Thursday, November 14, 2013

OHHH ELLEN!!!

So last week I had the most amazing and fun experience to go to the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Something that has been on my bucket list for a long time…since I am getting so old and all!!

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My amazing friend Katie who I went to high school with and just got to go visit in September in Colorado has the sweetest husband on the planet. He planned that big surprise party for her and flew me and our other friend Abbey in for her birthday and then on top of that got her Ellen tickets!!! He had emailed me months ago asking if I would go with her since he doesn’t really care for Ellen. He was willing to pay for our hotel and rental car if I could get a flight there…my answer was OF COURSE!!! Going to Ellen, spending a few days with one of my best friends, going to California…YES PLEASE!!!

It is quite hard to get tickets and he watched like a hawk for weeks at a time until the day he wanted us to go opened up. He requested within thirty minutes of it opening up…waited to see if he got them…and NO! Bummer! I kind of thought that was the end of it but he decided to try again. I was like sure…thinking our chances are obviously not good…so I was losing my hope and enthusiasm about it until I got the phone call…we got them!!!!!!!!!

It took forever for the day to finally come but then it came and went SO fast!! We flew into California last Monday at 9 a.m.
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Waiting at the airport…so excited…even though I had to get up at 4 a.m. to get there!! Who wouldn’t get up at 4 a.m. for Ellen?!

We spent our three days getting lost, driving in circles, laughing are heads off, eating yummy food, exploring, and just enjoying some freedom together. It was so fun that we were together and that we could do whatever we wanted. We had no agenda except to go to Ellen the next day.

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Check out those bad boys! And yes…we took a selfie in the mirror…at the restaurant! ;) And yes…I easily ate that whole thing! ;)

We decided to take a walk down Hollywood Boulevard. It was quite crazy and busy because that night was the premier of Thor and they were setting up the red carpet, stage, etc. for Mr. Thor to make his big appearance.

We found some of our favorite celebrities handprints.
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We sent this picture to our friend Abbey since she used to have a crush on Will Smith in high school (and who knows…maybe still does! ;))  and we missed her! ;)

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We were pretty sure this one was Brad Pitt…but if it’s not don’t tell me! ;) Check out that smile on Katie’s face! :)

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My favorite was John Wayne because his feet were tiny!!! Do I look like him with that pose?! ;)

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Seriously…I wear a size 6 and his were barely bigger then mine!! Love him!!

I really wanted to try and get into the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show that night since that was the only night we could do it. I didn’t plan ahead so I thought we could shoot for standby tickets. It’s a rare occasion that I watch his show cuz I can’t stay up that late but when I do I think he is pretty hilarious!! We showed up a couple hours early as ticket holders were getting lined up. I talked to the crew guy and he said our chances were pretty awesome that we could get in on standby so we started the line for standby with a lot of anticipation.
See that face…
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Scary I know! ;)

Katie had never even watched Jimmy Kimmel and kept calling him Jimmy Kimbel which cracked me up…but she was game for it anyways! ;)

As time went by the line behind us grew and the guy came over and said it wasn’t looking as good. Since it was the premier of Thor…Thor was going to be on the show that night so it was bringing a lot of people out. He said he could maybe get a couple of us in…which meant Katie and I…so I held out hope. As it got closer to time he came by and said…Merry Christmas go get in line with the ticket holders. We were so excited and pumped. They slowly started letting people in a few at a time. More and more ticket holders were getting in line behind us. Then about 4 people after us they sent everyone behind them home cuz they said they had too many people. I really thought we were lucky then. Then it got down to 4 of us and lo and behold they said they had no more room!!!!! Aaaaah…we were SO close!!! But with Ellen tickets for the next day…we got over it real quick! ;)

By that time our feet were tired we decided to be crazy and go to the hotel and relax! ;) It is so funny what getting old and being a mom makes you think is fun. Relaxing and sleep!!! ;)

We woke up the next day SO excited!!! We got a little workout in at the hotel and then got ready for our big Ellen debut! ;) From the minute we got there it was like a whirlwind. Time was FLYING by!!
We got our ticket numbers…
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They had us fill out some papers that were mostly questions about music. They then went around the crowd to ask “who is the biggest country music fan?”
Of course that is me!!! So I let them know ;) and they had me go get in a line with a bunch of people to talk more. They then took the group of about 70 of us out to an open area. They told us they picked way too many people and that they were going to send people back to their seats. They were whizzing down the line sending most people back and keeping a few. When they got to me my heart was pumping and I was SO excited. I let them know for sure I was the #1 country music fan so they asked me to stay. ;) They ended with about 15 of us and took us into this little trailer.

This is where the excitement REALLY got going. They asked each of us individually a few personal questions like  name, where from, age, what you do, and why we thought we were the #1 country fan. Then they preceded to prepare us what to do if our names were to get called for a giveaway, a game, etc. They personally had no idea what would happen on the show but their job was basically to find people that would have a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.

Whenever I watch Ellen and see people win stuff they go CRAZY!! I always thought I would never be that crazy person…it’s just not my personality…BUT sitting in that room with adrenalin pumping…you better believe I would act CRAZY if my name got called. I was SO excited that maybe their could be a CHANCE that I could get picked for a game or a giveaway. We knew if something were to go down that someone in that room would be the lucky winner.

After the rundown they took us to the rift raft room where our friends were there waiting for us. They then took us in very first and spread all of us out. Your seats were just chosen randomly by them. It was SO cool to be in the studio. To see it all so up close and personal. It was so real!!!

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That’s how close we were to it all!!!

As soon as the show started it was just a ton of screaming and dancing!! It was like a big party! Her guests were Ashton Kutcher, Sting, and some chef guy. The coolest part was just seeing Ellen so close!

Unfortunately I didn’t get my name called. She didn’t play any games that day which was a bummer…those are always so fun to watch. She did give away 2 tickets to the CMA awards the next night. That would have been INCREDIBLE to go to but it would have been hard to schedule with Dakota and everything so I wasn’t too bummed it wasn’t me.

The show went by so fast…we both were in shock it was done. Cute Katie was so bummed afterwards cuz I guess her and her husband had written Ellen a letter telling her our story in hopes that she would surprise me with something…which was SO incredibly sweet of them. She thought for sure that was why I kept getting picked to go in that room. My sister Annie texted me after too that she had written in too. These sweet thoughtful people! It’s okay Ellen…I’m sure you didn’t read the letters or I’m sure you would have done something…right! ;) J/K
The experience was worth it all!! I TOTALLY recommend ANY Ellen fans MUST go to at least one show in their life. I totally want to go again…today!!

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This is after the show…if it were closer you would see all the sweat on my face from getting my groove on! ;)

Afterwards we of course had to get some Ellen gear at the Ellen shop! We went to our hotel that night (to relax again ;)) and sported our new gear!

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We are TOTAL nerds I know!!!

The next day was sad because it was over! We ended our trip with a relaxing trip to Venice beach. The sun was shining, the water was waving, and it was so beautiful to just lay on the beach and chat.

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It was hard to leave the sunny beach to go back to our cold homes but we were rejuvenated moms and wives ready to take it all on again! There is nothing like a little R and R with your girlfriend!!!

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Thanks Katie for the fun and most memorable trip!!! Love your guts!!!

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