What Did I Do With All The Medals? – Part 4 (Laying It Out, Picking the Colors & Such)

January 30, 2014

Picking up from yesterday –

So, we’d decided to go with Michaels. (By “we,” I mean me and my parents who bought this for me as an awesome, wonderful Christmas present.)

When we first got the quote from Michaels, we didn’t go nuts with laying everything out, because I’d learned my lesson from last time, and didn’t want to take up another framer’s time…

We just did enough so she’d be able to give us the estimate.

Then, I took the medals back to my parent’s house, and laid them out in the shape of a 52 in chronological order. I measured it to make sure it’d fit in the 40″ x 60″ frame. Then I took a bunch of pictures so we’d all remember what it should look like.

While talking with Andrea when getting the quote, she had a great idea that we could put the actual race medals in the 52 and surround it with the 18 bonus medals.

In the end, the 52 barely fits in the frame. So, the bonus medals couldn’t surround it unless we made everything look very squished. Her recommendation (which I really liked) to fix that problem is to have two smaller frames (separate pieces) – one on each side of the big, huge 52 frame.

So, that’s the plan. As of now, we’ve only taken in the big 52 for framing. That was a big chunk of change in itself and we’re gonna see how it goes first. Assuming it turns out beautifully, then we’ll probably take the leap to finish the last two frames and be all done with it.

We laid everything out agin in the frame shop so Andrea could take her own pictures. Most of the ribbons on the medals are going to be hidden behind the mat. But we picked out some to kind of shape around the 52, so some of the more beautiful ones can be visible (and so the medals look cooler and fuller).

As far as picking out the mat, it was sort of hard to pick a background color. I generally like bold colors, but we needed to pick something at least somewhat muted to be able to show off all the medals.

I really enjoyed a purple color… and then realized it didn’t come in our huge mat size. There was a pink I loved that had the same problem. Then I landed on a dark blue. It actually goes great with the pink. So, the plan is to have the pink matting in the smaller bonus medal frames.

Also, I gave Andrea my bibs so she could cut them and line the inside of the shadowbox with them! I’m so glad I found a place for the bibs! I knew I wanted to save them, but had no idea where to put them. Now, voilà!

The frame should be coming back pretty soon. So, more on that when it’s finished. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the t-shirts and the awesome quilt.

What Did I Do With All The Medals? – Part 3 (Now Comparing Stores in Person)

January 29, 2014

Picking up from yesterday –

I went to a custom framing store… The girl I’d actually gotten the quote from didn’t even work there anymore – that’s how long I’d waited.

I remember loving her on the phone. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the lovely women currently working there. But it didn’t feel the same as the fun girl from the phone.

The women seemed interested in the prospect of making a 52 with the medals and they were rendering ideas on the computer of how they’d do it. But, by the time I’d met them, I’d already been to Michaels.

Michaels is a chain arts and crafts store. Before going there, I wondered how some big retail giant could ever be as a good as a little custom framing shop. But once I got to Michaels, I met Andrea – the framing expert there.

She was amazing. She seemed so very passionate and open to ideas. Almost anything seemed possible with her. She seemed really excited about the project. I had this wonderful feeling about her. It would’ve been hard for anyone to match (or overtake) that.

So, I went to the other custom framing shop and no one could out-do Andrea.

I will say that at the custom frame shop, they said they could do two mats and shape one into a 52, then put the medals on that one. Whereas, they didn’t have the equipment needed at Michaels to shape a mat into a giant 52. But I think I actually like the idea better of just the medals themselves being the shape. So, that’s fine.

In the end, Michaels was even cheaper than the custom framing place. So, Michaels it is.

I will say my only true qualm is that the only shadowbox option (that was deep enough and could be made big enough) was a black wood frame… And I don’t really like the textured look of the frame. I mean, maybe I could’ve tried to push that harder or something. But if they don’t have any other options, then they don’t have any other options.

There was a nice smooth shadowbox frame that would fit everything… But they only had the corner of it. She called multiple places, and apparently it’s not even being made anymore?

So, it is what it is. I’m sure it still look good. I’m so excited about every single other detail about it. So I’m sure I’ll barely even notice the textured frame.

More on the layout and process of picking the mat and such tomorrow.

What Did I Do With All The Medals? – Part 2 (Continuing to Call Around & Get Quotes)

January 28, 2014

Picking up from yesterday –

I have 72 medals and my expensive $2,500 quote.

When I told someone who knew way more about framing than I did that it was going to cost $2,500, she said she was positive I could call around and find a better deal. Sure enough, she was right.

First, I called other places in Los Angeles. Many were still very expensive. Then I expanded my search.

My parents live in Ohio, and so many things often seem cheaper out there. So, I started calling Columbus shops. Sure enough, they were much cheaper! Ultimately, we got a quote for about $800.

It was interesting talking to different framing shops. Some seemed like they thought the project would be too hard. Some thought it would be possible with some restrictions. And some seemed excited about the challenge/possibility of such a cool, big display.

Originally, I’d said I wanted the medals in the shape of a 52. I thought that’d be cool. I dropped that idea after the first frame shop (back in L.A.) said it wasn’t feasible. But somehow that option worked its way back into my life – which I’m really happy about, because it was ultimately what I wanted.

I felt bad about dropping the old framing place after spending so much time with them. I didn’t actually commit to anything. But still, time is money. However, when I found places for 1/3 of the price excited about working on it, I had to move on.

I actually called around for estimations back in March-ish of last year (soon after the half marathons were completed). I don’t like to leave boxes of stuff (including medals) just sitting around… But, I always found other uses for money. So, it just kept getting pushed back and back.

Finally, I decided to visit Ohio this month to once and for all take care of the shirts and medals. It’s been a year since this project ended. It’s time to officially (metaphorically) tie it in a bow and put it to rest.

So, I came to Ohio and met with a couple of framers who gave the best quotes.

Before going into the stores, I thought I was going to want to go with an actual frame shop, that specialized only in framing…

But then I learned that as with oh so many things, I think framing has to do more with the people doing it than the place where that person happens to be.

This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

What Did I Do With All The Medals? – Part 1 (Looking Into the Framing)

January 27, 2014

Keeping the theme of talking about all the stuff from the 52 half marathons – what did I do with so many medals?

First, I took them to a frame shop in Los Angeles. And I learned a fair amount about framing there… I learned about museum glass and that the largest size a mat comes in is 60″ by 40″. So, if you don’t want any splicing in your frame, you gotta fit it in there.

I felt really, really bad because I liked that frame shop a lot. They were really nice there, and honestly spent a good deal of time with me and my medals sort of laying them out and giving ideas of how they could be displayed… And I really thought I would go with them. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t.)

Their quote was about $2,500 to frame all 72 medals in the same huge frame.

Sure, that seems steep. But when you think about it, you have to use a shadowbox frame because of the thickness of some of the medals. And you have to make so very many cuts. So the labor cost is high… I understood how it could be that expensive.

If you’re wondering on the math how I got 72 medals… In the end, I ran 55 races because I did that bonus celebration race the weekend after 52. Plus I did 2 extra throughout the year because in one I got lost and in one I started late due to a daylight savings mixup. Since I couldn’t count either of those, I had a couple extra races in there. That brings us to 55 races.

However, I elected not to put my Goofy Challenge medals in there because this medal display is going to be a behemoth! I don’t know where I’m going to move in the future or if I’m always going to have 5 feet of wall space (over 3 feet high) just hanging out where I can hang this. So I want the Goofy medals in their own frame, because that was race #52. And I should always be able to find a place to hang that. So, I’ll get the same idea without 1/2 a wall being dedicated to medals from one year of racing.

Also, the Goofy Challenge medals were so beautiful and so special that I don’t want them getting lost in the mess of all the other medals. So, I want them separate.

Mathematically, we’ve now gone from 55 races to 54 medals (since I’m keeping that Disney half separate). Then I had 18 bonus medals. (9 from the Rock ‘n’ Roll series, plus 9 other ones.) That brings us to 72. So, a lot…

How in the world are we going to frame all of them? This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 6 (Was It Worth It?)

January 26, 2014

I thought that before I moved on, after so much talk of money, I should re-visit the question, “Was it worth it?”

And the answer is, I don’t know. I think you could argue either case…

Obviously, when we did the math, this whole thing cost many thousands of dollars.

Would it have been better to try and go back to Berklee, and pay for a semester of school? Would it have been better to take a ton of dance classes? (I miss dance so much!) Would it have been better to go to Tanzania, climb Kilimanjaro, and go on a safari?

Most importantly, would it have been better to use that money to try and move to New York? After all, I do talk all the time about my dreams of living on the east coast again…

So, you could make the argument that there’s a lot of other things I could’ve done with that money.

But, in the argument for the 52 half marathons…
It was a project that lasted all year. That trip to Africa would’ve been incredible. But this was a year-long adventure. So, we should take that into account.

Also, thousands of dollars were raised for a good cause through this project. Embarrassingly, and unfortunately we didn’t even raise as much as I spent. They do have thousands of dollars they wouldn’t have had otherwise. But you could make the argument they’d have been better off if I’d have just donated the money it cost to do this project…

But, there’s an argument to be made for awareness too. Many people hadn’t heard of Broadway Impact until I started doing my fundraising…

Another thing in the pro-this-project camp: I know that I learned a good deal from this project.

Plus, I definitely got catapulted back into enjoying running and healthy living. Hopefully now I’m in this habit for life, and this project was helpful in getting there.

Also, I’d never been into journaling before this. And I love that I’m finally keeping some kind of record of my life. It’s nice for me to be able to read about things I loved and remember them more vividly.

I love how many cool people I met. I love how many cool places I saw. I had a truly amazing time, and I will never forget that year of my life.

Also, here’s one more thing to think about when asking if I should’ve spent that money on something else. It wasn’t like I actually just had many thousands of dollars just sitting around thinking, “what should I do with this?” I just started the races, not planning out the expenses, and I tried to make ’em work.

A good amount of that was just put on credit cards. If it weren’t for the Price is Right, I’d still be paying them off! And I think one of the reasons I got on Price is Right is ’cause I had sort of story/hook. Maybe I would’ve made it on without that. But we’ll never really know.

So, if I was only able to afford the races, really, because of Price is Right – and I only got on Price is right because of the races – that becomes a loop for how it all works together…

So, I don’t know… The question of whether it was worth it doesn’t even necessarily need to be asked because it happened. It’s over. Everybody survived. It was great and fun. So, there you have it.

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 5 (And Then There Are Photos and Medal Mounts and Such – More Expenses I Didn’t Think About)

January 25, 2014

Aurora jumping in the air at Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 2012
Yes, it cost a lot of money to have these photos – but… not to get all Mastercard commercial here… but the memories (when seeing them) are priceless

So, it was already expensive just to make it through the races.

But what I never thought about while thinking of all the costs of travel and registrations was all the other things that weren’t totally necessary (but would be great) that would come up.

Think about the photos!!!

I barely bought any of the pro photos during the year, ’cause I just didn’t have the extra money to go around… or even really the time to worry about them. By the time they’d come out, it’d be on to the next race.

But then, once the year was over, it was a race to get to the photos before they all expired. If I did this huge project, I’d love to have a lot of documentation of it.

And of course, I did with personal photos and blog entries and such. But there’s something nice about having the pro ones too.

Between 52 races, I’m sure at least over $2,000 was spent on photos. I believe 6 of the races did free photos. Some had very cheap options. I ended up waiting for sales on some of the races, which was very helpful. My family bought me some as Christmas presents – also very helpful.

But the money adds up so quickly. For most races, I tried to just pick one or maybe a few that did the trick. But for races that really mattered (my dad’s first half, the Goofy Challenge), or races where there were just a bunch of pictures I liked, I got the whole shebang. That can be over $100 in some instances (though usually I think it’s more around $60 – 80).

Aurora, wearing a lai, jumping at the finish line of the Malibu Half Marathon 2012
(Well, if I paid to have all these pictures, might as well post another one here, huh?)

But for most races, even if you just want one photo you’re gonna end up spending about $30, because that’s the price of one digital download (their way of trying to convince you more is a better deal – which totally worked on me more than once).

You can get prints, which are cheaper. But a) you’re adding a hassle to your life. I went with prints sometimes. But they never look as good scanned in. And you have to get them all scanned in, and it’s a whole thing… Digital is way better when you can afford it (in my opinion).

b) You still have to pay shipping and handling, my friend!

So, there was that big expense.

There’s also the expense of what you’re gonna do with the stuff! Are you gonna frame your medals? Are you gonna quilt your t-shirts? I feel like just taking care of the stuff becomes expensive in itself. But since this next bit of time is dedicated to talking all about what I did with all that stuff, we will get into that soon enough, my friends!

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 4 (Lovely People Helping Me Out (Thanks!))

January 24, 2014

Aurora with a big smile holding up her medal at Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans 2012
Amazing Wendy and Marty paid for a hotel room here, helping to make it possible for me to happily experience New Orleans – where I’d never been before!

I do just want to give one big shout out to everyone who helped me during this project.

As I looked at my little spreadsheet while writing this post, I saw a couple names that warmed my heart because of how much I adore the people.

In places where people drove me or let me stay with them, I put their name instead of a dollar amount. And even going back to the very beginning and my awesome friend Taylor, I thought, “I adore her! I couldn’t be happier that this project started with her…

And then I was sad ’cause now she lives even farther away from me. But such is life, I suppose.

I almost feel bad since I just talked (yesterday) about some of the money was foolishly spent.

I even forgot about a wasted race entry – which didn’t count toward my total – after I registered for Providence and didn’t make it with my buddy pass… Should I have tried to go to the airport a day earlier? Questions I ask myself when resources get sort of wasted… Granted, I did totally use that buddy pass for Denver. But I bought an extra race entry in the process (and missed out on Providence). *exhales at my choices from the year*… But even though I can pick it apart… Again, I reiterate, I made it through. So, yay for that! Right?

I like to believe that when people are helping me that I’m smartly using the resources they’re offering. So, when I make bad decisions on some races when it comes to money, it makes me feel bad.

But, everyone who did help me had a really open heart about it and I appreciate each one of them so much. And every time I see the people’s names if I ever look back on this spreadsheet of blog posts, I can’t imagine a time when it won’t make me smile. So, huge props to everyone who did help me.

(And if it makes you feel any better, even though I have a couple of instances of foolish money spending, I have a lot more of good money spending. There were just some forehead-palm (like in the V8 commercial) moments. But we’ve covered them. They’re over. And I like the think they stick out ’cause they were different – not the norm.

I have one more post tomorrow.

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 3 (Some Expensive Trips (and Some Foolish Travel Mistakes))

January 23, 2014

Aurora jumping with ocean in the background at the Big Sur half marathon 2012
Tripped up on this race – spending too much with some poor planning/last-second-decision-making… But at least it was an incredibly fun race (and expo!). I don’t regret doing this one at all… Just wish I woulda done it cheaper. (Next time!)

Picking up from yesterday –

I was picking out a couple of specific trips to talk about.

My second most expensive trip was surprisingly the Seattle Quadzilla. Between the rental car and expensive plane tickets, that trip cost about $1,000! (And I even had a free place to stay on that trip!) So, that definitely surprised me when I saw that amount.

Of course, I did do 4 races that weekend. So, if you average that out, it’s not so bad after all…

The race where I most foolishly spent money was Big Sur. It cost $521.86. But I think I picked the wrong hotel, because while I got one that was close, you couldn’t actually walk to the start because of a highway or something. And even though I had a rental car, there was not a ton of parking around there. So I sort of think I may have taken a cab… I’ll have to go back and read the post. But I definitely didn’t pick the right hotel…

But way more importantly than that, I decided to fly all the way to San Francisco. But the drive down in my rental car was so far that I realized it would’ve made more sense to just drive up, which would’ve saved me a round trip plane ticket.

Everything worked out and it was fine. But that trip could’ve absolutely been less expensive.

Another foolish race was the North Carolina half. I had a wonderful time. Because of that, perhaps it wasn’t foolish. However, there was another race in New York (which is where I was staying at the time) that very same weekend. Why did I spend over $300 for lodging and plane tickets to North Carolina when I could’ve done the one in New York?

Aurora in the finisher area of the North Carolina Half Marathon 2012, holding up her finisher medal with a big open mouth smile
I didn’t need to go to North Carolina – but I did meet some wonderful people, and get an incredibly sweet medal. So, it was pretty great, and kinda worth the money to me…

At the time, I hand’t really mapped out all the expenses. I’d recently gotten my tax refund and felt I could splurge. I really wanted that sweet medal that lights up and has moving parts.

Also, the New York race was part of a series. And I didn’t want to do that because I felt, “What’s the point of doing one if I’m not going to finish the series? And I don’t want to travel 4 more times to make not traveling this once worth it.”

Of course, in real life, I could’ve done it and not done the series. But that wasn’t my thinking at the time…

So, that’s where some foolish mistakes were made. But, then I cut corners later. (Some cutting might’ve actually been a bit foolish too, because it leaves you tired and stuff. But obviously I made it through. So doing it without spending as much money as I did in the ones I just mentioned, I would say overall was a good choice.

And I’ll talk more about the expenses tomorrow.

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 2 (There Was Some Food, Shoes & Lodging Too – (and I Didn’t Need to Travel Quite So Much… But I Loved That I Did! ;)))

January 22, 2014

Aurora jumping in the air by the start/finish line of the Atlantic City April Fool's Half 2012
almost all the way across the country – at the April Fools’ half in Atlantic City

Picking up from yesterday –

So, we’ve got the race registrations and the plane tickets. Add in some rental cars, bus trips, and such and you’ve seen why the transportation ended up costing more than the registrations.

Although, I will admit – especially for someone whose base was in SoCal, I didn’t need to travel that much.

I did it because I loved getting away, and I loved experiencing new things. Also, I figured if I was already doing that many races, I might as well get as many bonus medals as possible. So, that involved a number of out-of-state Rock ‘n’ Roll races. Also, there was the trip to Florida for Disney Princess.

Plus, I wanted to be at my dad’s first half marathon – which meant flying more than halfway across the country to do so. So, there was a lot of traveling that I didn’t have to do – though I loved doing it…

The other main cost would be lodging. I was lucky and often stayed with friends or had a couple people gift me hotel rooms. So, that could’ve been a way worse number. But that’s the other main expense you’d need to factor in if you were to plan an adventure like this.

There’s also the cost of food and shoes… Food didn’t really seem to be that much more or less expensive than if I’d just been at home. Plus, you can bring a lot of nutrition bars and such from home. Not to mention, that a lot of expos actually give out some free food. Many finish lines give you enough free food that you could basically make it through lunch that day.

Aurora kissing her dad on the cheek at the finish of the Indianapolis Mini Marathon 2012
It was so important to me to be at my dad’s first half marathon (and totally worth the cost to fly to the Midwest)

So, as far as I could tell, the cost of food wasn’t a huge issue for me. (Food became a little hard while I was on a vegan challenge because you have to be so specific. But, for a non-restricted diet, there didn’t seem to be any big problems.)

As far as the shoes were concerned, I probably only rotated through about 3 – 4 pairs throughout the year, which many normal runners to anyway. So that also wasn’t a huge deal.

My most expensive trip, not surprisingly was the Goofy Challenge. I got a great deal on our Disney resort. Nonetheless, between the expensive registration, many nights in a Disney resort, and the flight across the country, I spent about $1,400 on that trip.

(And my dad even bought all the food! So none of that expensive Disney food is factored in. Also, I didn’t even go to the parks (outside of the races). So no park tickets are factored in either.)

I’ll talk about a couple more specific trips tomorrow.

The Expenses of 52 Half Marathons – Part 1 (Whoa – Looking at the Expenses of Registrations & Travel)

January 21, 2014

Aurora running in a red shirt with her hands up on a fairly empty street at Run Montecito-Summerland
Run Montecito-Summerland gave me a free entry. (And I’m oh so grateful!)

One of the questions I get most often is “how much did that cost?!”

After some thought, I’ve decided it’s probably not smart to divulge so much personal financial information as to put up an entire spreadsheet with every cost. But since people are so curious and possibly want to do this themselves, I’ll happily give you a little larger window into the cost of everything.

The total cost of all the registrations was $5,354.42. I estimated that it was probably an average of $100/race, which is actually a little lower than what it came out to.

In the end, I actually ran 55 because I threw in 3 extra – one because of a late start due to a daylight savings phone setting malfunction (so I ended up cutting part of the course and can’t count that as an official race), one because I got lost on the course on a small race and accidentally cut a bit out, and one because I started with Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona and thought it would be nice to end there. The following year it fell one week later, so it couldn’t be my final race. But I still did it as a “celebration race.”

Also, just for the record, I did get one comped entry and one half price entry. If you factor that in, we’re basically right at $5,500, which is what I assumed it would end up coming out to. Though, the Goofy Challenge is included in that. So, there was a fun extra full marathon I’m not taking into account in the equation of 55 half marathons.

So, that was the cost of the registrations alone. The cost of transportation outdid the cost of just the registrations. Flights alone totaled over 3/4 of what I spent on race registrations. (And I even used points for one of them!) I didn’t realize I flew so much or that it was so expensive until I looked at it for this post.

I don’t know if I waited too long in many instances here to buy my ticket, or if it cost more because I was flying in for big marathon weekends… Of course, sometimes it just cost a lot because I flew far distances. I flew all the way to the other side of the country (Florida) twice(!)

Aurora De Lucia posing in a very excited way after the finish of the Seattle Half Marathon 2012
at least Seattle was incredibly fun – even if it was expensive

I was still surprised to see my money spend on flights was in the thousands… To go up to Seattle for the Quadzuki (4 half marathons in 4 days), it cost $513.20. Just to go to Seattle! Of course, that was flying in the day before Thanksgiving and leaving at the end of the holiday weekend. So, there you have it, I suppose.

I didn’t even believe I actually spend that until I went back and looked at the receipt. Sure enough, it truly was that expensive.

My most expensive flight was actually for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Half Marathon. It cost $328.60 just for the CMH > LAX part! I don’t remember why in the world that weekend was so expensive…

So, if I wondered for a moment how in the world I spent thousands of dollars on flights, it quickly became apparent when those two weekends (Seattle & Columbus) totaled over $1,000 just by themselves. Throw in two trips to Florida (from Los Angeles), an additional trip or two to the midwest/east coast, plus some trips to pretty close states (either that surround me, or that were close to states I was already in (e.g. when I flew to North Carolina from New York)) and I see how it quickly escalates to over four grand.

Whew! We’ll talk more tomorrow about which trips all in were most expensive and some costs I didn’t really think about until I did it…

Wrapping Up 52 Half Marathons

January 20, 2014

Wow, it’s been a whole year since I finished running 52 half marathons in 52 weeks.

A year ago today, I flew home from my bonus, celebratory 53rd race in Arizona.

It’s time to finally tie this all up in a bow and move on to another fun project. So, let’s hit anything we haven’t already… We’ll delve a bit more into the money aspect. I’ll talk about how surprisingly hard it was to keep track of/sort all the photos. We’ll talk about what I did with the medals, t-shirts, & bibs. And I’ll talk a bit about what I learned.

So, that’s what we’ll be talking about here until the end of the month. If you have any questions about the 52 half marathons, now would be a perfect time to ask them. (Of course, you’re welcome to ask them anytime. But now would be lovely…)

Looking forward to talking about all this with you tomorrow!

New Year’s Race 2014 – Part 4

January 8, 2014

(Here's a picture from the expo while I wait for the pro pics to come out.)
(Here’s a picture from the expo while I wait for the pro pics to come out.)

Picking up from yesterday –

After my phone went flying out of my pocket, I just left it there! That was probably wildly stupid because, you know, it’s an iPhone. But I was like “meh, it’s backed up. It’s locked with a passcode. I have ‘find my iPhone.’ I’m upgrading in a week anyway. I have to finish this race under 3 hours!”

So I just keep running, not even breaking my stride. I cross the finish and I just every so slightly want to throw up a little. (I know that’s ridiculous for such a slow half marathon time, but for me, I was working really hard!) But don’t worry. I did not throw up at all.

