Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Best. Day. Ever.

This will most likely be a very long post. But it's awesome.

3:15 am: Wake up and be ready to go at 4 am. We are wearing our custom-made T-shirts that Derrick had made for us. They are sweeeeeet. Check 'em out.



4:15 - 4:45 am: We finally leave. I was not the late one, thankyouverymuch. We drove down to Hollywood to the CBS studios and were shocked to see a huge line a block long already. So we hopped out and ran to get in line while Derrick parked the car. We brought camping chairs and blankets and parked it until 6 am when the line started to move. It was freezing.

6:00 am: We are issued "Order of Arrival Passes." I was #246. Meaning, the 246th person in line. We walked up and down the line when we first got there to check things out, and the people at the very front of the line got there last night at 10:30. YIKES!! The studio only holds 325 people, and there are always groups that have reservations that don't need to wait in line, so I started to get a little nervous about my number. But then we realized there were TWO shows taping today so I started to feel a little better. Well, they told us to come back at 7:30 and get a "Priority Number." So, we trucked back to the car to drop off our chairs and blankets and stuff and some decided to sit in the car and some went to the bathroom but I wasn't taking any chances and went straight back to get in line again.

7:00 am: Well, they just move you to a holding area until 8am when they line you up according to your order of arrival number. While I was waiting for everyone else to show up I was checking out the guys in the red jackets, or Pages, who were running the show. We had heard that they had a lot of say in who gets picked so we were chatting them up and making a scene and trying to be as energetic as we can. At one point I stood up on the bleachers while it was quiet and yelled out, "Everyone might as well go home, because I'm gonna win it ALL!!!" Don't ask me where I grew the balls to do that!

8:00 am: We are given our priority numbers. We had tickets to the 4:30 pm taping, and it turned out we got numbers 88-95 for that show. Pretty good. Still, they told us just because we had a priority number didn't mean we were guaranteed a seat. They told us to come back at noon. We went back to the car and slept for an hour. Finally.

10:00 am: We wake up and walk around The Grove Farmers Market, which is right next to the CBS studios. We walk around the American Girl Store, which is ridiculously expensive and filled with white moms with fake boobs and spoiled little girls waiting in line to get their dolls' hair done for $20. Um.....what???

11:00 am: We eat lunch at The Corner Bakery, where I partake in what is perhaps the tastiest panini I have ever eaten. Artichokes, roasted tomatoes, spinach, provolone. YUM.

11:45 am: Back in line. The Pages check our ID's, our Social Security Cards, and we all get another number and we fill out our names. I was #90. Another page comes around and writes our name tag for us. Er, price tag, I should say! The girl wrote my "K" way too big and the rest of the letters were all squished. We were sitting by the same group of 2 girls and a guy the whole time, and seemed to run into them everywhere we went. They were nice though, from Michigan.

2:00 pm: We are waiting to be interviewed by the producers. They take you in groups and go down the line and ask you where you're from and what you do. I said I was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was a nursing student who took care of people with bowling injuries. Derrick said he was in the T-Shirt industry. Haha. Kathleen said she was a professional Price is Right watcher, and the people at the end who weren't part of our group were boring.

3:00 pm: We go through security checks and wait on benches some more. The people sitting across from me said they were from Colorado Springs, but I swear they were carnies. They spray painted their T-shirts. And had carnie laughs. Scary. By this time the sun is out and it's beautiful. OH! Side story. A girl, about 18 years old was sitting up on the tops of the benches, with her feet on the bench part you know? Well, the lady behind her says, "Would you please sit down so we don't have to look at your underwear??" Can you believe that??? Crazy!

3:30 pm: WE FINALLY GET TO GO INTO THE STUDIO!!!! It was incredible. And incredibly TINY. Still, the colors, the lights, the music, it was awesome. I seriously was in heaven. We warmed up with Rich and cheered and practiced our applause for Bob and they told us where to run and stuff. And then it started. Like, really fast.

