Hi all! It’s been a whirlwind few days here in the world of Atypical60dom! Thursday I had to get those skunky roots done. And, as usual, Adam from Bleu Mousse Salon in Wayne worked his magic!
Fresh from the salon. Adam got rid of those pesky white roots and made my hair look smooth and wavy!
I needed to look extra nice—just in case the camera panned on me when we went to see The Tonight Show on Friday!
Friday started off relaxed—Bonaparte dropped Chippy off at the PetSmart Pet Hotel in Collegeville. Chippy got to spend some quality time with his cronies. A chip off the old block, he had a “time-out” for picking on a smaller dog. Chippy has NO clue that he is not a large dog. He really thinks he’s a full-sized Lab–or a Boxer–or a Mastiff!
Our adorable MINI-Labradoodle/Schipperke Cross. You are not a large dog. You are largely adorable and largely rascalish and large spoiled but NOT a large dog!
BUT— we did get the DNA results from Wisdom Panel 2.0. . Wisdom Panel Doggie DNA Testing. It confirmed what were were thinking about his Royal Labness! Oona, my daughter, swore up and down that he was a Mini-Labradoodle-1st generation. She was the closest of us all. He is a cross between a Lab, a Miniature Poodle, and the biggest surprise a Schipperke! (I, being of the deeply shallowness, was hoping he had some Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen in his bloodline. He doesn’t—but it’s cool!) His extreme protectiveness and deep-ass bark must be the Schipperke in him! We really were pleased with the process of finding out Chippy’s DNA. Wisdom Panel sends a “kit”, you send the scraping of the inside of said canine’s cheek into them and a couple of weeks later, you find out the DNA. It’s good to find out just what your rescue baby’s make up is for health and behavior reasons!
Chippy’s roots–validated!
OK…so we headed on into NYC, enjoying a leisurely and basically traffic-free ride!
New York–just like I pictured it. Skyscrapers. Everythang!
I wanted to make a first stop down in the Financial District at a new French food marketplace—Le District, the official opening wasn’t supposed to be until Monday 3/30, but I read that one section was having an early opening.
Bonaparte was extremely excited–visions of escargot, foie gras and baguettes were dancing in his head!
While I was envisioning Abbaye Citeaux cheese and ……
Hoping I could find my Normandy Cidre!
The weather sucked. The traffic sucked. The financial district surely is not what it was when I worked there, so we figured the heck with it—we would just return when the weather gets a bit warmer, and sunnier and more befitting of walking around in the downtown area.
We slowly made our way to midtown and snagged beautiful street parking on 51st Street, less than a block away from 30 Rock! As an ex-Manhattanite, I LIVE for good, great, spectacular street parking. It’s a thing I have. And the space was just so convenient! I was able to run into 30 Rock, give Roman (my son—he is one of the cue card crew for The Tonight Show and SNL) the Momofuku Corn Cookies I lovingly baked for him and his co-workers, get checked in so that we could go backstage after the show and do some serious people-watching at Rock Plaza!
Momofuku Corn Cookies. Lovingly baked and packaged for Roman and his co-workers. There would have been much more had I not binged on the cookie dough! (I realize I consumed countless Weight Watchers points. Don’t judge!)
Have you ever gone to the taping of a life show? NBC is extremely pragmatic and so efficiently organized when it comes to the process. Other than being registered by having our badges and photos taken to go backstage after the taping, there were a few other steps. We had to enter into the NBC store and register at a desk to receive our tickets to the taping—I was such a proud mom when the woman who registered us told me that my son was such a sweet guy! She told us where to line up and what time to do so.
30 Rock’s Best!
So many goodies for tourists to purchase! (I, myself, would rather make a purchase at the J. Crew store in the same building!)
The pass to see what goes on behind the scenes after the taping–also a fun way to meet Roman’s co-workers!
