NATE DAY 9/21: My Story

Originally I planned to break my trip to New York into 3 parts due to it being a major milestone in my life.  I took my first plane ride to meet a group of people that have been friends in my computer for over a year!  This was a very special moment for me, but unfortunately, my plans changed and here I am blogging on my feelings on the 9/21 tapping of the show.

 

I received an email saying that I was invited to be a part of the audience that will consist of design bloggers.  I was super excited, but the fact that the email came one week before the taping had me saying that I wasn’t going.  I talked on the phone to another blogger who was invited and told her that I was not going and she said that I definitely should go! Still undecided, I saw a tweet from Janell that said that she had just received the email and was going! OMG, I thought.  Okay so I HAVE to go now, I thought to myself! Seriously, if Janell was going to fly across the country to attend the show, I knew that I could put my fears aside and fly one and a half hours to attend!  So I from there, I called my husband and told him the news and from the jump, he said yeah you have to go.  At this time I’m really siked! I’m excited at the fact that I get to meet Janell AND get to see Nate! Then as the hours and days past, I start to see tweets from EVERYONE saying that that are going and how fun it was going to be! So now I’m SUPER DUPER SIKED!!! Not only will I get to meet Janell, but I will be meeting all of the bloggers that I talk with and in a way look up to because of all the hard work they put into blogging and sharing ideas and inspiring me day to day.  So Janell, blog friends, and Nate, I mean who can pass that up right?  Oh, and not to mention all of the invitations that came poring in like the HGTV luncheon, the Rue Magazine launch party, the Nate Day after party…..This was sure to be a great event!

So I arrive in New York after MY VERY FIRST FLIGHT!

I originally had planed to stay at the hotel alone my first night there, but Jade from Flip Flops and Pearls asked if it was okay to stay with me and boy was I glad!

We toured the city together (something I never would have done alone!) on Sunday…

We toured the city again on Monday before we attended the HGTV lunch

That was not a statue! It was a dude and he scared the heck out of me when he moved!

The lunch was SO COOL! We shared our ideas on different trends we like/disliked, we told them who our favorite blogs were, AND we met EMILY the latest winner of DESIGN STAR!

And guess who came over to me BECAUSE THEY KNEW WHO I WAS?????!!!!!!

THE MOGGIT GIRLS!!!!!!! Yeah, I’m famous!

After that was over, Jade and I walked around a little more where we went back and forth on if we were going to attend the launch party for Rue Magazine.  Long story short I was going, but changed my mind due to blisters on my feet and not having a FAB dress like Jade;-)

(She FANCY, huh?!?!)

Anywho, she had a great time and I received a lot of tweets from everyone saying that they hope my feet feel better! Thanks Jade!

Later that night, we switched rooms because we were shacking up with Janell (woot)!!! And the next morning we had to wake up extra early because Janell was being featured on the show (double woot)!

(and just incase you’re wondering, yes she is just as FABULOUS in person as she is on her blog!)

We are in the green room backstage at The Nate Show!

okay, so after the first taping was done, we had to line up for the taping that we were invited to!

OMG, we met the most AMAZING group of women (and men)! It was so much fun! And I tell you this, I can never look at a talk show the same again! The audience does a lot of work! 

Okay, to get to the part that everyone have been talking about.  No, Nate did not say that his shows audience consisted of design bloggers.  No the show did not consist of projects from design bloggers.  It was not about blogs at all.  That was a bummer because I did (I think we all did) think that he was going to acknowledge us.  Even if we were not part of the show, I thought we were going to be mentioned.  Am I mad/upset by that? Nope.  Did that change the experience for me? Nope.  Would I do it over again if the same thing happened? YES! Here is the thing, when Create Girl and the Moggit Girls put this entire thing together, the tweeted Nate and said this: “Nate, wouldn’t it be cool to have an audience full of design bloggers?” And he said yes! When they invited us to the show, they NEVER EVER EVER said that we were going to be part of the show.  They NEVER EVER EVER said that it was going to be based on us.  They did say that we were not allowed to bring cell phones and lap tops inside which told me right there that it was going to be an interactive social media type thing.  But I did think that he was going to say that we were there on air.  What he did do was, in between tapings, he told us that he was very thankful for everything that we had done for him.  He said that it was one of the nicest things that he had ever had done for him.  He said that he printed our posts to keep because nothing of that magnitude had ever been done for him.  And with that I smiled because NATE BERKUS TOLD ME THANK YOU! He thanked me and everyone else in the audience for blogging about him.  Isn’t that what we do when someone blogs about us?  We thank them, right? 

To make a long story short, I can understand bitterness of those that flew in only for a day only to realize that the show had nothing to with bloggers.  But to me it did.  Like I said, I MET the most AMAZING women. LAUGHED with the most AMAZING women. STAYED with the most AMAZING women. ATE with the most AMAZING women.  CONNECTED with the most AMAZING group of women! We had a blast! And who do I thank for bring all of us together? NATE BERKUS and his staff!

I just wanted to get this out there.  I do want to talk about my first trip to the big city in another post and all of the fun that I had! I also would like to talk about how I felt on my first plane ride.  But, if you’re sick of hearing about this trip, I certainly understand because I am too to be honest.  I won’t post anymore about it unless you would like to hear it!

 

So, what all have you read?  And what are your thoughts about the different Nate Show opinions?!!!