Day 4 - Regis and Kelly!

In spite of the Tylenol PM I took before going to bed, I hardly slept. And when the alarm went of at 5:30am, I didn't want to move. I woke up Alex and asked why were we doing this, it was nuts. He mumbles "be on TV." So we did it. We got up and dressed and left by 5:50 and made our way into the cold morning. I had mapped out our subway route the night before (by this time, I was a pro) and we were at our designated spot in front of Lincoln Square 7 just minutes before 7am. (The Starbucks across the street did not go unnoticed by me). There was a very small line out front so our odds looked good. Just in case, we planned out three other shows we could try to get into later that day.

It seemed to get colder as we stood there. The wind was whooshing past and we hadn't eaten breakfast. A couple in front of us, probably about our age, asked a security guard who had just walked outside, what time we could expect to get our standby tickets. He said "after 7." I had just looked at my watch and it was 7:15. He could have said "mushrooms" as helpful as he was.

The line next to us, the ones who had tickets beforehand, started to grow and then shrink as they let people inside.  Then when it looked like we might gain access, more people would show up in that line. We got colder and less hopeful but shortly before 8, literally 7:56, a woman came out and handed us each a piece of paper with a number on it. We were numbers 23 and 24. The woman told us to come back at 8:30 and they'd see how many seats they had available. They kept assuring us that nothing was guaranteed.  So we headed across the street to the packed Starbucks along with everyone else. My legs were so cold and so used to standing still they forgot how to walk. Once inside, we ordered hot chocolate and breakfast and snagged the last table, almost shoving a woman out of her seat as she put on her coat

Alex called his mom to let her know our progress and at 8:30 we went back outside. (Had it gotten still colder?) They wouldn't let us in the building still but slowly allowed a few people at a time. Eight people were ushered in at a time, and they still reminded us that we were not guaranteed to be on the show.  Fifteen minutes before nine and we were in the door going through a metal-detector. Twelve minutes to go and we were lining up in order of our tickets. We kept moving from line to line, back and forth in the foyer and then just minutes before we were ushered down the hall getting closer and closer to the studio.  We were inside, but it seemed almost full. Just a few seats here and there left vacant. We were handed little pink pieces of paper, numbers 151 and 152...of 163! We made it! We ran to the top to the only seats we saw open and sat down. I couldn't stop looking around at all the signs and lights and people. I was really there!! 

Gilman came out and told us to be excited and clap a lot and laugh when things were funny. He gave us the whole schpeal on how we are the life the show and we bring excitement to it. Um, I was excited enough for everyone!

Then it started! Regis and Kelly came out and did their usually entertaining opening. But it was hard to remember to stay smiling and pretty when I was staring in awe! But after the first commercial, the disappointment came. IT'S NOT ALL LIVE! They prerecorded the interview with Amanda Seyfriend (the person I'd actually heard of as opposed to Donny Wahlberg). And after the end of this show, they had us stay to record some bits for a show in two weeks! Ugh, what a lie!

Anyways, by the end of that, our exhaustion was coming through. A few people we had waited in line with grabbed tickets for The View and headed off towards that but we wanted a nap! We decided to head back to Brooklyn and nap before our evening plans. We got pizza right off the subway and ate it back at Bob and Kim's. (Alex made a mess.) Then it was naptime! Alex wanted to explore Brooklyn before we headed back into Manhattan to meet Kim for her friend's art show but I slept longer than anticipated and we only had times for showers before we left.

We took the subway to near Central Park. The show was at the Arsenal Building just on the perimeter of the park. It was so much fun! It was small but very chic. They served lots of cheese and wine. We perused the unique art and then got up the nerve to ask for a glass of wine. Kim said it wouldn't matter that we're a few months too young. Alex very casually asked for two glasses of red wine. After we finished those, Alex had more cheese and we met the artist, we went to meet Bob at his office before dinner.

He worked on the 18th floor of a building way across town. His office was at the top and their lease included the roof access! So we had to peak. It was even colder and windier! We didn't stay long but I got some great pictures. We could ALMOST see the Statue of Liberty, but not really. We walked around a bit trying to get onto the Highline but it was closed already as they have winter hours. So then it was time to head into Brookly for dinner at The Diner, a favorite of Bob and Kim. 

And I can see why. It was a small, run-down roadside dinner on the outside, but inside there was a bar and a very fancy restaurant. They didn't even have menus! The waitress just came and told us what was available that night. The portions were perfect, as I went on about all night, and Kim ordered wine for the table. (Illegal drinking in public #2). The food was AMAZING! I had pasta as did Alex. We got hors d'oeuvres to share which included raw crab. I tried some of Kim's squid too...not as bad as it sounds. Then we had some amazing desserts, chocolate cake (made from Mast Brothers Chocolate made in Brooklyn) and some lemon too. Between this and our first NYC art opening, it was a very 'sophisticated' day for us.