Chicago in the Springtime

We did more than just visit Harpo Studios… Here’s the highlight of the rest of our trip. We arrived in Chicago on Saturday tired and suffering from motion sickness – a hazard of sitting in the back of the plane during a very turbulent ride. So we showered, went to a nice comfort-food restaurant and then fell asleep watching TV.

We loved our hotel, it was right in downtown Chicago, but a couple blocks off the “Magnificent Mile” (the shopping strip). So our area was a little quieter. Our beds were gushy-soft and everything was clean and beautiful. We really lucked out, since we just picked a place off the internet! The hotel was right next to the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago NBC Studios. We noticed lines into NBC and one of our cab drivers informed us that people were lining up to be audience members at the Jerry Springer show. Hmmm, we got the better end of that studio taping!!

A picture of our hotel:

A picture of our room (off the internet):


The next day, our goal was spoiling our girls – that’s right, we grown-up ladies went to the American Girl store in Chicago. It’s awesome, both in size and quantity of products. We became little girls again, giddy with all the merchandise, as well as the doll salon, doll hospital, café, theatre and library. We spent way too much time and money there, but we loved every minute of it. We were completely jealous of the moms who had their girls with them and who were starry-eyed and mesmerized (the girls AND the moms). We’ll have to take another trip with our daughters in tow.






We then met up with our friend, Valerie for a quick lunch and chat. Val lives in Indiana, in a suburb of Chicago. It was nice to catch up with her, even though it was brief.

Then, more shopping and back to the hotel. We couldn’t really go out for long that night because we had been instructed to watch “Oprah’s Big Give” at 8pm, then it was to bed, as we had to get up early in the morning to look beautiful for the camera. Too bad the camera didn’t find us! (which was fine, since we really didn’t sleep well that night, anyway).

On the Set with Oprah

What a fun weekend in Chicago! Karen and I are home after an exciting weekend full of food, dolls and Oprah! We'll start with our Oprah taping. First - to answer the most asked questions since we've been home... No, you couldn't see us on camera - and no, we didn't get good free stuff. More on all of that later.

We were supposed to be at Harpo Studio between 6:30 and 7:00 am for our live taping, which would air at 9:00 am. We arrived at 6:30 am and were pretty happy with our place in line. We were numbers 96 and 97 out of 360 guests. We waited for a short time under the covered walkway and then were ushered into the building.


Once inside, we stayed in line while our coats, IDs, and purses were checked. They kept our coats, verified our IDs, and went through our purses, taking out cell phones, cameras and large pieces of paper. (to avoid holding up signs? We're not really sure why they took out envelopes and other papers.) Once we got our purses back, we headed upstairs to the audience green room.

Here we sat and waited while they showed us clips from old Oprah episodes. After about an hour, we were given a few instructions and waited for our "numbers" to be called. We were disappointed when about 10-15 "groups" were called by name first - they went downstairs and got prime seating before any numbers were called. We're not really sure why, this is a mission of ours to find out how you get to be one of these people! We stood in line in front of some of them earlier in the morning and we know they got their tickets last minute... so we're not sure what made their tickets so special. We're special, too!!!

Then, they called numbers 1-50, quickly afterward they called numbers 51-100. Karen and I walked very quickly (even though hall monitors were telling everyone to walk... felt like we were kindergarteners, honestly). We entered and all of the front sections were taken, so we wanted prime seating for the back section - an Oprah employee helped us to some seats and they were prime for viewing! Oprah and her guest were directly in front of us! People who sit on one side or another of the semi-circle that surrounds Oprah get a back view of someone, but we were sitting with a full view of both Oprah and her guests. However, that means that unless there's a camera behind Oprah, we don't get to be seen on TV! Oh well, having the view that we had was worth it. Although this is not my picture, this is a good idea of the view we had:


The studio on camera is deceiving. The room is actually very small. The front section is only three rows deep (but is shaped funny so has the illusion of being much larger.) 50 people or so are seated there. Then, there are 5 stadium rows in a semi-circle around the stage. Even sitting in the stadium seating, you're still not much more than 30 feet away from Oprah. Enough to tell if she's making eye contact with you, which, by the way, she did with both Karen and me.

Once seated, we had a producer come out to "warm up the audience" and talk about some of the rules (no asking for pictures, no asking for hugs, etc.). She also did a little contest about who had traveled the farthest. Karen and I thought we had it wrapped up, as people were yelling "Washington D.C." and "Atlanta". We were just about to blow everyone out of the water with Portland, until some chick from Switzerland stood up. Drat.

About 7-8 minutes before the live broadcast, out comes Oprah. She looks exactly like she does on TV, (to the point that we almost thought she was a caricature of herself) and she was very pleasant and easy with the crowd. She thanked us all for coming - knowing that we traveled far and got up early and got dressed up ("It smells like the tags just came off!"). She said she admires us for that because she can't think of anyone she'd travel to go see. (That's because everyone comes to YOU, Oprah!)

She then told us that she just returned from a 4-day 80th birthday party for Maya Angelou. She said she drank a lot of tequilla shots. We were cracking up. She said Steadman and Gayle don't drink, but she doesn't care. For those of you who need to know, the tequilla was a gift from Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Maya Angelou drinks scotch, not tequilla.

Then, the show just kind-of started! The music started up and she starts talking to the camera, and out comes Jamie Lee Curtis, who was beautiful! We loved to hear her talk, she said wonderful things about growing old gracefully. She doesn't buy into the myth of plastic surgery purely for vanity sake, because it doesn't fix the problem that's really bothering you (although she admits to having work done 12 years ago...) She's mad at society for "dumbing down" our youth and she regrets the topless scene in Trading Places (my husband does not). She was friendly and outgoing, and joked with the audience during the commercials.


Next came Salma Hayek, who recently had a baby. We learned quickly after the show aired that people were upset with her comments... namely saying having babies at an older age is the best time to have a baby. She did say some things that we understand people won't agree with, but she was pleasant and harmless and also very beautiful. She just talked to Oprah during the commercials, not the audience, but she just seemed much more introverted than Jamie Lee.


Rachael, who was voted off the Big Give the night before was next. During commercials they changed the set for her and she and Oprah sat farther back... now they're about 40-50 feet from us instead of 30. Oprah only had a few minutes with her, but really challenged her on the decisions she made on her last episode of Big Give. Not feeling they had really gotten deep enough into the topic, we were lucky to stay an extra 20 minutes while they taped an "After the Show" episode for Oprah.com. That conversation was one of the better ones we saw with her guests.


One observation - the camera really does add 10 pounds. I noticed when I watched it on TV later that night, everyone looked a little bigger. Not that Jamie Lee, Salma or Rachael looked big, but TV doesn't capture how tiny they all were!

Upon leaving the studio we were given a copy of AARP, (the one in which Jamie Lee appears naked, but is just "strapless" in her pool. This cover is what got her on the show in the first place). We also got a donation receipt from Salma and Pampers, who donated tetnus vaccinations on beahlf of the audience. Okay, I didn't "get" much, but I guess I did "give"!

We grabbed our coats, cameras and cell phones and headed outside to take some obligatory photos... and then headed to the brand spankin' new Oprah store. Here she's got some nice merchandise, arts/crafts and, interestingly, some clothes that she has worn in the past, in which proceeds from selling them would go to her Angel Network. None of these were my style, size or price range, but I did journey to the other part of the store and purchased two t-shirts, a pair of socks and a key chain.



Here I am with our cute little Oprah green bags!