Our Today Show Debut...
Thursday night we packed the car and headed off for our adventure. Heather decided to do all of the driving and got us there in record time (my mom and I were banned from driving from both of my sisters before we could even volunteer...go figure!). We had looked at hotels and had settled on staying at a hotel on the outskirts of the city and just taking a taxi in. My Dad decided he had a better idea. He used all of his credit card points and scored us a sweet hotel in the middle of times square! It was seriously unbelievable. Besides the fact that we were given homemade chocolate chip cookies, we could look at our window and see Times Square totally lit up. It was insane. We walked around as soon as we got there, and actually had a chance to see Ricky Martin in person (Well, we noticed a big crowd staring at something and just jumped in the crowd. With my sister on my back we attempted to get pictures of him, screamed like crazy into the lady's ear in front of us...who was not happy with us...and acted like huge super fans, even though we only knew one line of a song).
It didn't really matter who we saw Thursday night, because we basically had one priority while in New York...I HAD TO SEE MATT LAUER. If you know me, you know that I watch the Today Show ritually. I watch it every morning and I do not miss! We had made t-shirts ahead of time (mine said, "I love Matt Lauer", Heather's said, "I Love Playing Hooky, Kristen's said "I Love No Responsibility, and Mom's said, "I Love Family Fun) in hopes that they would notice us. Yeah. We were in bright t-shirts that you could not miss. They were going to notice us!
We decided to scope Rockefeller Plaza out as soon as we got in late Thursday night. We walked a couple of blocks down and decided to get the scoop from the officers patrolling around the Plaza. We told them we wanted to see Matt Lauer, but realized that Usher would be there (we had read on line that he was doing a summer concert), so we wanted to know what the best way to see Matt was. The officers told us we needed to get there early, as well as gave us the location of where Matt would be dropped off and around what time. So, we had a plan. We were going to go back to the hotel, sleep for 4 hours, get up at 4am, and be at the plaza at 4:30am.
Let me just tell you, I was estatic...and nervous all at the same time. I kept saying to my family, "What if we are the only ones there and we are in our t-shirts waiting on the curb for him...we are so going to be stalker." They assured me that we would not be the only ones, after all, think of all the people who will be in line for Usher. We video taped on the way over in attempts to catch just how excited I really was (which you can find on my facebook).
We arrived at the Plaza to...NO ONE! Seriously...there was no one. It was 4:30am, we are all wearing bright colored matching shirts (can I remind you of what mine said???), and we are standing by this orange cone, by ourselves, where Matt Lauer is to arrive. Stalkers anyone??? Oh yeah, we had a huge sign in our hands too. Well, it didn't take long for the main security guard to notice us. He comes over all gruff and says, "What are you guys looking for?" To which I say, "Matt Lauer!" I think he thought we were crazy, so I just started rambling..."Well, we wanted to get here early because we know that Usher is here and figured there would be a huge line." To which he said, "Who told you Usher was here?" To which I said, "I read it online." I think it was in that moment that I realized he was coming May 18th and today was not that day. The security guard confirmed my thoughts and then my sisters, mom and I just lost it!
The security guard didn't find a whole lot of humor in the situation (or at least he was supressing it), but he kindly showed us to the front of the Today Show Audience line and said we could wait there...until 6:30am. Several minutes later, he dropped the big one on me. He came over, and all of a sudden turned nice and handed me a paper. He said it was a play by play of what was going to happen so we knew when to look for all of my favorite peeps from the Today Show and then added, "But Matt Lauer isn't in today." No Usher. No Matt Lauer. I actually think he felt compassion for me in that moment as he looked at my neon pink "I love Matt Lauer" t-shirt, or maybe he just felt sorry for the crazy ladies on the street!
Needless to say, I had to shake off the disappointment and keep myself from laughing, all at the same time, because it was the most humorous scenario! We eventually did get ushered into the viewing area, and the whole experience turned out to be more than we had hoped. We were on National Television (everyone texted, tweeted, and facebooked us about it), we met Al Roker, we met and talked with Natalie Morales and got her autograph, we made Savannah Guthrie's day because we had her name on our sign, AND we became BFF with Ann Curry! Well, when I say BFF, I mean she LOVED our sign and loved our t-shirts. When she saw mine said "I love Matt Lauer," she said, "Aww! That is so nice...and he isn't even here." Kristen told her we got up at 4:00am, and she thought that was awesome. She gave us a huge hug. ANN CURRY HUGGED US! The morning was amazing and an incredible experience all in all. Heather got to get her picture taken with Jermaine Paul (the winner of the Voice), we got to see the mom who saved her children in the tornado, and we even saw a famous super model, Christy Turlington Burns, with a bunch of paparazzi, on the way out! It was amazing.
I could write so much more, and trust me, I will tomorrow. While I may have not seen Matt Lauer, I sure did walk away with some memories with my family that I won't ever forget. I am seriously blessed!
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