I tried to keep it together as much as possible. If for no other reason, because people were watching. And I’ve heard from people who watching runners accomplish a half or full marathon is what makes them want to try it, because seeing all those excited finishers is so inspiring. But I heard from one person that they went to a finish and saw everyone throwing up and breaking down and it made them never want to do it. And I can’t be the vision in someone’s mind that makes them not want to run.

Not to mention, even if I had wanted to vomit, there was no time for that! I turned around immediately, walking outside the finish line, and I went and grabbed my phone (which thankfully was still there). Then I went back to the finish, grabbed some water, and got focused on finding the results booth. I was so ready to see that I had done it. I knew I had to be close!

I looked at the results that had been posted. Some around 3 hours had already been posted. There was a person in the booth who checked for people if the person’s results weren’t up yet. I asked about mine. She told me 3 hours and 44 seconds.

(I’ve been saying everywhere that I was 44 seconds off because that number stuck so hard in my mind and hurt so much. But technically, since I wanted to beat 3 hours, I was actually 45 seconds off for those of you keeping score at home.)

I don’t know if I started my app at the wrong time, or if it malfunctioned ’cause I have a very old phone on it’s last leg (that I’m upgrading soon). But the point is, I didn’t make it in time.

I took some upset pictures in the parking lot, then went home and jumped in the shower pretty much groaning the whole time. Who really knows whether it was because my body was sore or because I kept hearing “44 seconds” over and over in my head?

I did go on to realize later that I improved my time on this race from last year by over 46 minutes. (And everyone seems to agree the course changes made this year tougher.) So, that’s good. But keep in mind, last year, I was saving myself for the Goofy Challenge happening the following week. So, it’s not like I’m actually comparing the same amount of effort…

And while we’re talking about my failures with this race, I also totally mucked up social media-wise. Totally didn’t check in on Foursquare (because I always forget to check in, always – which we will talk about later this week). I also was talking to this guy in my corral before we started. I said that I still wasn’t totally getting the hang of instagram and that only one person had liked my pre-race photo.

He was all, “Did you use the official hashtag?” And I hadn’t! I’m a twitter nut. I’m all about hashtags. Why didn’t I think they’d be important on instagram?! But the difference between twitter and instagram is that I could just go comment a hashtag, and it still works. So, we fixed that up. And my pre-race photo ultimately got 17 likes! 🙂

(My post-race one got 37!)

So, onward we trek. Even though I failed this time around, the good news is I definitely see and feel improvement, and all this race really was, was a way to check in with my L.A. Marathon training. Based on these results, I’d say I’m pretty confident in my March goals!

New Year’s Race 2014 – Part 3 (From Dodger Stadium to the Finish)

January 7, 2014

Lying in the parking lot after being 44 seconds off. (This will have to do until the pro photos come out.)
Lying in the parking lot after being 44 seconds off. (This will have to do until the pro photos come out.)

Picking up from yesterday –

At the mile 9 mile marker, according to the running app I was using, I was at 2 hours and 2 minutes. I almost shed a tear because I was seeing how possible 3 hours was.

The tough uphills were finished and I was just going to do my best to jog out most of the rest of the race.

I was fading a bit. So, I did do a mix of speed-walking/jogging in a couple of those miles. But I just kept trying to push.

I will say that I can absolutely see my improvement. I was definitely able to push more and feel less fatigued than in previous halfs – which is especially awesome because of the challenging nature of this course!

Nonetheless, it was getting somewhat hard…

I get to mile marker 12. All I have to do is keep a pace of slightly under a 14-minute mile for this last 1.1, and I am golden!

I’m running along. I keep telling myself, “Whatever you do, do not walk a single step in this last 1.1. It is only one and one-tenth of a mile. You can easily do that without walking. Do not walk one single step here, Aurora.

And I don’t! I jog the whole way. As I’m getting closer to the finish, I check my running app. I see I only have 4 minutes left to make my goal. So I put on the incredibly inspiring “The World’s Greatest” by R. Kelly. That song is my jam!

Yeah, R. Kelly! I am a mountain! I am a tall tree! I am the world’s greatest. Sing it to me!

That song is 3 minutes and 41 seconds long. I knew if I finished before that song ended, I had to be golden.

One of the amazing things about doing a race right in my neighborhood is that I actually knew where I was. I barely ever have any sense of direction or how close things are. But once we turned on 11th and started hitting Grand and Olive and all of that, I knew where Flower was! So I could actually sort of gauge how things were going.

I hit mile marker 13 with 2 minutes to spare! I only need to do .1 miles in 2 minutes?! This is mine!

I turn the corner on Flower going toward 12th. I see the finish line! R. Kelly isn’t even to that repeat-y part of the song toward the end. I’m still in the verses. This is mine.

I am really tired at this point. I want to walk just a couple of steps, but I have promised myself that I will not! So I don’t. I just put my eyes up to the finish line. And I tell myself to just keep looking right at that point. It’s gonna get closer and closer and once you go underneath it, you can walk if you want.

At this point, not far at all from the finish, my phone flies out of my pocket!

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

New Year’s Race 2014 – Part 2

January 6, 2014

Aurora smiling for her special event aheadPicking up from yesterday –

Mile one was crowded! I wondered, “Is this race much bigger than I thought, and are we gonna be packed in here for another few miles still? But as soon as we got to the 5k turnaround, the field thinned immediately.

As far as the idea that maybe I’d even out my pace a bit in mile two… I kept up a somewhat quick (for me) and consistent with the first mile pace. I was feeling good. So, let’s just see what happens. As we went on, we started going uphill. I tried speed-walking the uphills and jogging everything else.

There were SO very many inclines. I’d think, “this has to be the last hill for a while.” But then we’d turn a corner, and wouldn’t you know it? There’s another one.

I probably looked like a crazy person to the people running in the opposite direction in every turnaround because I just put on my best popstar face and tried to act like I was in very dramatic music videos to keep me going up those hills as fast as possible.

People think L.A. is flat. (Mainly it does seem that way.) But boy oh boy, go to the right areas of downtown and it feels like I’m prepping for Kilimanjaro!

So, we get to Dodger Stadium. I’m slowing down a bit on that uphill on the way in, but a 3 hour half still seems in my grasp.

Side note to the planners of the New Year’s Race if they ever read this post: I saw a bunch of people stop on the way into the parking lot of Dodger Stadium turn around right underneath that sign that says, “Welcome to Dodger Stadium” – to be clear again, the one welcoming you to the parking lot (and you can see the stadium uphill in the background) as opposed to the stadium itself – practically everyone by me turned around under that sign and stopped to get a picture of her or himself underneath it…

But here’s the thing. We run around and come out underneath the same sign. So, if you had a photographer right there, no one would stop on the way into the parking lot, knowing the photographer was gonna capture their moment under that sign on the way out…

Also, while I’m talking about perhaps possible improvements from a runner’s perspective (sorry, not to be too judge-y about it) – there were multiple water stops in which the tables were set up on the opposite side of the road than the one you’d be on if you were correctly running all your tangents. So, I’d recommend thinking about the placement of those tables – or it might work out nicely to have them on both sides of the street instead of just one. So, that’s my two cents.

Getting back to my race, somewhere around the Dodger Stadium secret behind-the-parking-lot place, I saw the 3:00 pacer. He was still far enough behind me that I felt comfortable-ish (’cause I saw him coming the other way on the turnaround…) But nonetheless, I saw him. So, I sped up.

I ran through the stadium, which was cool. Everyone was stopping to take pictures in there. But people were good about getting as close to the sides as possible so those who wanted to run through could continue doing so.

All I was doing was focusing, “don’t slow down!” I wanted to catch the 2:50 pacer and I wanted to exit that stadium before 3:00 entered it. (Thankfully, I got out of there before he got in. And I caught up with 2:50 in the parking lot.) I was so intent, I didn’t even notice they had professional photographers in the stadium. So, good positioning there! Thanks for getting those photos (and staying out of runners’ ways in such a tight space!).

I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

New Year’s Race 2014 – Part 1 (Ow)

January 5, 2014

Ow. Oh, the pain of missing my goal.
Ow. Oh, the pain of missing my goal.

Let’s rip the band-aid off and get to the tough part first.

I wanted to finally do my first sub 3-hour after having open-heart surgery. (Yeah, yeah. I know it was almost 4 years ago and I should be doing ultra-marathons and such now… I’m working on it!)

So, I wanted to finally do a sub 3. Time: 3 hours and 44 seconds!!!

Ouch.

Okay, now let’s talk about the race. (Let me just mention, that I thought I made it in under 3. So, I’m gonna tell the story from my perspective, and you can come along disappointment trail with me! :-))

I did everything right leading up to this. I’ve been training a lot, and seeing improvement. It’s slow, but it’s forward-moving. Overall, I think that’s what matters.

I got a great night’s sleep before the race. I’ve been generally restricting my calories, because I’m trying to lose weight. But the day before the race, I bumped them up to store some extra energy. I thought I gave myself a good mix of mainly carbs, but throwing protein in there.

I drank a bit of pickle juice before the race, ’cause I noticed that helps my endurance on longer runs. (I think that’s due to the sodium.)

I stretched out great – not over-doing it, but totally limber and ready for a long run. I got to the start line with enough time to spare so that I wasn’t rushed, but not so early that I was just standing around forever.

I prepped that a real half-marathoner! And I was ready, baby!

Aurora crying out why in pain of being 44 seconds offI started in the same corral as the 2:50 pacer. My goal was to keep her in my sights as long as I possibly could and to always keep the 3 hour pacer in my rearview. As far as I was concerned in this race, he was something I just wanted to run away from. It was as if a big giant dog was holding that 3:00 sign. (Obviously, with my huge fear of dogs, if a dog catches up to me, I die. So this was serious business.)

I kept the 2:50 girl in my sights almost ’til we hit mile 9. A bit after mile 8, I caught up to running alongside of her. Anyone who had been running with her fell off a while ago. So, she was just running basically alone at this point. (Though it did look like a friend she knew came over to say hi at one point.)

Anyway, I ran up beside her and said, “I know no one’s running with you anymore. But just know, I’ve been watching you this whole time and having you in my sights has helped immensely. So, thank you!” She seemed really happy about that.

But let’s back up again to the beginning of the race.

Before the race, I wondered, should I just try to stick with the 3-hour pacer, or should I go it alone? Obviously, I ultimately decided to go it alone – which I don’t regret at all. We could make an argument that maybe he could’ve gotten me there. But there were lots of hills in this race. And because the incline was constantly changing, I liked being totally in control of my pace.

But in the very first mile, I went out fast (for me). I was only a bit over 11 minutes. And I thought, “Did I make a huge mistake not running with a pacer because I’m going out so fast?!” But then I thought, “I train all the time. I know what I’m doing. Everything is fine. Let’s see if I can be slightly more controlled in mile 2.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

New Year’s Race 2014 Expo

January 4, 2014

Aurora holding bib upside down at expoAs it was last year, this seems to be one of the smallest expos around.

I suppose that makes sense ’cause it’s a pretty small race…

Covered California – our state health insurance exchange was out in droves! They had two different booths set up and additional people in other places handing out flyers… They really, really, really want us to get some health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, baby.

I thought it was nice that they sent so many real people to answer questions about health insurance. And I hope some people got some health insurance!

Also, there was this organic fruit/vegetable delivery service straight from local farmers that seemed cool. But then I read reviews online and it said the food comes with tons of bugs in it/everywhere around it. And I thought, “I get that it’s pesticide free and stuff. But I don’t want an insect invasion in my house, and I’m pretty sure my roommate doesn’t either.”

The OC Marathon/Half Marathon booth was there. I told the race director I’d done his race in 2012 – the day after flying in from the Indy 500 Festival. He said he’d heard that was one of the best half marathons in the country. Then I felt sort of bad because my face lit up ’cause I completely agree with that sentiment. It is SUCH a good race! But you don’t want to be flaunting that to some other race director.

I did tell him that I loved about the mile markers in his race, with all the reasons why people run. He said I had a great memory for recalling that. (I do like to think I have a good memory, but it also helped that I blogged about it and recently finished sorting all my pictures from those races…)

The one thing that was almost exciting was that the announcer guy on the stage was giving away something to whomever’s birthday was closed to June 22. (I have no idea why they picked that random day.) I went over and said I was June 25… But someone else was the 20th. Agh! Just barely missed it.

Then I found out they were just giving away some protein shakes I’d never heard of. So, I was fine with it.

They played awesome music at the expo. Every song that came on was basically my jam.

So, a quick expo. Then it was time to get ready for the run which we’ll talk about tomorrow.

Oklahoma City Kindness

December 18, 2013

Aurora excited and happy with a snowballI mentioned how kind people in Oklahoma City are in the last post. But really, the kindness and politeness is to such a ridiculous level, that it must get its own post.

I just can’t even… There are no examples I can write that are going to truly give you an idea of what it feels like to be in that city. Get on a plane and go experience it yourself. Really. Go now. It might just change who you are.

Every single person we met was overly kind and thoughtful. We walked through the convention center to get to/from the game just so we could walk in a warm area. Lots of people did this. So, it was fairly crowded. And some random man starting holding the door open (even though that meant he stood in the cold for longer) just because, you know, it’s Oklahoma City.

When the people next to me at the game got up to grab a snack, the man very kindly asked (re: my awesome (mostly eaten) baked potato that they sell at super cool Chesapeake Arena), “Would you like me to throw that away for you?”

At the airport, leaving, my flight was delayed by hours. My dad and I went to the airport early, ’cause he said if possible I should try and get on another flight to make sure I wasn’t late for work on Monday. As I was talking to the ticketing agent, my dad was returning the rental car. She said a flight left in half an hour. I mentioned, “Oh, I’ll have to run… I wanted to say goodbye to my dad.”

And in true Oklahoma City fashion, she sweetly said, “I’ll print off an extra copy of your itinerary and give it to him when he comes up here so he knows where you are.” It was so cute! Like I was 17 or something and my dad would still worry about me. (Of course, I’m pretty sure my dad still does sometimes worry about me just as much as he did back then (if not more).)

Even on the plane, when I was going home… since I was one of the last to be booked on that flight, I was in the C group to board. All that was left were middle seats. I hate asking people if I can sit in the center seat because you know how people like to have as much room as possible on planes. But when I asked the two guys in that row, the kind older gentleman in the aisle said, “We’d be honored!” He jumped up from his seat and immediately asked if he could help me put anything in the overhead bin.

(I have 2 pictures loving the snow... because I really, really loved it.)
(I have 2 pictures loving the snow… because I really, really loved it.)

I looked at him and said, “You’re from here, aren’t you?” He said, “How did you know?” I can tell! He’s got that Oklahoma City feeling!

Backing up to when I was checking out of the hotel, the guy at the desk was all, “Are you a Starwood Rewards member?” I said no. And he was all, “Oh, we’ve gotta change that right now! We can take your wi-fi off the bill.” (I get that that’s just awesome customer service that you may be able to find elsewhere… But still. It seemed in the same OKC kindness vein to me.

Also, at the hotel desk, he asked “Did you enjoy your stay?” I said, “Psh! Enjoy is an understatement! This has been one of the best trips of my life!”

We also ended up talking a bit about the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon they have at the end of every April. (I found out about it with all the marathoning stuff in the gift shop in the museum.) I said I was going to have to do that race. He said, “We’re the host hotel for that race!”

Of course you are. Of course the dopest hotel in the dopest city (well, besides NYC, but that goes without saying) is the host hotel for what’s almost certainly one of the dopest marathons.

Suffice it to say, I will absolutely be back. (I may or may not have snuck a peek at some apartments online.)

When I arrived back at LAX, immediately I saw people shoving each other, not paying any attention to anyone around them, smoking cigarettes in crowds with absolutely no regard for other human beings. Ah, home sweet home.

Pacers vs. Thunder Game

December 17, 2013

Daddy and me posing at the gameI can’t very well talk at such length about the yearly Daddy/daughter trip without mentioning the main event.

We got totally trounced. The Pacers lost. By kind of a lot. Which is a bummer, because we rolled into that arena as the best team in the league so far in the year…

But, let’s talk about all the fun parts of the game. First off, I won’t get into this too much now because there’s a post on it tomorrow. But, everyone was SO nice.

My dad was joking about how when we went to New York, the fans would be screaming things such as “We will murder you! Then we will rip apart your body and feed you to the rats in the subway!”

And in Oklahoma City everyone has the attitude more of, “We sincerely hope that we win so we can show off our pride for this great city. But you know what, you’re a worthy opponent and honestly we’re just hoping for a great game.”

Even though I had my Pacers hat on, the crowd took us in as though we were one of their own. The guy next to my dad randomly picked up snacks for us when he went to the concession stand. The guy behind us was dying to catch a t-shirt. I was so happy for him when he finally did. And when I turned around to give him a little applause and wink of approval, he tried to hand it to me!

I was all, “Oh no. I couldn’t.” And his dad(?) said, “Young lady, this is a gift of friendship! Don’t turn away that gift.” Well, okay then. If you insist!

Oh, and backing up to the beginning of the game, two things happened here that my dad and I hadn’t yet seen in our decade and a half of visiting different arenas. For one thing, the game started with a prayer! (A prayer. In a public basketball arena.) I was honestly flabbergasted. I literally cannot imagine them starting something at the Staples Center with a prayer. I’m not judging Oklahoma City for doing it. I’m just saying I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Then, once the game started, the entire crowd stayed standing until the Thunder scored their first basket! (They do that at every game in OKC.) That’s how much the fans want to show their solidarity to the team. I loved it!

What a sweet, sweet city. Even if our team lost (by a lot), it was still an incredibly fun game.

And I’ll finish out talking about Oklahoma City tomorrow.

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

December 13, 2013

NY's with OKC (and Seinfeld's in the background)In OKC, there is a memorial and museum re: the Oklahoma City bombing from the early ’90s. When I asked around as to what we should do on our vacation, everyone said we had to go there. Even at the hotel when my dad was inquiring what we should do, everyone said that was a spot we had to hit.

At first I thought, “Do I really want to go to a museum about a bombing, because that sounds really sad and serious and not vacation-y.” But, finally we were convinced and we went.

Now, we were all about picture-taking and memory-making on this trip. So, when we got there, my dad asked if I wanted my picture next to the main entrance. But I have learned from the internet! You never take photos at serious places because if you do, you will wind up being mercilessly ridiculed on tumblr.

But, we did take some photos of the memorabilia (as you can see in this post). I actually knew nothing about the bombing because (though I think it’s rude to bring attention to my youth, it’s just a fact that) I wasn’t news aware when I was just a child. (And for whatever reason, I never went back and read about it as an adult…)

So, it was interesting for me to learn a story I did not know.

Also, the museum was very engaging because they way they set everything up, you really felt like you were being transported back to 1995 when it happened. It led you through the events of the day. They even have you start by going in a room where they play a meeting that was happening in that building at 9am – 2 minutes before the bombing. Then a sound occurs and the lights flickr as though you’re actually in the meeting. So, I feel like that kind of helps open your eyes and set the tone for the rest of the museum.

Medal of ValorAt the end of the museum, there were all these glass boxes – 1 for each victim. And in each box/case, it had a photo at the back. And the case was filled with whatever else the family decided to fill it with. And I imagined trying to define people by one case. How do you fit someone’s whole life into basically a square foot? Can you imagine trying to be the family member doing that?

There were some cases where I thought, “This was this person’s life?” For instance, one just had glasses. I had no idea how glasses could define a person. But, there was a computer with the stories of all the victims and why their family chose the pieces they chose. The man with the glasses had been a government undercover agent for many years and that was part of one of his favorite disguises. It’s amazing what little things can mean when you get the story behind them.

I could tell my dad was really moved by the museum as well. He’s not one who’s much for souvenirs, or really any extra stuff in his life. But he bought us both t-shirts. Mine says, “live, laugh, love.” I think that’s one of the messages the museum was really trying to impart. You never know what’s going to happen. So, in the now, make sure you live, laugh, and love.

National Cowboy Museum

December 12, 2013

Daddy and Aurora outside the front statue at National Cowboy MuseumOn day two of the annual Daddy/daughter trip, we headed to the National Cowboy Museum!

When you’re in Oklahoma City, how can you not?

Things I learned at the museum:

– Cowboys in some areas wore special extra protection around their feet while riding horses. (I had no idea.) There was a special name for those things… Daddy, do you remember what it is?

– People pay a LOT of money for art. The paintings in some of the galleries were for sale, and many had the bought dot. Someone paid over $40,000 for a painting.

The best part of the museum was this place called “Prosperity Junction.” It was SO cool! In fact, that was the tip I left on foursquare – that you must check out prosperity junction. (And, dearest reader, if you don’t follow me on foursquare, you can click that link and do it. I would love you even more than I already do, which I know seems barely possible.)

So, Prosperity Junction is this crazy super realistic life-like display of an early 1900s town. There are fake life-size horses. There’s a church you can go into. You can go in the photo studio and other places. And there are real sounds coming out of everything! There are a bunch of creepy sounds coming from the back of the train yard. It all sounds (and therefore feels) so real!

We also got a bunch of really fun pictures with statues. (If you want to see them all, you can check out my album either on flickr or Facebook – whichever is your network of choice).

Then we went to another museum, which I will talk about tomorrow.

Santa’s Adventures… (Or Not!)

December 11, 2013

Aurora in the limo 2After our amazing trip to Leo’s BBQ, I my dad and I headed out for Santa’s Adventures!

Earlier in the week, I’d been looking up stuff to do in Oklahoma City, and I couldn’t stop taking about the santa thing after I’d found it.

What are Santa’s Adventures, you ask? Well, there’s Santa ziplining – while ziplining, you try to drop a present into a chimney!

There’s the North Pole Climb – you climb up on SandRidge Sky Trail, then go down a 72-foot slide.

There’s the Candy Cane Rock Wall. It’s basically just a normal indoor rock wall, but Christmas-y, and you get a candy cane if you reach the top.

There are a couple more things. You can read about them in the link…

So, how amazingly fun was all of that adventure-y awesomeness? Well, I can’t tell you because it was CLOSED!

My dad and I went down to the lobby to grab a cab. The concierge was all, “We can call a cab or you can jump in this limo because the driver is doing rides for gratuities only.” What? Count us in!

sleeping at 645 pmSo, we jumped in our limo like Oklahoma City ballers just to get there and be told that all of Santa’s Adventures were closed due to weather. There was also awesome snow-tubing nearby, but the woman at Santa’s Adventures said that was closed too.

We sadly went back to the hotel, and I fell asleep almost immediately (since I’m on a crazy sleep schedule and being awake all day had been rough…) My dad took a picture to make fun of me going to bed at 6:45pm. It was like we were at the Goofy Challenge all over again!

While we were bummed about Santa’s Adventures, there were more adventures to be had the next day, which we will talk about tomorrow.

Leo’s BBQ

December 10, 2013

Aurora and Daddy posing at Leo's BBQ tableI could never do as much justice to this story as my dad can. I wish I had a tape of my dad’s impression of the waitress – better yet, I wish I had a tape of our actual waitress.

Anyway, our waitress was hilarious because while she was extremely kind and lovely, she was so straight and to the point. When we got there and asked her what to get, she told us we needed to get this platter that had the different meats on there and she’d throw in an extra slice of cake. And that was the end of the discussion. She basically just walked away and got that for us.

Later, when we were talking about Leo and the restaurant. Apparently, Leo’s dead because she told us so straightforward and matter-of-factly, “Leo’s dead.” Again, I can’t really explain this interesting woman without being able to do the inflections. Just call my dad. He’ll do it for it you.

It was an interesting little place because it seemed like a pretty small, not fancy building. I don’t know that it would’ve caught my eye. But my dad had looked for places to eat in OKC and heard about this from one of his friends. I loved that he knew sort of an Oklahoma City secret. We got to eat like super cool locals.

Food = delicious. Service = hilarious & awesome. Great restaurant choice, Daddy.

The Flight to OKC

December 9, 2013

Aurora hugging daddy at the airportThis weekend was our annual Daddy/daughter trip. Why not start from the beginning – the flight there.

On my flight to Denver (layover), I sat next to this very interesting woman. She was going through a divorce after over 20 years of marriage.

You could tell the news was still new and pretty raw, ’cause she was still going through a lot of different emotions about it.

