Rachael Ray Show/ New York

 We arrived in New York @ 3pm.  A car was scheduled to pick us up at the airport.  We waited for quite awhile because our driver couldn't find the Delta Arrival area ;)  After a car ride I will never forget...drivers are a little agressive in New York and sitting in the back of a car that wreaked of cigarettes, I wasn't sure my pretzel's from the plane wouldn't make another appearance.  Our driver had a difficult time finding our hotel as well.  We passed it and he realized it about a block down, we tried desperately just to let us out to walk, but he insisted on going around the block, with several one way streets that was easier said than done.  We finally made it and got all checked in to our room, which was super nice, but super small...compared to what we are use to.  We called the producers to let them know we had arrived.  We were scheduled to meet them to try on the clothes for the show.  As they didn't know what the stylists would choose as part of the challenge, there was a whole rack of clothes to try on and they wanted pictures of each of us in each of the different pieces.  It was fun to try on all the different clothes and try to imagine what we might be dressed in the next day.  We were let in on the "secret ingredient" that evening as they needed to make sure they would fit!

 We were at the studio for about two hours, then they sent us back to our hotel with a pair of spanx and the instructions to wear our grey shirt/jean combo from our submission picture, no make-up and our hair down.  They would do what they needed before we went on the air, and that an intern would meet us in the lobby at 8:50am.  The nice thing was that our hotel was only about half a block away from the Studio. By this time, we were getting hungry as our lunch consisted of the pretzels from the plane.  We ran into a guy in the elevator who recommended Chipotle.  He just happened to have some of their take-out in his hand ;)  They were right across the street and not knowing our way around and the fact that it was dark and raining, we went for it.  It was delish and we giggled that there was a code at the bottom of our receipt if we needed to use the bathroom.  Our good friend Heather, from High School happened to be in New York at the exact same time.  We tried to meet up with her, but bad reception and their flight leaving early the next morning, it didn't work out.  So Becky and I wandered around for a bit, before we felt it would be best if we didn't get lost.  We happened by a Whole Foods and went inside looking for a treat. We obviously haven't spent much time in a Whole Foods before.  We did find some protein granola bars that were in wonderful flavors like dark chocolate peppermint, and macadamia white chocolate crunch... we bought 5 as they were on a special.  This turned out to be good forsight as we didn't realize breakfast would be our only meal the next day :)

 Our intern Ally met us in the lobby at 8:50am to walk us to the Studio.  We had our own little room {with our names on the door} to wait in til we were needed.
 Ally snapped a picture of our "before" look...this was way before...any make-up ;)

Me and Ally

 Our names on the door!

 As we went up to the set, we had to leave our cameras and things in the room, but Ally grabbed my phone and snapped some behind the scenes pictures for us.  Here we are waiting to go on.  Vida {so sad we don't have a picture of her} is the Set Manager, and believe me, you do what she says.
 She was very specific that I always sit/stand to Becky's right.

They had us a do a before picture to show the audience before our reveals.  We both thought they would put a little make-up on, do a little something with our hair...nope.

We just had to stand in front of the camera as we were for 30 seconds while they filmed us for the shot.  We then had a few mintues to meet our teams!  The idea of the show was taken from the "Iron Chef" competitions, but ours would be called the "Iron Stylist", we had two teams of superstars competing for the title, and they needed identical canvases to make it fair...cue the twin request.  And just as in the "Iron Chef" competitions, there was a "secret ingredient" that the stylists weren't aware of.  As Becky and I knew what it was from the night before, we had to be super careful we didn't accidentally spill the beans.

 Becky's teams with the celebrity judge~ Tim Gunn

Tim is absolutely the sweetest, most genuinely kind man.

It was an honor to meet him.

 Becky's team of super stars: l to r~ Zanna Roberts Rassi-Editor in Chief of Marie Claire, Becky, Thomas Dunkin-hairstylist, and Ashunta Sheriff-make-up artist

 Rachael's dream team: l to r~ Gretta Monahan my amazing stylist {not pictured she was shooting her $50. outfit segment for the show}, Ted Gibson-hairstylist from What Not to Wear {for fun check out his website and the cost of a haircut from him directly}, Rachael, and Cyndee Watson-make-up artist.  My team was so darling.  Everyone was so kind and supportive.  I think we were all feeling a little nervous!

 Some shots while we were on set.  Guess I have a habit of talking with my hands...

 oh!  I'm not the only one!

Maybe we are identical ;)

Many have asked how Rachael {Ray} was.  We unfortunately only got to meet her on set while we were on the air.  All her staff said she is warm and friendly.  She seemed very at ease on camera and in front of a live audience...jealous!  We also didn't get to taste any of the food she made on the show.  I think it was because our segment was filmed in real time and we really had about 45 minutes to be transformed.

