I love my friend Jill Chappell. First, she’s one of the funniest and friendliest people I know; she’s definitely my most entertaining friend. But, more importantly, she’s always thinking about her friends and family and tries to find ways to make them happy and fulfill their dreams.
Such was the case last week, when thanks to her gift for gab and her connections through CNN, Chappy was able to secure four tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago!! It’s hard to put into words how blessedly hard it is to get tickets to Oprah’s show. I’ve always wanted to go, but have admittedly done nothing to make the dream happen. I just didn’t have the patience. People wait for YEARS to get in to her studio, but thanks to Chappy, I’ve now seen Oprah twice – once in Washington, D.C. for her special Inauguration show and now on her home turf in Chicago!
About a month ago, Chappy emailed Amber and I to tell us of her score and I’ve been giddy ever since. This is Oprah’s farewell 25th season, so she’s pulling out all the stops and hosting a lot of fun guests. We learned that in November, she’d be hosting former President George W. Bush, Marie Osmond, Garth Brooks, and a whole host of other newsmakers and celebrities…PLUS, she’d be doing her final Oprah’s Ultimate Favorite Things Show. Holy cow. That’s the show in which she transforms her studio into Santa’s Workshop and gives away thousands of dollars in presents, including video cameras, computers, TVs, cashmere sweaters, jewelry, food and more. Even though Chappy kept telling us there was no way she’d be given VIP tickets to such an in-demand show, I still couldn’t resist an inkling of dreaming.
As it turned out, we had an excellent show! We arrived in Chicago bright and early on Thursday morning and our first miracle was that we all arrived on time! Amber flew in from Baltimore, Jill came from Reagan and I came in from Pittsburgh. Sometimes, the airline gods are with you! We got our rental car, drove to Midway Airport to pick up Jill’s Aunt Jeanine, who joined us, and then we set off for downtown Chicago. We got to Harpo Studios about two hours early, so we went to Wishbone, a restaurant recommended by Amalia that was really yummy.
At our appointed time, we got in line outside the studio, and miracle #2, it wasn’t that cold! We only had to wait about 20 minutes, which wasn’t bad at all. The saddest part of the wait was being in line with two native Chicagoans, who’d been told the Favorite Things show had already been taped. Drat! I wore my Christmas green blazer just in case the studio morphed into Christmas-palooza! Amber turned me when we heard the news and asked, “Do you believe
now that we aren’t seeing the Favorite Things show?” No, not yet! Not until I’m in the studio and see that it’s not happening!
Here’s the thing: I really want an iPad – a free iPad that is – and my theory is that if I wish it to happen, it will! But, it didn’t happen at the Oprah show.
Instead, we were escorted into the studio – much smaller than it appears on TV – and discovered we’d be seeing country music singer Keith Urban and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman. Very fun! Our seats were on the eighth row, so we had a good vantage of the stage.
Oprah was announced and she walked on stage in her bare feet, carrying 6-inch high stiletto heels. Mercy! She had her director help put them on and then she announced Keith Urban, who came on stage and spent about 20 minutes with her.
He was adorable – he’s clearly so in love with “Nic” and spent much of his segment discussing how she’d helped him through addiction and rehab (of course…can’t have a celebrity relationship without the requisite trip to rehab!) and how he’s never been better, happier, more secure, blah, blah, blah. I’m really not doing the interview justice – he was extremely sweet and soft-spoken and you could tell what he was saying was coming from the heart.
Nicole Kidman then came on stage separately for her segment and she was a lot of fun. She bantered with the audience, talked about her marriage and their daughter and then spoke a bit about a new movie she’s promoting. She’s flat-out beautiful in person – exactly how she looks on screen – and thin, but not scrawny.
The theme of the show was Australia – hence two native Australians as guests – because Oprah is getting ready to go on a two-week vacation to Australia with her season premiere audience (hello, another missed opportunity! And I will admit to secretly wondering if she'd surprise the audience by taking us too! Where do I get these high-falutin' ideas??). In between her segments with Keith and Nicole, she featured stories on Australian life and activities, including a description of how McDonald’s is an upscale bistro restaurant in Australia vs. a fast food joint. As a treat for the audience, McDonald’s employees brought each person a meal that’s only available in Australia – a fruit smoothie and chicken wrap sandwich – plus a $25 gift card to McDonald’s.
