space!), then we waited to be called into the riff raff room, then we waited to see if we would be called into the studio.
The riff raff room is a large room adjacent (just on the other side of a wall) from Ellen's studio. It's got lots of seating, a little store where you can buy Ellen merchandise, and several big monitors for everyone who doesn't get into the taping to watch the show. We made a pack: all or none. Meaning, either all four of us would get to go, or none of us. Like I said, we really didn't mind either way. Well, wouldn't you know, we were right on the cusp- like, literally. Two of us would have been the very last two people allowed in that day! But, we kept to the all or none thing. We watched the show from the riff raff room. We were plently pleased about that. :) I will gloss over this next part quickly, because it is heartbreaking and embittering: they raffled off three pairs of tickets for Ellen's 12 Days of Giveaways shows (Ellen's version of Oprah's Favorite Things episode)! GAH!! I would DIE! However, as promised, we were able to choose a date from several options in January, to come back for guaranteed seats. YAY!
All in all, we had a great time! Child-free for an afternoon and evening, watching Ellen, a freebie bag of chips, dinner out, and guaranteed seats and a chance to do it all again in a few months! Win-win! By the way, the show we were there for will be shown on Monday (tomorrow), and the guests included Bethenny Frankel, Kellie Pickler, and (the ones I was most excited about seeing-) the four finalists (Eliana, Tiffany, Chehon, and Cyrus) of So You Think You Can Dance. :)
It was a great time! And Uncle Reid survived! :) Lucy went with Uncle Reid to pick up K&A from school, then they all went to the pool after K&A finished their homework, ate dinner, got a bath, and then Brian picked up Lucy after work. So thankful for these awesome dads who stepped in so that Lis and I could have this fun day!
Can't wait to do this again - and really get to see Ellen - in a few months! :)
Comments
A great big "THANK YOU" to 'Reid the Awesome' who helped make it a very memorable Girls Day. I can just imagine the smiles and laughter from both group of girls.