Euro Trash

 Not quite...well Euro definitely but trash, I think not! Actually this Euro Trash that I speak of, thanks to The Nate Show and Annie and Lizzie from Euro Trash is "where I blog!" Take a look:

All of this arrived a little over a week ago and I was soooo excited! In the above view the silver containers are from the Brooklyn Home Company (my first designer shipment) but the cute natural wood color pencils are from Euro-Trash! Don't they go well together? They even sent me some adorable stationary cards with envelopes:

This adorable little vignette is nestled perfectly in the corner of my "not so family friendly family room". Again, I am so grateful that The Nate Show found my blog and invited me to be on their show. Now once we get new carpet, drapes, a television and either new sofas or slip covers, this room will be perfect! But in the meantime, whenever there is another "where do you blog" linky party, I can show something much more comfortable and intimate than me on the sofa in front of the television lol. Let me know if you're hosting one!

Tatum

I'm linking to Everything But The Kitchen Sink over at A Little Knick Knack , Wow Us Wednesday over at Savvy Southern Style  and What I Love Wednesdays over at Lollipops 

Brooklyn Home Company

Well shortly after the show on March 6th I received a call from the Nate show saying my first shipment from the Brooklyn Home Company would be arriving the next day on the 7th. She said the delivery company would give me a call to find out what a good delivery time would be. 30 minutes later I get a call from Icon X asking me when I would like them to come by tomorrow "how about between 12-4pm?" Great, all set! Naturally I think tomorrow is going to be a good day. Get up, get my coffee and get my day started. Then between noon and 4...Christmas!!

Now here is how the next day actually went. Chris gets up for work and suddenly we hear the doorbell at 7:45 am!!! As you can imagine this is quite annoying, because we're certain whoever is at the door has the wrong address. Thank goodness Chris was there because had he already left I would have just rolled over and waited for the wrong address person to leave. Chris proceeds to look out the window and there is a blue mini-van in our driveway that is still there. Clearly they have the wrong house, and they need to go away. I need my beauty rest so that I can greet the large white Icon X delivery truck this afternoon. Chris goes down to answer the door and I hear "delivery for Tatum Puryear". I'm in bed thinking, you can't be serious! Now, I am not a morning person at all unless I wake up naturally on my own or by Chris kissing me on the cheek. I really don't like being awaken by an alarm clock or by a 7:45 am courier! So much for the joy of my afternoon delivery.

Chris opens the garage so that the guy can put everything in the garage as he continues to get ready for work. I get up and proceed downstairs to supervise and the guy says good morning. Through the morning fog that I'm in I reply, "I thought you were coming between noon and 4pm." He shows me the packing slip that said 9am (which is still better than 7:45!), with a line through it and noon - 4pm written below it! Clearly he missed that obvious part. After he unloads all of the items I thank him, wish him a safe trip back then he leaves. I kiss Chris goodbye and try to accept the fact that dreamland is gone. Naturally, I am not ready to go through all of those boxes that early, so there they sat in the garage:

After I took a nap to make up for lost sleep and got moving, the excitement that I was supposed to be feeling around noon arrived and I moved the packages into the house:

I was thinking, man this is a lot of stuff! I couldn't remember everything from the vignette so I was quite anxious to see what I had.

Given that all this room had seen was paint, it was time for a little something extra. Around 8pm, I was ready to jump right in! Everything was so intricately bubble wrapped that it took quit a while to open. So after a little of this:

And this:

I was able to jump for joy over all of the things that I now remember from the taping!

After opening everything I began to realize how grateful I am to have so much decor!! That is one thing that we were lacking that can be used throughout the house. Not to mention the whites and creams pop against the brown paint color in the family room. Most of what I received was from West Elm and Pottery Barn which was a double plus. I would never spend $30 on a single pillow, vase or frame! We really received some quality things that we may have wanted, but never would have paid for in these particular stores unless they were on sale. I look forward to hanging the shelves and finding the perfect home for all of these decorative elements. And here is the carnage that made it's way to the curb:

What a good day! It's like Chris and I received a bunch of wedding gifts without even registering! Yay!


Tatum

It's Showtime!

Alright folks here is the rest of the story for those of you who've been waiting. If you want to start from the beginning, click here! On Wednesday the 23rd of February 2011, Monica and I were up bright and early! Well we thought we were up early enough until we began to run around like crazy people. The driver called to let us know that he would be out in front of the hotel at 8:15am. It was time to go. How do I look?

