I have been watching the Price Is Right since I can remember. I recall easily summer mornings in elementary school waking up, getting my cereal, and sitting in our basement in Colorado with our large theater type television watching it. My mother would come down and always yell some prices at me. I always thought the models were so pretty and Bob Barker was such a handsome gentleman. (oh how naive our perspective is at a young age!)
Now that I am at home with Jack three days a week, I really have been able to dig my heals into the show and grow even more of an excitement for it. Jack going down for his first nap at 10am every day may have been no accident...
I think I even love Drew Carey more than Bob Barker. He's hilarious. And now that he's lost a bit of weight, not as horrible looking. But now, compared to the newly acquired male model Rob, Drew's a far second.
Yes, please.
I digress...
Lifelong dream, bucket list, whatever you want to call it...I have always wanted good 'ol George to say my name as I scream down the aisle to contestants row. Now that I lived in California, it was in my grasp. Only an hour away!!
Last week, I was telling Aaron for the billionth time that "one of these days" me and my mom (of course) were going to go to the show. He popped on the computer at that moment and got me tickets. THAT FAST. BAM. In one week from that night, my lifelong dreams were going to be fulfilled.
SIDE NOTE: I AM A GIANT LOSER. I know it. I've accepted it.
Shirt purchased. Check. Shirt painted on, accentuating the belly. Check. Tickets printed, parking figured out, driving distance calculated. Check. Check. Check.
5:00 am wake up call. No big deal.Check.
Waiting in line for over 4 hours, of course! You have to be prepared for this, you see. Bringing in 300 people, ID checks, Social Checks, picture taking, INTERVIEWS!, eating lunch, then shuffling people into the auditorium is a rough job. It goes by fast though. You make friends in line. All different walks of life, I tell you. You line neighbor becomes your best friend by the end.
Here was (one of) ours.
He was right in front of us the whole time. A guy from Minnesota (town of a population of 4!), owned a bar, there by himself. Super geeky but fun to talk with. We also met a momma/daughter team from Arkansas who were super sweet. We talked with them for quite some time too. More on them later.
Okay, the interviews. Stan interviews about 10 people at a time, He just goes down the line and asks you, "Who you are, what do you do, where are you from." The key, if you ever want to be on the show, is to act yourself but be a bit more outgoing. Say something a bit more creative, or something that makes you unique. Or, just say how super duper stoked you are to be there. You don't need to be a crazy fanatic freak for 4 hours in order to get picked. Just be nice to other people around you (hidden producers everywhere!) and just simply happy to be where you're at.
I can tell you all this for a reason.
Also,they take away our cameras/phones folks. So don't get too excited about seeing what the stage looks like. I can tell you that it smells like your grandma's house (just a bit on the musty side) and crazy small. So i have so little pictures to tell you about my experience.
We sit when you're facing the audience, on the left hand side a little more than half way up, near the platform in the center.
First four contestants, called. Well, you can't hear when you're in the audience. So, they have these big white sign cards with names on them, and that's how you know you're picked, is by reading your name on the card.
One of them we knew from the line. Super nice girl about my age from Ohio. She was shaking so bad I could even tell from way back where I was.
Old lady wins on contestants row and gets called to stage. Loses her game
Second contestant about to be called...you guessed it.
I see my name on a card. People start screaming. I think I'm going to go into labor.
This is where I blacked out and don't remember any other details.It was by far the craziest rush of my life.
Lifelong dream: to be called on the Price is Right stage: CHECK.
I won't ruin the rest of the story for you (you can watch it all on May 3rd on CBS). But I can tell you the following points:
- that contestants row is SUPER hard
- other contestants were super mean and really liked my bids and liked to outbid me by a dollar. Poo to you guy who won the designer purses who had NO idea what he was bidding on.
- Drew Carey made fun of my shirt when I got up there, he started "smoking a cigarette" asking why I had not called him
- Drew kept saying "hey guys, stop screwing with the pregnant lady." when I got outbid.
- My mom (although a smarty pants while at home yelling at the TV) is the worst helper ever. She would hold up random numbers and then just shrug her shoulders. Mom, you suck.
- I won a cash prize.
- Lady from Arkansas? Friend in line? Last contestant called, got on stage, won $4K, spun the wheel, got to the showcase, won an AUDI and a ticket to the premier of Iron Man 3 in LA. So happy for her. Her husband passed away a little over a year ago and had been having such a hard time since.
I am so blessed. I was reminded again by the stories of so many of God's children yesterday.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience. I wouldn't have traded it for the world. Going with my mom was the BEST DECISION EVER. We had an absolute BLAST going together. I am so amazingly blessed with the best mom anyone could ever ask for.
She (as always) was awesome, funny, supportive, beautiful in her Tshirt, and she was just as happy that I got called as she would have been if she was. I have such a good mentor for a mom. I hope I can be half the mom she is to my kids.
Speaking of, here's a pic after we got home (please excuse how exhausted I look. I"m still recovering today). My mom bought a little tshirt for Jackson. Guess what we'll be doing for his 18th birthday if mamma has anything to do with it.
I leave with a pic of my tshirt and white card that they wrote my name on. Seeing that card brings such a smile to my face. Being one in over 300 picked, c'mon now. Pretty cool.
And if anyone ever wants to go with me again, I'm totally down. Although I can't be a contestant for 10 more years (BOO!) I still would love the experience of watching others try, and actually not being nervous enough to enjoy watching all the ins and outs of the taping of the show.
Don't forget to have your pet spayed or neutered!