3:35 pm: You can't really hear when they call out names, so they hold up poster boards so you can see. Some lady gets called. Then some dude. Then......KATHLEEN PEARSON!!!! Derrick's sister!!!!!!! We were going crazy!!!! My throat was already sore from all the little kid germs floating around the house, and I was just making it worse. I could NOT stop screaming. They brought out the first item up for bid right away, 2 exercise bikes, and the bids started. Kathleen overbid, and the dude goes up (from the Canadian Miliatary Academy or something like that) and plays the Check Game, and wins a bedroom set. Then the next item up for bid comes out, and it's a ceiling fan, and Kathleen bids too low, and some dorky tool goes up and gets to play PLINKO!!! We were SOOO bummed!! We were failing Kathleen!!! The next item up for bid is a pair of banjos and some Gold Bond Medicated Powder. Kathleen is the last to bid and bids 901, the highest bid. SHE WINS!!!!!! She goes up and kisses Bob and plays Any Number. HARD! It's either a clock or a NEW TRUCK! Well, she starts filling in numbers and has 4 out of 5 of the numbers in the price of the truck, and 2 out of 3 of the numbers in the price of the clock, and one number in the piggy bank. Only numbers 1, 2, and 3 were left to play. Derrick was screaming THREE!!! and she said 3. IT WAS RIGHT!!!! We were falling over ourselves in our seats!! It was unbelievable. She ran straight over to the truck, opened the door and was jumping up and down next to it. It was hilarious. Then it was time to spin the wheel. Since she was the top winner, she spun last. The 2nd guy had 80 cents, and her first spin was 20 cents. Her second spin was 75 cents giving her 95 cents and she WON!! She's in the Showcase Showdown! The next 3 games went by in a blur. Bob would talk to us during "commercial breaks" and answer questions we wanted him to answer. But it went by sooooo fast. Boom, boom, boom. Cameras were everywhere. So now it's time for the Showcase Showdown. They literally pick up those bases and just plop them up on stage. Since Kathleen was top winner, (her opponent, from Utah State, lost playing Dice Game--moron) got to choose whether to bid or pass. The first showcase was a bedroom set, camping equipment, and a pair of motorcycles. She decided to pass. He bids 7500. LOW!! Her showcase was a generator, a full-length mirror, a 65" DLP HDTV, and a 23 foot camping trailer!!! She bid 15,000. A nice safe bid since loser-boy bid so low. Well, during the "commercial break", we are dying with anticipation. They come back, and the guy's MSRP is like 19,000, or something really high like that. We were ecstatic. Kathleen's actual retail price was $17,000!!! SHE WON!!! SHE WON EVERYTHING ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!! Well, as soon as we heard her actual showcase price, we bolted up on stage to hug her and jump around and celebrate with her. It was awesome!! I saw Bob standing a few feet away and went up to him and asked him if I could kiss him, and I DID!!! RIGHT ON THE CHEEK!! I almost died. It was a dream come true. Seriously. We stayed on stage for quite awhile before they made us sit back down. All in all she won a total of $33,888. Incredible. I think it all gets taxed at about 40%. She has a truck now that she'll sell and sell their old trailer to pay for the taxes and they get all new stuff! After the filming, they did a raffle for a hundred dollars and a Price is Right game, but none of us won. And then that was it. As quickly as it started, it was over. Probably took about an hour. Very fast. The episode aires February 9th, so mark your calendars!!

This was probably one of the best days of my life. I was super bummed that I didn't get called up, but if anyone else was going to get called, I'm glad it was Kathleen. She's an even bigger fan than I am! All the prizes were perfect for her, and she totally deserved it. This was a great way to end our Christmas vacation. I'm sooo glad we changed our tickets to come!!!

HOORAY!!!!

3 comments:

Lara said...

OMGOSH!! I am freaking out for you! You KISSED Bob too! Don't ever wash your lips. I seriously am GREEN WITH ENVY. I used to watch TPIR religiously when I was a kid. How exciting for you guys! And congrats to Kathleen!

:-)

Samantha said...

That sounds awesome! I was at those studios once and totally wished I could have gone in. It looks crazy. That's INSANE that your sister in law won it all. That's awesome! You should keep us updated on how she gets all that stuff - I've heard they slam you with taxes or something, so I'm curious how it works.

J.R.G. said...

the worst thing about the whole experience is that you have just posted an entry on your blog that will never be matched. You did it, the almost perfect blog entry. Now what do you have to live for?