We met our driver and headed to the CBS studios:

Upon arrival to the studio they took us upstairs and showed me to my green room which I shared with the other women in my
segment.

Then they showed us to the craft room to get something to eat!

I grabbed a cup of coffee, some melon and a pastry but ended up only drinking the coffee as I was too nervous to eat. Next I was sent to hair and makeup!

Shortly after going back to the green room for a final photo-op with Monica, it was showtime!

What a difference makeup makes!! Maybe one day I'll learn how to wear it on my own...note to self, buy makeup, and wear it!

They took Monica to the audience and took me backstage to get my mic on. The makeup lady came back one final time to touch everyone up, then a producer walked me out to the front row. Another producer asked me if I had any questions and if I was o.k. I said what if I screw up completely will you do a take two? He said we only do take two's if the studio catches on fire lol. I later knew he was kidding when the little 7 year old girl came out on her skateboard and immediately fell off. She got a take two. Either way he assured me that I would be fine and turns out I was! Nate made me feel very comfortable, take a look:


After the show right before Nate left, he gave me a little peck on the cheek and asked that I please send pictures of the room once it's finished. We then left the studio:

This is the entrance where the audience members enter

We went to the Bryant Park Grill, where Monica works:

Bryant Park is where fashion week used to be held until recently

Then we went to Crumbs Bake Shop:

Where we overdosed on these:

Then we stopped by BJ's Fabric in the Garment District:

And lastly Time Square to see the changes that they made. Did you know they blocked it off for pedestrians now? There are even tables set up so that you can sit, or eat or people watch!

After all of that we headed back to the studios where I retrieved my bags and said goodbye to the two ladies that made it all possible Janelle (producer) and Marianne (production); then a driver took me back to the airport.

So there you have it! My Nate Show trip all wrapped up! And just in case you didn't catch the CW interview two weeks later, here it is for your viewing pleasure!

Columbus Native Featured on Nate Berkus: cwcolumbus.com

Tatum

Preview Of Mondays Show

I'm sure many of you are tired of me talking about the Nate Show experience but I'm sorry I still have more to go. Not to mention, this random opportunity might never happen again and by golly I'm going to capture it all here on my blog...and yes I used the words by golly! Don't fret though, after the show airs, I'll post my very last post about that actual taping day and then we can all get back to normal, or more accurately I'll come back to earth.

This little clip of the upcoming Monday episode played on television the other day....soooooo, had to capture it before it goes away!



Yay!!

Tatum

Nate Show Air Date and The CW Interview!!

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been away for awhile but I'm back! I know you've been waiting for an update for an air date and now you have it! The Nate Berkus episode that I will be on airs on March 14! Oh and guess what? Today I had an interview in my home with our local CW network regarding my experience on the show. I know!

Why the CW? Because they're the network that airs The Nate Show. Since they don't have a morning news show they are going to air the interview on their website and they even asked me to do a promo that will run on T.V. for a while after my show airs! I say something like "Be sure to watch the Nate Berkus Show weeknights at 6".

What is very amusing about this opportunity is how it transpired. To my family I'm a little celebrity so they are super excited and looking forward to taping the show. My aunt Faye however who has the DISH Network just discovered that she was unable to tape the show due to apparent 'contract negotiations' between the DISH and the CW. A few days ago she just so happened to see a television commercial that said something like 'This station will no longer be available to dish subscribers, if you want to watch this station contact this number"...I'm sure you guys have seen similar commercials before. Just so happens she calls and gets the Vice President and station General Manager. She goes on to say "I need to know how I can get this station because my niece is going to be on a 'decorators show' and I want to tape it."

This apparently peaked the interest of the VP who said to her, long story short "have your niece call me." My aunt called me, uncertain as to why the lady wanted me to call her because she was simply wanting to find out how to tape it, but I called anyway and lo and behold she thought I was story worthy!! Locally at least lol.  Talk about a serendipitous moment!

They called me on Tuesday March 8th to ask me some questions about the show and my blog and asked if they could come by on Thursday. ABSOLUTELY! I reiterated that we are still renovating and have some things complete and some things incomplete and would happily show them around. I also reiterated that the show was not about the blog as much as it was about what we are presently working on. When I saw them pull up outside of my home I was so excited and nervous! I soon calmed down because they were extremely down to earth and fun.  The interview was with our local CW Star Angie.

She was such a sweetheart and very fashion forward. I could really stand to take some fashion tips from her! The cameraman was Greg, he was very attentive and amusing. It was so much fun, we had a great time conversing and laughed a lot. The interview lasted about an hour and it was extremely comfortable.

