Our Ellen Experience...

Well, the day finally came...the day we've been counting down to...the day to see Ellen Degeneres!

Tiersha, Desiree, Paola and I drove to LA on Monday night (yes, my anniversary, and my first night away from Ryan...I'm a horrible wife, I KNOW!!) to stay at Rick and Arlene's. Because we had standby tickets, we needed to lineup at the NBC studio as early as possible and driving from Orange County to LA at 4 in the morning didn't appeal to us. We were so glad to be able to stay at Rick and Arlene's and just have a 15 minute drive to the studio.

We only waited in line for about two hours before we got a ticket marking our place in line so we could leave until the afternoon. During those two hours, we ate snacks, speculated on who the guests might be, and played a competitive little game of Catch Phrase with our flamboyant new friend (Reggie?) who was in line ahead of us.

Once released to "enjoy our day" (3 hours) we drove around, got lost, stopped for manicures, and stopped for lunch.

We got back to the studio at noon and waited in various lines until about 3:30 when we were finally ushered into the icebox, err, STUDIO. We still weren't sure if we would actually get seats for the show or if we would be sent to the dreaded Riff Raff Room (overflow room where standby people can watch the show from monitors). After a little bit of confusion, we realized that we had in fact made it IN! Jumping and screaming ensued. Reggie joined with us in the jumping and screaming :)

We were sent to our seats and immediately encouraged to clap, scream and DANCE. I clapped so much that a day old paper cut on my finger began to bleed (I guess too much blood was rushing to my hands). Tiersha describes Ellen's first appearance best by referring to it as surreal. Here is this hilarious lady that we have only ever seen on TV, and she's standing, and dancing, mere feet from us!! Amazing.

Once the show actually started, it wasn't as exciting. I wasn't crazy about the guests (Wanda Sykes, Danny Noriega from American Idol, and some kid who was searching for his birth mom, only to find that he worked with her), and I think I expected Ellen to interact with the audience a little more...you know. I wanted her to tell us that we all just won a trip to the Bahamas or something. Ok, I didn't have expectations THAT high. I really just wanted a Tivo (I'm easy to please :). And she's given SO many away lately, I thought for sure I would leave with one (well I hoped). We all had our dream prize...Paola wanted a trip (anywhere), Tiersha wanted a car (Ellen gave those away last week), and Desiree...hmmm, I don't remember if she mentioned anything in particular.

Anyway, once the show ended we were pretty much told to get out. They were taping another episode and had to make room for the next audience.

My thoughts after the show:

-surprised that it was over so quickly
-bummed that we didn't get a prize
-frustrated that they let us out right at the peak of traffic (what's that about?)
-overall, glad we went. It's an experience we'll never forget. I'd never go with standby tickets again. But I'll definitely try for regular tickets again!

Oh, and if you haven't watched Ellen, you should. She's hilarious. Also, check out her HBO special, I think it's called "Here and Now". It's so funny and clean. I think that's why I appreciate her most. She can be super funny without having to be dirty.

SO...that was our experience. See Tiersha's blog for more pictures and details.