Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New York, Anniversary, Jimmy Fallon, Awesome

Of course there's two sides to every story and today I'd like to talk about my New York trip and weigh the good with the bad in a segment I call "Pros and Cons".

Pros and Cons by The Roots

Pro                                         Con
 Seeing Times Square for the first time                    In the pouring rain, lugging a suitcase 
                                                                     and walking 2 blocks in the wrong direction.            

The weather was beautiful when we landed in New York.  It was nice on the bus from the airport, it looked great as we headed down into the subway station, and it was pouring when we walked back out of it.  We bought 2 $3 umbrellas which during our trek to the hotel managed to keep us dry from the shoulders up.   After our misadventure in the rain (walking 2 blocks in the wrong direction and passing a different subway station on our way to the hotel) Brett was banned from navigating.  

Luckily this was the only time it rained during our trip and later we were able to enjoy Times Square in freshly ironed clothes.  




Pro                                         Con
 Eating the best barbecue New York has to offer           which isn't quite as good as Texas
                                                                             barbecue.  Which is where we live.   

It was our first night, we were hungry, and it was close by.  It was very good, but it seems silly in hindsight to go all the way to New York to eat something you can pay half as much for in your home town. 




Pro                                         Con
 Getting VIP tickets to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon          realizing that VIP is an acronym
                                                                             for Very Inferior Peon.

I do not want any panties in a bunch over this, I am 100% incredibly unbelievably wonderfully totally inconceivably grateful that I had a guaranteed seat to LNJF.  Omigoodness, BEST ANNIVERSARY EVER.  I was surprised how many VIPs there were at this show.  In our line we were about the 30th and 31st person.  There was another line that got in before us -- by the time we got into the studio it was already half full.  At this point I was feeling even more grateful we had gotten tickets, because by the time the poor sad-sack standbys shuffled in they had been waiting in lines for HOURS, and then watched the show from the hard wooden benches in the back.  Not to mention the even sadder-sackier standbys who stood in line for hours and then didn't get a seat!  I was sittin pretty 6 rows back.

our awesome wristbands
and the tshirt we couldn't afford to buy



















Pro                                         Con
Jimmy Fallon is my best friend.                          I am not even a blip on Jimmy's Radar.

Omigoodness, Jimmy came out of the curtain and pointed RIGHT AT ME!  His eyes bore into mine and I could clearly read in them, "I know you, we are one." A thrill ran up and down my spine. Goosebumps!  (Brett swears he was pointing at him, and apparently he had the same internal reaction.  Whatevs Brett, I am clearly Jimmy's BFF).  That was my moment (and probably every other person in the audiences' haha), because other than that first exit, there wasn't much more rapport with the audience. I was a little disappointed because honestly when you watch Jimmy on SNL and LNJF for years you really start to feel like he is your bestie.  He is funny and unassuming and just a real cool dude.  So I think deep down you think yeah, Jimmy is my friend.  But when it boils down to it this is a guy who sees a new studio audience every day, face after face after face.  Having a personal relationship with each and every one of them would be exhausting.  Especially because many of them are probably freeeeeeeeaks.  But I admit I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more give and take from Jimmy with the audience.  I understand where he's coming from.  In a, 'I am not a tv personality that weird girls fall in love with and weird dudes want to kill' kind of way.  

I know you can't tell, but his arm is raised and pointing right at me.  Or Brett.  or the dude sitting next to me. Connection is in the eye of the beholder I suppose.




Pro                                         Con
 Seeing Jimmy Fallon's Beautiful Face              Seeing Jimmy Fallon's beautiful behind.
                                                                       (A pro in any other context)

So at the end of every show Jimmy runs up and down the aisles shaking hands and signing autographs. Brett and I were poised and ready to shake his hand when Doofenshmirtz back there ruined it aaaaaallll.


Jimmy had run up the other aisle and was coming down ours.  Just as he was about to reach our row, Heinz Doofenshmirtz stands up and hands him this weird who knows what the heck it is T-Shirt.  Jimmy is all, "oh wow, thanks Doofenshmirtz.  I will now show this weird-A t-shirt to the camera as if I am going to treasure it rather than throw it in the goodwill bin the second I get off stage. Have fun seeing your t-shirt on a bum in two weeks."  So Jimmy takes 2 steps forward to do the camera shot of the t-shirt, and totally and completely bypasses our row.  We were left standing there with our hands extended like Sad-Sackians, watching Jimmy continue to shake everyone elses' hands but our own.  The couple sitting next to us didn't seem that broken up about it.  So we kicked their shins.  

