New York City: Day 2

Day 2 in the Big Apple. Or what I like to call, Nate day. Nate Berkus that is. Christy (Nate's biggest fan) organized for us to get tickets to sit in the audience of his self named show! For those of you who aren't familiar with Nate (and apparently there are a lot of you), The Nate Berkus Show, on CBS, tackles home design, style and fashion, DIY projects, career advice and even matters of the heart. It's got a little bit of everything, all rolled into one.  

We couldn't take any photos of Nate, only the set, so here's one I snagged online of him and his dreamy smile. This one's for you Christy :)

We were ca-razy excited! Excited isn't even the word. Giddy school girls is more like it. The tickets were on a first come first serve basis, which meant we had to get up early and wait in line. Outside. And it was raining. Of course. But we didn't care because we were actually going to SEE Nate! Live and in person! Eeeeeek! The only problem was, Meg was coming down with a cold and couldn't get out of bed that morning. We were so torn leaving her behind. Christy and I headed to the show, sadly without our third musketeer.

I left my umbrella in my suitcase and wore the wrong boots for the weather. I was having a footwear panic moment and was about to go back up to our room on the 40th floor, when Christy assured me that it would be fine and let me use her umbrella. Nothing was going to stop that woman from seeing Nate! That was all I needed to snap me out of it and press on toward our goal! We started walking to the CBS studio. 

Where they told us we needed to go two doors down. Where we saw the smaller than expected entrance. We waited in the rain for about an hour until the doors opened. We passed security, were handed our tickets, and ushered to the waiting room to fill out some paperwork. Then they led us to the set! 

After waling through a series of regular office building hallways, they opened the doors to the set and it was beautiful! Lights and cameras were everywhere. Stylish chairs and home decor. It was so fun to look at everything. It looked just like the show, yet different. Smaller than I imagined. 

I love the greenery window backdrop, with both live and fake plants.

Nate's famous bookshelves.

It was surreal actually being there. I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. We were placed in the audience where they wanted us to sit. Which happened to be in the SECOND ROW on the right side! Next to and behind guests who were speaking! Which means we'll probably be on camera! Someone pinch me. The audience coach guided everyone through some laughing, clapping and head nodding training. No joke. 


The topic of the show was reunions, second chances and Facebook lost loves that were found. It was quite a heartfelt episode which made me tear up. We don't know when it will air yet, but I will let you know!  

Nate was every bit sincere (and dreamy) as we had hoped. He thanked the audience for coming out in miserable weather. Then the show assistant offered anyone who wanted to come back for the afternoon show VIP TICKETS! There would be a CELEBRITY GUEST and a POSSIBLE GIVEAWAY! It took us all of two seconds to decide to come back! Hopefully Megan could join us if she was feeling better. We got soup and sandwiches for lunch and told her the exciting news. Meg was thrilled to have a second chance to see the show. We got ready and headed back to the CBS studios! 

This time we were seated in the SECOND ROW on the left side, even closer to the action! 

Here we are, nervously waiting for the show to start!

Look at all those lights and equipment! 

The celebrity guest was Bethenny Frankel, author, chef and reality show star, best known from Real Housewives of New York. I was not really familiar with her, prior to the show (I don't have cable), but I quickly picked up on her no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is personality. It was interesting to see her in person! The entire audience received a copy of her new book, "A Place of Yes," 10 rules for getting everything you want out of life. Which is a little ironic to me. I'm curious to see what she has to say. I haven't actually sat down to read it yet. I'm sure she has some good common sense principles and suggestions. I just wonder if getting everything you want in life includes what God wants for your life. And if getting everything you want out of this life is your main goal, what happens after this life is over? Those thoughts came to my mind. I'm still going to read her book and I'll report back! 

The show also included a major couples makeover, with celebrity hair, makeup and wardrobe stylists. I'll let you know when that episode airs too! We were sitting behind guests who were were speaking AGAIN, so there's a good chance we might be on camera in this episode too! Eeek!  

After all that excitement, we did a little shopping at TJ Maxx and grabbed some pizza at Luigi's. The pizza was so good! And then it stated to hail. Crazy weather!

We headed back to the hotel to take a breather. We were pooped. We almost settled in for the night, but Meg and I had our hearts set on cheesecake! We dragged convinced Christy to join us, and headed out to find Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake and Desserts!

We saw the Chrysler building in the distance. 

Then we arrived at Juniors, a 1950's style restaurant in Brooklyn, with seriously amazing cheesecake. Their sign "Most Fabulous Restaurant" is true. 

We had huge slices of New York style cheesecake (of course) that was honestly the best cheesecake I've ever had. So creamy, not heavy.

Which was complimented by a Godiva Chocolate Martini. So. So. Good. How I wish this was sitting in front of me right now! I'm pretty sure I gained 2 pounds from this late night "snack." 

Out the window of the restaurant, we could see some shows letting out and people waiting to meet the actors. 

We went back to our hotel room, where we could see Radio City from our 40th floor window, to get some much needed sleep for our third and final day in the concrete jungle.

More desserts to come...