But she was so real, I really like her. And she is ready to go out and do some living! Sure, she’s really upset. But she’s gonna leave California (get it, girl). And she’s gonna adventure. I wish she had a blog so I could check in on what she decides to do.

I love the Denver airport. It’s spacious, well decorated, and I learn some cool new facts about history and/or aviation – such as the story of John L “Jack” Swigert Jr. He’s from Denver. He was the one who famously said, “Houston we have a problem here.” Then he helped get everyone back safely to Earth. Did you know he was originally rejected by NASA ,then went and got two master’s degrees, re-applied, and got accepted to that mission? Did you also know he was elected to Congress (but died from cancer days before assuming office)? Well, if you didn’t know, you would learn it at the Denver airport.

After learning and snacking, I went to wait at my dad’s gate because we had a layover in the same place! Isn’t that serendipitous?

He finally landed (a little late) and we rushed to our next gate where we got to fly into OKC together – for the absolutely epic 2013/2014 Daddy/daughter trip – which is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

Still Curious How To Be A Price Is Right Contestant?

December 5, 2013

I’ve said before that I don’t have official information, but I have my strategies and ideas… Well, if you want official information straight from the source – Emmy winning producer Stan Blitz – who’s in charge of picking the contestants – was on the most recent episode of the awesome podcast by TPiR exec producer Mike Richards.

If you can’t listen, I think one of the big takeaways was “It’s not what you say. It’s how you say it.” But if you do have a chance to listen (and are interested in game shows and such), give it a try. It’s a nice podcast.

(There’s even an episode with awesome super celebrity whom I adore – Ken Jennings (which is how I found the podcast in the first place).)

The Fateful Mistake People Make In “Lucky 7” on Price is Right

November 23, 2013

man playing lucky 7 for a dream car
This was the person who narrowly missed out on Dream Car week.
(Photo courtesy @PriceIsRight twitter.)

“Don’t you understand how math works?!” I feel myself constantly screaming at the TV during The Price is Right.

So, this past week was Dream Car week. We’ve already been over how the 1st woman should’ve definitely won her car.

And now we’ve got another person should’ve won.

Look, I know there’s luck involved in most of The Price is Right games. And some numbers are basically arbitrary. (Seriously, how should I know if some trip or some car ends in 30-something dollars or 70-something dollars… You can kind of sort of reason and strategize that out, but not enough that you’re gonna win even close to every time.)

However! There are some mistakes that are just straight math mistakes. And that’s when it gets infuriating. I mean, come on, people! This is your chance! You’ve been given the gift of being on The Price is Right. Please don’t squander it.

And I sort of get it. Because when I was on 1 vs. 100, I made some really, really idiotic mistakes. I sat at home watching my square go read, thinking “What?! I didn’t get that right?! (Whatever that happened to be.)” So, I get it. With the lights and the pressure and all that. I understand if it’s your first game show appearance how you might make a fatal mistake without fully thinking it through.

But, honestly. You have to keep your head about you. You just have to. In most Price is Right games, you are not timed! So take a breath. (I know, I know. I’ve said that before, but it’s so unbelievably true.)

Anyway, back to math. We’ve already discussed the travesty that usually is “Pay The Rent.” But here’s another thing that gets me every time – when people make a fatal mistake with the last number in Lucky 7.

A random shot from the internet from an episode in which I don't know what happened with the car...
A random shot from the internet from an episode in which I don’t know what happened with the car…

In case you don’t know how you play Lucky Seven: Drew hands you $7. You must have $1 remaining at the end of the game to “buy” the car. The first number of the car is revealed for you. Then you guess each of the next numbers before it’s revealed. For every number you’re off, you pay a dollar. (For example, if you guessed the 2nd number in the price was an 8, but it was a 7, you pay $1. If you guessed a 9 in that scenario, you’d pay $2.)

So on dream car week – for a car worth over $80,000 – a guy gets all the way to the final number… and he still has $3 left to spend! Not a perfect scenario, but at least you have breathing room.

Now, I’ve seen this same type of scenario before during Lucky 7. People get to the end, they get nervous, and just guess a lucky number or a 9 since people think car numbers always end in 9. But here’s the thing… You no longer need to worry about saving any dollars (except of course the one to buy the car)! You need to give yourself as wide of a range as you possibly can.

So, in this dream car week instance – when you have 3 dollars left to lose (in addition to the dollar you need to save), you should never guess anything under the number 4. (Guessing 4 already automatically gives you 1, 2, & 3 since you have a $3 buffer (and there are no 0s in this game.) And you should never guess anything over 6 for the same reason.

Now, if you guess 4, 5, or 6 and you’re still off, then okay. Sucks for you. The last number is sort of arbitrary. What can you really do about it?

But if you guess 7, then the world is going to be screaming at you!

The man guessed 7. And the worst part – the last number in the car was 3!(!!!)

I was yelling at the TV to guess 6 because I feel like cars often do end in 9, 5, or 0. (And 0 isn’t an option in this game.) So, I thought 6 would be the safest bet… And it was a safe bet. But one the guy didn’t take.

And this is a mistake in Lucky 7 that’s been made multiple times!

So, not to be mean to the people who I know are under pressure, many of whom have probably never been on a game show. But I just have to ask again – Do you not know how math works?

Did You See Today’s Gut-Wrenching, Heart-Breaking Price is Right?

November 18, 2013

*spoiler alert*

I love watching part of The Price is Right when I eat breakfast every morning. (That’s not the spoiler, by the way.)

This morning, I literally almost cried for the woman. So, it’s Dream Car week on TPiR. She was playing for a Porsche – a car worth over $90,000!

She was playing this game called Temptation. I don’t know if you watch Price is Right. But in the game Temptation, they bring out 4 prizes that are just yours to keep if you so choose. In each of those prizes there are only two distinct numbers. (Example: something worth $2112.) You choose from those two numbers which one goes in the next number of the price of the car.

The temptation of the game is that you can just take your prizes and call it a day, or play for the car. If you choose to play for the car and you get it, then you also get your prizes. But if you miss any numbers, you lose everything.

On a normal day with a normal car, to me, it seems like it’s all about what the prizes are. Generally, they only total about $4,000. So, I think most of the time it’s worth it to try to go for the car. But every once in a while, you’ll get all pretty useful and cool stuff (like cash, a new bicycle, and some iPads). When loot like that comes up, I’m sort of like, “eh. Enjoy your stuff. The chances of randomly picking these somewhat arbitrary numbers of the car aren’t excellent.”

But when a Porsche is on the line(!) In the words of Michael Jackson, cha’ mone, man. Cha’ mone!

The prizes weren’t even that great. It was like $2,000 in cash, a karaoke machine, a crappy non-Mac laptop and something else that obviously isn’t even memorable. Who wants that crap? What are you going to do with that laptop?!

But the sweet older woman was like, “Drew, I’ve been watching this show forever. I’m so happy to be here. I want to go home with something. I’m taking the prizes.”

He tried to convince her. “You sure you want to just take $4,000 worth of prizes and not go for the $90,000 car?”

She turned to the audience. Of course everyone was screaming at her to go for the car. But she played it safe…

I was in disbelief. Before, I’d been rooting for all of her numbers to be right so she could win. But now I was hoping beyond hope that at least one was wrong – otherwise this would be devastating.

As he revealed each correct number, the audience response got bigger and bigger. (My response did too at home. My mouth got wider and my back got stiffer with each one.) Finally, there was only one more number to be revealed. And she had it RIGHT!

I literally screamed because I could not even believe it in that moment. She had tears welling in her eyes. It was AWFUL. So very, very awful…

Um, How Did I Even Do Those 52 Half Marathons?

November 16, 2013

This morning, I was lying in bed thinking about how if this were last year, I would’ve been getting to a start line in about 3 hours for something around race #44. What?!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been working out a ton lately. (Yeah, marathon training!) So, I’m not surprised that I love running (and walking) and wanted to do it every week.

But seriously?! All those early mornings. All that traveling.

At the time it just seemed normal. I mean, it seemed somewhat tiring now and again. But generally, it just seemed like “Of course I’m going to a race. This is my project this year. And that’s what happening.” I sometimes wondered why people thought it was a big deal. I was all, “Yeah, it’s cool and all. But it seems somewhat normal to me.”

But now that my life has kind of settled, and I’m not doing anything crazy like that this year, I’m like, “How in the heck did that year happen?” It just seems so tiring! And I’m a bit in disbelief in this moment that it happened.

Although, I’ll admit, it was super fun. And I would do something like it all over again in a heartbeat.

Maybe You Actually Can Strategize The Wheel?

November 11, 2013

Aurora De Lucia smiling at the wheel on Price is RightI’ve said before that the Price is Wheel is mainly just luck/fate/what have you – that you could spin all day and potentially never spin $1.

But I think that actually might not be true.

Sometimes I watch The Price is Right and some wheel scenario will happen. For instance, someone will end up doing two spins that add up to a dollar – but in their second spin you’ll be able to tell they ended almost halfway around the wheel from where they started.

Then, in their bonus spin, if they know the last spin they did took them to the other half of the wheel, they should spin differently to try and make it so they land in the dollar area. That may mean spinning much less hard, trying to finesse the wheel. Or it may mean spinning a good amount harder to try and get back to the dollar area. But either way, if you’ve seen you end up all the way on the other side of the wheel, maybe a different spin strategy is in order if you need to try to get back to where you started.

Now, of course it’s not gonna be an exact science since you haven’t gotten to practice with the wheel beforehand. But you can still make an educated guess to improve your odds.

I don’t know about you, but I’d never really thought about that before. I always thought about my “lucky spin” – the way I’d spin the wheel if I ever got on the show – how many clicks I’d go up before I went down (3), and all that jazz. But I never thought, “Okay, watch the 1st spin. See where you start and end and judge if you want to do that approximate distance again… And if not, change up your spin.

But as a viewer who sees that all the time now (of course everything looks more simple at home), I think there is at least maybe a way to semi-strategize the wheel. (That’s assuming you need a second or bonus spin. For the first one, all I can say is good luck.)

One Reason I Love Older Music

November 7, 2013

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons posing together
photo credit: Last FM

As if I even need a special reason since older music is freaking awesome.

But today on the elliptical, I was listening to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. And one of the things I really love about music from a certain era is that they leave the mistakes!

There’s this part toward about 30 seconds in where the boys are singing “who says they don’t cry,” but one person kind of forgets where he is and starts to sing “that’s just an alibi.” And they just left it.

Nowadays we play with every single part of the song and record each track individually. Perfection is fun and cool in its own way. I don’t dislike music of today or think it’s worse than older music. But there’s something fun about hearing the mistakes and the takes just as is.

(I first made this revelation of love at Berklee, and thought about it today and thought I would share.)

And That’s Why You Always Bid One Dollar Over!

November 3, 2013

Aurora De Lucia freaking out in contestants' row on The Price is RightThe other day, I watched an episode of The Price is Right on my DVR.

You know how I never realized until I went on the show how much disdain there was for people who dare bid $1 over someone in contestants’ row – but I’ve always been on the side of the person doing it…

Well, I saw an episode where the 3rd woman to bid said $500. The last woman to bid said $510. The actual retail price was $503!

That my friends is why you ALWAYS bid only $1 over. Seriously. I don’t care who thinks it’s “nice” or “fair” or whatever. It’s plenty fair because of the way they do the rotation and because that’s just smart gameplay strategy.

Does it suck to have someone bid $1 over you? Yes. I know because it happened to me in my first round down there! But I was totally fine with it, ’cause that’s how you play The Price is Right. That’s how it works.

I’m down with those bidding only $1 over. Learn from the mistake of Ms. $510. Be smart and strategic in contestants’ row. You only get a shot in contestants’ row once every 10 years (if you’re lucky). Make it count.

Dressing As Wendy Davis – Part 2

November 1, 2013

Picking up from yesterday –

I like my hairdresser a lot. She’s funny and kind. And my hair is back to brown now and looking dope because of her. However, in an effort to save me money (which was sweet of her), she recommended I only do partial highlights instead of full. Now, not only did we do partial highlights, but we did all over color. So, I figured all over I’d be blonde but in the highlighted part, I’d just be more blonde.

Well, the under part of my hair still turned out looking dark – it seemed almost the same as just my natural color (which looked pretty darn dark in comparison to that super Wendy David blonde. Granted, in the right angles you couldn’t tell. However, my hair was floating all over the place. So, some pictures looked awesome. Some it looked like I had two completely different heads of hair that got mushed together on me.

Of course, it’s nothing a little photo-editing wouldn’t be able to fix. But I guess the lesson is if you’re going blonde, you need all them highlights, baby!

If the outfit and the hair were both a bit of a mess, that means practically the whole thing was a mess…

Also, when I first decided as whom I wanted to dress, I thought, Wendy Davis will be perfect! It’ll be this huge change, ’cause I’ll be blonde. So, that’ll look costume-y. Not to mention, she wore these great running shoes. Running shoes are part of the costume! How perfect is that for a half marathon?

Well, what I learned is when everyone is wearing cool running shoes, no one realizes they are part of your costume. When the defining piece is something everyone overlooks, it does not a good costume make.

Not to mention, none of the strangers knew that I didn’t used to be blonde! So, that also didn’t help anything.

Also, in general, way fewer people knew who she was than I expected. No one recognized me as her (though granted, I’ve said my costume was no good). And even when I said, “I’m running as Wendy Davis,” everyone was all “who’s Wendy Davis?”

Also, I didn’t do a good job anytime I had to do any posing, ’cause I’d always trying to be posing cutesy to try and wrap my legs to make them look skinner. But Wendy Davis doesn’t have to act cutesy. She’s a strong woman who just exudes confidence. And she’s gorgeous without acting cutesy. So, I didn’t feel like I embodied her at all – especially when I’m running with my butt practically hanging out.

Basically, it seemed like my idea which I thought was super great ended up being a total bust. So, sorry Wendy Davis. Sorry creative people of the world who could’ve executed this better. Let’s hope next year goes better.

Dressing As Wendy Davis – Part 1

October 31, 2013

I was super duper stoked to dress as Wendy Davis for this half marathon.

But alas, I didn’t do the best job.

Let’s break down all the problems. Oh boy, oh boy. Where to even begin.

Well, let’s get to the biggest problem first.

I don’t love that for some reason all women’s Halloween costumes have to end up being the sexy version of whatever they are.

So, I wanted to go as this inspiring, strong, wonderful woman. Yet somehow I ended up as sexy Wendy Davis (as if she could be any sexier than she already is).

I looked around for a Wendy Davis costume online but couldn’t find one. I looked for one of those “get her look for cheap” articles about what she wore during her filibuster. But again, I couldn’t find one. Gah.

So, I called the wonderful woman who used to do my costumes in high school. Unfortunately, she wasn’t available to make this one. Well, without her, I’m totally lost. I put the task up on Task Rabbit ’cause I didn’t know what else to do. Of course, later I remembered I’ve worked with wonderful professional costumers. So, how I forgot about that, who knows?

Anyway, I just went with the one person who bid on making the costume. She was incredibly nice. However, the costume didn’t fit me all that well. It was really loose at the top of my stomach and really tight at my hips. It was also too short – especially for a running outfit, ’cause you know it’s gonna ride up.

She said she’d alter it. The night before the race, she left it for me outside my door. She didn’t even ring the bell or call or anything to let me know she was here. She just waited ’til the last minute, left it, and ran away. I’m thinking it’s because she ended up not adding the extra inches of fabric she said she would.

At that point, I almost didn’t want to wear it. I didn’t want to go as slutty Wendy Davis! But then I thought, I’m already in this, y’all. Hair’s dyed. Shoes are bought. I’m freaking doing this. (This is why I wore pants for the majority of the race.)

Also, the jacket didn’t really seem to be the right fabric, and on Wendy’s there looked to be grey in there. Not on mine. I dunno. It wasn’t perfect is the point.

And I didn’t leave enough time to order one of the orange buttons Wendy Davis had worn. The girl who made my costume said she’d make one – but in the end, she didn’t. So, I ended up just writing the words (stop the war on Texas women) on orange construction paper and taping it to a button. Janky.

Besides the outfit, I also had problems with the hair.

That’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

Dressing In Costume For A Distance Race

October 30, 2013

Oh boy, oh boy.

This was the first time I’d dressed in costume for a distance race. As with most new experiences, I feel like I learned a few things. So, I thought today I’d share some general ideas/advice. But tomorrow I’ll talk more specifically about my costume.

I really wanted to dress as Wendy Davis because she’s awesome. However, this costume run was basically the last thing on my priority list with other life stuff going on. (It’s been a busy time at work.)

I felt like I kind of left things to the last minute. This is something I do not recommend. If possible, you should have time to run around in your costume for a bit of time. I got my costume at my door the night before the race. So, if it wasn’t perfect (which it totally wasn’t), I just had to deal and go.

Also, it’s smart to think your costume through, y’all. I saw someone running by with ET. He carried an ET doll in a crate for 13 freaking miles. (Or at least, I assume I did. I think it was around 6 when I saw him and he looked tired. I would’ve looked tired too! I do not have the kind of upper body strength to carry a little crate around for 13 miles. Uh huh. No way.

I also saw a few different people who had make up covering their entire face because they were mimes or rag dolls or what have you. These people looked pretty miserable around mile 7, with many wiping the color all around and off their face.

I’m sure these costumes were great ideas in theory. But don’t forget – you’re gonna sweat.

Granted, I saw a couple people who went all freaking out who looked great. If you can rock a green mask and a wig and whatever else you need for 13.1 miles, please, by all means, do it to it.

But for the rest of us mere mortals my piece of advice for myself and others in future years – do something easy to run in, practice in it early, and stay away from make up that’s gonna melt all over you.

Good luck, get creative, and please let me know your tips!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles (2013) – Part 3

October 29, 2013

Your ghoul today is the finishPicking up from yesterday –

So, I kind of kept my head down and sort of got in a bit of a zone. I wanted to keep as close to 15-minute miles as I could this race. I know that’s not fast. But recently I’ve been working more on speed for short distances and I haven’t done a ton of distance training. So, I basically just wanted to keep a great walking pace up, comfortably getting all 13.1 miles in without hurting myself.

I held on to approx. 15-minute miles for almost the entire race. There’s a huge incline somewhere around mile 9 or 10. I slowed down a fair amount for that. That mile felt more like a mile and a half. But I just kept on pushing through.

I really loved the fun Halloween punned signs such as “your ghoul today is the finish line.” Cute, right?

I also loved this cheerleading squad that had painted faces. That’s some determination, man. Cheering in super full makeup for hours.

Once I reached mile 13 (with only .1 to go), I veered off the course and ran up to my apartment!

I thought, “Hey man, if you’re gonna dress in costume and live in a super convenient place, you might as well finish looking as sharp as possible.”

My roommate was like “uh, are you even allowed to do this?” Valid question. ‘Cause we’re actually probably not supposed to go off the course. But I figured if I exited and entered at the same place, not cutting off any mileage, that it was basically the same as if I were to stop to high five my family or get a drink or take a stretch break of something. I just went a little farther off course than I usually would.

So, I went into my apartment, took off the hat, put the pearl necklace back on, ripped off my pants.

(Don’t fret too much. I had shorts on under my dress – not comfortable running shorts, by the way, that for some strange terrible reason I decided to wear under my pants the entire race as if I couldn’t spare 5 extra seconds to put them on after I took my pants of in my own apartment. Oh no, no, no. They had to just be on me the whole time. (Stupid last minute morning decisions – this is why you should always practice in your running costume so you figure this stuff out!)

I then proceeded to put on mascara and throw on a bit of foundation. (That would be all the make-up I own in this world.) I took my pigtails down then headed back out for my last .1 stretch of photos ops.

Boy was that dress short! Sorry, Wendy Davis.

Anyway, successful race. Somewhat successful photo ops – even if I unfortunately did dress a bit like slutty Wendy Davis. (Here’s the explanation of all that.)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles (2013) – Part 2

October 28, 2013

man in silly costume at Rock n Roll Los Angeles half marathon 2013
The silly (fun) men who took a picture of themselves on my phone.

Picking up from yesterday –

So, I took my photos to tweet. Another person took some individual shots of me. Then he put a picture on my phone of him and his buddy. I told him I’d tweet it to him. He was excited, but said he didn’t really use twitter. He told me his handle was @LarryRich, but when I went to tweet him I found out that handle didn’t exist. Come on people, learn your twitter handles, ’cause twitter’s the greatest thing in the world. (Sorry if I sound slightly harsh on this guy, ’cause he was really nice.)

After I had some pictures of me in the Wendy Davis garb, I went back over to my apartment to modify my costume for the actual running of the race. I put on pants. (Again, we’ll get to why later… I’m realizing I probably should’ve started with the costume post, but it’s too late now, people!) I took off the pearl necklace so it wasn’t jingle-jangling. I put my hair in pigtails, and grabbed a hat (a special “I Stand With Wendy Davis” hat that I got just for this).

Then I made sure Joy was up. (I don’t know if you remember Joy from last year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego. But now we’re buds and she came to stay with me as every person who ever does this race should do.)

We went down after the race had already started. Even still, there was plenty of time to wait in the farther back corral I was in.

The one thing I really dislike about this race is that the proceeds go to ASPCA. Oh boy. Here we go with the whole not liking animals thing where I’m sure I lose some of you. But when the proceeds are going to an animal charity, we get all these animal lovers and tons of people wait by the start with dogs – big dogs! The number of people who wait with dogs seems to go way up for an ASPCA race. Blegh.

I just stayed to the middle and hoped for the best. I didn’t die from any creatures. So, point 1 me.

The weather was perfect! It was sort of overcast and for once wasn’t hot in Los Angeles. I couldn’t believe it!

I wished I were still hanging with my fun lawyer buds from last year, but I have no idea if they ran the again.

I basically kept my headphones on and sort of kept to myself running some, walking some. But during the walking parts I tried to keep a pretty good pace. I’ve been working out a lot lately. So, I want to actually start pushing a bit as opposed to flittering around the courses for fun. (That can be fun too. But it’s time to at least begin to focus on improvement.)

And I’ll finish up here tomorrow.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles (2013) – Part 1

October 27, 2013

zombie dancers dancing to Thriller at Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon 2013If a race is gonna happen right outside your window, you might as well do it. One way or another you’re waking up to blaring music. And if you don’t go run it, you just get to watch everyone else finish for hours. So, I can’t foresee a time when I live here that I don’t run this race.

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided this year to run in costume. I’m going to devote a whole post to what that’s like. So, we’ll get there.

For now, let me start with the most awesome thing ever. There was a group of people who dressed up in awesome zombie costumes and danced to Thriller along the side of the course. They did this for hours. The Thriller dance over and over and over again. There were a fair amount of loops on this course. I saw them when I came by the first time. I saw them when I came back around again. As far as I know they did it from when the first runner passed them ’til the last runner did.

My new dream for next year is to be in that group. Please Thriller people, if you read this blog, let me dance with you! 🙂

Now that we’ve started on a positive note, let me backtrack a little to a more complain-y attitude and say, have you ever wondered if blondes have more fun? Well, in my first full day (in a looong time) as a blonde I’m gonna have to go with no.

When I left my apartment in the morning in my blonde glory and costume (which granted, was too short, but we’ll get to that), a man yelled out, “Hey sweetie!” I ignored him because I ignore all men who yell out any variation on that. (And I hate being called sweetie. It sounds so demeaning. Blegh. (However, for some reason sweetheart is fine for those of you keeping score at home – but only from people I like. Never from strangers.))

Then he said, “You doing the walk of shame, baby?” Ignore again. ‘Cause really, I don’t care.

He waits for me to respond. Nothing. So he follows up with, “You going to Denny’s, girl?”

That’s the point where I whip around and say, “No. I’m running the half marathon this morning. I have running shoes on and this race number, and I’m walking toward the start line like everyone else to go do my 13 miles.”

I definitely caught him off guard. He seemed pretty shocked that I was on my way to a race. I guess I get it since I was wearing a dress. Still. No need to hassle me like that outside my apartment, yo.

