Aimee and Me with our Paula tickets with the "P"!!!
inside the studio (we snuck a picture quickly before being told no more photos)
carriage ride through Central Park
Central Park
about to go into "The Lion King"
Our day started so early again! We were up at 6 am (remember that is 5 am our time) But we had to get ready for Paula's Party so it was worth it :). We were ready and out the door by 8 so we could grab a quick breakfast. We decided to head to McDonald's-it's right by the hotel (and on every block) As we were walking down the street people were stopping and staring...we felt like movie stars. Well we get to McDonald's and eat-while there the janitor gives us 2 thumbs up---now we can rest easier with his approval :). So we leave McDonald's and Aimee steps into the street and gets us a cab-this was hilarious! There she was all dressed up waving down a taxi. We arrive at the Food Network Studios and stand in line forever (at least it seemed that way in 3 inch heels) While we were standing in line Paula arrives incognito along with her husband and assistants. We were so excited! During our wait the producers would keep coming out looking the crowd over. Aimee and I gave the biggest smiles we could and poured out our southern charm. The people around us kept giving us dirty looks while this was going on (we just could not help but laugh about it) We told the producer we were in the "special pile", but he did not seem to care.
FINALLY time to head to the studio! We go through security (you have to go through security just about everywhere you go in NYC) The producers gave us our tickets and hand write the letter "P" on it. No one else around us had a "P" We had no idea what it meant! A lady in front of us said her friend had attended a taping a couple days before and had the letter "P" on her ticket. She would not tell us what it meant except that it was a good thing!?!? Here's the moment at last, we enter the studio (after nearly 2 hours of standing in 3 inch heels) We finally realized the "P" meant we were getting to enter first and get the best seats. We were seated on the front row directly behind where Paula cooks! AMAZING! The producer told us we had the best seats in the whole studio! We were on tv the entire time! By the end of the taping our cheeks hurt from smiling and our backs hurt from having good posture.
The big moment finally arrived....Paula entered! She is so beautiful! SO funny! and Tiny! Yep tiny! The camera definitely adds 15 pounds (just what I need!) She talked to Aimee and me and we got to shake her hand. We were on cloud nine! Everything finally settles down and taping begins on our first show (we taped 2 shows "prime time cuties" and "taste of Italy") The first guest was Carson Kressley. He was a hoot! They made a raspberry trifle that looked delicious, but we did not get to try any. The next guest was Jason Priestly! Yeah, Brandon from 90210, except all grown up! (but still just as cute!) At one point I even made eye contact with him...;) He and Paula made some sort of potatoes and filet Mignon wraps. It smelled wonderful, but again we did not get to try any. :( Paula and Jason taped promos for the show right in front of Aimee and me! That was so neat!
For the second show the audience was moved around so no one would know it is the same audience. This time Aimee and I were moved to the front row in front of where Paula cooks. (still great seats, but can relax a little more because the camera is not on us the whole time) Cheri O'Teri (formerly on SNL) was the guest for this show. She is a spunky little thing! Paula and Cheri made a lasagna soup that smelled so good my mouth was watering! Unfortunately we did not get to taste any! We were there for nearly 5 hours and all we got to eat was popcorn, bread sticks, and olives with lemonade to drink. But hey, we saw Paula! It was such an amazing day!
The producers did not know when the shows would air, but check the Food Network website for Paula's Party with the show titles "prime time cuties" and "taste of Italy"
We head back to the hotel, change clothes (got out of the heels!) and went for lunch! We ate at the Brooklyn Diner. It was so yummy! I recommend this to anyone headed to NYC! After lunch we headed up to Central Park. We took a carriage ride through the park (not the horse drawn kind, but the bicycle kind) We had a great guide! His name was Adam and he was from Turkey. He was so funny! We could not hardly understand anything he said except cuss words ;) Central Park is such a neat place. I did not realize it was so big. Saw lots of statues (including one of Balto the dog), Tavern on the Green, the fountain on Friends, the buildings on Ghostbusters, the rocks on Home Alone, Trump Tower ("you're fired"), the building where John Lennon's apartment is at, and Strawberry Fields. I was very uncomfortable there. Lots of "make love not war" stuff going on....we quickly left because I felt like I might loose it. After our carriage ride we sat on the lawn and just tried to soak everything up. I talked to Jason. He just had another "Farewell Ceremony" this one was the last one though because he left the next day. Central Park was really neat and pretty much the only place with grass and trees in NYC.
It was time to leave and head back to the hotel to get ready for Broadway! On our way we passed the NYPD on horseback and asked to take a picture. When we finished the police man asked if we wanted his number. HA! We just kept walking like we did not hear him.
Broadway was unbelievable! Besides Paula's Party it was the hi light of my trip! "Lion King" absolutely took my breath away! I think I probably sat the entire show with my mouth wide open! UNBELIEVABLE! Our seats were fantastic (12th row center!) The only thing that shocked me was the clothes people wore. Aimee and I went with "cocktail attire", but the majority of the people we saw were in jeans and t-shirts (I have always thought you were suppose to dress up for it) Oh well.
If you get the chance "Lion King" is an absolute must in my book!
After the show we were too tired to move (thank goodness our hotel was around the corner) We were too tired to even eat! (which was a bad idea because we had not eaten since about 3 pm and it would be almost 2pm the next day before we at again!) We just went back to the hotel, popped more advil (still extremely sore from Tuesday and standing in heels all morning) then went to sleep!
Be sure to go back to my last 2 days and see the pictures :) There are lots of great photos on Aimee's camera so as soon as I get a disc from her I will do a slide show of all the pictures from the greatest BFF trip ever!
Stay tuned for the awesome adventure we had on Thursday (which includes 2 more national tv shows!)
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