It was extremely fascinating to see all of the producers running around like chickens without heads and all of the behind the scenes events that took place. So finally the show started...I smiled the entire time (with the exception of when I cried during Jennifer Hudson's conversation about the loss of her family who were murdered). After Oprah announced Jennifer Hudson in her iconic, extremely loud, overly drawn out fashion Vicki and I were again star struck. We (and only we) shook hands with Miss Hudson as she pranced her hot new body right by us. We listened intently to the interview between these two divas and watched clips of Jennifer....then they called out Tim Gunn from Project Runway to give Jennifer's family a wardrobe makeover after their amazing weight loss using the Weight Watchers plan. The show seemed to pass so quickly! It did not seem like an hour long show -more like 20 minutes! Then Oprah starts to wrap up the show and I brace myself for the end of this remarkable experience only to get the shock that everyone in the studio audience would be receiving three 1 year memberships to Weight Watchers-valued at $1,500 and Tim Gunn's new book! Fun Fun Fun-we not only got to go to Oprah, had fabulous seats, but we also get to cash in on one of Oprah's many giveaways! Awesome! I wanted to lose a little weight anyway and I get to enjoy giving the other two memberships to a friend/family member. So the show wraps up....the audience starts to file out and then we get asked to be fillers for the second taping...we grabbed a bite to eat at the Subway on the corner and then returned to Harpo Studios only to go through the same exact process as we did in the AM. Checked our coats, had our purses searched, body scanned, blue release form to sign, and then they called the Victoria Selby party! We weren't able to sit next to each other on this taping and we were not anywhere close to the front row...but it was fun to attend two back to back tapings of the show and to also get to experience it in a whole different way. This second show was filled with a whole array of different types of people all thrilled to be there to see Oprah talk to legendary SOAP opera stars. WOW-there were some crazy fans there. Women holding handmade posters of their favorite soap stars, t-shirts, framed pictures and all kinds of memorabilia. I felt a bit out of place in this crowd as I am not a SOAP watcher...and the one I used to watch -DAYS OF OUR LIVES was not even featured on the show. So the theme was not up my alley at all but again, I couldn't complain. I WAS AT THE OPRAH SHOW-watching two tapings back to back! Unreal! The show ended and since Vicki and I had been split up we were separated in the crowd filing out of the studio as well. We recovered our coats and purses and finally met up and got our picture taken in front of the building since no cameras were allowed inside. We then trotted happily over to the Oprah Store across the street to do some browsing for some Oprah souvenirs. We got our goods-waited for a cab until our bodies were numb from the cold and FREAKED OUT ON THE CAB RIDE -discussing what had just happened to us. AMAZING! MEMORABLE! UNBELIEVABLE! CRAZY! INSANE! None of those adjectives can come close to describing the vibes and feelings of being a part of something so wonderfully unique. Vicki and I decided to celebrate -we went to Mike Ditka's Restaurant -ate some amazing food and threw back a few drinks! This is where Vicki ordered a Bloody Mary and nursed it like a baby kitten! We had at, I had finished two of my cold drinks and Vicki's drink was still sitting there nearly untouched....the waiter noticed this and gave her a hard time which resulted in a free dessert on the house. AWESOME! Vicki did eventually finish her drink with some coaching and razing. After the NEVER ENDING BLOODY MARY we left and went back to the hotel for a few drinks in the lobby. Seriously two drinks=$30! Yep, we weren't having it so we hoofed our happy butts to the corner Hard Rock Cafe and had some more celebratory drinks...until we remembered that we were old and couldn't hang like we once could-we did make it past midnight which is impressive!
Slept in the next morning and ventured out to see what we could find to do. We ended up going to the World Famous- Billy Goat Tavern at 10:30am for "Cheezborger! Cheezborger! No fries, cheeps! No Pepsi, Coke!"? Yep it was the breakfast of champions! We then went to the visitors center and flipped through pamphlets, shopped a bit, and then went to the Signature Room at the top of the John Hancock building. Amazing view and even better food! We then decided we were going to go to Millennium park to ice skate. And so we did! We were a bit uneasy about this because neither Vicki nor myself have done much ice skating prior to this -only one other time to be exact! And the crowd was thick with pros flying around like they were in the freaking Olympics! But once we got going we were lovin it-spent a long time there then went to McDonald's. Yes, I know....we go to the big city to go to McDonald's -we're crazy right? Well, this was the ROCK N ROLL MCDONALDS! They had a historical display of McDonald's items from the past -dated all the way back to the 1940's! This MickeyD's had freaking escalators and crazy comfortable/private seating. It was fun but by this time Vicki and I were feeling the burn from our skating extravaganza and we also were feeling the exhaustion from the long few days so we decided to head to the train station early. I had a bit of a weird spell in the cab ride there.....I must of been experiencing some tired giddiness...cause I was off my rocker...you would have thought I had drank alcohol all day (didn't have a drop) the way I was talking. Vicki, I know you're reading this with at least a smile on your face if not a laugh out loud. You know what I am talking about girl! Anywho....get to the station early..hang out. Time to board at around 7pm only to find out that our train was delayed....so, more waiting we did. Finally we were on the rails and on our way back home. I slept nearly the whole ride back until we reached Lincoln -then I got up to use the bathroom and sure enough I got locked in the john! Vicki had to go get the crew to come get me out! Funny-ended up with a nice blood blister/sore on my finger tips from trying to dig and pry the door open! Only me! AH.....so we return home with a boat load of stories to tell and memories to hold on to forever! I appreciate my sis for considering me and taking me along with her on this adventure -I do not just sum this up with my euphoric Oprah experience but all of my experiences. I got the opportunity of a lifetime with my sister/best friend. I LOVE YOU VICTORIA SELBY!
No comments:
Post a Comment