Nate Berkus Show Experience - Part 3

So we left off at pizza and sleep. Much needed sleep to be honest.

Tuesday 10.19.10 - We woke up pretty early all thanks to the hustle and bustle of a NYC morning. It was nice to wake up naturally and not by an alarm. To say I was ready to face the day is an overstatement because I was still pretty tired, but I was elated for the day's activities...that's a no brainer.

We got dressed and headed to breakfast next door since we had a 15% coupon.

It was the perfect spot with large windows so you could see all the people and buildings outside. Dave opted for eggs and bacon and I stuck with the tried and true bagel and cream cheese.

I'm sure people were giving me the side eye for taking photos, early morning, in a smallish cafe but I didn't care. I wanted to remember everything. Time was going by so fast and I tried to document every last moment.

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel to grab our stuff and check our emails and such. Once we packed up, we hung out in the lobby until our driver came and picked us up. A couple people were hanging around in the lobby too, and Dave assumed they were part of the Nate Show.

Dave was right and those two people turned out to be Artie {my bestie} and Laura--great people who ended up being on the same segment as me.

Nearly Noon - Our driver came to whisk away and we took a short journey to the CBS studios.

I, again, snapped pictures like a crazed tourist and managed to have a couple turn out ok!

Circa 12:20 p.m. - We arrived at the studio and Dave and I were immediately greeted by a Nate Show assistant or producer and taken upstairs.

We were shown to my own green room, eek!, and encouraged to take it easy for awhile.

Notice all of the Nate Berkus HSN.com lovelies? Yup, I did too!

The production assistant showed us around and I was lucky enough to be right next to craft services, which housed yummy food and drinks. Too bad I was too nervous to actually eat. Hmmph-go figure. : )

1:00 p.m. - At about this time Dave was ushered downstairs to the VIP waiting area and I was escorted to hair and makeup. Both ladies who fixed me up were sweethearts and so complimentary. The hair lady, whose name I didn't catch, just combed out my extra fine hair and attempted to give it some body. She then sprayed my bangs back because, "America doesn't like to see hair in the eyes...it's distracting."

Gotcha.

Later on, I decided the spray wasn't holding, so I bobby pinned them back right before going on air. I guess it was an ok decision!

Next, another young and stunning girl, whose name I also didn't manage to catch, touched up my makeup. She darkened my eyes, gave my lips and cheeks some major color, and concealed any imperfections.

Many thanks to both of those sweet ladies!

1:15 p.m. - I finally got to meet my lovely segment buddies and we were escorted to the studio for a practice run.

{Artie, Joi, & Kathy [not pictured is Laura]}

The rehearsal was seriously so fun! It all happened so fast and I didn't take my camera with me to the studio. I'm pretty sure pictures wouldn't have been allowed anyway.

We got to practice walking out, sitting in our seats {next to a fill-in Nate}, and spoke like we would on the real deal show.

There were tons of big-wig producers and stage hands, and they were all discussing how our segment would go.

Eventually it was decided that the "show and tell" of our personal decor would be scrapped because Nate wouldn't like the flow and ease of the presentation.

So all the stuff I had to drag with me to NYC, we didn't end up using. And honestly, no big deal.

When we went back upstairs we all got to hang out for awhile and take a peek at Nate's wardrobe:

The celebrity green room:

And, then finally, it was GO TIME! We again, took a stroll downstairs, got a retouch on our makeup and got mic'ed.

I was the first person out during the first segment of the show. We could hear Nate talking to the audience, he said my name, and a producer walked me out on stage.

Holy cow. Hearing Nate pronounce my name was sureal. Then I got to shake his hand and he said, "Great room, Joi. Really nice."

O.M.G. Seriously?!?!

The rest of the 20 minutes or so is mostly a blur. I tried to sit up straight, smile a lot, and react appropriately. It was the complete and utter experience of a lifetime.

Oh, and the cutest thing? Seeing my unbelievable husband in the audience pointing me out to all the sweet ladies in his section and clapping loudly for me.

I'm the luckiest.

And then, like that, our segment was over and we got to go back upstairs and watch the show from our green room.

Artie and I actually blog gossiped {how fun!} and soon after we were being told to pack up and were being walked downstairs.

Here's Artie with Harrison, the production assistant who babysat us the whole afternoon!

5:00 p.m. - Our secret service looking driver arrived and took us to La Guardia.

I was beat, but took as many pictures as I could in our crazy traffic filled trip back to the airport. We got to see Central Park, the Trump Residence, and many more things that elude me now.

And so ends our fun filled, whirlwind of a trip! If there was a blogger photo/word limit on posts, I'm sure I'm at it.

Thanks for sticking this one out!

I will never ever forget this experience and am so grateful to you all for letting me share the craziness with you. ♥

xoxo