Prev/Next


Fun for the whole Family:
www.fojin.com

"No, It's a vicious lie!"






Archives:

2014-Today
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002

November 03, 2014 - 11:14 p.m.
"the price is right!"

Hey Journal!

OH MY GOD!! WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!!

I have no idea where to even start with the things that happened today!

We got up this morning at our hotel at around 6:30 in the morning. We had set our alarm for 7:30, but we weren't able to sleep anymore since we still aren't fully adjusted to the time here. We also decided that we should get breakfast before our busy day of TV shows.

We had the Price is Right scheduled for 8:30am and then Jimmy Kimmel for 3:00! Dan looked up some breakfast places online and we went to a place called The Griddle Cafe which was just a short walk down the street from our hotel.

We got there just before they opened at 7:00, and we were the first ones in. I got something called "Hunger Pangs" which was a GIANT piece of ham with three eggs and a big block of hash browns. Dan got blueberry pancakes that were humongous. They were probably the biggest pancakes I've ever seen and he was only able to eat about 1/4 of it.

Breakfast was really good, and we hurried to finish so we could be in time for TPIR! We were going to use Uber for the first time since we had heard great things about it (and had a coupon for $30 free!) However, it was a 25 minute walk, and Dan said it was a nice morning for a walk, so we made our way down to Beverly Blvd... the home of CBS Television City!

We got there around 8:15 and they gave us each a number on a little card, then sent us inside. We walked to a large covered area where we were given contestant release forms and then sat on little benches. As we made our way through the line, a woman came over to check our driver's licences against our forms and then she collected the paperwork. Next, a woman came by to write out and give us our nametags!

There were two people writing the tags today and one was amazing... her handwriting looked like the traditional TPIR nametag and Dan and I were blown away that she could write so perfectly. Her name was Lindsay. The other was named Capri, and her handwriting was atrocious! Dan and I were looking at the tags she wrote and they were all so bad. The letters didn't look right and weren't spaced correctly. Later, we overheard other people talking about how they were disappointed with their name tags. Luckily for us, we had Lindsay and ours were perfection.

We had to have our pictures taken for the producers and then once again for them to try to sell to us later.

When we were done with the photo, we were brought to another line on the other side of the building. We all had to stay in number order the whole time. We sat there for a while, and little by little groups of people were called to be interviewed to be contestants.

This guy interviewed everyone, and when it was my turn.... He asked me a question and I don't know why... maybe I was nervous, or maybe I just had a tickle in my throat, but I started coughing like a fool!! Chances ruined for me!!

No matter, though... Dan was always our best chance. I told him before we went in that he has the look, the personality... he's the total package and America wants him on a gameshow!

Dan was happy and energetic the whole time! It was a must for the taping.. and it was FUN anyway! We spotted one girl who was so bubbly and amazing and we called it, right then and there, that she was going to be picked.

After the interview we went to line #3 where we sat for another hour and a half or so. Here we watched an old episode of TPIR and they sold us overpriced food for lunch. The lady across from us got a moldy hamburger.

We had no choice but to order food, though, because we were going to be there until about 2:30, they said, and we knew we had to get to Kimmel by 3, leaving no time for food after.

Finally, around 12:15, we made our way into the studio and we were assigned seats. The first thing I felt when we went inside was HOW SMALL THE STUDIO IS! On TV it looks humongous, but in person it's soo much smaller. Everything is really close together.

Now, here's where you're going to have to forgive me because from this point on the whole show is a blur. First off, it's hard to hear anything that's going on on the stage from the audience... plus my excitement completely clouded my memory!

The announcer came out and got us ready and then the show started. They called the first contestant who ran up in a frenzy and then they called the second name! Since you can't really hear anything... they also hold up a card with the person's name on it! It said DAN'S NAME!! INSANEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! At first, either because he didn't hear his name, or he was in disbelief, he didn't get up! I was like IT'S YOU!! GOOOOOOO!! and he started hugging people and running down the aisle! It was incredible.

The first item they bid on was a set of kayaks. Dan didn't win. Lucky us!! The person who won the kayaks was the the left of him which put him in a really great position for next time. He was now the last to bid giving him the best advantage!

The second item up for bids was a set of Nextbook Tablets! It's funny because in the audience you can't hear anything they say about the items so it's so hard to have an opinion! I knew nothing and had no advice. Dan bid one dollar more than the person before him and WON!!

I was in the audience clapping like a fool but also being so excited and nervous and I really couldn't believe it!

Dan got up on stage with Drew and they revealed the game he would play! CLIFFHANGERS!! THE BEST GAME! It couldn't have turned out better!

The prizes were a refrigerator, a dishwasher, and a set of Fiestaware plates! Oh, and "free groceries for a year." Pretty snazzy. To be honest, after seeing the whole show, these things were the best for us. There were some other good prizes, and some other crappy ones, but these fit exactly what we need. We NEED a new dishwasher, we need new plates, and we LOVE fiestaware! It could not have been better!

