Nate Berkus 'House Proud' Video

Our Nate Berkus 'House Proud' aired last Monday and it was so fun to see David and I on TV together. He really did a great job and brought the enthusiasm. My students got to watch it live with me and I loved that!

If you didn't catch it I hope you take a second to watch it now. : )



xoxo

P.S. I took some almostnearlycomplete nursery pics this weekend and am about to post them asap!!

House Proud on Nate Berkus!

Hey guys! I'm stopping in real quick to let you know that David and I will be showing off our home on The Nate Berkus Show tomorrow {Monday, March 5th, 2012}.

A couple weeks ago we filmed our home for the House Proud segment and got news that our piece should air sometime during tomorrow's episode.

We haven't seen the final cut so who knows what it's going to be like. Please forgive me if I look/sound ridiculous. I'm sure David will make up for me with his humor! I hope you all can tune in or DVR it!

p.s. The nursery is 98% done. Real, legit pics are coming very soon--I promise!!

p.p.s. I'm 36 weeks pregnant...holy moly!

p.p.p.s. Follow me on Instagram -> joidan82 and leave your name so I can follow you, too!

That's it...I swear.

xoxo

Great Day St. Louis

So after Nate, I was invited to a local TV morning show called Great Day St. Louis. It was an incredible experience and the anchormen and woman were so unbelievably pleasant. They definittely lived up to my perceptions of their outstanding personalities!

I was able to take my dear Maw Maw along with me, who is a die hard channel 4 KMOV fan, and she got to get her picture taken with the anchors! If I wasn't so dang tired I'd upload the pics for you all to see--but, my eyes are closing on me as I type, so they'll be coming soon {I promise}.

For now, all you non-St. Louisans take a gander at my little segment I taped yesterday morning. It was such a great time and I loved doing it. I could get used to this! ; )

I hope you all have an amazing weekend--I'm hoping to catch a couple naps here and there. My schedule is wearing me out...but in the BEST possible way.

Oh, and thank you guys all so much for your kind comments about my Nate Show appearance. You guys really know how to make a girl smile. Getting sweet blog comments is like Christmas morning--on repeat!

xoxo

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

The Day Is Here--I'm Going To Be On TV!!

It's say to safe that I am freaking out about what's to come in the next couple of hours! I am about to see myself & new friends on The Nate Berkus Show. I hope you all tune in and then tell me what you thought!

Later on today I will post the third part in my Nate Berkus Experience posts. So keep your eyes posted for that as well.

Oh, and don't forget the other fun news! I was asked to be a guest on Great Day St. Louis which airs directly after The Nate Berkus Show and is Live TV!

It's insane.

And I can't believe it.

Here's hoping I don't look/sound like a complete fool! I'll be back soon with all the fun little details. Have a stupendous Thursday!

xoxo

A Little Precursor To Nate

I have got so many great things going on in my life right now that I never stop smiling! I mean, I have always been a joyful and grateful person, but lately my blessings have been overwhelmingly unbelievable and I have my family, friends, blog readers, and God to thank. My passion for decorating and blogging is taking me places I only dreamed of...and I am as giddy as a little kid.

I think you all know about the Nate Show appearance coming up this Thursday, right?

And, my home's about to be featured in St. Louis magazine in a couple weeks!

Yeah, that's a whole lot of crazy.

I still don't believe it either. I'm just an average gal in her {ah-hem late} twenties who loves attainable design...who would've thought?

I also had the lovely opportunity to give a home tour to a fabulous local St. Louis designer, Dana King, who is featuring it as a series on her blog. We are planning to work together on events in the future and I will definitely share those as they get closer. I am so fortunate to have made a friend in her. She's a natural behind and in front of the camera! : )

Her first video of our home: my guest room! And as a side note, this it what I wanted to wear on Nate, but they had me change. Poo. I liked it a lot.

As the days near closer, I'm extremely nervous to see my mug on TV this Thursday and I hope I don't look like too big of a goof. I guess you all will be the judge. Go easy on me, please.

Oh, and all you St. Louis readers make sure to tune in to Great Day St. Louis {on KMOV channel 4} right after the Nate Show because I'll be a guest on there as well. Live TV is going to be very intimidating but ever so exciting!

Have a splendid little Tuesday. : D

xoxo

Nate Berkus Show Experience - Part 2

So I'm assuming you're up to speed on part 1, right? If not, take a little time to catch yourself right up here.

We left off on Sunday...which takes us to Monday!!

Monday 10.18.10 - Dave and I had a few errands to run in the morning but we made sure we were home in time for our black Cadillac to come and take us to the airport! Say wha--? We had a driver, no joke. It was insanely surreal.

When we got to the airport we made it through security, had a little Wolfgang Puck Express, and boarded our plane with absolutely zero hiccups!

The flight was uneventful {just the way I like them} and we landed in NYC 20 minutes early--woot, woot! We walked what seemed like miles to get to baggage claim, but I didn't care at all. We were in New.York.City...I was dying of excitement. 'Tis true.

When we rounded the corner at baggage claim we saw a guy {our driver} holding a sign with my name.

Shut up.

It happened.

OMG.

Ok, back to the recap. We waited just a couple of minutes, got my luggage, and we were off in our black Tahoe and headed to our hotel. Um, did I mention we still had no idea where we were staying? And, again, I couldn't have cared less.

As we cruised the streets of NYC, I rolled down the window and took about a bazillion photos of everything I saw.

Many of the photos came out blurry because I had no time to think about settings. I just snapped the photo one right after the other! The driver was sweet enough to take us right through Times Square after learning that my husband and I were NYC newbies. He was awesome and I couldn't thank him enough.

We looked every bit like total tourists....I think it was our 3 cameras that gave us away--ha!

Monday night {circa 10:30 p.m} - We checked into our sweet hotel, and hit up the front desk for some tips on how to maneuver the city. We were exhausted and had BIG plans the next day, but we couldn't pass up the few hours in the city that never sleeps.

They recommended that we take the subway to the Empire State building, walk to Times Square, ride the subway back, and end our night with a late night pizza run. We took their suggestions and made the most of our time!

The subway, while I was scared we'd get lost somehow, was actually easy to figure out!

First stop: Empire State Building! $40 bucks for David and I to ride to the observation deck? Sign us up!

Since we got there so late, the place was virtually empty. I can't imagine the wait times during peak tourist hours.

We made it to the look out and enjoyed our views from the 86th floor. They were breathtaking!!

After our jaunt up the ESB, we took a stroll to Times Square and had a blast people watching and oohing and ahhing. It was like nothing I have ever seen before in my life!

Finally, at nearly 2 a.m. we decided to take the subway back to the hotel and score some NY style pizza.

After about the third restaurant we stopped at, we finally came across Big Nick's and it was open! Woo hoo!

Big Nick's was anything but big in space! However, the food was tasty delicious and super cheap!

While the menu offered seemingly any food under the sun...we stuck to pizza. Nothing like a 2 a.m. dinner. Yes, sirree!

I spared you the in-color version of this photo. I was looking quite rough at this stage of the game. Please excuse my tired self.

Our NYC night was a total and complete whirlwind and I could've cried from sheer joy. I was that happy. My experience was beyond any words I could ever write here.

And so ends our night in NYC...stay tuned for Part 3 where I dish about Nate. Oooh, Oooh! I know that's what ya'll realllly want. ; D

Oh, and I got news about my segment's air date....mark your calendars and set your DVRs for Thursday, November 4th!!!

xoxo