Lined up in numerical order (Each ticket or set of tickets has a number. Bonaparte and I were number 20) and awaiting entrance to the show, we had to go through metal detectors and were told—not once, but about 25 times, to shut our cell phones off! (Thus—no pics!)
Tickets and……..
A cute bracelet complete the look!
When we arrived to the studio, it was a menopausal pleasure! The air temp is nice and cool—and oh, so comfy! We had fantastic seats—a great view from all around! The added pleasure of extremely comfortable seating was definitely a plus to the experience! Everything just moves to quickly.
Before the taping, Seth Herzog, warmed the audience up. Herzog is a really funny guy. He warmed up the audience for Late Night when Fallon hosted that show—and he was the warm up comedian when we saw that taping.
Seth Herzog is a great multi-tasker. He not only makes the audience laugh, but he pumps that audience up to make some noise!!!
The Roots, Fallon’s Philly-based house band, played a set, and I swear I really wanted to get up and dance. Herzog was dancing and was great. I wanted to jump out of my seat and join him—but then Roman wouldn’t have appreciated my actions! The Roots also never fail to please! They are just so tight and talented!
The Roots–I wish so much that I could have taken pics with my camera or phone!
The roster of guests included Will Forte, and ex-SNL alum that lit up the screen in the great film “Nebraska”, and now stars in the TV show “The Last Man On Earth”, Adam Horowitz, aka “Ad-Rock” from the old-school rap group “The Beastie Boys” and Jeremy Wade, the host of “River Monsters”.
….and Will Forte looked adorable with all that facial hair!
Seriously–does this handsome face look like a Beastie Boy?? Adam Horowitz is so grown up!
Jeremy Wade had some creepy River Monsters on the set! As an aside–his TAN is better than George Hamilton’s! Really!
Will Forte is just so darn adorable and engaging! He and Jimmy Fallon had a nice repartee and you could tell they are genuine friends. Plus—Forte spoke so nicely about his mom! Come on—who cannot resist a guy who speaks so highly of his mom! I love him. Horowitz was incredibly funny and charming as well. He is more of a “mature man” these days than a “beastie boy” and Jeremy Wade brought some pretty icky little river monsters! All in all, it was the best taping both Bonaparte and I attended. It wasn’t as frenetic as SNL and it was just a more comfortable setting than “Late Night”. I also never noticed how tall Jimmy Fallon was until Friday’s taping.
I was also entranced by watching my son at work—if only I had been allowed to photograph him in action!
After the show, Roman showed us around the studio and introduced and re-introduced us to his fellow co-workers. As a mom, I’m so happy for him. He works with a great group of people. They all enjoy working with him and they all are just such nice and friendly people. There were lots of hugs! I love that so much! It almost made me cry tears of happiness! *shhhhh* my eyes did mist up a bit!
Now, I’m not a woman who gets all excited and star-struck if I meet or see a “TV” or “film” personality. But meeting Will Forte was a genuine pleasure. It was nice to see him happy to see Roman again. They hadn’t seen each other since Forte’s SNL days, and it was so gracious of him to greet Roman like an old friend! Will Forte is every inch the gentleman and it was a pleasure to meet him!
After meeting Seth Herzog and sharing a few laughs it was time to go. There was no lingering on in the City because immediately following The Tonight Show; Roman had to work on SNL’s prep for Saturday!
Oona, who wasn’t feeling well, met us after she left her office for the day and rode home with us for a weekend of relaxation!
It was a touching moment for me when Oona directed us to a shortcut to enter the Lincoln Tunnel as we bid good-bye to NYC. My baby girl is, in fact, a bona-fide Manhattanite! It warms my heart!
Well, at least I got to snap THIS pic before going into the Lincoln Tunnel! Love my NYC!
I just hope the weather warms up soon! We need to get back to do some serious food shopping at Le District!
XOXOXOXO!
Here’s a game: I’ve posted Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ For The City”. Can you guess where I placed a line from this song?