The three items Dan had to bid on were a hot dog toaster, a food processor, and a wireless key locator. The first Dan bid 25 and the actual price was 20. The yodeling man made his way five spots up the mountain! Next, the food processor. I don't remember the exact thing... but he was pretty close and the man moved a little bit more up the mountain. Finally, the key thing. I had no idea... it could have been $20 or $60. I don't even know what Dan said... I didn't hear. All I know was that the man was dangerously close to the precipice but stopped TWO notches away!! AMAZINGGGGGG!! HE WON IT ALL!!!

Next up was the big wheel! Dan got to go last because he had won the most. The first person got $.50 on a combination of two spins and the second person went over which meant that Dan had a GREAT chance to make it into the showcase! He spun but landed on .45, I think. Then, on his second spin he was SO SO SO close to getting a perfect number but the wheel didn't make it and he went over. BLAH!

It was so surreal! I was in shock the whole time.

When the show was over, Dan had to go fill out a bunch of paperwork and normally the rest of the audience would have been sent outside, but they had to film some thing for the Puppy Bowl in February with a bunch of dogs, so they needed the audience to stay. It took forever because the puppies did not cooperate with the stage direction! They had to shoot it over and over.

I was really hoping we would make it to Kimmel but it didn't make a difference because I needed to wait for Dan anyway.

When the Puppy Bowl footage was over, I went to retrieve both of our cell phones. (They had collected them earlier. No phones allowed!)

Dan got out about a minute later and we called an Uber driver to take us to Kimmel. We got out at about 2:45 and had to hurry.

Before I tell the rest of the day's story... I want to sum up a few things about TPIR! First off, if we hadn't have won things.... It would have been SUCH an unreasonably long day! 8:30am - 3:00pm! It must have been so boring for the people that didn't get called up. It just seems excessive. I could deal with it since we walked away with $10,000 in cash and prizes!

Also, that girl that I had mentioned before who Dan and I knew was going to get called.... she did! She was incredible... we loved her.

Anyway, the Uber car got us there at 3:08. We went up to the ticket people, but they said they had closed the line and we were too late. We got denied. We were allowed to wait on the standby line, but after waiting a long time, we got turned away. Sadness.

I guess that given the outcome of the Price is Right, I can live with not seeing Kimmel. Last time we were in LA we missed our Kimmel show, too. However, if Dan had not gotten on the show and the puppy bowl had caused me to miss this... I would have been so annoyed.

So, we walked down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, checked out some stars, and then we headed to our car which was parked at the hotel we had stayed in last night. We got in the car and decided to get out of the city.

We were going to go to Outback for dinner, just because it was outside the city and Dan had a coupon for a free bloomin onion, but as we were driving I just happened to see a restaurant called "The Tam O'Shanter." It looked like a really cool building, and I was drawn in. I checked the menu online, and it looked a bit expensive, but we decided it would be a nice place to go.

We turned around and found some street parking because they had a VALET... and you know I'm not into that sort of thing.

On the way to park, Dan MAY have hit the curb slightly causing the bumper to pop out and causing us extreme stress of having to pay lots of money to the rental car company for the 2014 Mustang Convertible that we had never really intended to get in the first place.

Oh, and while we're talking about that... Jackie is now in California and she and her husband ALSO rented a Mustang Convertible. Unreal! Now I think they just hand these out to everyone who visits.

Before I continue, let me set your mind at ease.... Later in the evening, when we got to our hotel, I was able to see the bumper better and I bent it the way it was supposed to be and managed to snap it back into place. Crisis averted.

Dinner was really good. Our waitress was super-nice and I loved her. The food was really good, though the portions were small. I got pot roast and Dan got meatloaf. Somehow in conversation, I was telling the waitress that we had no plans for this trip and that we were just winging it. We told her we didn't even have a hotel for tonight yet.

We told her that although we had originally planned not to, we were thinking of going to Disneyland tomorrow, which prompted her to tell us that Walt Disney used to come to this restaurant all the time and that there was even a table that he had sat at engraved with some of the plans for Disneyland that he had drawn on the back of a napkin there!

So wild!

After dinner, before leaving, we booked our hotel. A hotel with good reviews on Trip Advisor... the Alpine Inn.

We headed back to the Anaheim area and got to our hotel. We got checked in and then headed to our room. I spent a little time doing the payroll for work... I still have to finish it up tomorrow!

We got showered up and then we watched this past week's HTGAWM! The TV in the room had ABC on Demand which was very convenient...it also let us fast forward through the commercials which was EVEN MORE convenient! Good episode! I'm glad we got to watch it!

Now we're just getting ready for bed.... Going to go to Disneyland tomorrow....torn on going to Disneyland or California Adventure, but I think Disneyland is the way to go because it's classic.

Now we're pretty exhausted. Dan's tuckered out from all that winning! The cash cow!

Alas, we're off to bed. Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)