LIVE! *Behind the scenes,,,

My morning started at 2:55 this morning. Less than an hour later, the two women above found their way to my home, climbed in the van and away we sped to pick up my cousin Amanda, and ultimately to NYC.

Today was just plain FUN (with a dash of fascinating thrown in)!
It's not every (ok. any) Thursday morning that I am able to sit through 2 tapings of Live! with Regis and Kelly (except it was Mark and Kelly today). Thanks to several people, beginning with my dear cousin Erin who received 4 tickets in the mail, and generously offered one to me and involving my darling husband and kind mom and sister who covered child care in my absence--thanks to all these people, I was able to savor a day away from my precious responsibilities! And what a wonderfully unique day it was!

I will say...spending time in the presence of celebrities does dust off and bring out of the old high schoolish type closet the feeling of total nerdom (my word). Sitting there in my Clark shoes (you know when you're getting older when you resist the glossy black heeled boots for the comfort of the more geratric style shoe for a day in the city!) and feeling every itsy bit of my full-time sippy-cup- filler, snot remover, diaper-changer-while-wearing-spitup-stained-sweats self, I felt worlds, no-galaxies-apart from what and who I was witnessing from the red vinyl covered audience chair. It's easy to think of Kelly coming into my home for coffee as she chats amicably through the television screen. But when I saw the behind-the-scenes production that goes into making that 'conversation' happen that I somehow believe I'm privy to, I could not have felt more--average. And while Kelly could not have been any more gracious and gregarious to the audience (she even spoke with me about Mack-N-Macos-a much loved Jersey shore pizza joint), I could no more imagine her sitting across my kitchen table from me than Donald Trump tapping into the local Amish farmers for property investment advice!!! And yet...it was such a pleasure experiencing the scenes unfolding!

It was simply fascinating to observe the effort, energy and enthusiasm that the staff-every last one of them-has to project day after day, show after show. I have uploaded quite a few pictures of the day for your curiosity's fulfillment. Enjoy....

The studio (Corner of 67th and Columbus)

Regis, who is recovering from surgery, lives on the first floor (from the ground) that juts out at the top (or so we were told). This building is located right across from the studio. Cozy little place, huh? (I guess Joy didn't get to hanging the Christmas swags outside the windows just yet!)

Happy ticket holders! (We arrived safely and in great time...7am!)





Walking into the studio, which is much smaller than it appears on TV (naturally).





Festive. Bold colors. Personal pictures of Regis and Kelly's family on shelves lining the walls. Full of holiday decorations...beautiful!




I think they have sufficient lighting....it's no wonder tv/movie personalities look so good!!!






Gelman (producer) going over 'house rules'...

During commercial segments, Mark and Kelly would come over and chat with the audience. People would give her gifts and she acted so genuinely happy to receive them. She was quite the gracious lady!

Interviewing Sarah Jessica Parker (they also interviewed Robert Downy Jr., but for some reason my picture is 'lost' of him)

Sweet (young) David Archuletta

Enjoying an Italian bistro lunch....

I'm so tired, my eyelids are seriously begging to be closed.

Goodnight my friend...

Tomorrow is a new day...and back to life on this side of the television screen for me!