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Saturday, August 04, 2007

So What Was It Like?

The adventure started on Thursday. It was one of those really slow days. The boys and I didn't really have anything planned, and we were just poking around the house. I have to admit, I've been pretty tired from BlogHer. I got an email from someone at the Mike and Juliet show asking me to call them to talk about my blog post. I ended up talking to a few different people and answering a bunch of questions before I was asked if I could hop on a flight to New York City that night. Admittedly it was not the most convenient time for my husband, the Big Giraffe, particularly since he took 3 days off from work within the last week to stay at home with the boys while I was at BlogHer. However, he was incredibly supportive and able to arrange his work schedule to get home early so that I could go. His efforts were made easier by the generosity of a friend of mine who invited my older son (OS) to join her children, including his good friend "Beth" at a local petting zoo and splashpad on Friday morning. Given the choice between "Watching Mommy on TV" and "seeing animals with Beth," OS was apparently out the door in seconds.

After being flown into La Guardia on the Delta Shuttle, I was greeted by the car service driver holding a sign with my name on it. O.K. so that probably doesn't float anyone's boat except mine, but I never experienced that level of service before. I was impressed by it. (Keep in mind that I'm also impressed with kids TV shows that don't drive me crazy and dye-free, store-brand Infant Tylenol.) I told the Big Giraffe that from now on I would like him to hold a sign with my name on it when he picks me up from the airport. Although he didn't look impressed, deep down inside I am sure he thought it was a fantastic idea. (He told me that if he never picked me up at the airport again, he would technically "comply" with my request. Hmmm...)

I got to stay in a very nice hotel, and I met up with Suzanne for breakfast the next morning. Someone from the show met us in the hotel lobby to personally escort another guest and us to the show. Before yesterday, my big TV experience was my presence in the audience for the Bozo show, when I was 7. There was a shot of me on the screen for about 2 seconds. I treasured my free Bozo show button for many years. (I wonder what happened to it...) Yesterday was a little bit different. I was pretty impressed with the studio. After I had my hair and make-up done, I practiced some questions with one of the assistants. Suzanne and I then ended up chatting and joking around until it was time to go on the show.

Geraldo Rivera was apparently our opening act. Of course, he is a little bit more famous than the other speakers from my segment and I are, so when his segment ran over, we ended up with less speaking time than originally planned. We had been told that we would each get some time to tell "our story" and then answer some specific questions. However, because we were short on time it didn't work out like that. Expecting six minutes of "mic time," I opened with my quip about the t-shirt. After all, I had written it in my blog post, and it had therefore come up in the preparatory discussions with the assistant prior to the show. Had I known that time was going to be cut short, I would have bypassed the shirt and gone right for the...formula bottle.

The time seemed to fly by very quickly, and we were all surprised when they announced that the segment was over. The car service picked me up and took me back to the airport where, after a quick clothing change, I flew wearing my standard stay-at-home mom summer uniform (v-neck t-shirt and shorts). I did not have time to remove the 10 layers of make-up, which left me feeling a little bit strange.

I really enjoyed the experience. Not only was it a lot of fun, but I got to talk about something that is important to me with a very large audience.

Throughout the experience, there were two things that I found very stressful. First, I have never spoken in front of so large an audience before. Second, I didn't know what to wear. The person who made my travel arrangements recommended against a suit, suggesting that business casual dress would be more appropriate. Immediately after hanging up the phone I realized that I have yet to replace my pre-personal trainer business casual outfit so that my non-suit option was a choice of a v-neck shirt or t-shirt for the top and a choice of shorts or jeans for the pants. I borrowed an outfit from a very generous friend about an hour before I left for the airport.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Always keep a business casual outfit that fits in your closet.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 9:52 AM   7 comments
7 Comments:

  • At 8/04/2007 11:01 AM, Blogger Jodi said…

    You looked beautiful and I can't wait to see all of it!

     

  • At 8/04/2007 12:55 PM, Anonymous dr. p said…

    just saw your tv clip. you were awesome. definitely didn't come across as someone not used to being in front of the camera. and the outfit was great! wish i could see the whole thing, but i think you got your point across even if time was short. and mike and juliet are morons. here are 3 women speaking about something important to them and the two of them are acting like giddy idiots cracking jokes. anyway, great job!

     

  • At 8/04/2007 7:46 PM, Blogger soccer mom in denial said…

    You looked completely put together. And I've had media training. Never would I have thought this was your first time (well, not counting Bozo).

    Great job! And thanks for the details. Sounds like such fun.

    But did you get a I Survived the Julie and Mike Show t-shirt?

     

  • At 8/05/2007 7:37 AM, Blogger Parent said…

    I thought you came off as very well spoken with a great sense of humor.

    Awesome!

    And overall, I think you handled the questions well, particularly when they were making you choose "formula or breastfeeding."

    Kudos!

    Kristen (MU)

     

  • At 8/05/2007 8:46 PM, Blogger Mrs. Chicky said…

    You did great! I was very impressed with what I saw in the clip and, darling, you looked fabulous.

     

  • At 8/06/2007 11:06 AM, Anonymous Selfmademom said…

    I think you looked great and did a terrific job! I would have been so nervous! Congratulations... Pink is a terrific color on you!

     

  • At 8/17/2007 12:01 AM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    My mom said to tell you that she thought that you were incredible. She said if she hadn't known otherwise, she would've thought that you are on TV all the time. You are a natural.

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 5 year old and a 2 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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