Pro                                         Con
Lots of Nookie                                                         Too much Snooki


Don't worry, I won't go into detail.  Let's just say that 5 years of marriage and 2 nights without children is a great combo.  We had a gorgeous, quirky hotel in the heart of Times Square.  I thought I would die in its elevator a couple of times, but as you can see, still here.    Snookie brought us slippers, and since my mother taught me "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," and I occasionally follow that advice, I will say no more about it.  We do love the semi-hideous, totes-comfy slippers though.

Holy Geez girl, close your mouth!















Joe Buck, a previous unknown to us sports-dummies, was actually an incredible guest.  We liked him a lot.  Jimmy also mentioned their movie Fever Pitch which we had actually watched the day before, so we felt pretty cool.  Then Tig Notoro did stand-up (instead of a musical guest) and she was HILARIOUS. Jimmy was cracking up during her bit, and it was really fun seeing him being entertained. The Roots were also totally and completely unbelievable, as usual.  In spite of Doofenshmirtz and the notorious Shake Shaft, the show was easily one of the best moments of our married life.



So, for all of you that helped make that happen,
T.H.A.N.K.Y.O.U

For everyone else, you suck.  Hahahaha, just kidding.  We love you too.  We pretty much love everyone right now.


The Whole she bangs, she bangs. Sorry, unrelated Ricky Martin moment.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Worst case scenario

So Brett was a little embarrassed by my smooshy (his word, not mine) anniversary post ("C'mon Kristina, no one wants to read that") So it is time to go the absolute opposite of smooshy and talk about what I painted after I produced those one of a kind, collector's itemish works of love art.

I tend to get carried away sometimes.  See, we got these awesome VIP tickets to late night, and ever since then my mind has been working a mile a minute on possible amazing scenarios that could occur while we were in New York.  I dream up awesome wedding crashes (which my honest husband refuses to even think of doing, BTW) or our hotel finding out it was our anniversary and comping our stay, or running into Jerry Seinfeld on the street, who then invites us home for dinner because we are just that cool and he wants to be BFFs forever (Best friends forever, FOREVER.)  Less dramatic scenarios include meeting Jimmy Fallon before/after our live taping, or getting a free tour of NBC universal studios.  But the point is, these kinds of things don't generally happen to regular ol' folks like us--and the more I dwell on what awesome stuff could happen, the more my hopes are raised that something totally awesome will happen, and the more I'm let down when only normal cool stuff happens (like attending a live taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  HELLO!)  So to try and bring my expectations back down to a normal, reasonable level, I thought up the worst case scenario.  Cause if you are prepared for the worst, the ok seems pretty cool.  And the water colors were still out, so why not paint it, ya know?

New York City Trip: Worst Case Scenario

Brett woke up just as I was adding the final touches to the gangbanger who was running off with his bloody dagger and our fat wad of cash (we're high rollahs).  As you can imagine, he was quite horrified.

Brett: WHAT IS THAT.
Kristina (guesturing to Lovey art pasted all over the walls): I painted you happy anniversary pictures!!
Brett (pointing in disgust at the gangbanger running off with his dollahs): What is THAT.
Kristina: A gangbanger running off with your dollahs.
Brett: Why would you paint that.
Kristina: I don't want to be disappointed on this trip so I imagined the worst case scenario.
              Then I painted it.  Obviously.
Brett (blinking in disbelief): That is so wrong.

At this point Brett sits down at the kitchen table where Juliet, Bensen and I have been happily painting for the last hour, picks up a paintbrush and hammered out this little beauty.

New York City Trip: What would actually happen.



I guess I forgot to take into account Brett's mad Jiu-Jitzu skillz.  I stand corrected.



Sunday, July 24, 2011

Dear Kristina Foutz,

Dear Kristina,
You so rock.

Love,
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon


Okay, so it wasn't THAT epic, but it was pretty dang epic. Just got this email.

Dear Kristina,


Thank you for your interest in tickets to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon! Some
of the writers recently spotted your online plea to obtain tickets to an
August taping. We would love to help out a die hard fan of the show. If you
think you can still make the trip to NYC, we would like to set aside two VIP
tickets to the show on August 10th. Please see attached instructions for
ticket pick up.


Happy 5th Anniversary!


Brandon D.

Oh. My. Holy. Crap. We're going to see JIMMY!!!!


So I have to thank everyone that helped out, I know our video got posted and reposted on Facebook 298X and my original blog letter got reposted 238X.  The video recieved 500+ views, and at one point the blog was getting a hit every 2 minutes.  Not exactly viral, but not bad for a letter that started in LUBBOCK TEXAS!  We made it to New York you guys, courtesy of awesome you guys!

Special thanks to Patrick Borelli.  I am 100% convinced that it was his intervention that got us noticed by the Audience coordinator.  But if anyone else from LNJF wants to refute that, feel free!

Now excuse me, I have some more girlish squealing and hokey dancing to take care of.