Rachael Ray Rocks!!

Remember this post?  Well, I ended up going to the Rachael Ray Show on Thursday.  I know there are many people that can’t stand her and thinks she’s annoying but I had such a great time as an audience member on her show.  Even though I had to wait on line for over an hour, it was totally worth it.

I originally requested 4 tickets because I thought there would be people asking to go but that wasn’t the case. I almost went alone until I told my 16 year old sister that I was going. I said I know you have to go to school but if you’d like, you can come with me. She screamed with excitement. She than said nothing is going on in school this week so it would be perfect. So, my mom stayed with my 3 year old (she lives in the Bronx) and off we went to take the train to the city. When we got to the train station, we were so sweaty. It was already almost 85 degrees at 10:00AM. I couldn’t believe it. I haven’t sweated like that in a long time. We ended up getting to the city at 10:50AM. It was about a 10 minute walk because we got on line at exactly 11AM. Even though they tell the audience members to get there at 12PM, there was a LONG line already. I was afraid that we weren’t going to be able to get in – that is how bad the line was. Take a look at the pic: While waiting, we made some friends from Jersey and started talking to them. They told us they have been on the Rachael Ray show 5 times! I said what?! I had to wait a full year to get tickets the first time I went last year. This time it only took about a month for me to get tickets. So it wasn’t too bad. So anyway, back to the line. The two women that we made friends with had told us the last time they were there, they were turned away because they (RR show) already had the 125 people that they needed. So then they gave them VIP tickets for the next show. They hoped to see the show this time without getting turned away but do you know what happened?

My sister and I were given the last two tickets! Can you believe that? I felt so lucky. You don’t understand, these things don’t normally happen to me. The man that was giving away the tickets went up to them and said you can have VIP tickets for the 2:30 show and you don’t have to wait on line. I felt bad and happy at the same time. The two women said what luck do we have. I told them at least you’ll be back and you don’t have to wait on line. After they left, I turned to my sister and said we are so LUCKY!! She agreed.

After we got in, we were given a release form and it said Dr. Phil’s weight loss team. I thought, oh ok, Dr. Phil is here. When I looked at the bottom of the form, I noticed there was a spot to write your social security number. Now, I am very careful when it comes to writing my SS # because you never know what can happen. So I asked the guy who handed them out, do we have to write our SS#? He said yes, it’s their policy because they don’t want any lawsuits. So I glanced at the other forms and saw that everyone indeed wrote down their SS#. So I decided to write my SS# also but when it came to the last 2 numbers, I wrote different numbers. I’m sorry but I don’t know who is taking care of these forms so I had to do what I felt was right. After checking in our bags, we went up an elevator and went to the 3 or 4th floor, I don’t remember. All I saw was orange colored walls and Rachael Ray and Isaboo pictures EVERYWHERE. It was so bright and fun. When you come in, they ask you if you have to use the restrooms and of course, I did. After we used it, they directed us to a room where they hold the audience members. It was a huge room with black walls and wires and pipes along the ceiling. It was kind of creepy, in my opinion. So anyway, I asked my sister if she wanted to eat anything because there was a table full of food, so I thought. She said she wasn’t hungry so I went up to the table by myself. When I got there, I noticed they had very little to choose from. It was very different from the last time I was there (last year). The only things they had were: plain bagels, bran muffins, a tub of butter, bottled water, regular and decaffeinated coffee with creamers and sugar.

Now don’t get me wrong, I was very grateful that we were being fed something compared to other shows where you get nothing.  The thing is when I went to the RR show last year, they had tons of stuff to eat. I was totally surprised at the amount of food they had for the audience members. They had: bagels, regular cream cheese & flavored cream cheese, butter, different types of muffins, pastries, bottled water, different flavors of coffee, hot chocolate, Sara Lee Cheesecake bites (that were so delish) & ice cream. So you see why I was a little disappointed. So we waited about another half hour and we finally went into the studios.   As soon as we got in, I noticed a few things that were different from last season.  There’s HUGE flat screen on one of the walls, they have new seating, new paint colors and new pictures on the wall.  It was really cool.  The staff put my sister and I in the middle of the “lazy susan” (same as last time), in the fourth row. It wasn’t too bad.  In reality, there are no “bad” seats at her show.

After everyone is seated, there is a comedian by the name of RC Smith that keeps the audience entertained until Rachael Ray and her crew are ready to tape. He gives out prizes (this time it was Redken hair products for people that guessed the song that the dee jay would play) and tells jokes.  He makes it really fun. I had a great time with RC. He is a trip and very funny. We didn’t have to wait long until we saw Rachael Ray. To be honest, she is skinnier and prettier in person and she seems like a great person.  The only part I didn’t really like was that the only thing she made was a sour cream and onion dip.  I was really looking forward to her cooking some “real” food, ya know.

So to make a really long story short (lol, I know this post is way too long), we ended up seeing Dr. Phil, his wife and their new dog Maggie and New Kids on the Block.  I was once a NKOTB fan when I was like 12 but now that I’m thirty-something – not so much.  What is disturbing to me is that they were there to surprise about 10 women that are still die hard fans.  C’mon, they are almost 40 years old and they have a song out that says “I’ll be your boyfriend”?  What are they trying to do?  I don’t know about you but that is way too creepy for me.  Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a prude but that is how I feel.

Anyway, before I forget.  You know how the audience gets the snack of the day. Well our snack was 2 samples of her new dog food, Nutrish.  Yummy!!LOL.  I know my dog appreciated that.  He loved it.  We also received other things among the dog food, which was very nice.  Here is a pic of our “gift”:

So anyway, that was my Rachael Ray day.  I hope you enjoyed reading my day.

P.S. Come to think of it, this is my longest post ever.  I got carried away.  Whew, I’m tired just thinking about it 🙂