I walked over to the race and took a few pictures. When I was thinking in my head what might be some good stuff to tweet, I thought, “You know, it might be nice if I found a group of superheroes and said something like “lots of people going as their favorite superheroes. I’m mine – @WendyDavisTexas.”

Surprisingly, the first people I saw were a group of superheroes totally up for a photo. What luck.

Granted, I only got 1 retweet – but that retweet was Joel Burns. So that’s nice.

I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

Expo & Prep – Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles

October 26, 2013

Sneak peak of me with my new blond hair and pink Mizunos!
Sneak peak of me with my new blond hair and pink Mizunos!

I usually like to talk all about the expos to my races – though I’m sorry to report I basically have nothing new with this one.

L.A. is my home turf so I’m pretty familiar with all the races we do out here. Going to the expo was basically just walking through saying “done it, done it, etc.”

As soon as I turned the corner to get to the L.A. marathon booth, I said, “Let’s do it!” I immediately signed up. I’ve been running a ton lately.

(I’ve been a little stressed/busy, so I’ve been feeling like Forrest Gump since that’s the only way I know how to deal with things – run ’em out.)

Between all my running (making me confident in my ability to do another marathon in March), and my goal to do at least one marathon a year for the rest of my life, I was ready! So, I am officially signed up for the L.A. Marathon on March 9th.

But let’s get to that blond picture of me because that was the real news from today.

Since this is a Halloween themed race, lots of runners dress in costume. Last year, I didn’t do it because I don’t know… I remember when I trained for my first half back in 2009, I was somewhat serious about it. I wasn’t crazy fast, but I wanted to take it seriously and do my best.

I wore the running clothes I felt the best in. And while I’ve run many races that didn’t feel as serious to me, I think the clothes thing just stuck.

Plus, I just feel like I want to look as cute as possible while running. I’m always in pants and long sleeves a) to protect me from the awful, horrible sun. b) because I don’t want my legs and arms jiggling around while I’m out there running. Oof. Uncomfortable.

However, this year, I am throwing caution to the wind! My legs aren’t that jiggly (I don’t think – though I suppose we’ll see tomorrow).

I decided I’d go ahead and dress up this year. What was the best Halloween costume I could think of? Well, that would be Wendy Davis from her filibuster!

I got her pink Mizunos. I dyed my hair blond. (Yes, I could’ve worn a wig. But a wig… for 13 miles? Forget it.)

I even had someone make a similar Wendy Davis dress and jacket. (How does Halloween costume not just exist as something I can buy?) The clothes are not perfect, but I think you can tell what I was going for. (It didn’t dawn on me until I’d already put the task on task rabbit that I’ve worked on television shows where we had phenomenal professional costumers who would’ve totally helped me out… But next year…)

So, that’s my story! Wendy Davis, baby. We’ll see how it shakes out tomorrow morning!

The Game Show Hustle – The Time Rules

September 6, 2013

I mentioned yesterday that if you’re really going for optimal game show appearances, you might want to try for shows that are more individual than pair-oriented.

But why did I say that? Could you just do a pair one and then an individual one if it happened to come up later?

Well, not exactly.

Did you know that many people have a list of game shows they want to go on – in the order the want to go on them?

For instance, with Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, and Price is Right, you can’t have been on 3 game shows in the past 10 years. Therefore, you’d have to do those 3 first since one you’ve hit 3, you’ve gotta wait ’til your decade’s over.

With Let’s Make a Deal, you can’t have been on 4. So, that would have to be next.

(Additionally, with TPiR, they now have a rule that you can go on once every 10 years… So if you need to redeem yourself (or for any other reason you want to return), now you can after a decade. (It used to be only once in a lifetime.) I believe the same rule applies with Let’s Make A Deal now as well. Wheel is one and done.)

With most others, it just can’t have been a year since you were on a game show in general.

But many people don’t know about all those little rules. I doubt some of these things will matter to the majority of us, but I thought I’d throw them out there. These are well known rules in the little game show world, but I didn’t know if the great big world knew about them.

With almost every single game show you go on, you must wait a year since your last game show appearance.

I’ve actually been emailed (since I’m in people’s files) about trying out for 3 different things since Price, but each time, I’ve said, “Well, I was on TPiR in March. Does that matter?” And they’ve each said, “We’ll see you again in 2014.”

As I mentioned in my other post, I’ve had so many close calls that if history repeats itself, I very easily could audition all year (or longer) and still not actually get booked on anything. But, rules are rules, baby. Gotta cool my heels on trying out for stuff.

(Though I think you can probably start trying for many things out a month or two before your year is up, because for most shows you’re not gonna make it to try out to tape to air in such a short window.)

For the record, even though I, and others, might have the dream scenario of what game shows we’d love to go on, and in what order – I am a total game show adorer. And I would be ecstatic to go on anything anytime.

So, even though I’m pointing out that you can only go on one a year, and that technically the best ones offer big prizes and let you play individually – if I got the offer to be on any game show, I can’t imagine ever turning one down saying, “This isn’t what I want my one chance for the year to be.”

It’s rare to be invited on one. And I’d be extremely lucky if I actually did get one a year! If we start with the first year I was on one, I’m averaging about one every 3 years.

So, let’s keep our fingers crossed for Wheel of Fortune in 2014. 😉

The Game Show Hustle – The Auditions

September 5, 2013

So, talking about these two game shows, I probably sound pretty lucky.

And I won’t fight that.

But you should know that for every game show I get on, there were more I didn’t.

I adore game shows. They’re totally my jam. So, I try out for them basically any time I can.

I find out about them by network websites, Craigslist, word of mouth. I also follow two casting directors on twitter. Now that I’ve been in L.A. for a bit now, I’m actually just on some random lists in some places.

I got a call the other day saying they’d seen me in 2010, asking me if I still lived in Los Angeles! So, those lists seem to last forever. On the one hand this is wonderful. On the other, let’s hope I don’t ever screw anything up in case that’d last forever as well.

By the way, the one who called me said, “We gave you a practically perfect rating when you auditioned for Minute to Win It. So, I had to call. Did we use you on the show, by the way?” He mentioned twice how highly I was rated and how he felt that meant he had to call me. No, you didn’t use me on Minute to Win it. But thanks for rubbing it in that you should’ve!

(In all seriousness, though, no hard feelings at all. I don’t know that Minute To Win It is really my kind of game show anyway. It’s not one for which you can study at home and figure out your strategies. That one seems to be more coordination based (which still could be fun) rather than mind/puzzle-based.)

I tried out for syndicated Deal or No Deal. I got to the final callback where you open the case and everything. (In the syndicated version, possible future contestants were also the models.) I thought it went well, but alas, nothing happened with it.

I tried out for that show (that I think only lasted a season), where you fall through holes in the ground when you get things wrong. I made it all the way to having to fill out practically a book of paperwork with medical waivers and stuff. Yet, they never called me for a tape date.

(That’s actually probably good, because you don’t necessarily want to waste your game show shot on something that has so many people vying for a not huge prize. I think it’s better if you get to play a more individual game. But more on this in a second.)

I tried out for “Oh Sit!” and even got invited to come play a practice game (’cause this is when they were still coming up with the show). At the time, I was in Florida at the Disney Princess Half Marathon week.

It didn’t seem smart to interrupt my 52 half marathons like that (especially when I would’ve just had to fly right back for the next one), especially for a practice game. I was still delighted to be invited, and had I been home would’ve been over the moon for a practice game. But I didn’t want to cut the trip short over one.

(Side note: It’s better I didn’t get on that show, ’cause had I gotten on, I wouldn’t have been able to do Price is Right for a few more months. More on that tomorrow.)

I tried out for Millionaire, but didn’t even past the test. (Yikes.)

I did get to help producers as they were building Million Second Quiz. I came in and played trivia for a couple of hours, which was wildly fun. (I was just on a casting person’s list from some past tryouts, and they invited me.)

Though I’ll admit, I was nervous, ’cause they said the game was very “serious,” and “Don’t have too much fun/be too lively.” And I just thought, “I am SO the wrong person for this. But I’m up for the challenge!”

I’ve been emailed about a few new game shows here and there that didn’t pan out either because I wasn’t in the city at the time of the audition, or I couldn’t secure a partner, or whatever.

Anyway, I just thought I should point out that if you think I have some kind of amazing luck because I’ve been on two game shows – it’s a whole little world out here. I’ve gone in for plenty of things that came oh so close within grasp, but in the end I did not get. So, yes, I am lucky for sure. But I’m also definitely not batting anywhere close to 1000.

My Appearance In The 1 vs. 100 Mob – Part 3 (The Tapings (& More Questions))

September 4, 2013

Shocked. (I'm in box #9 in bottom right.)
Shocked. (I’m in box #9 in bottom right.)

Picking up from yesterday

– and feeling that I was messing up a bunch of the questions –

There were some questions that I would’ve gotten wrong even if I’d had all the time in the world.

Specifically, the biggest shocker to me was who had more followers worldwide Jesus or Buddha. I was SO sure it was going to be Buddha.

I’d thought Lisa had said on The Simpsons once that there were more Buddhists than Christians. And obviously if it was on The Simpsons, it has to be true.

However, it’s possible that there actually are more Buddhists than Christians, but when you add in Catholics and other stuff you get more followers of Jesus.

Or perhaps I just misunderstood The Simpsons. (I certainly couldn’t entertain the fact that Lisa would ever be wrong.)

Anyway, I was SO sure it it was Buddha, I was beyond shocked when the answer was Jesus. (And I was with the majority of the mob!)

In case you’re wondering what happened next, they guy got out on Obama’s Secret Service code name (which I knew from The Daily Show.) Blergh. (p.s. He guessed “sweetness,” by the way, but it was Renegade.)

Anyway, getting to the taping part of it all, and the parts I can share in a public forum –

(Aren’t we special with our secrets. Oh-la-la.)

Carrie (the host) would say we were all coming in on webcams – which was true. However, if you were under the impression that we were chilling out at home or something (which probably no one was, since our backgrounds matched and most people don’t have green screens) – we were not skyping in from our own locations.

We were totally under the watchful eye of those lawyers/standards and practices/whoever else those special stealth people were all the time.

There was a monitor next to my webcam backstage so that I could see the whole mob and I could see myself. And I was always so proud of myself whenever I looked to be looking up at the question or over toward another mob member. ‘Cause I was seeing like a mirror image – or some kind of image that made thought go into it.

I think when people are watching, they don’t think about the fact that to look over at someone, you didn’t just look, you had to think about where they were sitting in the web cam puzzle and which direction you had to look (not the way you think you did) to make it look like you were in fact looking that way.

So, let me just pat myself on the back a little for that. *Bows, accepts roses* Thanks very much.

They definitely took great care of us with snacks, water, even people who touched up our hair and make-up for us.

We got lunch vouchers good for a certain amount of money to be used in the commissary, and we’d play games to see who could get their lunch to come closest to the value of the voucher. (Get game show lovers in one place and apparently we make games out of our downtime between the parts of the actual game we’re playing.)

Just like all game shows, we weren’t allowed to have cell phones (or anything with internet capability) anywhere near us at any time. (I just left mine at home that day.)

Just as it was at TPiR, it was very freeing to not be tethered, and just 100% enjoy the company you’re with.

I met a bunch of really fun people on the show – some of whom I’m friends with to this day. (One of whom went on to be on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Another person recently tapes a Wheel of Fortune, which will be airing later this year.

So, we’re keeping up with game shows. And we’re keeping up with each other.

I’m incredibly happy I got to play on 1 vs 100.

My Appearance In The 1 vs. 100 Mob – Part 2 (The Questions)

September 3, 2013

Aurora's glasses posePicking up from yesterday –

I’m not allowed to say all the super secret inner-workings stuff, but I can say this much. I think I only worked a total of maybe 3 or 4 days to get all those episodes in.

We got those shows done, baby! *snaps* Places to go, people to see. We got a ton done in a day.

You know how when it comes to Price is Right, I’m constantly talking about how incredibly important it is to remember to breathe and to remember that there is no time limit? That’s because I learned the hard way from being on this show the game show stress gets to you.

Three seconds is not enough time sometimes – especially by the end of the day. By that point, I’d answered so many questions in such a high-stress environment. I felt like I didn’t even know my own name anymore.

Some of it blurred together, and things surprised me when I watched at home. I’d scream answers I was practically sure of at the television, just to see my square light up red, signifying I’d gotten it wrong.

What? How could I have missed that?

There was at least one time where I just literally accidentally pressed the wrong thing. And once you press it, it’s too late.

There was also at least one time when I put in an answer thinking it was right, just to realize immediately after that I’d mis-thought out the answer and was wrong. Ugh. That never feels good.

There were some questions I definitely over thought because I was so nervous about the idea of the trick question. I remember one specifically. It asked who was an Oscar Winner. The choices were “a former vice president,” “Jennifer Garner’s husband,” or some schmuck that it definitely wasn’t.

glasses pose #2I knew for a fact An Inconvenient Truth had won for Best Documentary Feature. But did Al Gore receive it? (He didn’t. David Guggenheim did. Though, I didn’t know that at the time.) I definitely knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ben Affleck is an Oscar winner. But is he married to Jennifer Garner, or are they just domestic partners?

I thought the trick question part must be that legally Ben’s not married to Jennifer after all – because we all know he’s an Oscar winner! So, you must be thinking we’re gonna guess him – when really we should be guessing Al Gore, now shouldn’t we?

No. No we shouldn’t. Because Ben Affleck really is married to Jennifer Garner and I totally got that question wrong.

So, if you ever go through my old episodes, please, I beg of you not to judge me too harshly when my square lights up red. Some of that stuff I truly didn’t know. But some really was just over-thinking, exhausted brain, and stupid mistakes.

But the idea of talking all the time you have and not letting yourself feel so rushed that you mess up is a lesson I’m happy to have learned. It did help me on TPiR. And I assume it will help me in other things in life.

My Appearance In The 1 vs. 100 Mob – Part 1 (Getting Cast)

September 2, 2013

1vs100

Did you know I was actually on another game show before I was on Price is Right?

I was in the mob of 1 vs 100 on Game Show Network – for 37 episodes. I won a grand total of $40.15.

In 2010, when I was out here working on America’s Got Talent, I made it onto the GSN version of 1 vs. 100.

1 vs 100 was a show I’d really liked a lot on NBC. So, I was excited to hear they were bringing it back on the Game Show Network.

I tried out, but didn’t hold my breath. Just living my life not thinking about it. My sublet I was staying in ended when AGT ended (in the middle of the month).

My next sublet wasn’t starting until the beginning of the following month, so I went up to Seattle and stayed with my uncle to ride out that in between time – enjoying some nice relaxing time with family after a long summer.

I don’t remember exact times frames, but I think it was after about a week and a half in Seattle, 1 vs 100 called me way sooner than I ever expected and asked if I could come in the next day.

“Uh, what?!”

They were so sweet and made it sound like they really wanted me. At first, I actually declined. “I’m sorry. I’m not coming home for another 5 days or so. It’ll be expensive to change my plane ticket. I just don’t think it’s a smart idea.”

(If I’d been the contestant who gets to be the one, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat, assuming I would’ve made enough money to make it worth it. But being in mob, you’re in a lot less control and have a lot less possible money available to you.)

But after calling a couple of people to relay the phone call that had just happened, I was easily convinced that it’s not everyday you get invited on a game show. (Thank goodness there were people there to talk sense into me.)

I had to throw caution to the wind and do it.

We weren’t guaranteed a certain number of episodes. And I knew that with the top prize going down from a million to $50,000 since we were moving to cable –

and me being in the mob instead of an individual player –

it very likely was not going to be a big money-making opportunity.

But I just did it anyway, because I adore game shows.

Though I do remember feeling every so slightly bummed, thinking, “Why wasn’t I special enough to be the one? What is it about me that makes them think I should be in the 100 instead of being the star?”

But, a lot goes into casting. And since I had a group (I was in the Mensa group), I might’ve just been a puzzle piece they needed.

Speaking of my group, it was funny. We had to totally dress the (somewhat stereotypical, though I totally understand it) part. They asked me to wear glasses even though they knew I don’t wear glasses, even to read or for any reason.

But if you see me on that show, I’m wearing glasses and some smart person sweater – which I do not mind in the least. I love playing dress up and acting. So, I was more than happy to go along with it and play their little Mensa nerd. And I actually thought I looked kind of cute in glasses (maybe not in that photo specifically, but sometimes), if I do say so myself.

And on that conceited note, I’ll leave off and pick up tomorrow.

The Secret Time Between Tape Date And Air Date

September 1, 2013

laughing with DrewI’ve found it funny that more than taxes or anything else, it seems like the thing that surprises people the most is that you have to keep your win secret (usually for months) until your show airs.

I guess that concept is something some people don’t really want to wrap their minds around.

Some people have been asking how secretive you really have to be, which is why I did this post.

To me, this secret stuff is all just part of life. If I have a friend who is on a game show that hasn’t aired yet, I don’t ask what they won. Even when I was telling my friends in the industry to DVR my show, not a single one asked what I’d won.

Before I’d even said finished my sentence, everyone was all, “Don’t say another word. Just in case. I know you must’ve signed a confidentially agreement. Can’t wait to see what happens.”

Even if I was sort of giddy – “But I want so badly to say something. Can I just give you a hint or a tiny piece without saying what happened?”

“You better not say a single word! You never know who overhears you or how things travel. I’ll find out soon enough,” my smart, responsible friends would answer.

That’s really the best way to be with a game show winner. When you’re begging us to know more, we want to tell you! So make it easier on us, since we can’t.

I know Price is Right is one of the harder wins to keep secret. With the other shows, when you definitively know you will be on ahead of time, you can get everyone to come be in the audience. Then you don’t have to worry about keeping a secret from your circle, because they will have seen it all before their very eyes.

one over

With TPiR, you don’t know you’re a contestant until the moment it happens. (Of course, that’s also a lovely thing in my opinion.)

Now, exactly how secret do you have to be about it?

I would not go posting on social media that you won anything. Sometimes Price is Right tweets stuff about the upcoming contestants who’ve made it onstage.

I’d defer to TPiR. Unless they specifically tweeted about me, I’d be pretty vague.

Personally, I did tweet out that people should DVR TPiR, but I didn’t give away any spoilers.

That’s not to say that literally no one knew anything. Audience members for the next show saw me with my Price is Right winner’s license plate holder when I walked out. Already my super secret was sort of out of the bag to these strangers.

(But they were all in the area where they weren’t allowed to have phones, and none of them knew me. So what did it matter?)

(I’m sure word  generally gets around families or friend circles, because whoever did go with you didn’t sign any confidentiality things (as far as I remember) – you’re the one who signed one when you were filling out the paperwork for your prizes.)

I desperately wanted to immediately tell my dad everything. But I didn’t. When you’re a grown up dealing with important stuff, sometimes you just can’t tell your loved ones everything.

Just pretend you’re in the CIA or some other super secret organization. (Makes the secret more fun, right?) Think of it as protecting your loved ones from the stress of keeping your game show secret.

Aurora stressed

(Of course, telling people that you can’t say anything, but that they should watch, makes their imaginations go wild, and everyone thinks you won a double showcase… Oof.)

Now, if it’s getting pretty close to your air date and you end up telling an extremely close friend who works with cars for a living, ’cause you want to know the best way to sell it…

Or if you let your dad in because you need grown up insurance advice or whatever – I don’t think Price is Right is NSAing you.

Even Ken Jennings told his boss when he was winning a million Jeopardy episodes, ’cause Ken had to say why he kept missing work.

My guess is you’d tell your significant other or possibly parents or someone heavily involved in your life, so y’all can figure out how your household plans to accept your prizes.

However, all that being said, please note that I am not officially advising you to tell a single soul. If you tell someone and get in trouble, don’t blame me. ‘Cause my official stance is to tell no one.

*Men in black light*.

What Did I Do With My Price is Right Prizes? – Part 2 (Camcorders & Cash)

August 31, 2013

with the TPiR $96 check!
with the TPiR $96 check!

So, I’ve talked about the car.

As far as the camcorders… When I was on the show, they seemed so cool. “3D camcorders?! It’s the future in the present! I’m gonna start taking more home movies.”

Then I read a bunch of reviews online, and basically couldn’t find a positive one.

I never saw the camcorders being sold anywhere for anything even close to the suggested retail price.

There are only instructions to work with PCs, not macs. The camcorders are known as not mac-compatible. Although, I guess technically they are, if you go through extra steps and such.

But no one wants to buy a camcorder they need to struggle to get to work with a mac – when they could just go buy a camcorder made to work with one.

I put the camcorders on Facebook, Craigslist, and Ebay (and told everyone I know that I wanted to sell those camcorders).

Nothing.

No one wanted them – no one in the world wanted these cameras. I had a couple friends who said they wouldn’t even take them for free. No one felt they’d use them.

Well, okay then.

Finally, after literally not even being able to give them away to some people (and certainly not being able to sell them for even half the suggested price to anybody), I just donated them to charity, hoping that at least that write off will help with my large tax bill.

My old roommate works closely with a charity that has the goal to use creativity to help heal people who’ve had traumatic experiences. He said they’d make good use out of the camcorders.

So, I said, great. Take them.

If I would’ve known more about the camcorders, I probably would’ve just forfeited them so they’re not taken into account in my prize total when it comes to taxes.

So, I should’ve looked into that right after the show taped. I forget how much time you have to forfeit something, but I believe you do have a few days to decide.

(I'm sorry. I've just exhausted all my TPiR photos and love this one.)
(I’m sorry. I’ve just exhausted all my TPiR photos and love this one.)

I really don’t want to sound ungrateful in the least. I LOVE The Price is Right and everything they’ve done for me. I’m just saying the reality of the situation. (And warning you to really think about each prize and whether you want to accept it if you’re a TPiR winner.)

As far as the $96, I’d like to do something special with that money. I got rid of everything I received from the day (the camcorders and car). So, I’d love to buy something with that prize money that helps me remember it, whether it be a TPiR mug or sweatshirt or even something non-TPiR related that’s just a lovely prize. But I haven’t landed on anything yet.

I’d really love to make one jewelry splurge. I don’t own a single piece of jewelry. But I would love to own something from the Caliber Collection – which is made from pieces of illegal guns, and proceeds go to fund gun buyback programs.

So, I’d love, love, love to buy myself a little splurge-y gift and think, “This is my physical Price is Right prize.” But the cheapest cuff option (and actually the one I want) is $150. And I really wanted something that was $96 or less, so I could say I won it with my Price is Right money.

(Yes, i know I made thousands off the car, but it feels like different money to me for some reason.)

I did win $40.15 on another game show (which I’ll talk about very soon). And I got paid $50 to help producers try out a new game show (Million Second Quiz). So, if you put all that together, I have more than enough to pay for a cuff and call it my “game show bracelet.”

I don’t know if that’s what I’m going to do or not. But I just really wanted to have some sort of physical representation – and have it be something I loved – that came from that TPiR $96. And if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Taxes Aren’t The Only Expense With A Car

August 29, 2013

Just a reminder, if you read yesterday’s post in email form, I accidentally sent you an earlier draft, in which I hadn’t yet turned it into two posts. Therefore, this will be VERY familiar, as it’s just the 2nd half of yesterday’s (if that makes sense).

Okay, this is the last money (as it pertains to the car) post that I plan on doing, ’cause it’s all basically been said. And who wants to talk about money all the time anyway. Right?

However, just to try to solidify my position that selling the car was the right choice (and hopefully convince anyone who’s somehow still on the fence) –

If we forget about how much I wanted to pay off my debt, I’ve already mentioned that taxes made it very cost-prohibitive to keep the car. But taxes aren’t the only reason to sell it.

Not only would I have had to get over paying the taxes, I would’ve had to re-do my entire budget to keep up with the costs of having a car in general.

I got quotes for car insurance for the semi-young person I am, who hasn’t had insurance in over 3 years (which is the time frame all the companies ask about), who lives in downtown Los Angeles – and needs collision coverage on a brand new car.

My quotes were over $200/month.

I could’ve possibly tried to finagle it more or kept pushing options down to have the very, very bare minimum coverage. But how would that have really helped if I’d gotten in an accident. (Which let’s get real, with my driving in L.A. was practically bound to happen.)

