That’s the phrase that we saw quoted all over the O store in Chicago. My best friend and I were there because we had just seen a live taping of the Oprah Winfrey show, co anchored by members of The View. I had always wanted to see a live taping of a show. When I heard the two shows were doing one together, I thought that it would be fun to see because I grew up watching both shows over the years.
I had been joking around to a friend that I was going to see Oprah this year and Oprah was going to give me a car. Little did I know a few weeks later, that I would get tickets, thanks to a last minute reservation on Oprah’s website. I had been passively checking her website for tickets for a few weeks.
One morning while reading my bible, I really felt like I should check. (not trying to sound super spiritual or hokey…. that’s just what happened) That day I had the opportunity to request last minute tickets for that show. This was a Tuesday. The show was that Friday. I put in my request and was shocked to see an email to respond ASAP because there were tickets available to the first responders. I called my bff. We rearranged both of our family’s schedules.
She is 6 hrs away from me and I am 3 hours away from Chicago. Our husbands were working that day. She has four kids, all ages and one on the way. There was a lot of coordinating to do but this was the chance of a lifetime. The final season of the Oprah Show and all of those personalities together in one place. We could not pass this up!
We only had one other mission. To find the perfect outfit. We researched blogs, tried dozen of outfit combos. I made my boys take pictures of each outfit with my camera phone. The process of relying on a 4 year old’s camera skills is amusing by itself. We had been told that bright clothes get good seats. I didn’t have the “new clothes” budget or the “going to see Oprah in Chicago” budget. So I had to be creative with what I had. I got the “ah ha” outfit idea in the shower and felt like this was the one to get the seats.
We got a great deal off priceline for our hotel.
$50 for a 4 star that was a half block from the magnificent mile. We had a great view of the water and Navy Pier from our room.
As we got settled in that night, we contacted a family friend to show us around Chicago.
We went to a famous hot dog restaurant downtown called Portillo’s with a roaring 20’s themed decor. We got there for a really late night dinner and then taxied it backed to the hotel due to the freezing cold. We had a big day the next day and we did not want to accidently sleep in.
We woke up super early the next morning and then taxied over to the Harpo studio. We showed up about 45 minutes before the next early birds to wait in line, the day of the show. The security guard let us in the garage area early to get inside from the freezing cold. He either pitied us or thought we were crazy. We checked in and then waited in a holding room where we filled out waivers. We were then split into two groups. As we formed the lines we were anticpating where we would get to be seated.
When we walked in the studio, one of the producers had us go from our line toward the front section. We then had favor with seating 2nd row center. As we talked to the people sitting around us, we were amazed at our good seats. Our early bird friends we met in line, were seated in another section farther behind us. Everyone around us “knew” or “was related to someone”. When asked who we “knew”, I said,”I know Jesus.” Lol. We later found out that you could see the backs of our heads during the the whole show. Unfortunately, they didn’t pan much into the crowd for that taping.
The hour went by fast and I even got to ask Sheri Shephard a question during the break. It was really deep…. Here goes….. “Sheri, how long did it take you to pick out your outfit?” Now, the back-story is that she was having people vote on her shoes and her wig to wear that day. Ironically, the dress was something she already owned and felt comfortable in.
Afterwards, Oprah shared how she appreciated the sacrifices people made to get there and seemed sincerely humble. We were given a previous month’s O magazine. No car but the adventure in Chicago with my bff was priceless.
We even topped off the day with Giordano’s deep dish pizza,shopping up and down the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Ave and an ice cream dessert at Ghiredelli .
One more dream adventure to cross off my list.
I like Oprah’s quote of living your own dream because that looks different to everyone. I have different dreams for different aspects of my life.
(Adventure, spiritually, for my family and for my marriage. etc) We are all called to do something and enjoy this gift of life we’ve been given. Time to start living dreams.
Here is the last minute reservation site if you have ever wanted to see Oprah.
For great Chicago eats try https://www.portillos.com/, https://www.ghirardelli.com/shops/shop_locator.aspx and https://www.giordanos.com/
I would like to visit oprah Winfrey.with my family