When we arrived in NYC the weather was a yucky mix of cold snow and rain so we had to schlep through a slushy mess to get to our hotel. Freed from our suitcases we attended a meeting with our fabulous production team at Martha Stewart. They were anything but cold, in fact the whole city felt a lot warmer after our visit at Martha. Perhaps it was because they were such incredibly nice, regular people; or maybe it’s that their office is what Aimee and I now call “Craft Heaven.” A truly beautiful space painted in Martha’s signature khaki with white trim, filled with the longest craft table we’ve ever seen and craft supplies, jars, vases and other vessels all housed on neat shelves in a mouthwatering collection so complete that it is literally the size of a store. (Sorry but pics aren’t allowed in there… just like the “real” heaven!)
On Wednesday we headed back to the Martha Stewart Show studios a little before 8am (the show was live at 10). Does Aimee look nervous, or is she just in awe of the moment? We really did have to keep pinching ourselves — it was such a dream come true!
The audience lines up outside the studio, and Martha, the ever-gracious host, has a nice awning to keep the rain/snow off. I loved the fun stripe pattern on the awning’s underside (reminded me of my Bath By Bettijo labels).
This is where we went in. The sweet receptionist Joann asked if we were there to watch the show — I’m sure from looking at our gaga expressions, she was ready to send us out to the line under the awning. What a thrill it was to say, “No, we’re guests on the show today.”
Did you know Martha was a model? Aimee did, but I did not. Walking back to our dressing room, the hallways were lined with these fun black and white prints from Martha’s modeling portfolio.
Here I am in all my pregnant glory — it’s fun for Miss Modette that she sort of got to be on Martha Stewart too, but it’s a little sad for me that I had to *look* 6 months pregnant LOL! I also apologize for the low photo quality here. We didn’t take any pics of our dressing room except for this one with my phone’s camera. Katharine, who was our escort at the studio, and was kind enough to bring yummy hot cocoa to warm us up while we waited in our dressing room.
I am so terrible at putting on makeup and hardly ever wear it, so I was very grateful to have someone else put on makeup for me.
Look at all those colors! Notice towards the back of the shot, the makeup was being mixed on what looks like an artist’s palette. Our makeup artist (unfortunately I didn’t catch her name) said she actually started out as a painter and somehow found her way into makeup.
Since I was planning to wear my glasses during the segment, the makeup artist said fake eyelashes were a must. I was hesitant, but she applied them quickly and painlessly. I’m not sure I’ve ever worn this much makeup, but she was right that it looked very natural on camera.
Chip has Aimee’s dream job — he makes sure the set and supplies all look perfect and beautiful for the camera. My purple circle banner was being a bit unruly for him. He would turn one circle just so and then further down the line another would twist out of place.
I wasn’t sure if we’d get a chance to run through the demo before the live taping, but gratefully we did. Our producer Lenore stood in for Martha during rehearsal.
Here is our amazing production team watching the run through of our segment.
Surprisingly I’m not feeling nervous, just very excited! After rehearsal we ran back into makeup for Aimee’s touch up.
Here are some wide shots of the show set. For those of you with sharp eyes who noticed the purple circle banner is missing, these photos were taken at the taping we attended the day before our show.
This is the lovely kitchen set, which we’re told is inspired by Martha’s home kitchen in Bedford, New York.
If you look up while in the studio you’ll see lots and lots of lights. I also thought it was interesting how many people are immediately behind the cameras when a show is taping: 15. When watching the show it seems like you’re right there so cozy with Martha and her guest, and I was surprised to see that there is really this big group of 15 people manning the 6 cameras, moving the heavy cables, a cue card person, a producer and the stage manager (named Joe).
This shot is taken looking over towards the backstage door where Martha enters. That camera is blocking our view of the door a bit. Off to the right, you can see through the window into the prep kitchen.
Back to the day of our show, Aimee snapped this shot after Martha’s entrance and before she had to turn off the camera.
This photo of Bettijo and Martha was taken by Martha’s staff photographer during the taping of the segment. I thought it was interesting to see the big plastic casing (called a sound blimp) that goes over their camera to muffle any shutter sounds that would have been picked up by the microphones on set.
After the show taping, Joey gives me a thumbs up. Hopefully that means I did a good job, and they’ll want to have us back in the future!
If you didn’t catch the show, you can view a clip of our segment here.
Bettijo Bridges
Administrator at Paging Supermom
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Oh, so awesome! Thank you for sharing!
This trip was an adventure in and of itself. How much fun it must be to see Martha Stewart’s set and all her fun supplies for crafting and cooking. Your segment went very well. I am sure you will be asked back – soon! Kudos to you for designing such an awesome invite and the party you gave for your daughter’s birthday. No wonder Martha’s staff wanted you on Martha – you really are a Supermom!
I love seeing all your pictures! Looks like such an adventure-i guess an adventure of a lifetime!! Thanks for sharing!!!
looks so good! so glad that you ladies had fun!
SO fun to watch the clip – great job!!