So, that’s just insurance. Add gas (a lot). Add parking ($100/month just for a spot in my own building, not to mention you have to park at meters or in garages out here which all adds up).

It was going to be over $500/month to keep this car. $500/month I’m not currently paying. Sure, I wouldn’t have to pay $90/month for a Metro pass. So, that’s something. (Though in reality, I’m sure I’d still take it sometimes.)

And I could’ve tried to change everything around. But to me, it didn’t seem worth it to sacrifice in other areas so I could drive. What? Am I gonna stop traveling, going to Cory Booker fundraisers, and do whatever other fun things I like to do – just so I can drive instead of take public transport? (Am I gonna try to take out fun to not even replace it with other fun, but with the stress that comes from driving?)

I am SO thankful for my Price is Right car. Seriously. I know in rationalizing getting rid of it, it maybe doesn’t read that way. But it was a beyond-words incredible experience. And I am really glad it’s in the family. ‘Cause in non-LA, I don’t mind driving so terribly much.

Going on the show, a car was what I’d always dreamed of winning. To me, that is the American Dream – having the Price is Right announcer (currently George Gray) tell you you’re going to play for a brand new car!

I wanted the car because a) I think those are generally the most exciting games, b) the net amount you walk away with, with the car, is more than the amount you’re likely to walk away in most of the straight money games. (Yes, I know there are anomalies in the cash money games. Technically, in Plinko you could win $50,000 – but really, when does that ever happen?) c) as I said, to me it’s the American dream (or at least one of them – the American Price is Right dream).

(As far as any other options besides a car or money go – what would I have done with a dining room set or a hot tub?)

I am beyond pleased that my total Price is Right dream came true. But I knew before I even walked in the building I’d be selling it. And I think that was definitely the smart choice.

What Did I Do With My Price is Right Prizes? – Part 1 (The Car)

August 28, 2013

I’ve already mentioned in multiple places that I sold the car. So, I don’t think any of you are on the edge of your seats.

I’d decided in the Price is Right line before I even went on the show that if somehow I won a car, I’d sell it. While killing time, my friends and I were discussing hypotheticals.

In the scenario in which I’d win a car, I was all, “I will just see a big pile of cash on the stage. That’s all a car will be to me.”

And that’s basically all it was.

I looked into a few options. Carmax seemed like the safest one. Cars on Craigslist or Ebay… I heard too many meh stories to make me think those might not be the greatest ideas. (But I have no personal experience selling a car through those channels, so what do I know?)

Why chance it when Carmax would be simple, fast, and fair (from everything I’d heard about it)?

As I mentioned, you’d have to hold onto the car for about two weeks anyway (or however long it takes you to get the title in the mail). Well before the end of two weeks (or even two hours), I learned I didn’t need to sell it to Carmax

Within minutes of my show airing, my mom and grandparents were already starting in with, “We have to keep the Price is Right car in the family!”

About a week after my show aired, my mom and sister flew out to California and drove the car back to the midwest.

The car was titled in a family member’s name as soon as I had the title to transfer. It’s no longer registered in California. So, it’s definitely and officially not at all my car now.

But, it’s nice that I can still drive it on occasion when I visit.

In case I haven’t convinced you already that selling the car was a good idea – I have one more post tomorrow about taxes not being the only expense with a new car.

(I know it’s not my job to convince you, but I also know many people think I’m crazy for selling the car. So I just want to make the decision as understandable as possible.)

Again, I want to reiterate in every post I can that this was a dream come true and in no way am I at all ungrateful. I’m just making what I believe to be smart (and maybe even responsible, you’d say) decisions for my specific situation. (For others, keeping the car might be the perfect way to go…)

Price Is Right Contestant Strategies – Part 4 (The Wheel & The Showcase)

August 27, 2013

shock of seeing it almost on 95Picking up from yesterday –

I have no advice when it comes to spinning the wheel. I went over. And I don’t know that that’s something you could strategize on without being able to practice on it.

If we all lived at the Bob Barker studio, we probably could spin it enough to understand the right amount of uumph needed, and get to the point where we could spin a dollar, or close to it, often.

But, we don’t live there. Or at least I don’t. If you do, kudos, and go get practicing!

I never made it to the showcase. So, I don’t know that I’m qualified to give advice for that. However, I’d assume it’s the same exact advice that I’d give for contestants’ row and your onstage game.

Really, really listen. Ask for anything you need repeated. (You get at most one chance on Price is Right every 10 years. So don’t waste it, ’cause you’re too embarrassed to ask. They’ll edit it out if you have something repeated and it bores the audience.)

Listen to the person beside you and how they bid.

If you know they’re way over, bid $1 (or at least pretty conservatively).

If you have the incredible good fortune of being able to pick whether you’d like to bid or pass – unless you are a boat enthusiast, I’d say just bid on your showcase if you have a car in it.

stress of it being almost 95

One showcase almost always has a car. The other one – sure, it may have another car or an SUV, or it may be all trips. And all those things are lovely.

(Although taxes on a showcase full of trips unfortunately might make it too cost prohibitive to take those trips.)

But the other choice that second showcase could be is a water themed one.

From what I’ve heard, boats and those things are SO much harder to sell than cars. Personally, I wouldn’t take my chances. Perhaps you’re a bigger gambler than I am.

If so, go for it and when you get an even better car, come laugh and gloat here in the comments.

Also, if you do happen to bid first – I know it’s incredibly important not to overbid, however, don’t underbid too much either. I saw a girl bid $18,000 for a showcase with a car, $3,500 cash and an iPad.

Even if you don’t know the price of everything. Take a moment and do a little math in your head. If you know for a fact there’s $3,500 in your showcase, that means you think that car is less than a $14,500 car. (And that’s assuming the iPad is worth nothing.)

I have never seen a car (in modern times) on The Price is Right go for under $16,000.

The girl lost her showcase by $12. ($12!) And that’s why when you’re a contestant on TPiR, I literally cannot stress enough, you have all the time in the world!

I mean, they’re on a schedule and I’m sure at some point Drew will ask you to make a decision. But talk it out if you have to. Do the math. Take a deep breath. Don’t just pull a random number for your showcase out of thin air. Think about how much you think each item costs, and how they all fit together.

I don’t know if any of the advice of the past 4 days has been helpful to any of you. But if it does help you, please let me know that it did (once you’re allowed to).

Side note: I saw someone on twitter the other day tweet to over 1,000 followers(!) that he’d just won a car but to keep it secret.

Uh, what? It’s twitter. If it’s gotta be secret, don’t tweet it. So, I suppose that’s my last piece of advice. They can take away your prizes if word gets out in the world. Don’t take that chance. Just be patient. (It’s a virtue.)

Price Is Right Contestant Strategies – Part 3 (Take Control Of Non-Luck Parts)

August 26, 2013

laughing on Price is Right stagePicking up from yesterday –

So, I’m going on an on with games I didn’t even play, because as I said, I could talk about Price is Right all day.

Let me make it clear that I know there is tons of luck involved. Heck, even in the game I played – first, I guessed that it was about a twenty-thousand dollar car. So, picking 19 made sense.

When it came to the last two numbers, I picked 96 thinking that whole thing of companies charging very close to the next hundred without actually charging it so that psychologically you think it’s cheaper than it actually is.

Then I picked 52 because it just felt right. It was just in my lucky spot on the board and seemed like something I want to pick.

I later learned that that’s also a tactic companies use – numbers falling at the end of the price to make it seem lower. (The 5 was lower than the 6 in the hundreds column before it, the 2 was lower than the 5.)

laughing with Drew

(Some strategies that people that in the game I played (The Money Game) include: if one of the pairs starts with 0, pick it. Bob Barker called that “el cheapo.” That’s how often it got people – he ended up making a special name for it…

Or, many people think the two correct squares are often actually next to each other on the board. Though, I have no stats on that to back it up.)

Another strategy on a different car game that I’ve heard people should use, but never really see implemented is to purposely get the first number of the car wrong in Cover Up to try to get yourself an extra turn at the board. (Of course if you also happen to get every single other number in the price wrong on that first turn, then you’ve totally screwed yourself.)

Anyway, moving back toward the point – I’ll totally admit I’m not some guru who knows everything when it comes to pricing. Luck definitely played into it for me (and probably for many people), and I’ll never act like it didn’t.

All I am saying is that even though big parts of your Price is Right appearance can be attributed to luck (especially any of the games that involve rolling dice or racing rats), you should do everything you can to control the parts that have to do with your decisions and thought processes.

running back to Drew

So, bid smart in contestants’ row. Keep your head and breathe onstage. Really, nothing is more important than keeping your head.

If you remember nothing else, remember this incredibly important thing: In the majority of the games, you are not timed!

Take an extra breath.

If you watch my appearance, it may look rushed to you, and like it goes quickly, but that was me really taking my time.

In your head, you may feel like you’re taking years to think it all out, but in real life it’s only a few extra seconds. And it makes all the difference in the world.

I’ll finish this out tomorrow –

Price Is Right Contestant Strategies – Part 2 (Know About The Gameplay)

August 25, 2013

I really have no idea in contestant's rowPicking up from yesterday –

You’re not always going to know what the price of something is.

Sure, there are psychological pricing strategies companies use.

And that kind of stuff might be helpful to you if you need to guess the exact price of a car, which can get sort of muddled and hard – especially when it comes to the last 3 numbers.

But really, those 3 numbers could basically be anything.

Sometimes I think you just need luck.

Then there are some things that are used over and over again on Price is Right. How many times have I seen Gold Bond lotion used? I feel like it’s used in practically every grocery game.

So, if you’re going to The Price is Right, maybe learn how much that costs. (Heads up: Sometimes they use the regular formula and sometimes the diabetic one – which have two different prices.)

That’s another thing – sometimes there will be slightly different versions of things they use. I’ve seen Chevy Cruzes with fewer features for less money. Unless you practically live Price is Right, you’re probably not going to be able to know all the ins and outs of every grocery product, car, and trip they might ask you about.

But, they use a lot of the same cars, and a lot of the same grocery items. (Watch the Price is Right for a couple of weeks, and you’ll see what those things are.)

So, even though things may be changed up a little, you should be able to usually make a somewhat educated guess. (Though of course I know there are curveballs, and there are always items even I as a frequent watcher do not recognize. Good luck with those.)

19!

Knowing strategy can be just as important as knowing the prices.

For one game specifically – please, if you go to Price is Right, understand the main idea behind how to play Pay the Rent.

There is nothing more frustrating while watching the show than to see someone waste a chance at $100,000 by putting the lowest price grocery item in the mailbox.

This video explains how you’re supposed to play that game.

Basically, to sum it up in case you don’t want to watch that video (or don’t know the game), you have to place prizes in a house so that each level adds up to more than what’s on the level before. There are 4 levels, with each of the middle levels having 2 spots.

So, the 2nd level must be more than the 1st – but the first only has one spot for an item. The 2nd level has two spots.

Why would you waste your least expensive item on the 1st level (in the mailbox), when you could get rid of a more mid-level priced item, still easily being able to outspend it when adding two grocery items together on the next level?

That way, you save your least expensive item to be paired with one more on the expensive end to keep your middle levels low – which will help you leave space for the most expensive item, which must stand alone in the attic.

it's getting serious now

Price is Right actually has played some versions now where you could place the items from least to most expensive and still win.

(I think they eased up that game a bit because no one was playing with the correct strategy, therefore no one was winning.

The game came out in Sept. 2010. In April 2013 someone finally won. The person won by going from least to most expensive grocery items, ’cause I think Price is Right was ready to just have someone win.)

The chances of you playing Pay the Rent are very small. So, don’t sweat it too much. Just please if you do play it, don’t put the ramen noodles in the mailbox. ‘Cause really, why do that?

I’ll pick up here tomorrow.

Price Is Right Contestant Strategies – Part 1 (You Have All The Time You Need)

August 24, 2013

Aurora De Lucia in line at The Price is RightIf you’re looking for ideas on how to become a contestant on Price is Right, go to this post.

For what to do after your name is called, stay here. since Price is Right has recently been brought up all over again, people have been asking me if I have any advice for people once they’ve made it down to contestants’ row.

I could talk Price is Right games and strategies all day long. I’m a total game show fanatic. But I’m boiling it down to 4 posts (which yes, I realize is still a lot).

Be smart and listen in contestants’ row. When the last person to bid places her or his bid in some crazy out of the blue place, I just think “What are you doing?! You’ve already been given these great parameters by everyone else. So, do you think it’s below everyone, above everyone, or in between a range that’s been established? Bid accordingly.”

Some people don’t believe in bidding $1 over someone else. To me, that’s just not smart game play. If you were playing Monopoly and landed on Park Place, would you not buy it because you felt bad that your opponents didn’t have the same luck with the dice that you did?

Would you stick yourself with 15 extra points in Phase 10, because you refuse to use a skip card since that’s too mean?

headerWhenever we play any games, some amount of luck is involved. You receiving some luck means that during certain times you’ll have advantages over other players in the game. I don’t think it’s mean to use those advantages. I think it’s smart.

I know I’ve already talked on that subject before, so I won’t keep belaboring the point. Just seems silly to me not to use what you got.

And if you don’t use strategy while bidding, most of us viewers at home will be yelling at you. But, do what you want. I’m not the boss of you.

So, contestants’ row. Really pay attention. Sometimes when I watch the show, it seems like some people aren’t listening at all, and they’re just grabbing random numbers they thought of when the prize was revealed.

If you’re first to bid, you don’t have much choice other than to do that. But everyone else should be listening.

I know it is crazy at Price is Right. Tension is high Nerves are running wild. And it truly is hard to hear in there.

If you can’t hear what’s going on, just ask! Ask Drew if he can remind you what’s just been bid, and he will.

bidding in contestant's rowIt’s better to feel like you look a little silly, or to feel a little stupid for asking, than to miss out on an opportunity to get onstage – just because you’re scared.

Now let’s say you get onstage.

My biggest piece of advice to myself that really helped me: “You have all the time in the world.”

I just kept reminding myself of that.

It’s easy on game shows to feel rushed, but that’s where you make stupid mistakes. Some of the games are timed on Price is Right, but most of them are not.

Take an extra breath and really ask yourself, “What do I honestly think this costs? Even if I don’t know the cost of that specific prize, do I have any field of reference at all that can help me?”

Or “What should be my strategy for this game?” (Although you should’ve already thought about the answer to the second question on many games at home/in line.)

This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

“Wah, wah, The Poor Game Show Winners” (aka Taxes On Price Is Right Prizes)

August 20, 2013

about to hug in contestants rowIf you just came here for the numbers and breakdown, scroll down a little until you hit the words in bold (where I say “Let’s break it down a little.”)

Sorry to anyone invested for interrupting my series on breaking into working in television.

In case you haven’t heard, I got linked from Yahoo! Shine yesterday, and now I’m getting thousands of hits. (*Bows to applause*) Yes, thank you, thank you.

I’ve been getting a fair amount of comments/emails and such. So, let me take a post to talk about the taxes – since that seems to be the big issue.

The night I won, I started googling information on what the taxes would be like on my prizes. I saw so many comments by people with this angry attitude toward game shows winners. “How dare you complain about taxes when it’s all just a bonus to you?!”

Some people did it in a nice way. “A brand new car, and I only have to pay the taxes?! Sign me up!”

I didn’t get involved in any of those discussions, because really. Why? But now that everyone is talking about it with me, let’s go for it.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful in the least. I adore game shows, and anything I win truly is a lovely bonus. (I do agree with that part of the sentiment from the above comments I mentioned.)

However, I also think it’s a little silly how people marginalize the taxes for game shows winners.

bidding in contestant's row

As I said, there’s this “‘wah wah, poor me’ – Hey, buck up, you won on a game show!” attitude all around the internet if any past winner even dare utter the word “taxes.”

But, taxes are very real. Taxes definitely prohibit many people from keeping prizes they win (or going on trips they win).

Let’s break it down a little.

To be clear, you are taxed on the value of whatever you win. Of my $21,008 in winnings, only $96 of that was actual money. So, I will be taxed on an extra $21,0008 of “income,” but obviously I can’t just take the thousands of dollars of taxes out of physical, non-cash-money-prizes  – unless I sell the stuff I won (which I did).

To understand all the taxes involved:

First, we start with sales tax. I paid $2,067 just to pick up the car.

Then, let’s estimate federal.

I don’t know what bracket everyone’s going to be in. For argument’s sake, let’s go with the median income in Los Angeles. Page 3 of this document states the median income for a single person in Los Angeles – $43,200.

happy side faceThat would mean your game show earnings would be taxed at the 25% rate. So, with this example, we’re up to paying $5,250 in federal taxes.

Then, you have California state tax. There, you’d be in the 8% bracket and pay $1680 to the state.

Add those estimations together:
Sales – $2,067
Fed – $5250
State – $1680
TOTAL: $8997(!)

(Again, those are just assumptions. This would easily be more for someone in a higher income bracket – or for someone who wins a more expensive car and goes on to win a big showcase, therefore getting pushed into a higher tax bracket.)

(And, I will concede it could be less if someone has enough deductions, credits, etc. And I’ve heard the sales tax part of it could, in some circumstances, count as some sort of deduction or something. (I’m not a tax professional, nor have I done taxes for my Price is Right year yet, since we are still in it.))

Anyway, in a pretty safe-ish hypothetical range, you’re paying about $9,000 for your car. But that’s starting to get toward the price for which you could actually buy a car in the first place.

So this idea that “only having to pay the taxes still leaves you with a practically free car”… I don’t know how other people feel, but to me $9,000 is not practically free.

freaking out with head backAgain, I’m very thankful. And even after selling the car for a depreciated price (since it had previously been owned by me – even if only for double digit miles), I still made thousands of dollars (even after the tax bill).

I will say that in our scenario, though, the government could easily come out the same or ahead of the winner on the actual net winnings after selling prizes for depreciated values and such.

I’m very happy and extremely thankful for my day on The Price is Right, but I’ll never stop thinking it’s funny that people trivialize a tax bill of $9,000ish as though it’s totally nothing (and that everyone could still easily keep this new car) – just because it’s a bill from something fun as opposed to traditional income.

(If you have nine grand to drop on a car, go out and buy yourself a car!)

One Wonderful Female Role Model

June 29, 2013

At first, I wasn’t going to say “female” because she’s a great role model in general.

But, then I thought about how truly necessary and wonderful it is to have these incredibly strong female  models in a still male-dominated (sorry, but its true) world. And I thought about how thankful I am that I  have  my personal, real-life (well, real in my life) Hillary Clinton (who is real, but I’ve never interacted with her).

My high school theater teacher – let’s call her B – is this amazing, incredibly strong woman/mentor/role model who’s been very much in my life for many years now.

I went to see B in a reading on Wednesday, and she was phenomenal.

There are a number of things I adore about her. One story that I think illustrates how much we all adore her:

I was out to dinner with a friend of mine from high school. And I said, “You know what’s great about B?” And he gave me this look like, “Are you kidding me? You know you’re gonna have to be a little more specific, right?”

We burst into laughter, saying there were so many things we’d have to sit around for 4 days of non-stop talking ’til we even got close to exhausting all of the wonderful things about her.

But, I’m gonna pick out a couple of things for this entry.

For one: She’s incredibly confident. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen doubt in her eyes. She carries herself in a way I hope to carry myself someday. I really don’t know how to elaborate other than to say she’s wonderfully confident.

Two: Related to confidence – she’s been teaching for 40 years. So, she’s older than some people. I don’t deal with aging well. I know a lot of people who don’t deal with aging well.

(An interesting idea from Sarah Silverman in Comedians In Cars Drinking Coffee was that some of these women from the Real Housewives shows are so concerned with youth and just trying to look/be as youthful as possible that they’re not giving their daughters any reason to get excited about aging.

Of course, she said it better than I am, but I found it to be an interesting thought…)

So, my teacher – Again, she just seems very confident in her skin. She didn’t run out and get a bunch of Botox (like you know I’m gonna do). She never thinks she’s too old for anything. She is the kind of woman who makes me believe good things can come with age.

Oh boy, I could list a million more things.

But, here is just one more wonderful thing about her. She’s incredibly strong while being incredibly supportive.

I feel like as a woman, if I’ve ever had to wonder, “What’s the right way to walk that line of being incredibly strong so that no person ever walks over you and you are always respected, but so human and caring that everyone feels uplifted/supported by you and generally better when you’re around?” – B is that line.

She does it perfectly.

I don’t know how she does it. But I would never let her down (or at least I will always strive not to). I will always work to my fullest potential for her. Yet, I’m never afraid of her. (Okay, maybe just a little scared of her – but in a totally acceptable way).

SkyRobics (June 25, 2013’s Something New)

June 28, 2013

Aurora De Lucia attempting a tuck jump at SkyRobics
attempting a tuck jump

Every year I do something new on my birthday. (I’ll expand on that later).

This year, I happen to be visiting my family. (There’s a very important party in Ohio this weekend. More on that later as well.)

As seems to be the pattern, I waited until the last minute to decide what new thing I wanted to try. I searched for new things to do in Ohio. (Side note: Since I happen to be in Ohio, I wanted to go to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. (Can you believe I lived in Ohio for all those years, and never went to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame?) But my dad couldn’t get the day off work. I knew it would be more fun to do something with him. So, alas, some other time.

As I was searching for new things to do, I found this awesome blog – which I definitely think anyone should reference when she wants to do something fun in Ohio. From the blog, I got the fabulous idea for SkyRobics.

What is SkyRobics, you ask? Well, it’s aerobics in the sky (well, partly in the sky – on trampolines).

We went to this big trampoline park where 12 trampolines are put together with tilted trampoline walls and pads between the trampolines. Then an instructor leads the class.

One of the very first things we did was walk over to the foam pit. We had to do 2 laps walking around the foam pit!

Aurora De Lucia posing with her trampoline shoes
Getting ready for class, posing with the nifty trampoline shoes

I cannot get across to you how difficult it was to walk around the pit! You may think it would be easy. “Oh, it’s just some light foam, how hard can it be to frolic in it?”

Well, the problem with it being just some light foam, is that it’s just some light foam! You’re trying to maneuver yourself through this cloud basically. So you just sink in so easily. So, it’s like this constant climbing out of this thing that’s sucking you in.

While out of breath, I said that least I’m getting a glimpse of, and a little practice for, what it will be like if I’m ever in an avalanche. As my dad was disappearing below the foam, he said now he knew he’d just die in one.

Somehow we all made it out of there and went back to the main trampoline area.

I think the hardest part about SkyRobics was not the cardio, but the balance! I like to think I have pretty good balance. I studied musical theater. So, I did my share of dance in the day. Of course balance is important in that.

But balance on a trampoline felt totally different to me than balance on the ground. It’s hard!

The teacher had us do suicides (quickly running down to the end and back, then 3/4 of the way and back, 1/2 and back, 1/4 and back.). We had to shuffle side to side (again, way harder on a trampoline than on the ground).

Then, he set up different exercises in 4 corners – different kinds of jumps and leg and arm work. You’d do your exercise in your corner for 30 seconds. The teacher would yell, “switch!” And then you’d run as quickly as you could to the other corner and do the new exercise.

How my dad felt after class.
How my dad felt after class.

And you did the rotation 3 times!

Toward the end, we even did a running thing where we were supposed to bounce off the wall(!), then run to the other end, bounce off that wall, repeat, repeat, and on and on.

In the last 10 minutes or so, we ended with some dodgeball.

My dad and I had the very best time.

He’d been a little hesitant at first. But, he was ready to go back after it was over.

It was a tough (and awesome!) workout, and I’d love to do it again! It cost less than $5! And I’m pretty sure that would get me in some very cool shape with fun new skills.

The Last Thing Michael Jackson Did For Me Was Save My Life

June 25, 2013

great Michael Jackson photoI guess it’s fitting that since it’s my birthday (which falls on the same day as the anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death), I write this post.

I know I talk about Michael Jackson kind of a lot on this blog. And that each time I do, I sound like a complete and total crazy person. Probably because I am a crazy person when it comes to Michael Jackson (and maybe at other times..).

Unfortunately, I never met Michael Jackson. You would think that since I never met the man, he couldn’t have a very big impact on my life – but he very much influenced it.

