Okay so most of you know Kelly came into town this past weekend and, as usual, we had a blast. But first a few random fun things to share:
I went to a Blake Shelton/Band Perry concert a couple weeks ago and man, did it make me miss the South. It's fun to watch all these Californians trying to look country - they mainly just looked hipster. We got to go to the Band Perry meet-and-greet since my dad knows them, and it was so good just to chat with some people from East Tennessee. We talked about the UT football game I didn't watch for a little while and how sad it was that we lost.
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| We're BFFs now. |
I met/chatted with Aaron Eckhart (two-face in Batman Begins) while eating froyo with (you guessed it) Mary Nell and Martha. Best day ever. I acted so casual while we were talking then completely freaked out when he left.
I was missing fall down south, so Tommy took me to a pumpkin patch with a corn maze. We made it through the corn maze in 7 minutes flat. I guess that's what happens when you navigate one with someone who's good at directions because usually it takes me hours and I end up panicking about never escaping so much I just cheat and go through the cornstalks. We also explored Santa Barbara (where he went to college) and saw Oprah and Jack Johnson's house. So much fun y'all.
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| There was a pig. |
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| #basic |
Ok, so on to Kelly's visit.
No, I didn't get my nose pierced. Yes, she made me get my hair cut.
As most of you probably know from my Facebook, we got to be in the studio audience for both Ellen and Conan. I thought I might give a brief description of how this works, since I had no idea before last weekend.
For Ellen, we drove down to the Warner Brothers lot and parked in a parking garage. In the parking garage, there is a large area with benches and a ticket booth with Ellen employees walking around helping everyone check in. After you give them your name and ID, you basically sit and wait for 45 minutes to an hour in the garage (which is fine because the weather was nice). When they're ready to take you into Ellen's studio, they guide you in groups across the street to her building and you go through metal detectors and they check your purse. Then you sit in a long hallway lined with pictures of Ellen and famous guests she's had on the show. After that, we were led to a lounge area where you could also purchase Ellen souvenirs - naturally I got a shirt and Kelly got socks...Yes. Socks.
Once we were in the actual studio audience, we were entertained by some guy who is supposed to get the crowd pumped up for the show. There was a lot of dancing involved - aka Kelly at her prime, and me at my worst. It was such a blast though, guys. Such a blast.
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| We're a big deal. (No we're not) |
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| They had Ellen water - currently on display on my bookshelves. |
Our Conan experience was pretty different. Our friend Amy (who got us all our tickets and is just all around fabulous) got us green room access. For those of you who don't know what that means, the green room is where the guests and hosts hang out before the show. We saw Andy Richter in boxers and an undershirt getting coffee. Casual. Anyway, the green room was amazing. They had Brookstone massage chairs that Tommy and I basically lived in the whole time we were in there. Unlike Ellen, we were taken to our seats through backstage, so we walked where Conan walks out every day. On to the good part:
As we're walking up to our seats (which have been roped off for us), we realize the entire studio audience has already been seated. As we're walking up the stairs, I'm feeling like a big shot when suddenly I miss the step in front of me and trip. YES I TRIPPED IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE STUDIO AUDIENCE. There was an audible gasp. Guys. It was almost too funny to be traumatic. Almost.
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| Pre-trip. So happy and naive. |
We also took the Warner Brother's studio tour which was really fun. We got to see the sets of shows like Pretty Little Liars, Hart of Dixie, Friends, Two and a Half Men, and Big Bang Theory (which was filming while we were there). It's also some anniversary of Batman so they had a huge exhibit on that. Those of you who know me well know I love behind the scenes stuff, so I was thrilled. And I got to sit in Central Perk - like the REAL Central Perk set.
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| Laser eyes |
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| Realized after the fact that I'm overreacting. |
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| Insert Chandler joke here |
Differences between Malibu and the South
- People wear sunglasses inside here and like people don't look at them weird or find it abnormal. The first 2 weeks, every time I saw someone with sunglasses I would follow them to see if they were a celebrity and they never are. Learned that lesson the hard way...
- It's legal here for motorcycles to weave in and out of traffic. It's the most nerve-wracking thing to be driving and have a motorcycle whiz by just inches from your car while you're going 70.
- Pretty much everyone already has the iPhone 6, including children... Technically I don't know that it's not the same in the South but I'm pretty sure it's not.
- Botox
So much love to every one of you reading this!!
If only Kelly could move in full time. I don't think SoCal could handle us year-round.
XOXO
Malibu Harbie
