Okay – let’s get the boring stuff out of the way.

I hate begging for votes, I really do. I know it’s annoying and I know it get’s old but here I go…

I need your votes. Like reeeeaaaaaalllly badly! This week I had the chance to fly to Los Angeles to be on Hallmark’s Home & Family show as a finalist in their search for one DIY Star who will get a weeklong stint on the show. This would be a dream for me! So here are the deets:

WATCH:

go HERE to see my segment on the show. I hope I did ya proud.

(If you want to watch the entire episode, it will re-air today, Friday, May 20th at 12pm EST/9am PST)

VOTE:

go HERE to the Home and Family Facebook Page to vote! Scroll down to the image that says “DIY FINALIST #19” and like, share or comment. Each like, comment and share counts as a vote and I need as many as I can get. The competition is stiff, sisterfriends!

INSTAGRAM:

You can also “vote” via instagram! Just leave a comment or like on THIS photo. That’s it!

Okay, now that we’ve covered that, how about we get to the good stuff! I’ve already bugged you about voting so I might as well give you a good read in return. I figure I could give you little rundown of some lesser-known facts about the Home & Family Show.

PREP DAY

On the day before my taping, I worked all day creating samples and filming the “pre-tape” that would roll during my live presentation. It was a long day of hard work, but it was the kind of work I love doing, so I didn’t mind one bit. I worked in front of the Home & Family garage and every so often I would wander insider pretending that I had something important to do…but really, I was just being nosy and watching everything that was going on.

LIVE TO TAPE

Home and Family may just be the hardest show on television. They tape the entire show in one take. No do-overs. No editing. Very little script. You’ve gotta be on your A-game but you also have to relax and go with the flow. I was amazed by the whole operation. Each day, they tape the next day’s episode which leads me to Fun Fact #2…

WHAT THE HELL DAY IS IT?

I taped my episode of Home & Family on a Wednesday, which means the episode would air the next day…a Thursday. I think you can already see how this devolves into a puddle of time-warp confusion. I walked around all day thinking it was Thursday. The hosts called it Thursday, the crew called it Thursday. It was not Thursday, friends. It was confusing. That’s what it was.

WHAT ARE YOU EATING?

Each episode of Home & Family has a cooking segment where several of the guests gather around the kitchen and eat while the chef does the demonstration. A few minutes before the cooking segment, a producer asked me “I think I’m going to put you in the cooking segment. Do you like popovers?” Um….is water wet? Yes, I like popovers. And popcorn. And popsicles. And Poptarts. Things that start with “pop” are usually a good idea.

I was excited to hang out at the kitchen counter with everyone…and I was also curious to find out if the food they served was actually yummy, or was it TV food and everyone just pretended to ooh and aah over it. Welp, friends – that food is real and it is damn delicious. That popover was warm, chewy and 100% perfection. They plated it with a tiny ramekin of soft butter and strawberry jam. Man am I happy I got thrown into that cooking segment.

THE CRAFT ROOM

There is a room devoted to crafts and they have EVERYTHING. It’s a little on the messy side, but since I know a thing or two about messy, I felt right at home. They have glue guns, glitter, feathers, paint and a stack of patterned paper that puts my collection to shame!

LOOK MA, NO CEILINGS

The Home & Family home is a home…and a set. It’s a beautiful, realistic looking place until you look into the rafters and see all the lights and scaffolding and wires. It’s pretty surreal. Funny thing is…even with all that stuff above your head, you still feel like you’re right at home. Every room is furnished and mostly functional. The fridge is a real fridge. The oven is a real oven…and that big copper sink is the real deal, running water and all. At times, you forget that you’re really on a set in the middle of Universal Studios. It’s totally my kind of working environment. I wonder if they’d let me take a nap in the bedroom?

Hope all those fun facts made up for my begging!! Thanks for all the support and love as I hustle and navigate my way through this crazy-fun world of DIY!