He inspired me. Most of all, the thing I loved the about Michael Jackson was that he was hope when there was no hope. No matter what was going on in your life or in the world… even if things seemed awful, no matter what they were, they were never awful enough that Michael Jackson couldn’t take you away from them.

I know his messages are bigger than a man, and that when he died hope (and tolerance, passion, kindness, and all the other great things he was spreading) did not die with him. But for a little while, it felt like they did.

Michael Jackson gave me so much over the course of my life. His music, his speeches, his dreams – they enriched my life. But, the very last thing he gave me was my life. As if he hadn’t given me enough already, in death he saved my life.

As you know, if you’ve read the very long story about my time in and out of the hospital after finding out I had a congenital heart defect, you know that at that time, I was not taking great care of myself. At all. I just didn’t know how.

As I said, he was hope to me. I didn’t realize how much I relied on, or sort of got life force from him – how much he embodied the ideas of “keep moving forward.”

I was intense and awesome in high school and college, working ’round the clock, never settling, constantly striving toward goals. I had no idea that when Michael Jackson died it was going to feel like the ground completely fell from under my feet. I didn’t know how much I kind of relied on his presence – even though he was nowhere close to me.

When I was brought into the ER at Mass General, I straight up admitted to the doctors and nurses that I’d been a total mess. I could’ve easily (and quite possibly that was the case) passed out purely because I wasn’t eating or sleeping, and I was exercising too much. I knew it was irresponsible to take such poor care of myself. (And I feel bad about that. It’s a waste of time and resources.) But, I was a wreck.

It was out in the open that my body shutting down might mot have anything to do with my heart. But my new medical buds told me it didn’t really matter how I ended up in the ER – whether my heart problem caused me to pass out or not. No matter what brought me in, there was a problem with my heart that most likely would not have been found otherwise.

I had a ticking time bomb in my chest. Doctors at Massachusetts General were convinced that had we not found it, I would’ve absolutely been dead before I hit 30.

(Of course, you never really know if something will happen until it does. Would it have? We’ll never know. Heck, I’m not at 30. So, who knows what kind of crazy stuff could happen between now and then.)

I can’t imagine a scenario in which I would’ve gotten an EKG – other than the way it happened. I would’ve never randomly gotten my heart checked at a physical. And by the estimations of some of the best doctors in the country, I wouldn’t have lived to see my 3rd decade of life.

So, even in death Michael Jackson was giving me hope, and pushing me forward.

And on this day when I close out another year of my life and look forward to the next one, I can only hope that in some small way, at some point, I can pass along some of the hope and inspiration he gave me to someone else.

I’m On The Rendezvous Show Podcast!

June 13, 2013

logo for The Rendezvous Show with Brian Katala

So, please, if you would, check it out!

Then tweet me, or comment there or here – just somewhere, say something and let me know if you liked it, please. Thanks!

If you want to know a little more than just me telling you to listen – we talk about my time in the hospital with my heart stuff, running 52 half marathons, running Disney races, and The Price is Right. (That’s in part 1 – which is the link above).

In part 2, we talk about The Price is Right story, kidneys, and equality. When I listened, it sound like a bit got cut out here and there around the talk regarding equality and Broadway Impact. I know we had a couple of technical issues (as we mentioned at the beginning of part 1). So, it might’ve been that.

Either way, I think you get the gist of what I was saying. But, if it sounds a little wonky, it’s ’cause I think there are hiccups/jumps in there.

(Within the 2-part podcast, I also make the embarrassing admission that I’ve never seen MASH! (And I accidentally misuse was vs were at one point – just pretend like you don’t notice.))

(Not to bring attention to all my faults, but I also say that my dad “just did the 5k.” I’d get a very stern talking to from my high school theater teacher who taught me the very important lesson to never use “just” when talking about people’s accomplishments. There is no just. Everything we do is intertwined and important.)

(Also, I said something like “young people don’t usually get EKGs. Most people don’t get EKGs until they’re over 50” – which kind of implied 50 is old. And I really don’t think it is. I was sort of just regurgitating the sentences the doctors had said when I was in the hospital. I’m sorry for implying 50’s old, which isn’t true.)

But, enough with apologies and picking apart what I said. Moving on:

Apart from what we talked about, if you’re interested in how the podcast came about – I met this really nice, cool guy – Brian Katala – at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Vegas night race while I was live tweeting. We’ve been friends ever since. (Thanks, twitter (as always making my life better)!)

He emailed me and asked if I wanted to do his podcast. Of course I said yes! I like to think I’m game for pretty much anything (in case any of you want to invite me on your podcasts.) Also, who wouldn’t want to spend time talking with Brian? (Especially when it’s time talking about herself.)

We had talked for about 1/2 an hour when the iPad died on us, and we lost everything we’d done thus far. We tried to do it all over again for you as if nothing had gone wrong. It’s a weird feeling when you know you’re repeating yourself, but you know the audience doesn’t know it.

We took some new tangents on the second go ’round. Even though it wasn’t precisely the same, hopefully you don’t feel any bits are missing that you didn’t hear from the first take (that we ended up not repeating). Hopefully you enjoy any new stuff that did come out (even though you may not know what’s new and what’s repeated). And hopefully you don’t feel like I sound any less enthused or more confused while repeating things.

I guess the main point is, I really hope you like it!

If you haven’t listened already, don’t forget to listen here for part 1 and here for part 2.

Scott Robinson’s Last Day On The Price is Right

May 28, 2013

I don’t know if you remember from my millions of Price is Right posts, but I’d talked about this amazingly energetic, super guy at The Price is Right.

I didn’t know his name or his title. But I certainly knew that it seemed like he breathed his job. He was so fun to watch on stage. He was the one who excitedly revealed my name from a poster board, and I just adored him every moment I saw him onstage (even before he was a participant in making my dreams come true).

Well, the other day, I learned that his name is Scott Robinson. How did I find out? Because it was his last day on the show. And his send off was so emotional. You watch it, and possibly get a bit choked up.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wW24zuEfYo?rel=0]

(If for whatever reason the embedded player doesn’t work, the link is here.)

In case you were wondering, it seems like he did in fact live and breathe his job. He was very active on the main Price is Right fan forum. (You can’t search by name unless you’re a member. But in case you are, he posts under the name MSTieScott.)

He seemed so happy throughout so many years. And I’m so happy for him!

I don’t know why he left, and I still don’t know exactly what his job was when he left. But I do know that from the little I do know, it is so lovely to see someone who worked at their dream show for such a long time – and did it from starting at the bottom. (He mentioned his days as a page on the CBS lot.)

I find that so incredibly heartwarming and impressive. Huge kudos to Scott Robinson. I tip my hat to you, sir.

I hope he has many more successes ahead of him, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

The Ben And Jerry’s Truck Visited Us At Work!

May 19, 2013

Free OMGBenAndJerrys West truck stopping at our offices
(Yep, I got to pose in the truck!)

Twitter makes the day better again!

I know I’m always talking about how awesome twitter is, but that’s because twitter is awesome.

So, I’m sitting at work before the morning people come in. As I’m winding down, I give a little check into what’s going on, on twitter. The Ben and Jerry’s West Truck tweeted out that they’d be around L.A. giving out free Ben and Jerry’s!

I tweeted telling them to come on over and hang out on Sunset Boulevard ’cause we were hungry at TNT.

They didn’t say anything back. I didn’t think anything of it. I was sure they got tons of tweets. So, the morning people got there. I talked with them a bit, then went out to run an errand down the street.

As I was leaving the office down the street about to go home for the day (my night), I got a direct message from the Ben and Jerry’s truck! They asked for my number, then called to ask me if I’d like them to come by.

Heck yes, I would!

When would anyone ever say no to one of her favorite companies offering to come by with a truck full of free food?

The awesome Jana and Dan of Ben and Jerry's truck fame.
The awesome Jana and Dan of Ben and Jerry’s truck fame.

They said they’d be there around noon, and I headed on back to work. I told my boss, co-workers, and basically everyone around that free Ben and Jerry’s would be coming. And I felt really popular and loved.

While waiting for the truck (since my shift was over, but everyone else still had to work (boring, right?)), I hung out in the break room, had a great phone conversation with my friend Jon Rankin – super cool Olympian (I know, amazing, right?), and most importantly, founder of The Run Project. We had a great time catching up. And before you knew it, it was time for the Ben and Jerry’s truck!

Jana and Dan called to tell me they were there. I ran outside to help them decide where to park. Then I ran inside back to tell everyone they were here. We watched out the window as the parked, and we all ran outside for some free Greek Yogurt (which was delicious if I might add).

I was so happy I got to try the new Liz Lemon flavor! I’d read about it, but hadn’t been bold enough to buy a pint. (I guess that’s why the truck is roaming around.)

Not only did they give us free frozen goodness – they gave everybody free Ben and Jerry’s sunglasses!

Then they took some great pictures and tweeted about us! What a day – to be fed and famous!

Cap City Half Marathon – Part 2

May 6, 2013

I love White Castle
I love White Castle

Picking up from yesterday –

So, the energy was incredible. I was ready to do this race, by golly! I went out a little faster than I intended, and had to tell myself to pull back.

(Those of you who regularly read the blog know I’m a very slow half marathoner. I didn’t do a single one under 3 hours last year – and I did a few over 4 (a couple even over 5 hours – granted, one was on crutches and one was in a weekend with 4 races).)

I went in thinking I’d aim for around 3:30 in this race. I haven’t built up a ton of speed. I’m just kind of getting back into the groove after taking a bit of time to decompress from the 52 in 52.

Well, at the first mile marker, I think I was going faster than the 2:50 pacer. Pull it back, Aurora! 

I slowed it down and jogged along, letting the 2:50 group pass me. 

Somewhere in the first few miles, there was an open lane of traffic – stopped traffic – beside us. I bet those people were not happy. But what was hilarious about it was around the time I saw those cars, I got a call from my high school theater teacher (aka totally my bff, and one of the most amazing women on the face of the planet)!

I didn’t answer ’cause I was still working fairly hard and didn’t want to have a conversation with her while huffing and puffing away in a loud place. But when I listed to her message, she told me she was on her way to Dayton for a baby shower, and got stuck in horrible race traffic – when she saw me jogging past!

I thought that was hilarious and awesome.

Speaking of high school, later in the race, one of my friends from high school was cheering on the sidelines. She exclaimed, “Aurora?!” as she was already basically mid-hugging me. She walked with me for a bit before she had to turn around and keep on cheering for others.

This group seemed kinda weird in a sort of awesome way. Mud Ninja. Seems like it's probably pretty fun.
This group seemed kinda weird in a sort of awesome way. Mud Ninja. Seems like it’s probably pretty fun.

There were some fun signs at this race – “You can’t quit… You’re not the pope!” “Smile, you are having fun.” (I love that someone decided they needed to remind the runners of that in declarative sentence form.) We had a “May the 4th be with you.” (And who doesn’t love things Star Wars themed?) Two girls even came out in comfy looking chairs with a sign for a shortcut (which of course no one took (I assume) but was still funny.

I also love that the staff at a White Castle came out and cheered us on – with a white castle mascot and everything! (Now, if only they had free sliders on the table instead of free water… but you can’t have everything.)

And very close to the end (with finish line in sight), there was someone who had a sign that said, “You’re actually almost there.” (I think at the beginning I also saw a sign that said something like, “You’re not even close to being there.) I so appreciate signs making fun of people’s tendency to constantly say “you’re almost there” when you are so not even close to being there. 

My dad came and met me in the last while, walking along the side of the race route for a bit. He ran into two people from work in the 10 minutes that I spent with him. (My dad kind of seems Ohio famous. He pretty much knows everyone in Columbus as far as I can tell.)

I ran it out to the finish. They announced my name, making me sound special since I was “all the way from Los Angeles, California.” I did make it in under my 3:30 expected time (not much under – around 3:28). Then, I had a delicious brunch with my dad, and that was the end of the morning. 

But in the afternoon, we were guests in the Ohio Health (sponsor of the half marathon) suite at the Columbus Crew game. (How did I get that honor? Mainly through twitter (one of the greatest things ever – I’d love if you’d follow me there if you don’t already.)

I will talk about the soccer game tomorrow. 

Cap City Half Marathon – Part 1

May 5, 2013

As I’ve said all the time – sleep is everything.

I’m used to working 7pm – 5am… in California (so 10pm – 8am Ohio time). It was actually a very hard choice to know if I should try to sleep during the day, stay up all night, and treat the half marathon as a workout before bed – or just do my best to sleep at night and wake up in the morning.

I went for sleep at night, knowing I’d feel better rested. I went to bed around 9pm, woke up around 11pm. I laid awake, doing my best to fall asleep – looking at the clock about every hour until I ended up going to sleep somewhere in the 3 o’clock hour.

Basically, all that to say sleeping like a normal person = so rough. But, I woke up and the adrenaline/excitement was enough to make it work.

I’d won an entry to this race, so I used it as a great excuse to visit my family. My dad drove me to the race. (It’s always nice to be chauffeured – especially by your dad.)

As I waited for the race to start, I saw that the trash cans along the starting road had all be saran-wrapped off hardcore with signs that they were temporarily out of service. (If people come across this post years from now and don’t know what that’s about – there was a bomb by a trash can at the Boston Marathon less than a month ago.)

Security was out and about in full force. I even saw a guy with gear that said bomb squad. I tried to take a picture of him, but he was too fast for me! He was walking along the sidewalks, being super alert, talking to people on his walkie.

The Cap City half was incredibly serious about security. There are almost always a lot of police officers at races, plus a big medical staff. But there was so many police officers, firefighters, and medics – I felt like I was the President of the United States running this race.

Before the start of the race, we took a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston Marathon, and then they played Sweet Caroline, which I thought was a really nice touch.

And the crowd was riled up! As we started, I heard people chanting “USA! USA!” I also heard some people say, “We are not afraid!”

The energy was absolutely incredible. And I felt a little emotional with all of that going on. Intellectually, I know that just running a race isn’t doing anything for the people of Boston (not unless you’re fundraising for them while doing it, which I wasn’t (though I did donate to 6 fundraising pages)).

Even though I knew that it wasn’t going to personally affect any Boston people to run this race – I still felt the energy of “We are doing this, remembering those of you who can’t right now.” And, “We are doing this to continue to show your strength and that we are not afraid!”

(Even though the Boston tragedy is really not all that super personal to me since I wasn’t there, it will always feel a little personal, since I lived there 3 years ago – right there, only about 2 blocks away. And I loved seeing the runners. I even complained the day before the Boston Marathon this year of how badly I wished I were staying in my old apartment, walking over to the finish. I walked in the spot of the bombing almost every day when I lived there. And I had so many friends in the city, or involved in the race. So, even though it didn’t directly affect my life, it, of course, hurts my heart. Back Bay will always feel a little bit like home, as will marathon-running. So, the whole thing is just…(no words))

But back to our race at hand – and the insane energy of the runners and the crowd! The people on the sidelines were absolutely incredible. I even saw a bunch of people in Boston gear. It felt very much like a really loving, strong, fearless, awesome community out there. And I appreciate every spectator so much!

And I will pick up here tomorrow.

Cap City Half Expo

May 4, 2013

Aurora in front of banner

(I know I’m playing a bit of catch up. So, in your mind, transport yourself back to last week.)

Prepare yourself for a riveting blog entry!

I’m kidding, ’cause I basically have nothing to say.

My dad took me to this expo. The theme seems to be “United we run (with Boston).”

Got my bib, got my cool shirt. And we got yet another free shirt from the Ohio Health Expo. Those shirts were bundled with ribbons, which was cute.

I ran into Darris Blackford – race director of the Columbus Half (and full) that I’d done last year. He was working the booth for that race and was cool as always.

Other than that, it was basically same ol’ same ol’ – races I’d seen mentioned at other expos in Ohio last year, and a bunch of nice Ohio people. And it’s on to the race tomorrow!

The Rest of My San Francisco Vacation

May 2, 2013

Aurora in front of Full House houses copyAfter the incredible Cory Booker reception, I had a lovely couple of days with my friends Jaime and Carlos.

I stayed in their awesome apartment. We went walking all along the great hills of San Francisco.

I saw the exterior of the Full House house. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf and took a boat tour quite close to a heck of a lot of sea lions.

I also had the greatest coffee I’ve ever had (sorry, Starbucks) at this place called Biscoff Coffee Corner at Fisherman’s Wharf. I tried a Snickers Latte. It is incredible. It’s a must get the next time I’m in San Francisco!

We played in an arcade like children – and got matching friendship rings with our tickets.

I don’t think I have any specific mind-blowing things to say about the weekend. We just ate a lot of great food, did a lot of wonderful walking, and had a grand ol’ time.

The (Awesome) Response To My “Price is Right” Appearance

April 27, 2013

Aurora De Lucia with Drew Carey at The Money Game on The Price is RightYou all are the best ever.

Really, I appreciate you so much.

I cannot even begin to express how much wonderful love came my way after my Price is Right episode.

The texts, the emails, the tweets, all of it – thank you, thank you so much.

I got a text from someone who said they hadn’t had the greatest few days, and watching my Price is Right episode turned their week around – which amazed me, because I would never think that watching someone else win a car could make your week.

I got a tweet from a stranger later in the week who said my game was their favorite they’d seen all week.

A coworker even told me she thought I was the quintessential Price is Right contestant – that if you imagined the very perfect Price is Right contestant and had that person materialize – it would’ve been me. I really appreciated that compliment, and thought it was so sweet.

The love was incredible.

Aurora De Lucia freaking out with her head back on The Price is RightI even got a number of people who said I looked beautiful on The Price is Right! And while, I really try to not focus too, too much on outward appearance – who doesn’t love to feel pretty? (Especially, when if you notice, I was carrying a bit of extra weight. Once I’d gotten home from the 52 half marathons, my body was so tired. I pretty much sat on my butt until the day I went to Price is Right. ;))

Oh, and the people who sent emails or commented that they were enjoying my crazy long play-by-play blog series of the day – thank you for those as well!

Just, generally, thanks to anyone who reached out in any form. All the love just compounded the experience and made it that much more special. So, thank you, thank you, thank you.

A lovely experience. A dream come true. It’s all pretty much beyond words (even though I have used oh-so-many words to talk about it).

Yes, I Know My Price is Right Aired One Day After I Originally Thought It Would

April 26, 2013

Aurora De Lucia realizing she's the next person onstage at The Price is RightOkay, so I’m about done with Price is Right posts (other than the future post on what I did with the prizes). (I’m waiting on that one until I get rid of the camcorders and have the $96 in my possession.)

But, I have two more posts – today’s and tomorrow’s just talking about the various reactions to my episode.

Firstly, I don’t know if you remember, but originally, my episode was going to air on March 18th.

Then, some girl won a jaguar – and a showcase. So, The Price is Right scooted that episode forward. And I didn’t realize that my episode had been bumped by a day until the episode had already started airing (east coast time).

I told everybody – and I mean everybody to watch.

I told strangers on planes, people at the post office, waiters – any person I saw anywhere (especially as the day grew closer) heard that they just had to watch The Price is Right.

Well, first off, anybody who did check the blog or twitter and re-watched on Tuesday to see my episode had an episode with impossible expectations fresh in their mind. So, sorry on that.

Secondly, I’ve since run into some of the people who I’d told to watch Monday who didn’t check any social media stuff. (It was impossible to retrace all my steps and re-tell every person I’d seen since February 6.) And of course everyone was all, “Why did I have to watch The Price is Right on March 18th?”

Aurora De Lucia talking with Drew Carey on The Price is Right

And it didn’t help that I had to be so super coy! Since I wasn’t allowed to say if I won anything, I was all, “Well, just watch. You won’t regret it.”

“But are you a contestant?”

“Just watch and see…”

So, I’m sorry for that everyone. Hopefully the strangers out there whom I never ran into somehow, someday see my blog and realize I wasn’t just blowing smoke, and that they should just watch the episode from the 19th instead…

But having all the confusion really made for an interesting response since people have slowly but surely been watching the correct day.

(Oh, and one final thought about some of these responses – I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but you know what’s weird about being on The Price is Right? To me, the quintessential thing about TPiR is winning a car. That’s the dream! But, for some reason, everyone’s first question when I told them to watch the show was, “Did you win the showcase?!” What? Whose dream is that? Car, maybe a dollar on the wheel, and then I guess the showcase… but, come on, America. Know the dream.)

So, that’s part one of the reactions I got. Part 2 – the awesome part – is coming at you tomorrow.

Q: Philosophical Price is Right Questions – Is It Okay To Bid $1 Over Someone Else?

April 25, 2013

Aurora De Lucia nervous in contestant's row on The Price is RightWhile we’re on Price is Right questions – I never realized how controversial it is to bid $1 over someone else (until I was on the show, and started paying attention to the show’s Facebook and Twitter profiles.)

Some people think it’s totally unfair, and get pretty mad over people who bid $1 over.

But here’s my question – why?

It is Price is Right strategy 101. I actually yell at the TV when the last person to bid just picks some random number between all of the other people. Why would you guess in the dark when you have 3 other bids to go off of?!

I get being nice to people. Being nice is nice. But The Price is Right is a game! There are automatic advantages/disadvantages built right in. When it’s your first turn up there, you bid first! Chances are, nobody’s taking it easy on you. I was outbid by $1 in my first bid. And I wasn’t mad about it because that is how The Price is Right is played.

And, if you had some amazing bid, and someone outbid you by $1 – if you were 3rd to bid, you’ll go last next time. (And of course, last is always the best spot.)

Aurora De Lucia about to bid in contestants' row on The Price is RightOf course, it doesn’t always work out fairly. If you’re the last person called to contestants’ row, good luck – though I have actually seen people be the last person to be called on down, then guess the exact amount of the prize to get onstage.

Also, sometimes the luck just isn’t in your favor. Poor Tiffany’s dad in my episode was outbid by $1 twice – once by someone 2 away from him, once from the person after him – and he had no chance to go last.

So, it sucks when someone doesn’t have great luck. But, to me that is The Price is Right. And I don’t understand what people on the internet are so upset about. (Though I guess people on the internet get upset about everything…)

I don’t know. Does anyone want to add any thoughts or opinions to this question?

“The Price is Right” FAQs (Regarding Prizes)

April 24, 2013

Aurora De Lucia laughing on The Price is Right(For FAQs regarding being on/getting on the show, see yesterday’s post. And for more questions and TPiR talk, you can see my main Price is Right page.)

Disclaimer: Obviously, I’m not an official Price is Right person. These answers are just based on my experience as a contestant.

1) Did you have to pay taxes on your prizes?

Yes I did. I had to pay sales tax to pick up the car ($2,067). And, though it has not happened yet, since my appearance was pretty recent – I hear they send you a 1099 at the end of the year for your taxes. So, the value of everything I won counts as income, and I’ll need to pay Uncle Sam accordingly. (For more on the taxes, read this post.)

2) Can you just take the cash value of your prize?

I get this question so often! “So, did you take the car or the cash value?” There is no cash value option. They make it super clear in all of the paperwork – you take exactly what you won, or you take nothing. (You don’t have to take every single thing you won – for instance, I could’ve accepted the car, but forfeited the camcorders. But, you can’t trade for a different car, or money, or anything like that.)

(Though, I have heard a rumor that if somehow a company goes out of business or something and between your tape date and air date, and it actually becomes impossible to get you your prizes, you may have the cash value. But who knows a) if that’s true, b) how often that situation actually happens.)

Aurora De Lucia after falling on the ground on The Price is Right

The Price is Right paperwork does say the show can give you something comparable. For instance, my camcorders are 2 slightly different versions of the same thing. One is bit newer (I think it came out after my show taped.) But, the paperwork protects them. As long as they give you basically the same thing of equal or greater value, it’s all good.)

3) How long does it take to get your prizes?

My camcorders got to my house before the show even aired! I picked up the car the very afternoon that my show aired. And the $96 should be coming sometime in the 3 months after the air date. (I hear that money always takes longer to receive than any other prize, for some reason.)

As far as how the car works, the dealership can call you anytime within 90 days of your show airing. You have 10 days from the day they call you to pick up the car, otherwise you forfeit it. (If they call you before your show airs – and happily/luckily that’s when they called me – my understanding is you get your 10 days starting from the date your show airs. (But I didn’t want to wait 10 days. I wanted that car in my possession as soon as humanly possible.)

