Our Trip to The Ellen Show

Well, we’re back on the East Coast. It’s devastating. Before we left, I started asking people on the street if they would just adopt me so I could stay forever.

You all saw how surprised my mom was when she found out on the airplane we had VIP tickets to The Ellen Show. We woke up with that “eeeeee!” excited feeling on Tuesday morning, and set out to find a place to grab some breakfast.

We stumbled upon Paty’s in Toluca Lake, a cute little diner where we dined al fresco for two breakfasts in a row.

I was a huge fan of their fitness menu. I opted for the fitness scrabble with turkey sausage, avocado, and mushrooms on Tuesday.

Note to self: scrabble is not so photogenic… especially when it has hot sauce and avocado in it.

Regardless of how it looks, it was delicious enough to have all over again on Wednesday.

Is it weird this was my first bran muffin experience? They came on the side, and they were to DIE for.

And clearly, I can’t take photos in the bright sunlight. But you get the idea. They were really sweet, filling, and had the perfect texture. I’m a big Paty’s fan.

After a stop at Trader Joe’s for wine and hummus (because, well, what else would you eat on vacation?), we hit the hotel pool for a few hours. I greased up with my 30 SPF and read through Fifty Shades Darker. I still have the same feelings about the series as I did while reading Book 1, by the way. Underwhelming writing, gross overuse of the same verbs and adjectives, but a storyline that somehow keeps me reading… I just wish the actual plot would move a little faster.

Since we had to be at the Warner Bros. lot by 4:30, we headed in quickly to get showered and gussied up to see Ellen. We. Were. Psyched.

After filling out a few audience surveys and noting on Mom’s that she would “LOVE TO PLAY ‘NO OR GO!’” (she had no idea I wrote that.. oops), we were ushered into the studio. All of Ellen’s personnel were super friendly and could not have been more accommodating.

We nabbed some Ellen waters on our way in (for only $1.50 each… impressive, Ellen) and were assigned seats as we filtered into the room. As Mom and I walked down the steps, I was told to sit in the aisle seat of the fourth row from the front with Mom beside me. When we were told a few minutes later that row was Ellen’s dance row, we almost peed our studio seats.

Once everyone was seated, Tom the audience coordinator got the party started. Music started playing, and it was time for the audience dance warmup.

Guess who got to warm up the crowd first?

I honestly can’t even tell you which dance move of choice that was. I was up there by myself for the length of an entire song, and I couldn’t even tell you which song I was dancing to. That’s how pumped up I was. Dance moves were just spurting out of my body. At one point, I got the audience doing the wave and the cabbage patch.

I don’t think it will be aired on T.V. since it was a jam-packed episode, but Ellen said it may go on the website. I’ll be checkin’, that’s f’sho.

And that is the fruit of my labor. Thanks for the shirt, Tom!

Before the show started, Portia was introduced and took a seat at the very front of the studio. Mom was super excited to see her, and our seats were only a few feet from her perch by the producers.

Once the show began, Ellen came out and played “No or Go” with three audience members. A certain contestant had no idea who Sophia Grace and Rosie were, and I silently deemed her unworthy of playing. What gives? There is no way you can be an Ellen fan and not know Sophia Grace and Rosie. C’mon maaan.

Ellie Kemper from Bridesmaids and The Office was the headlining guest with Rufus Wainwright as the musical guest. Ellie Kemper was adorable and hysterical as usual, and we really enjoyed watching how the show gets put together. I was surprised with how small the studio actually is. To me, at least, the room appears to be much bigger on television.

THEN. It was time for Ellen to dance. Tony played “Yeah” by Usher ft. Lil John and Ludacris, which I will forever remember as my “Ellen song,” and she danced up the steps. As she came over to our row, the “She had me feelin’ like she’s ready to blow (watch out oh, watch out)” part started. It was then we had our little moment. I probably look like a real wackadoodle, so make sure you set your DVR to record Ellen on Memorial Day to see if you can see us in action.

At the show’s close, we all filtered out to the Ellen Shop and got some sweet photo booth pictures. And thanks to my super sweet dance moves, I had several people pointing and whispering at me as we left. I guess I need to personally thank all my old dance instructors, because without them, my feet may never have seen the Ellen stage.

Thanks for the great time, El! …I like to pretend on nickname terms now.

Sigh. Can we just go back and do that every day? Maybe Ellen could hire me to be her hype girl just like Rosie does for Sophia Grace.

Whatcha think, El? I’ll let you hold the mic and everything.

Tagged as: ellen degeneres, ellie kemper, LA trip, memorial day ellen show episode, paty's toluca lake CA, the ellen show, the ellen show audience, the ellen show VIP, warner bros. lot