Amber said, “That sounds right. We’re the people who win McDonald’s gift cards, not iPads.” Touché.
Toward the end of the show, Keith Urban came back on stage with his band and performed a number from his new CD. Jill, Amber and I had a great time dancing along and singing to the song, and we were appropriately excited when Oprah announced that we’d be getting a copy of the CD to take home, along with…drumbeat…a new smart phone from Motorola.
After the show, we couldn’t get over our giggles about the McDonalds gift card (“Seriously? We go to Oprah, the woman who gives away homes, cars and diamond watches, and we get a $25 gift card to Mickey D’s??”), but the smart phone is actually a really generous gift. Jill is successfully selling hers on eBay for $350, so it’s not chump change. I’m going to take mine home to Colorado to see if Mom will use it, otherwise, I’m selling it too. As Amber told me, for $350 I’ll be halfway to an iPad!
The four of us left Harpo and headed downtown to stroll along State Street and browse through shops. I was appropriately restrained and refrained from making any purchases. First time that’s happened all month!
At the close of the day, we opted to go for some authentic Chicago style deep dish pizza. At my colleague Keith’s recommendation, we headed to Gino’s East, which was really yummy. Jill was a bit underwhelmed by the deep dish style – she prefers the thin, brick oven variety, but it didn’t stop us from putting back two slices each!
All in all, our day in Chicago was very fun and a wonderful memory / dream fulfilled thanks to Chappy!
Now….where will I get that free iPad??
Post-script: The day after we were at Oprah, she aired her Favorite Things show…which was taped about a week before we arrived. Her audience got unbelievable loot: diamond watch, 35mm digital camera, sapphire earrings, Tory Burch tote and shoes, Ralph Lauren cashmere sweater and throw, 52” flat-screen 3D TV, Blue Ray DVD player, 5-year subscription to Netflix, 7-day cruise to the Carribean and more...but no iPad!
Sawyer showed us his "excited dance" as he saw the pile of gifts that were essentially all for him. While Joc really hates the gifts that Susan, Mom and I buy him, Sawyer had a great time opening Lego sets, matchbox cars and toy car garages, books, a tent and some assorted toys. 
He played Santa and was delighted when practically every present he brought to the center of the room was for him. 
After we finished gifts and lunch, Sawyer took a quick nap in his new Cars tent that Aunt Susie gave him. 
I took these pictures from my phone camera, so they're not great, but you can still tell the tent was quite the hit!
I was asleep in the bed in the same room and was totally charmed listening to the little guy play by himself and talk to himself inside the tent. He was popping up on his toes to look through the mesh screen at the top of the tent and then he'd crash down to the floor, all the while saying "Up...and down!" The best part was when he got a little too excited with his game and came crashing down on the hard-wood floors. "Owww! I hit my head! Oww, that really hurt!" Instead of privately laughing, I could have stepped in and helped him, but he wasn't really hurt and this was supposed to be quiet time. Any interruption by me would have ended the hour and incurred the wrath of my brother!
We soon gave up the pretense of quiet time and began our real adventure...the pillow fight! Last year, Susan and I taught Sawyer the art of pillow fighting and we continued the tradition this year. 
Thank heavens for king-size beds! We used every square inch as we whacked each other with bed and throw pillows and covered each other with blankets.
Here's Sawyer sitting on top of a buried Susan; he's quite the victor!
Susan invented a new attack mode - "power paws" in which she stuck her hands in two small throw pillows and roared. Hilarious! 
After an hour, we were all exhausted and took time to have deep, pensive talks with each other. 
Love this little boy!
After we collected ourselves, we all headed to downtown Littleton for the annual Christmas tree lighting. 
We lined up along Main Street and cheered as Santa Claus drove by on a float. 
Sawyer yelled out, "Santa, I've been good! I've been good!" It was so cute to see his enthusiasm and excitement. 
It'll be a bummer to never spend Christmas Day with Sawyer, but at least we get to enjoy a little piece of the holiday season with him. I love this time of year and am so excited to get the 2010 holiday season kicked off with the little guy!