Also, as far as cars go, they’re one of the few things not delivered to your house. The Price is Right picks a dealership, I believe within 150 miles of your home, and you figure out a way to get there and pick up that car. (And if you’re planning on driving it straight off the lot to Carmax – be aware – it took me probably at least 2 weeks to get the official title in the mail. I only had temporary paperwork before that. (And you’re gonna need that title to sell your car, if that’s what you plan on doing. Speaking of that…))

4) Are you allowed to sell/give away your prizes?

Once they’re in your possession, you can do basically whatever you want. The Price is Right will not deliver anything anywhere except your home address. So, if you win a bedroom set or something and decide you want to give it to your parents, you have to decide how to ship it from you to them.

Aurora De Lucia going for a hug with Drew Carey on The Price is Right

You also have to have the car titled in your name. You can sell it if you want, but only after it’s gone through your hands.

(If it’s a trip, it’s in your name. So you gotta go. But trips are awesome. (I’ve never been on a trip from a game show, but I do love traveling.) So, I don’t know why you wouldn’t go (unless you just really could not afford the taxes).)

5) Do you get anything just for being in contestants’ row?

As far as I know, you get $300 (not that day – in the form of a check mailed to your home within 90 days of your air date).

6) What did you do with your prizes, Aurora?

I have an upcoming post about that.

As far as I know, that covers all the questions related to prizes. (Tomorrow, we’ll deal with a more philosophical type question of whether it’s okay to out-bid someone by $1. Spoiler alert: I say yes.)

If you have any other questions at all, please leave them in the comments, or email me!

(And again, if you’d like to read more about The Price is Right, I have oh so many posts talking all about it.) Thanks so much for stopping by!

“The Price is Right” FAQs (Regarding Being on the Show)

April 23, 2013

Aurora De Lucia and Drew Carey with their thinking faces on at The Price is Right(For FAQs regarding prizes, see tomorrow’s post.)

Disclaimer: Obviously, I’m not an official Price is Right person. These answers are just based on my experience as a contestant.

1) What does the set look like in person?

It is definitely smaller than I think it looks on television – especially when you’re in contestants’ row. It seems like playtime. It does not feel real. (But it does feel awesome.)

There are also these little arrow stickers behind contestants’ row that point you to the stairs. (I believe they say “winner stairs.”) I remember thinking two thoughts a couple of times – 1) Oh my gosh, now that something actually points where “winners” go, I am going to feel like a big loser if I’m left in “losers’ row.” 2) I didn’t know there was one staircase we were supposed to go up! Whatever you do, Aurora, don’t make such a simple mistake. There are arrows in front of you. Follow them.”

2) What’s it like to hear your name called to “come on down”?

As I addressed in my super long Price is Right story, there’s actually a whole lot you don’t hear, though I was pretty sure George Gray did, in fact, call my name. It was super in cool in person. Then watching the tape is almost even better. I absolutely love how much fun he had with my name when he announced it! So, thanks, George Gray. You made that moment even better than my dreams about it!

3) What’s it like to spin the wheel?

Everyone always says “it’s heavier than you think,” so I imagine at this point you all think it’s pretty heavy. Therefore, it’s probably exactly what you think. (I actually don’t know that it’s quite as heavy as I made it look on the show…)

It is nerve-wracking to spin it, though! That’s for sure. The carpet is not as slippery as it seems sometimes. (Or at least in my opinion, it wasn’t.) (But I had this crazy, totally unfounded fear of falling, since it seems like so many people do. What kind of shoes are you all wearing?)

Aurora De Lucia looking quite nervous on The Price is Right

4) How can I get picked as a contestant?

I devoted a whole post to that here.

5) What’s Drew Carey like?

He seems super nice. I really like that guy. From everything I’ve ever seen of him on-screen or in person – he just seems like a fun-loving, happy guy, enjoying life. He talked with people during commercial breaks. He seemed very nice to all the contestants. I definitely walked out of there a fan of his.

6) How long is a taping day?

I went to an 8:30 am taping, and was the last one to leave (since I was the last one who went through the paperwork process), and I got out around 2:30. (I think everybody else was let out around 2pm.)

7) How do I get tickets?

You can get tickets here.

8) Where can I see your episode?

My friend put a clip here.

9) How much of that was you and how much of that was “game show you”?

I kind of already talked about this in this post.

But to answer the question, it was quite possibly the most genuine I’ve ever been in my life. It was pure me. I was way too nervous to try to be cute, or to try to be anything but just pure me.

And I’m so happy it was that way. ‘Cause for me, it makes it that much more fun to watch myself just be completely present and in the moment – not worrying that, for instance, pulling my face down is gonna make my eyes look weird (which it totally did).

Drew Carey lightly making fun of Aurora De Lucia on The Price is Right - and her loving every second of it

I literally had no idea that I was doing basically any of the facial expressions I did. I don’t remember running or doing a little jumpy dance before saying 52. None of that was on purpose; it was all nervous energy.

(And if I do say so myself, my favorite part is my facial expression after I win the car, because for some reason I look really terrified that I picked the right number. That makes me super happy. I think it’s a really unexpected look, and I like it.)

If you want to her a super detailed 21-part story of the day, you can start it here.

Tomorrow, I’ll be answering FAQs about the prizes.

If you have any other questions at all, please leave them in the comments, or Email Me!

Q: How Do I Become a Contestant on The Price is Right?

April 22, 2013

Aurora De Lucia nervous to play the Money Game on The Price is RightSo, I’m getting into Price is Right FAQs that I’ve gotten since being on the show. And this question gets its own post.

Disclaimer: I don’t work for, and have never worked for, The Price is Right. So, I don’t have the actual answers. But, as an avid Price is Right watcher and former contestant, I can give my best ideas.

1) Wear a homemade shirt. (It doesn’t literally have to be homemade – printed is fine, but an original shirt.) If you’ve got an idea with a pun on Drew Carey, George Gray, any of the models’ names, or the names of games – that’s even better.

(Military uniform – also a great idea if that applies to you.)

2) Go with somebody! The bigger the group, the better. My feeling is that if you go with 10 people or more, you are almost guaranteed that someone from your group will get on. But even going with 1 other person is better than going solo. (I see plenty of people come from groups of 3s, so worry not about getting to 10.)

3) Think about the timing of when you’re going. If you’re a young person, you might want to stay away from spring break or summer tapings where a ton of young people are trying to get on the show. I’d only want to fight with as much of my demographic as I absolutely have to. I went on February 6th (2013). (If you’re a bit of a less-young person, you might want to consider going when all of these college students are running the place so you have less competition in your group.) (This piece of advice is even more speculation than others. I’d say it’s the guessiest guess of all of these.)

Aurora De Lucia running to see smiling Drew Carey farther on stage on The Price is Right

4) Be personable! You don’t have to be completely nuts. But, just have fun. Be excited that you’re at The Price is Right, and let that excitement shine through! Show it in the picture they take of you. (It’s not a passport photo. It’s for a game show! Give a big ol’ smile.) Show it in the interview. And show it while you’re in the audience.

The people I’d sat with said that after I’d left (to contestants’ row), they heard from someone who worked at TPiR that producers are watching the audience, and might change their plans for who they call next.

(I can’t say for certain that’s true. But it would not surprise me! Anna (who was next to me in contestants’ row) was called up after talking with Drew during a commercial break. And how many times have you watched the show and heard Drew say something like, “Oh, he loves barbershop (or whatever). We were just talking about that during the commercial break.”)

Aurora De Lucia smiling really big on The Price is RightNow, how do you talk to Drew during a commercial break? I don’t know. Good question. People just kind of yelled out to him. Sometimes he answered – sometimes more thoroughly than others. And some people just didn’t get to talk to him. (But don’t worry too much. I never tried to talk to him during the commercials, and I still got up there. And people certainly did talk to him who didn’t get called.)

5) This is the most important! The interview.

In your interview, you will most likely be asked “What do you do for a living?” and/or “Where are you from?”

It is my opinion that they are absolutely not actually asking either of those questions. What I think they’re really asking is – “What makes you different, and why should I put you on The Price is Right? And tell me in a minute or less.”

They can’t actually say that ’cause people would probably freeze up a bit, and the interview process would seem more calculated. And the battle of sob and/or happy and/or childhood Price is Right stories would get real ridiculous, real fast.

Aurora and Drew Carey at The Money Game on The Price is RightBut, my personal advice is that if there is anything that makes you unique – if you have 10 grandchildren, if you have a cool Price is Right story (side note: on Wheel of Fortune the other night, the guy had this great story about writing Pat Sajak asking to be on Wheel of Fortune. Pat wrote back and said the man couldn’t be on the show as a 7-year-old, but could have an autograph – and apparently forgot to include the autograph – so you know, something like that) – anyway, if you have a “hook” I guess I’ll call it – say that!

When they asked me what I did, I wasn’t all, “Oh, super boring stuff with computers.” I said I like adventures and just finished 52 half marathons in 52 weeks. It’s not a job interview. It’s a game show interview. Pull out anything you’ve got in the one minute you’ve got to do it.

And I will pick up with some more Price is Right questions tomorrow.

Kidney Stuff! (I Am Too Superstitious To Get Into It All)

April 20, 2013

Aurora De Lucia posing in hospital gown.Oh my gosh, kidneys, kidneys, kidneys.

You have no idea how much I am dying to share everything with you! And I hope when I do, you interact with me a lot. I am ready for some friends and some comments. Keeping this mainly to myself is killer.

However, I am a bit superstitious about the whole thing. And I really don’t want to talk too terribly much about it before anything is truly decided. But let me tell you, I have learned a lot! And I have a lot to say.

If only I could say it all!

Sigh.

I hope you’re all still around in – who knows, really – a month, 2 months, 10 years? (10 years seems a little preposterous – it’ll be way, way, way earlier than that.) [Edited a year and a half later to say maybe it’s not so preposterous after all!

Eventually, I talked oh, oh so much more about kidneys. And you can read about that here.

I’m In This Month’s Women’s Running Magazine

April 18, 2013

Aurora De Lucia in Women's Running MagazineSo, in case you haven’t seen, I’m in this month’s Women’s Running Magazine!

– which is cool. And I really appreciate them writing up a story.

And in Aubrey’s (the writer’s) defense, I was interviewed pretty much right after I left The Price is Right, so I was totally reeling and possibly not even speaking English.

However, if you read the article, it is rife with errors.

1) It’s written in 1st person. But just so you know, I don’t think I said about 1/2 of this stuff.

2) “My biggest stressors were midterm essays and race-day jitters”? Nope. Don’t think I ever said that. I went to music “school.” I use the term school loosely because while I went to an absolutely world class institution, and I’m super proud I was accepted (and you can learn a ton about music there), it is not a college in the way most people view it. I don’t think I wrote one single midterm essay the whole time I was there. 98% of my projects revolved around software and recording studios. I mean, small error. But still.

(Race-day jitters, I’ll allow. Though I don’t think I’ve ever referred to them as “jitters,” I was pretty nervous for my first half marathon (and my first marathon).

3) My heart condition was not diagnosed at a check-up. If only it had been so simple. No, it was super embarrassingly found out when I passed out in a class full of people. (I think it may have been all guys except me. (Way to show strength for the ladies, Aurora (she says sarcastically).))

4) It wasn’t 18 months in and out of the hospital. It was about 9 months in and out and about 12 months from when I really started feeling sick to when I was cleared to do whatever I wanted.

5) Disney wasn’t my first marathon! I endured a way-too-hard marathon just to make sure that for the rest of my life I would never have to say Disney was my first – and here it is in print to thousands and thousands of readers.

6) It wasn’t magical because of the Disney characters. I actually really like Disney because I think Walk Disney himself is super inspiring. But, I didn’t care about the characters. I cared that my dad was there. I met Joey Fatone (super cool!). I was happy I finished my goal. I was happy to be interviewed by David Baumann, who was incredibly nice. I even loved riding a roller coaster in the middle of that marathon! But, I could take or leave the characters.

7) In the little pink box there – I don’t really think about “bringing my personality to the starting line.” I just bring my personality with me everywhere because how can I not? It’s my personality. It’s part of me. I do believe that running should be fun. I think when she asked me for my best advice, I said something like – “I know running is a science” (As my brain was moving 40 million miles/minute I think I maybe accidentally said that 10 times. It seemed like my annoying new catchphrase.) So, I said, “I know running is a science, and it’s good to make goals and improve and care. But sometimes, it’s easy to get too wrapped up with speed. I never want running to make me unhappy. I try to remember that running is my stress reliever from the roller coaster of my normal life (and working in the entertainment industry). (Yeeeh, it’s rough out there and running is necessary.)

So, when you don’t PR, when you had a rough run, you gotta try to just shake it off. Running is for relief from stress, not to add it.

(I know that advice was too long for the block, though.)

Anyway, I think that pretty much sums it up. I hope that didn’t sound too complain-y. I’m happy they profiled me. That’s very nice of them. But yeah, it’s uh, not really the story of me…

Other Goofy(/Dopey) Challenge FAQs

April 17, 2013

From the Run Disney So I Can Eat Disney Facebook page, courtesy of Greg Itahara.
From the Run Disney So I Can Eat Disney Facebook page, courtesy of Greg Itahara.

Okay, so while we’re on Goofy Challenge questions, let’s tackle a few more that some people have come here asking.

1) What’s the Disney bacon medal?

It’s from a Facebook group someone started. I didn’t do it. (I didn’t know about it before the marathon.) But, my understanding is you eat 3 strips of bacon in the last mile or 2 of the marathon (and from everything I’ve heard they’re thinking about – or possibly already have – added in some half marathons). Then, you get a super cute little pig medal.

It’s not an official Disney thing – though Disney seems to be totally cool (and even helpful) with it. And it’s limited to a certain number of runners, so keep your eyes out for the sign-ups if you’re interested. There you have it. I don’t know a lot about it, so just go to their Facebook group and they’ll know everything.

2) How long should you rest after the Goofy Challenge?

This is a great question! I don’t really know the answer. I think you should listen to your body. It is important to do some walking. During the week after the Goofy Challenge, I tried to walk 3 miles a day – not quick walking, just kind of mall walking, making sure I was at least giving my muscles some movement.

I did a half marathon the week after the Goofy Challenge. While it wasn’t disastrous, it was a bit foolish. I hurt after that half marathon. For the next week, I barely got about bed. Forget those 3 miles walks. I was tired! (I’m sure that not walking didn’t help anything.)

I’m not the only one who did the half the following weekend. The person at the heavy medal booth at Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona said that every person he’d seen with a Goofy shirt on really looked like they were hurting. I think we all overexerted ourselves a bit. So, it is possible? Yes. Is it smart? Probably not.

Aurora De Lucia with her medal after the Walt Disney World Half Marathon 2013But, I don’t know you. If you’re some kind of ultra-runner – well, if you’re an ultra-marathoner, you’re not googling my blog for advice on what to do after Goofy. (But I was going to tell you to do whatever you want. You’re an ultra-marathoner.)

In conclusion – the answer to the question is I don’t know. Listen to your body, take it slowly, but definitely get back in it! Almost just as bad as running too quickly following a race is putting it off forever and then starting what feels like completely from scratch. So, go listen to other people – coaches and stuff – who know more. And more importantly, listen to your body.

3) Am I allowed to walk the 5ks at Disney?

Yep.

I believe they technically have the same 16 minute/mile pace requirement as the other Disney races, but I have never seen or heard about anyone being swept from a Disney 5k. They’re mainly for families to spend time together and get their pictures and stuff. So, I think you’re good.

All right, well between that and yesterday’s question (of if Goofy could be your first marathon), we have covered all the questions I often get! If you have any more, let me know anytime!

Q: “Can I Do The Goofy Challenge As My First Marathon?”

April 16, 2013

Sure.

(More on that in a second.)

Someone came to my blog by asking this. If you’ve got questions, I’ve got answers (or at least my opinions). I thought with Goofy registration happening now, this was a good time to talk about this.

You can do whatever you want as your first anything. Some people think you should start with a 5k or 10k and keep working up. I think it’s not necessarily about which races you do, but the training that gets you there.

Goofy could certainly be your first marathon. You just have to make sure to give yourself enough time to train.

How much time is enough time to train for the Goofy Challenge?

Well, that kind of all depends on where you’re starting. It took me about 4 – 5 months to go from pretty much a couch potato to being able to jog 13.1 miles without stopping. (13.1 miles is the first day/first third of the Goofy challenge.)

Also, there’s a general rule of thumb that you shouldn’t increase your mileage by more than 10% each week. So, think about where you are now mileage-wise and do the math on that.

Getting back to the point at hand, my general feeling on whether it could be your first is it absolutely could. You could start with a hundred-miler if that’s what you wanted to do. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but you could. As long as you train for the distance your aiming for, you can start at any distance.

I’ll admit I was scared of the big, bad m-word – marathon. That’s why I started with a half. (Back in 2009, and my first marathon didn’t end up being until 2012. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.)

Now, having done marathons, I know they’re not really that scary.

I will say, though, that personally, I wouldn’t recommend doing a Disney race as your first race.

Sure, they’re silly and fun, and can be a little break from other races. But, the best way I can describe Disney running events is that they are Disney events that happen to involve running, instead of running events that happen to involve Disney.

Yes, you cover the distance. You get a medal. You’ll be a marathoner just as sure as anyone else is. But, I don’t think it really shows you a true picture of what the sport of running is like.

Many people in Disney races don’t follow any running etiquette. They don’t move to the right to walk. They don’t get out of the way (making room for you to go to the table) once they’ve gotten water or Gatorade. They come to a dead stop outside of Cinderella’s castle (on a narrow bridge) to try to get a couple of good pictures.

Not to hate on Disney runners. Trust me, I’m not trying to insinuate that I’m perfect (or even close). I’m sure that sometimes without meaning to/realizing it, I’ve probably done some inconsiderate things. (Huge apologies to any runners if I’ve gotten in your way.)

But, at Disney races, it’s not a few fluke etiquette mistakes made out of delirium, or a couple of people who don’t know yet. It seems like the culture there.

I was slightly annoyed in my first Disney half. But once I grew to accept it, I embraced it. I’m stopped when I’m stopped, and it is what it is. I’m totally fine and patient about it.

(I’m slow, anyway. So, it’s not like it matter all that much to me ( – even though slow people still like to move and sometimes set PRs). (Though I don’t think you should ever have a goal to PR at Disney.))

Aurora in her favorite tired post race pic

I appreciate Disney races for what they are. But I think it’s important everyone knows what they are before entering the races. So, should it be your first? I wouldn’t make it mine – not because of the distance, but because of the atmosphere.

Can it be your first? Absolutely. You can conquer the mileage in training. And during the race, you can be in a low-stress (depending on who you are/how you look at it) environment surrounded by tons of other new people.

What would I recommend as a first marathon? Well, I’ve only done two – one crazy one through a trail (mainly so that Disney wouldn’t be my first…), and Disney.

So, I don’t know that I can really say. I hear New York is spectacular. I hear LA’s actually pretty fun. Judging by my half marathon experiences, I’d say do some humongous race as your first everything.

Feel free to add comments if Disney was your first, or if you have a great first marathon you have to talk about!

Did You Hear That Disney Announced The Official Dopey Challenge?

April 15, 2013

Photo Courtesy of Run Disney
Photo Courtesy of Run Disney

(Note: Obviously, the actual big running news of the day is the horrible tragedy from the Boston Marathon.

It was incredibly sad to see a sport I love, and a place that was such a lovely home to me (I lived a couple blocks from there) hit so hard today.

But, I was not there today. It’s not my story to tell. (Plus, I don’t want to bring any more attention to the people who did this horrible act.) So, here’s the original post I’d scheduled today:)

Keeping in the theme of being way late to the party on things –

By this point, you almost certainly heard about that.

In case you didn’t – runners had this unofficial Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World where we’d run the Goofy (a half marathon followed by a full the next day), but we’d tack on the 5k before the races, and call it Dopey.

Well, Disney listened up, because they made the Dopey Challenge real! They added a 10k. So, now it’s 5k, 10, half and full on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You get medals for each individual race, plus medals for Dopey and Goofy.

It looks incredibly fun. And I really do want to do it – and absolutely will one of these years. It’ll probably be a year in the somewhat near future. (And maybe I should’ve done it this year, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about life, it’s that you should do stuff while you can do stuff because you never know what’s happening next.)

Aurora De Lucia with her dad at the 2013 Disney Family 5k
Me and my dad in January at the Disney 5k

I was on the fence SO much about this race. I had the time of my life at Goofy last year! Really. It was incredible.

But honestly, that’s one of the reasons I’m not going to do it this year. I had SO much fun at Goofy, I just want to hold onto that memory for one more year, exactly as it is, without comparing it to anything else.

Also, I’m really not sure if/when this kidney surgery is happening. Originally, I was hoping to have already had surgery and then make this race a goal, knowing all the training would help me to heal and be healthy. But, that didn’t happen. So, I’m just not ready to commit to a race in January.

I’m also in the “year of responsibility,” and even though I now technically have enough money to do it, I don’t have enough of a little cushion built up. And who knows where I’ll be working when my current show is over. So, while I could’ve technically swung the money to go, I didn’t necessarily think it was a smart idea – or the very best use of that money.

I have other dreams besides running. I’d like to possibly go to college one day. I’d definitely love to become a professional writer (and I take classes and things to improve in that area). So, there’s other stuff I could spend my money on. Heck, even if we just think of fun and not responsible things – New Kids on the Block is coming to the Staples Center this summer with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men. What!?

So, I decided no on this year. I will do it. But I will not do it this year.

But, I wanted to go ahead and shout on my blog that it exists – even though I’m sure you all probably knew that by now.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 21 (The End)

April 13, 2013

Aurora De Lucia being welcomed to The Price is Right stage by Drew CareyPicking up from yesterday –

We’re in the sad/happy room.

So, we sat around, filled out our forms basically just saying I’m over 18. I want my prizes. I haven’t been on a game show in the last year or 3 in the last 10 years.

We also signed forms saying we were absolutely sworn to secrecy about the day until the show aired. If we leaked what we won ahead of time, we’d forfeit our prize.

We put down our address so they knew where to send the prizes – they wouldn’t send anything anywhere else but your home. And they wouldn’t put anything in anyone else’s name.

If you didn’t live in California, you still had to pay California state tax on your prizes. (That didn’t affect me any differently since I do live here.)

They did give us forms offering us the option of forfeiting any of prizes if we so chose. (I didn’t see anybody take the option, and I didn’t take the option. But it was there in case you wanted to.)

They also gave us forms that detailed everything we’d won that day and the total value of it all.

My form had the words camcorders and cash printed out on it, and the word car was handwritten. (They knew whomever won the camcorders to get on stage would win some cash in the Money Game – although, if you think about it and the person was really lucky (or well-studied), they could’ve picked both ends of the car without picking any cash. But, the point is, The Price is Right was pretty positive I was going to win money, but not at all positive I was going to win the car. So, they wrote that in after the game.)

Aurora De Lucia with Drew Carey at The Money Game on The Price is RightI ended up being the last person to be processed. The woman checked my forms, took a copy of my license and social security card, and we called it a day.

We were told that we’d receive all prizes within 90 days of the show’s airing (except for furniture which had 180 days to get to us). As far as cars, we’d get a call from a dealership within I think 150 miles of our home. Once we got the call (again, within 90 days of the show airing), we had 10 days to get the car. If we didn’t get it during that time, we’d forfeit it.

Once all the paperwork was processed, I left the building, still reeling from the experience.

I went to pick my cell phone back up from the cell phone check. I had to walk past a line of people for the 12:30 show. I had my license plate holder and poster board in hand.

The people in line started going nuts! One guy even asked if he could have a hug for luck. (Of course I gave him a hug. (I wonder what happened to him at his taping.)) I had already felt so special during the show, and that feeling was super amplified by all these new stranger friends.

(There was one couple who seemed totally unimpressed. While everyone else was clapping, they just say there. Well, I don’t need you, stoic couple! I have a brand new car.)

