How did this all happen? I'm not entirely sure. Around Thanksgiving I received an e-mail from a Martha producer showing interest in maybe, possibly having me as a back up for a Halloween segment. She ran into my Sushi Costume on Etsy and was was curious if I might want to demo it on the show. I was told they probably wouldn't need me, I was the "just in case". Phew, I dodged that one!
Wrong! I got a call on Monday that I needed to be in NYC on Wednesday. I called my husband and gave him every reason why I couldn't go. Bless him, he changed my mind. That night we made a terrible video of my step by step process and sent it off to the producers. I spent the next two days making "swap outs" and rehearsing (and sweating/biting my nails/panicking/more sweating). Then we packed our bags and drove down I95.
When we got to NYC, we met with the producers and my crafter (what's up Figgy?) in the elusive craft room. This thing was packed floor to ceiling with meticulously maintained and organized craft supplies. Someone was spraying dye on a crazy witch costume to my left and another crafter was floating around playing with supplies to my right. That's when I heard it...
Crafter: How long is this segment?
Producer:11 minutes
Crafter: Ooh, that's looooooooooooooong
Producer:Yeah it is
Me: Um, (cough, sweat, fidget), what?
Crafter/Producer: Oh don't worry, you'll be fine
That did not calm me down. How was I supposed to fit the 400 nightmare scenarios I had created into 11 minutes of air time? Would I have enough time to faint? Fart? Have a heart attack?
I left all my crafting supplies to be buffed, shined, squared and made TV beautiful. Then, we went to the hotel to relax? Nope. I slept a total of 4 hours. In the morning we headed over to the studio where something (thankfully) changed. I was a disaster until Martha's handlers got a hold of me. One yanked my hair into place, one painted my face, one checked my clothes and a handful told me how wonderful I was.
We went through a dry run (which was incredibly short and not at all how I rehearsed it 7 billion times) and then I headed back to the dressing room. My hubby was there (and so proud). One last word of encouragement and...it was go time. I was on the first segment. Right before I walked on, a calmness came over me. My dad said something to me earlier in the week that suddenly resonated. "Do the thing you fear the most, the most you fear is dead" Brilliant! It's just TV! Just 200 people checking you out in the audience. Just a million people watching the Hallmark Channel. Just, who cares, go for it! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I wasn't going to enjoy it, why the heck did I do it?
The rest is history. And now I'm famous (like Brad Pitt famous). Right?
Wrong. But I have an awesome party story. My sales when up "like whoa" and my confidence was boosted big time!
Thanks Martha! I heart you.
