The point is that I've been dreaming about being on The Ellen Show for years, the last of which I've had to spend watching Ellen give away prizes and packages in every possible city and town except for mine. One way Ellen connects with her fans and gives away cool prizes is by events called Twitter Challenges. For those of you who are not on Twitter and therefore don't follow the Ellen Show(because I know that if you are on Twitter you of course are already following her), I will explain how Ellen's Twitter Challenges work.
(I just got side-tracked from writing for the past 30 minutes... I was watching video clips of the Ellen Show. Seriously. But now I'm back.)
Every so often Ellen tweets to her followers in a specific geographical area. She hints that later that day an event will be going on and encourages you to get there at a certain time for a surprise giveaway. Then, when it gets closer to the mentioned time, she'll add a requirement (i.e. costumes, props) that is needed to qualify for the surprise.
So for the past couple of years I have been reading these tweets, wishing that I had a jet in my backyard so I could fly over to the mentioned location and join in the fun festivities. I was really wishing that she would just choose to bring such an event to my location, but that never happened.
Until Monday night, that is.
Right when I was getting ready for bed, I decided to read my twitter timeline one more time to see what was going on. And then I saw it. The "@TheEllenShow" tweet that shook my twitterverse:
"I hope y'all are following me in Nashville, 'cuz tomorrow we're doing something crazy!"
It took me a second to put two and two together. "TheEllenShow", "Nashville". "TheEllenShow", "Nashville". ...Wait a second... I live in Nashville. I LIVE IN NASHVILLE!
You can only imagine my excitement! Actually, unless you've been following Ellen for the past 6 years, you probably can't.
On Tuesday I found myself checking twitter every minute for the updates on the twitter challenge. Finally, Ellen tweeted that you had to be at the Bridgestone Arena Plaza by 5 PM with things that began with a "C" an "M" and an "A". She was giving away tickets to the CMAs!
I planned my whole day around the event (not that I have a job to plan around anyways), but as the time drew near, I was filled with anxiety! The few friends I had in Nashville had real jobs and I would have to go by myself! Suddenly, I wasn't sure if I could do it. I don't know why, but I just didn't think I could do it alone!
And then I remembered a little thing from my past. A little thing known as 181 Days. I was taken back to a time when I had done many things alone: I went mud sledding, I went to the movies, I took a self-defense class, I camped all night in my back yard! Heck, I went on a blind date! If I could do those things by myself, I could certainly do this by myself!
After my personal pep talk (I knew that blog was good for something!), I grabbed some Coffee, a Magazine, and an Apple and headed to the Bridgestone Arena.
When I arrived, There was already a decent-sized crowd surrounding the plaza, with Ellen's Swaggin' Wagon set up in the middle. Looking around at the crowd, I realized my mistake. My CMA objects weren't creative at all! What was I thinking? My coffee, magazine, and apple were up against air mattresses, life-size cardboard cut-outs, costumes, live animals.... the works!
As Ellen personnel walked around and wrote down who was there and with what, I shrank to the side and called my sister. I was way out of my league. I was tempted to leave 20 minutes later, but heard talk of a surprise, and decided it couldn't hurt to stay. Anyways, it would be much more fun to watch Ellen live on the big TV screen, filming her show for tomorrow, then to actually watch it tomorrow from home. So I pushed my way into the crowd until got a good view of the action, and waited. And waited. It seemed like they were keeping us in suspense for forever before the finally got things rolling.
A half hour later, my wise decision to stay paid off when LADY ANTEBELLUM walked off of Ellen's Swaggin' Wagon! LADY ANTEBELLUM! A roar rose from the crowd and I was blinded from all the camera flashes that went off. I was literally feet away from Lady Antebellum! CRAZY!
Here's a picture of them passing me... yes I know it's awful quality. But I'd like to see you take a clear picture with your iPhone while jumping up and down and screaming like a crazed fan.
The rest of the night.... well, it was a quick blur. I didn't get to meet them and I definitely didn't win CMA tickets. (If I had, I wouldn't be writing this right now, I'd be on my first date with Jake Owen, country crooner and keeper of my heart!) Here's the clip of the night's event on The Ellen Show. And, no, you can't see me in the crowd... figures.
The night wasn't a complete waste, that's for sure. After all, I did get to see Ellen broadcasting live from her studio, AND I got a picture with JEANNIE! For those of you who aren't familiar with The Ellen Show, Jeannie is like Ellen's sidekick. She is the one Ellen sends all over the country to do cool things for her and for the show. She has the sweetest job and the sweetest personality and the sweetest face and the sweetest picture partner: ME.
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