Here are a couple photos:

So there you have it! I'll be DVRing the station consistently to see the promo because I'm crazy like that. I hope you tune in on Monday March 14th to watch the show!! I will!! albeit slightly embarrassed and hiding behind a pillow, but I'll be watching none the less!!

Tatum

The Nate Berkus Show-Part 3

For those of you new to this story, The Nate Show saga began here and here. After taking Chris to the airport to head to California for work and hanging out with my sister Sunday evening, it was time to get packed up. On Monday morning the 21st my oh so generous hair stylist Dutchess from Door Rouge Salon decided to treat me to a free hair day! She wanted to make sure that I was so fresh and so clean for New York. After that I spent the rest of the day absorbing the fact that I had to get packed and get to bed earlier than usual. I've never just packed for a single day before. Since I was traveling solo I wanted to make sure that I had absolutely everything that I needed. Small suitcase (with solid bright top inside) check, hand bag check, laptop check.

Fast forward to 9:30 pm, time to go to bed because I had to be at the airport at 6:30 am for my 8:00 am flight. The problem here is that I never go to bed that early, so there I laid until about 11ish. Then I grabbed a book and read until I finally fell asleep. At 5:30 am my timed coffee began to brew and I was up! Upon arrival to the airport, I parked in the long term parking lot, was shuttled to the terminal where I checked in and boarded. I'm not a huge fan of flying so after many, many prayers I was calm and on my way to NYC.

Once I landed at La Guardia I was greeted in baggage claim by this guy from Ben's Limousine Service

We'll call him Ben even though he swore that wasn't his name...fine non Ben...new name Vinny. I think he looks a bit like a Vinny don't you?

Vinny was a pretty nice guy! After he grabbed my luggage, we jumped in the car and headed to the hotel. This was not my first time in New York so I didn't bother taking the signature touristy photos of popular New York sites because I already have those. We headed to the lovely Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Since I arrived so early my room wasn't quite ready which gave me plenty of time to relax and get breakfast! The hotel took my bags and gave me a 15% coupon to the attached restaurant called Nice Matin.

 I decided to opt against this place and go for something a bit more casual and cafe style so I headed across the street to a little cafe that I forgot to take a photo of. Here are a couple of photos that I took from inside of the cafe:

The hotel was in the Historic District of the Upper West Side. I didn't know it was the historic district until I read the sign!

Soon thereafter my room was ready!

Wonder why I have two beds? Because the show told me that I could bring a guest! And since Chris wasn't able to be there I decided to ask my dear friend Monica who lives in NY to join me. They switched my Queen bed to a double to accommodate both of us; very generous of them! Here I am mastering a "take a picture of yourself" moment.

Later that day I walked around a bit and stopped at a place called Arties to get something to eat

Can you say too much food!!! Now I didn't realize that when I ordered the yummy pastrami Reuben with a side of fries that 1.) It would would be gigantic open faced sandwich that was to be eaten with a knife and fork and 2.) That it would be accompanied with coleslaw and 2 pickles. When I finished eating, the amount left pretty much looked just like the photo above. You could hardly tell I ate anything. 

Soon after chomping down this mighty meal Monica arrived!

Isn't she lovely!

It was great seeing Monica again. Chris and I hung out with her when he surprised me with a trip to NY for my 30th birthday. Monica and I literally laughed and giggled all night. Every time we tried to go to sleep, we'd find something else to talk about and giggle some more. Clearly we were both in a slumber party deficit.

Oh! and since Monica decided to wear a very wrinkled albeit very cute blue shirt to the show the next day, we decided that ironing it would be too difficult due to the design of the shirt. Next thought, steam! Let's just put it on a hanger and hang it on the shower as the hot water runs. Normally this would work perfectly, the problem here was that the hangers in the closet were headless!

They fit into these hanger insets that were attached to the rod in the closet:

 

What a dilemma! Now in my short blogging life I have learned to stretch my mind a bit more creatively. I say to Monica, maybe we can use the hotel umbrella that was in the closet somehow. She gives me a funny look like WHAT? I was convinced that since the umbrella had a hook it had to work. So we use a bit of ingenuity:

Aha! We then added the shirt:

30 seconds later Monica realized that we could actually use the whole hanger instead of just the silver clips...we were so tickled that the idea worked that we forgot about the real use of the hanger which caused us to giggle even more...

We were now in business...and the steam took care of all the wrinkles! I know the whole shirt story was completely random but we got a kick out of it so I had to share it. Now time to go to bed, we have a show in the morning!!

Tatum