Part II: Remember when I was on HGTV...

So we've made it through half way through the week.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

• Work Day and errand running with Rob (a production guy) and Daniela (a producer)
  
• I'm loving this whole process. I get the biggest kick out of the crew. They are so great and helpful. The teamwork is is unbelievable.
• Take a 5 Hour Engergy Shot with Rob and Daniela. It was my first. It does nothing but make us feel sick. Ha.
  
• Lots of errands. Which I'm eating up. Living in New York, you don't have the luxury of just jumping in the car and driving to Walmart or Ikea. But in LA, you do! We venture to Ikea. I make Rob and Daniela get hot dogs and cinnamon rolls at the Ikea Cafe. It makes me laugh to even type that. Finally the gross feeling from the 5 hour energy subsided.
  
• Stop by the house. Check out the fabulous progress and head back to the hotel!
  
• Ivy and I have a fun dinner across the street and process through EVERYTHING. I love having her here. It sounds corny, but it was the biggest blessing.
  

Friday, October 2, 2009

• What in the world. When did the week happen? How is it already Friday?
• Final day of shopping. Off camera. We hit up Home Depot, Home Goods, the Walmart... I even have room in the budget for a giant flat screen TV! woo woo.
  
• I feel like I hit my stride today. Everything is bought. The room is progressing so nicely! The crew and I are now friends, and not just co-workers. I'm getting really sad about the experience winding down!
  
• Lisa continues to pop out of no where with wonderful bits of advice. For instance, "Don't feel pressured to buy something at every store you go into. Sometimes, you need to just shop for inspiration!"
• Almost paint this beautiful piece of Danish wood furniture the homeowners have. What color? Lacquer royal blue. But I decide not to. You're welcome Shea Family.
  
• The day is dwindling. We make an ice cream run and wrap things up. I decompress and make a to do list with my 2 producers. While we are sitting at the kitchen table we start hearing very questionable noises coming from the empty upstairs. Surely its the cats... Or is it? We get creeped out. Time to go!
• Get back to the hotel and hear about Ivy's day. She was gallivanting all around the city! Such a big girl!
  

This is the only picture of us from the whole week. Ha.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

• It's the reveal day!
• For the first time, I'm stressed. It's a little chaotic. But we manage. Hope I wasn't too sassy with anyone.
• The next few hours are a bit of a blur. The weather was crisp and lovely. The reveal was exactly what I hoped for! Everyone was so kind and affirming. In my final end of day filming, I almost teared up! Which, if you know me, is a big deal. I'm not a crier. I was relieved everything came together. So full from this experience. It was ALL and more than I had hoped for. So thankful.
• I have the rest of the day with Ivy! We drive into Santa Monica and meet one of my crew friends for mexican. We walk around. Shop. Laugh. Talk. It was a perfect last chapter of my LA experience.
  

Sunday, October 4, 2009

• Ivy leaves at the crack of dawn.
• I leave around 11am.
  
• Goodbye for now HGTV experience! Hope to see you again!
  

Ok kids. I think I'm finally done talking about this experience. I'm sure you're relieved. If you missed the final product, although I don't know how you could with all of this constant blogging of mine, you can watch it right here.

Let me know if I missed anything!

Part I: Remember that time I was on HGTV...

View from the hotel room. The sky is exceptionally blue in LA.

The memory is sharp in my mind! Now. But will I remember all the details and quirks of the experience in a couple of months? Or a year? Probably not. Hence, why I'm going to jot down some of the details here. On the blog. Ha. Bless you for reading.

Check out those freshly painted nails. OPI - Let them eat rice cakes.

Monday, September 28, 2009

• Work half day. I'm jittery excited. Got my big girl suit case packed and my camera charged.
  
• Fly out of JFK and into LAX. Flying in and out of these huge airports, coast to coast, feels grand and epic. I feel small. But confident.
• Steve the PA picks me up from the airport. I trust he's actually from HGTV and not here to abduct me in his Honda Accord.
• We rendezvous with the producer at the studio where 'I Love Lucy' was filmed. I mean honestly....
• Jump in his car and drive out to the burbs where I'll be staying.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• I get ready. Make sure my hair is extra TV big and my lips are extra Texas red. I expect the producer at noon.
• At 12:30, a full camera crew walks into my hotel room. Oh dear Lord.
• I get mic'd up and pretend like I know what I'm doing.
  
• They start filming. I start rambling. They film me getting into the car like 4 times. It's mildly awkward, but secretly, I'M LOVING THIS. We grab lunch. I trip over my gigantic wedge sandals. We get in the car and head to the homeowners house.
• Lots of hurrying and waiting.
• Practically get pushed out of the car and WHOA, I'm meeting Lisa. Wait, that is Lisa right....? "Hey you!!", I almost say. Hahaa. It's Lisa LaPorta. She's about a minute big and is darling and warm.
• I meet the family and present my plan. We chat. And walk around. Chat some more. And then its the end of Day 1. Whew.
  
• I go back to my hotel decompress with my mom and then film my "confessional style day wrap up" with the camera set up on a tripod in my hotel room. (See above picture) And that's not sketchy or questionable looking AT ALL.
  

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

• Game on. First day of on camera shopping.
  
• We hit up the paint store, carpet warehouse and a mod little furniture store. Lots of decision making. Going on instinct and internal processing.
  
• I think I could do this all day long...
• Did I mention my carpenters? Now, I was kind of hoping to get to LA and work with a ridiculously good looking single carpenter, fall in love, get married, and live happily after in our adorable house the he would build and I would decorate. Sadly, HGTV had other plans for me and my carpenter. I did, however, get to work with Eric and Rupert who were fantastic at their jobs but far from datable (married and a lot out of my age range).
  
• And guess who flew into LA....Ivy! She gets in late, rents a car and meets me at the hotel. We talk, decompress, laugh and sleep soundly like we were back in our loft beds in Auburn.

More to come tomorrow! Didn't want to overwhelm...

January 23rd, 2010

A couple of months ago I had the ridiculous (in a good way!) opportunity to try my interior design skills on the new HGTV show, First Time Design. To say I had a ball would be an understatement. I loved everything about that whirlwind week in LA - picking out paint colors, strolling through the aisles of Ikea, running errands like a crazy lady.... you know I really didn't even mind the camera crews following me around either! (I unpacked the emotions of the experience a little here if you need some context.)

All that to say, if you're looking for something to do on January 23rd at ohhhhhh say 2:30pm eastern time, then you might want to watch HGTV to see how it turns out!

You can read more here, if you like!