 

The show was a whirlwind.  After we were all introduced...and the secret ingredient exposed {neon}, we literally ran back stage to our areas {completely seperated, as I wasn't going to see Becky til on air} to be made over.  I sat down and everything happened so fast it's hard to remember all the details.  Ted grabbed the scissors and started cutting, Cyndee was matching colors to my skin, and Gretta was furiously going through all the clothes to determine the best look for me.  As soon as Ted started curling my hair, Cyndee was applying my make-up and Gretta was getting my outfit ready.  As soon as Ted and Cyndee were done, I ran around a partition grabbed my outfit {which by the way did not zip up the night before...those spanx are worth every penny ;)}, there were some last minute changes with jacket or no jacket, sheer or opaque tights, shirt tucked in or left out...throw on a belt, get my feet in the shoes and I'm running back to the set, as a nice woman was trying to get a microphone on me, while I was trying to keep the tape on my blouse together.  Becky was on the opposite side and our backs were facing each other.  Our teams were talking about the competition and we were getting introduced...  That's when Rachael said we might get a little teary and I realized she didn't know much about us.  We had discussed the possibilty of having to hug, and decided for the sake of ratings we would ;)  It was fun to turn around and see Becky looking completely different.  I loved the extensions, and the skinny jeans.  She had never worn skinny jeans before.  I loved her look, but was excited about mine.  I hadn't done much with my hair for the past two years, and so getting a fun haircut was just what I was hoping for.  They didn't prime us for the little  cat-walk on stage so that was disconcerning, but I knew they could edit it if I fell :) 

It was such a super fun experience.  One I'm so grateful I was able to have with my sister.

It was a day we will always remember and laugh about because it was so out of our comfort zone, but that's when you realize that you learned a thing or two!

 Becky's After Look

 Rachael's After

We still weren't able to get to our things to get our camera's so these are the only shots of our new looks.  We had to quickly change back to our before outfits as the next guests were coming to get ready for the filming of the second show. {we did get to take our new looks home with us}

 The trophy won by team Gretta!!

I'm hoping Gretta has it up on her mantel ;) 

 This is us with Brittney just before they set us free on the streets of New York.  We had about 2.5 hours before our car arrived to get us to the airport.  Brittney was the one who had shopped for all the clothes they had to choose from for us to wear, and helped us with the fitting the night before.  She was darling, and made us feel so welcome.

 As we knew we didn't have time to make it to the actual Statue of Liberty we improvised!

 We were in search of souvenirs for the kids, and we were focused.  So much so that we forgot we hadn't eaten any lunch {this is where the protein in our granola bars that morning was such a good idea} and didn't realize that we were at the base of the Empire State Building.  Becky is not a fan of heights and I couldn't talk her into going up, so we took pictures from street level ;)

 We made sure to get some pictures of us at the Studio...

 Rachael K @ Rachael Ray...Studios

 We couldn't get a hold of the producers {as they were filming the next show} for a bit to track down our luggage and our ride to the airport, so we went in the lobby where a very nice security guard snapped this picture of us while we were waiting.  Once we had our luggage we were so excited to get out of our spanx and into something more comfortable for the plane ride home.

 I snapped this picture for a little sneak-peak for Phil.  He was in Wisconsin at the time all of this was happening.  He was there a total of 11 days.  It was hard going through all the excitement and nervousness as we were waiting to find out if we were going to be on the show without someone to share it with. I was excited to share a little sneak peak with him. Thankfully, my sweet mother in law, my good friends, my sil Kelsey and my mom stepped in to help me with the kids so I could get away for this opportunity.  We had another crazy ride back to the airport. We were so excited to get some food in us before our flight.  We got there and made it through security two hours before our flight.  We ate, sat at the gate and just as they were beginning boarding, they made an announcement that our particular flight was boarding at a different gate, we hurried over there and thankfully caught the last shuttle to where our flight was actually boarding.  It was absolutely the scariest shuttle ride I have ever been on. Becky and I were standing as we were some of the last to get on.  We were weaving in and out of planes taking off and landing and taking turns a shuttle that size should not by the law of physics be able to make.  We made it to the next terminal and then had to pretty much run to make our flight.  We were some of the last passengers on the flight so our luggage was at the very rear of the plane, which made getting off the flight a 45 minute ordeal.

Becky had to work the next day so after getting to our car and dropping me off at home, she started her trek to Logan at 12:30am.

 Luckily she made it home safe and sound and snapped a picture of her little ones in their NY swag!

 When you have twin cousins you have to have twinner outfits!

This was really an experience of a life-time.  After it aired on 1/24/13.  Becky called me and asked me if I found being "famous" tiring?  We have such amazingly supportive friends and family and our inboxes, text messages, and facebook, were exploding! and trying to keep up with it was almost overwhelming!  Studio 5 had called us two days before the show aired to see if we would do a skype interview with them about our reaction to the show.  Becky had planned on coming down to Salt Lake so we could do the interview together, but the weather that morning made that impossible.  They had closed Sardine Canyon, and even being a national tv star ;) she wasn't getting through.  I was on my own.  The interview didn't go as planned, but it worked out okay and it was fun to watch it later with Phil and relive the trip with all the pictures they put on.

We are so grateful to the Rachael Ray Show and the amazing producers there.  Their kindness and respect to us was unexpected, and so appreciated.

Phil got home the day after I did.  I tried to keep on my false eye lashes to wow him at the airport, but they don't take too well to being slept on.  I definitely won the lottery when I married him.  He has been so genuinely adoring of me before and after my new look, he has made this whole experience icing on the cake!  I'm kind of fond of him!

Thank you to our wonderful family and friends for your love and support!!