Aurora De Lucia guessing 19 in The Money Game on The Price is RightAnd that was that. I had planned things for the rest of my day, not realizing I’d be practically unable to control my giddiness. I had an interview for a magazine article (out next month). I certainly didn’t tell her anything about The Price is Right. (As I mentioned earlier, I was sworn to secrecy!) But I could feel my excitement coming out in my answers being spouted so fast you’d think I’d had 3 venti white mochas.

I also had already planned to meet up with another friend for a movie at the Grove (right by The Price is Right studios). We went to eat afterward, and as much as I was trying to really zone in on her life, my brain just kept shouting – “What happened to you today, Aurora?!” I could not process it all. (And I’m so glad Megan’s still friends with me, even though I was undoubtedly obnoxious that day with my crazy energy radiating off of me.)

Then I went home, continued to freak out practically until the episode aired. I just wanted to see it! And I wanted my car. (And I wanted to tell everyone I ever knew about it!) Now you all do know about it, and I got my car, and I looked way more fun on television than I remembered being at the time.

So, everything worked out perfectly. The end.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 20 (The After Show Happy/Sad Contestant Room)

April 12, 2013

Aurora De Lucia standing by Drew Carey as she's nervous to play The Money Game on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

So, I didn’t make it on to the showcase, but I still lived on to talk about it.

I got to sit in the front row (left side) of the audience, with the other contestants from the show, as we watched the showcase.

At this point, any stress was off. My day had been made. So, I was just super into it, out having fun in the audience.

This next part was edited out, which makes me kind of sad because it was hilarious.

After the first showcase, Jeanette tried to bid $53,000. And the audience erupted with pushback. Nope. No. No. Don’t do that. Don’t do that, Jeanette!

She was interrupted by the wild crowd. Then, tried to start over. “53 -” interrupted again, even louder.

She just smiled really hugely at us – as though we were cheering her on. But really, we were trying to save her.

She then lowed her bid to 30-something thousand – which was still way over.

So, in Anna’s showcase, we’re all screaming $1. (Screaming so hard.) But alas, she does not bid $1.

Now, in defense of the ladies, I’m sure they were nervous. And brains don’t always work as well when nerves are running super high. Also, I’ve been on the stage. I know how the audience just sounds like a jumbled mess, and you can’t really tell what they’re saying…

I mean, we were all trying to be as clear as possible holding up 1 finger for a dollar. But, Anna still may have seen a sea of confusion from her view on the stage.

Aurora De Lucia narrowly missing 95 cents at The Price is Right wheel with Drew Carey

After the show, we all went back to this little room to fill out all of our paperwork to get our prizes.

And let me tell you, it was the happiest and saddest (but mainly saddest) room I’ve ever been in.

Anna – who was very sweet, and I’m sure very happy about her $10,000 – sounded like she was going to have nightmares about the number 14 for weeks. (She was $14 over on her showcase (for those who didn’t see it, or forgot).)

Rori was talking about having 5 chances in contestants’ row – in 2 of which she got to bid last – and never making it up.

A guy from the first half had been talking about narrowly missing $1 on the wheel.

It was a sad, sad little room. But, it was also a happy room, ’cause we were happy that we’d been on The Price is Right. The majority of the people who’d made it on stage had won a prize. Two of us had even won cars. So, people were definitely happy with their fortune as well.

We had to be quiet for part of our time in there, because they had to shoot pick-ups with Drew onstage (so no one could make noise).

In the little room, before I filled out my paperwork, Henry, a sound guy came back to get my mic back. I was all, “Isn’t this sad? We only got to be friends for such a short period of time!” And he said that’s what happens to him every day on The Price is Right. Awww.

We did have a bit of bonding when we realized we were both from Indiana (Yeah, Hoosiers!).

Aurora De Lucia holding hands and talking with Drew Carey on The Price is Right

I also got to learn a bit about him when I asked what his dream in life was. He is in a rock band. Cool, huh?

Anyway, he took my mic away, since I was all done with my 10 minutes of fame.

Then, someone walked in with the poster boards of our names (that had been held up when we’d been called on down to contestants’ row), to see if we wanted them.

And we all freaked out a little – over poster boards. Every single person took her or his name. For some reason, we were all insanely jazzed about getting those poster boards. By the way we were acting, you’d have thought we’d all won a game all over again.

Then we sat around filling out our paperwork, which is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 19 (Okay, Let’s Talk About Losing – Pt 2)

April 11, 2013

Aurora De Lucia smiling while spinning the big wheel on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday, laying out all the reasons that it’s okay I didn’t get in the showcase –

5) Sometimes, when I watch The Price is Right, I do adore the car winners, and I want them to have the whole world. And I get very excited when they’re in the showcase.

But sometimes, it’s nice to see someone who maybe flubbed up in their game, or didn’t win a lot, get another chance.

(Granted, if the person had really horrible strategy/game play and didn’t get their prize, I don’t feel totally as bad for them. Sure, I have some sympathy ’cause I know they’re in a stressed head-space and people are human and all… But sometimes it seems as though some people have never even seen the show before.)

6) If it makes you feel any better, you can do the math. It wasn’t a super expensive car in the showcase. So, after paying sales tax on the car, and having the depreciation from a brand-new-car-price to what I could sell it for – adding in the extra income and state taxes I’d have to pay on the value of the showcase – in the end, I would’ve come out with a trip to Greece and maybe about $3,000 extra dollars.

Now, obviously, that’s nothing to sneeze at! I could always use an extra 3 grand. And who doesn’t love vacations?! I LOVE vacations! And I’ve never been out of North America.

And I’ve never owned expensive jewelry. So, it might’ve been sort of fun to have that diamond ring. (Though, you know, the whole blood diamonds thing – do we really know where this jewelry is coming from? So, I don’t believe I would’ve kept it…). Nonetheless…

It certainly would’ve been incredibly fun to go to Greece. (But before we get too bummed about it, let’s try to remember – I can still go someday, even if it’s not on The Price is Right’s dime! It’s not like Greece is now closed to me forever.)

The point is, please don’t think about it as missing another possible $25,000. ‘Cause it wouldn’t have really been that (even though it would’ve been admittedly awesome).

And if I’m only going to have luck on one wheel in my life – let’s save it for the Wheel of Fortune wheel, which I totally vow to spin someday.

Aurora stressed as she's about to go over a dollar on The Price is Right wheel

7) Basically, I have always had everything that I needed. Even in very short periods when I didn’t have a home, I always ended up with some place to sleep where I never got harmed, and I never froze to death. Even when I had no money, I got to have something to eat every single day.

I have had practically nothing before. So, to be in my life situation now where I have a room (with a sweet, big, comfy bed!), and a job, and a healthy heart…. I have way more than what I really need to live. I’m very, very lucky. And winning the car basically put me back to the start, ’cause I got out of debt(!). So, The Price is Right was so helpful in my life. It was perfect. I didn’t need anything more.

And for anyone who is even still slightly upset about missing out on the showcase – get this.

I said in my earlier post that my first spin was weak, I tripped a little, and lost my momentum. Well, my second spin was the kind of spin I’d imagined doing. I did 3 clicks, felt my hands were in a good place, and spun it the way I wanted to spin it.

So, take where my wheel started and landed from the 2nd spin. Go back to where I started my first spin and do the math to where I’d be. Had I done the spin I wanted to as the first spin – I would’ve been on the 5 cent square – just barely not on the dollar!

It was going to be a painful, just barely – but not quite, either way. That just reinforces to me that my Price is Right day was meant to be the car only, and that’s plenty.

I will cherish the video (and the license plate holder and my name tag) for the rest of my life.

(And I’ll pick up with what happened after the show tomorrow.)

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 18 (Okay, Let’s Talk About Losing – Pt 1)

April 10, 2013

Aurora De Lucia, stressed, head in hands, on The Price is Right after narrowly missing a dollarPicking up from yesterday –

A number of people have been bummed that I didn’t get in the showcase.

That’s so sweet. And I really appreciate the lovely intentions.

As far as I’m concerned, the best part about going to the showcase would’ve just been getting to spend more time onstage with Drew and the models (and George and everybody).

I was having the time of my life! If it were up to me, I’d never be anywhere but the Price is Right stage. A trip to Greece would’ve been nice and all – but how can that compare to being on a game show?

It’s hard for me to have any negative feelings whatsoever about that day. It really was an absolute childhood dream come true.

I won the most expensive car on the show that day. (Since both people in the showcase went over, I actually was the biggest winner of the day.)

I mean, the chances of me being called down, then getting up there for a car game, then playing a car game that’s actually one of the more doable ones (and the one I always dreamed of playing(!), and then actually winning the car – I imagine the probability of all that happening is pretty slim.

Aurora De Lucia laughing it up with Drew Carey at the wheel on The Price is Right
Look at how much fun we’re having!

I’m sure we could sort of figure out the probability, but there would be so many factors if you wanted to get it exactly right. First, you don’t really have a 1 in 300(ish – or whatever the exact amount of seats in there are) chance of being called from 300 (or so) audience members.

TPiR practically never chooses 2 people from the same group. (I’ve never once seen it happen.)  So, you’re probably down to at least a 1 in 150 shot – though I think the odds are much better than that (taking into account larger groups, audiences that aren’t always at maximum capacity, and people who go who are ineligible to actually play (even if they do want to watch or support)).

Also, in contestants’ row, you have a much better shot as the 4th person to bid than the 1st, so bidding order would need to be taken into account. There’s plenty more of that kind of stuff (how many car games are in rotation, etc.). Anyway, enough nerdy math talk…

The point is, I actually won the car!

For anyone who is still sad I didn’t make it to the showcase – consider these things –

1) We have no idea if I would’ve won the showcase. I would’ve been first up to bid since I’d won the most during the show. I almost certainly would’ve bid on the 1st showcase, because who passes a showcase with a car and a trip to Greece? I mean, I guess you might pass, hoping for a showcase with more trips. But that’s super risky, because you very well may end up with water stuff (and in this case, I would’ve).

Wah wah Aurora De Lucia sad as she goes over The Price is Right wheelSo, would the woman have overbid on the boat showcase? Sure, we can guess that by her overbid on the car showcase, maybe she would’ve. Or maybe my underbid would’ve put her in a different mindset. Or maybe she thought different things about boats. Who knows? We can’t know I would’ve won.

2) I left at the best case scenario. If you lose in a pricing game, or never make it up there from contestants’ row, or you lose your showcase – forever you can have nightmares about what you should’ve said. There is a definite correct and incorrect answer. With the wheel, I possibly could’ve spun all day and never hit a dollar.

3) Remember that Seinfeld episode where George Costanza had his whole thing about always going out on the high note? It’s a good philosophy. And I feel like that’s basically what happened. Win the car, hope everybody still likes you, then get out of there.

4) Many of the people who wanted me in the showcase are my friends, or people somehow involved in my life story. But, the world does not revolve around me (even though it might seem like it in my own blog, since that does revolve around me). In Anna’s life story, she wanted to go to the showcase.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 17 (The Wheel – So Close, But Yet So Far)

April 9, 2013

Drew Carey extending a high 5 to Aurora De Lucia on The Price is Right
About to give Drew Carey a high 5

Picking up from yesterday –

Since I had a very weak spin (and wasn’t even positive it was going to go all the way around), when Drew asked if I wanted to say hi to anyone, I dove for that mic and spoke at super-speed.

In case you couldn’t tell what I was blathering, I said – “Um, I just want to say that I did all these races as a celebration of coming back to running after open heart surgery. So, even though it’s cheesy, believe in yourself. You are what you decide to be.”

Yeah. I know. Feel free to make fun of me. It was silly, but it was fun. And maybe someone at home needed to be reminded to believe in her or himself.

(Also, if I do say so myself, my timing was spot on. You can see me just finishing talking, and the wheel just about to stop in the picture above.)

But, I lose any cool points gained from that, ’cause I’ll also say, I totally pointed at the wrong camera when I said “believe in yourself.” I could see it wasn’t lit up red, but I did it anyway, ’cause it was happening so fast and I couldn’t see which one was lit up red.

Buuuut, I think it’s actually better that way, ’cause it would’ve been 40,000 times cheesier to point directly at the camera. And this way it looked like I was pointing to the audience. (And if the direct to camera point was that much better, they would’ve edited that in in post.)

So, back to the all important wheel. I almost landed on 95.

Oh man. So close and yet so far. Try to get it right this time, Aurora.

So, I learn from some mistakes, try to really get that momentum going, and spin that wheel harder. (It is heavy, y’all.)

Drew Carey and Aurora seeing that the wheel had almost landed on 95 on The Price is Right

At least I got to feel like I got a pretty good spin instead of walking away like a complete weakling. I was a little bit thinking, “What kind of big dramatic exit will I do if I don’t get into the showcase? Will I cry or refuse to leave the stage?” (Obviously, I wouldn’t have ever actually refused to leave the stage, ’cause I like to think I’m not a big jerk…)

But I didn’t even cry or anything! Truthfully, i was still just in complete shock. I just didn’t know what to do – with anything.

So, I spin again. Drew and I have yet another little moment. Sure enough, I’m 5 cents over. Wah wah.

So sad.

Sort of.

I mean, I did win a car.

Sometimes I get I bit annoyed when people are all, “Oh, I’m so thankful for what I have, it doesn’t bother me that I missed out on the chance for another $25,000.” ‘Cause I’m like, “Come on! You’re human!” And I’m super competitive as it is. So, whether $5 or $5 million is on the line, I like to win. Who doesn’t?

But, even though I think that sometimes it feels forced when people say they’re really fine with losing at any stage of a game show, I really am okay with it. And I will talk more on that tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 16 (Time To Spin The Wheel)

April 8, 2013

Aurora De Lucia and Drew Carey looking at The Price is Right wheel almost saying 95 centsPicking up from yesterday –

Oh goodness, time to talk about the wheel.

During the commercial break, Drew came over and looked each one of us on the eye as he moved down the line and said, “good luck” to us individually.

I was in the coveted 3rd spot. It’s obviously the best spot to be in, ’cause you don’t have to weigh whether it’s smart to spin again. You know exactly what you have to beat.

Now, the first girl went over. And the second girl – I don’t know if you noticed, but had it been one above or one below, she would’ve gone over as well. I don’t want to wish anyone ill will, but selfishly, I was kind of hoping to be in the showcase. (I mean, who doesn’t want to go to the showcase?)

When I went to spin the wheel, I had way too many thoughts spinning through my head. (That’s actually a true statement for pretty much anything I did the whole time I was there.) First, I looked at it. “Have those handles always been metal? I thought they were wood… Why would they be wood?”

And I’m trying so hard to picture anytime I’ve seen The Price is Right wheel before, and really focus in on those handles. “Wait. Why am I trying to picture the wheel and care about this? You know you need to spin this right?”

I’ve actually had my wheel strategy forever. It’s something you really can’t prepare for (whereas you could kind of study prizes). But, I knew if I got on there, I wanted to start low and wind up for momentum.

Aurora De Lucia down low, getting momentum on The Price is Right wheel as Drew Carey talks.

In my head: “You want to wind up 3 spots since 3’s you’re lucky number. Oh my gosh. You’ve wound up 3 spots, but your hands aren’t above your head enough. Are you going to have enough momentum to do this? You can’t very well go past your lucky number of 3 wind up places. But you can’t very well move your hands now. Is that cheating? Are you allowed to wind up, move hand spots and spin? I bet not. I can’t very well ask now. Look where I am. Just spin it already.”

And I do.

When you watch the tape, you can actually almost see my trip a little and judge my spin. It’s all over my face.

(I had this little fear as I spun – whatever you do Aurora, don’t slip! Don’t fall under the wheel. Every embarrassing wheel spinning I’ve seen flashed before my eyes. The carpet wasn’t even that slippery. So, what kind of shoes are these people wearing that make them fall? Nonetheless, I was too worried about falling.)

“Oh my gosh, Aurora. That was weak. Weak! Is it even gonna go all the way around?”

When Drew asked if I wanted to say hi to anybody, I thought I might not even have time to say anything with my weak spin.

Aurora De Lucia having fun with Drew Carey at The Price is Right wheelBefore the show, my little group had been talking about, “What will we say in the mic if we say hi to someone?” Patrick had this brilliant idea to say hi to someone from twitter.

There was a little part of me that wanted to say “@DamonLindelof, @KenJennings, I love your twitter feeds!” or maybe “@jessetyler (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), @CoryBooker, will you be my friend?”

But, I decided against that, ’cause 1) Someday when Patrick is on The Price is Right, what will he do if I’ve already stolen his idea? 2) Who wants to watch someone say hello to famous people? 3) They make it super clear you are absolutely not allowed to plug anything on the show. So, what if I’m accidentally plugging twitter (or those famous people)?

I decided in my seat during the 3rd game that I’d just tell people to believe in themselves. Yes, it was unbelievably cheesy. But, if you only get however many seconds with a microphone on TV, you should probably use it to say something, right? I mean, I say hi to my dad everyday. (And you know if you say hi to someone, you’re gonna end up leaving someone else out. It’s easier to just not rank the people in my life by “Who gets a Price is Right hi?”) There have to be better things to say in my Price is Right moment.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 15 (Running Over To The Car, And The Commercial Break)

April 7, 2013

Aurora De Lucia nearing tears after she won a brand new car on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

So, I run over to the car.

Then I don’t know if I’m supposed to get in the car or not. “The person who won the car earlier in the show got in her car… Am I now supposed to sit in my car or has that been played out?

What do I do? What do I do? I hugged the model for too long, didn’t I? Are we already in a commercial break? Well, this show isn’t live, so I doubt the timing has to be exactly right…”

Manuela hands me the license plate holder that says I won the car. There are these people behind the camera making huge gestures, telling me to be super excited. I thought I was showing off the license plate giving a really excited look, but the person then makes bigger gestures to be excited.

Oh. Am I doing that weird fish thing, where I just open my mouth to show excitement, but nothing happens to my eyes?… I’m pretty sure it’s because I am seriously in complete shock. My world is utterly discombobulated in this moment. It’s all just this crazy blur where I’m standing still and everything around me seemed to be swirling.

And I’m pretty sure I actually was standing still. I think I was supposed to be jumping and stuff. I don’t know why I just stood there. It’s television. You’re not posing for a still photograph, Aurora.

Aurora De Lucia holding her "winner" license plate after she won the car on The Price is RightLooking back on it, I could’ve maybe made some stronger, more fun choices. I could’ve jumped on the car, or hugged the car or something. But I was too shocked to do anything.

I was pretty much too shocked to move. I was just shocked. I know I’ve now said that word about a million times. (Vocabulary’s not great in these posts, huh?) But I just – I’ve got nothing. Really, it was pretty much paralyzing.

During the commercial break, staff members led me off the stage and showed me where to sit in the audience while I waited for my chance at the wheel.

Everyone around me in the section was congratulating me. I was still pretty much in shock and disbelief. Then, Drew came over to talk to me!

He leaned down and was all, “So, you don’t have a car, and you live in L.A.?” And I was all, “Yeah. I didn’t have a car!” Then he told us about how he used to take the bus in Cleveland – but the bus was actually reliable up there. Then, we joked about the horribleness of L.A.’s bus system (which actually isn’t necessarily quite as awful as I/other people always make it out to be. But it’s often times pretty awful).

Drew joked about how now if I’m ever late to anything, instead of saying it was because of the bus, I’d be saying it was because of the 405.

So, we had a great little magical conversation. The next game was played, and before you knew it, it was time to spin the wheel. And that’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 14 (I Won a Brand New Car On The Price is Right!)

April 6, 2013

Aurora De Lucia hugging Drew Carey on The Price is Right stagePicking up from yesterday –

I won the car!

Right after I’d guessed 96, I had this horrible flash before my eyes of the possibility of all the money spots filled without the car filled.

Luckily, my next guess was the back of the car… So, I really cut down the possible tension. Sorry, Price is Right producers. But, you’re welcome, heart.

I literally felt like I was in a dream when the back of the car was revealed. I’ve heard people say before that they felt they were in a dream. But, come on? How can you not be present in your reality? And for the first time in my life, I finally felt it, and knew exactly what it was like to wait to wake up – but you don’t have to. Because it’s REAL. It is freaking real, people!

It is a dream I’ve had for so long and pictured hundreds of times while I yelled along at countless episodes of The Price is Right! How could it possibly be real? I don’t know! I don’t have to understand it. I just get to know that it’s true – which honestly, still blows my mind. I’m pretty sure I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever get over it. Ever.

I can’t even – how do I even put this story into words for you?! Every time I talk about it, all I want to do is sob tears of joy.

So, he said I won. I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming. And then a cacophony of thoughts are bouncing around in my head. “Wait, wait, wait. What do people do when they win?! What do people do when they win?!” Do I hug you? Am I supposed to hug you?! ‘Cause you don’t really look like you have your arms outstretched to hug me. But I’m the contestant so I’m supposed to make the first hug move, aren’t I?

Drew Carey points and tells Aurora to go get her new car after winning on The Money Game on The Price is RightOh, I should’ve hugged you by now. Is it too late to hug you? Am I supposed to go over to the car? I saw a woman win earlier. One second I saw her excited. The next she was in the car. Am I supposed to be in the car?

Oh golly, I’m regretting not hugging you. Wait. Am I stuck in place right now? I feel like I can’t even move right. I have no idea where to go. This cannot freaking be real!”

Sure enough, I hear Drew tell me to go over to my new car. Thank goodness for that instruction, ’cause I’m pretty sure if no one had said anything I would’ve just stood right in that space in a complete state of shock for 24 hours… or I don’t know, maybe the rest of my life.

So, I run over to the car, and just give a huge bear hug to the first person I see – which is the Manuela (the model). It felt like I hugged her for 10 minutes, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that long. I just couldn’t let her go. I had just won a car. (It was a pretty awesome hug, and I wish I would’ve hugged Drew too. (Sorry, Drew!) Gosh, I have the worst luck with the way I treat Drew Carey.)

(I really hope we’re still friends, Drew!)

Drew Carey love tweetI’m sure we are, because get this – (Drew Carey is so cool) – on twitter, someone asked Drew his secret to being so happy. And he said “My goal is constant love and forgiveness. For me and everybody I meet.” (He then tweeted with a follow up, “I fall short a lot, but that’s always my goal.”) Good words to live by…

Back to the story, I ran over to the car. And that’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 13 (The End of The Money Game)

April 5, 2013

Drew Carey lightly making fun of Aurora De Lucia on The Price is Right - and she loves every second of itPicking up from yesterday –

So, I’d gotten the front of the car. Now, I have to pick those dreaded back numbers, which I think are a little harder to logic out.

I’m thinking 96. I look to the audience – as though they’re gonna help me. I look to my friends. I can’t even tell if they’re saying anything to me. Apparently (as he told me after the fact) Patrick was just saying, “It’s all arbitrary at this point, anyway. Just pick some numbers. Good luck!” So, thanks for that, Patrick.

I then expanded my search for help and looked not only at my friends but at everyone in the audience. And they all just seemed like one big gobbled jungle of fingers and sounds. Well, thanks anyway, y’all. But I have absolutely no clue what you are trying to tell me right now.

Guess I’m kind of just up here alone. So be it. (It’s probably better that way, so if anything goes wrong, I have no one to blame but myself.)

$96 feels good, and follows pricing strategy of places. Also, 3 is my lucky number. Divisible by 3. Feeling good. I pick it. Annnnd…

Okay, well, it’s not $96. I now have a number in the dollar column. Oh goodness. My heart is beating at approximately 4 million beats per second. This is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. I know I’m using the word terrifying a lot. But I just want to let you know how freaking on the edge of a heart attack I am. There is a brand new car (and a bit of a new life(!)) in my presence… and I want it!

doing our little dance for 96.
My new friend Drew Carey and I doing our little dance for 96.

I apparently have a very animated face when I’m thinking. I’d barely remembered that Drew made a very animated thinking face at me, but when I watched the tape I was reminded of it.

At the time, I thought he’d just been making faces to try to spice up the game with the girl who’s internalizing everything. But nope. When I watched the tape, I saw he was imitating me. (And I loved it.)

Now, at some point in my guessing, I mentally crossed 52 off my list. 2 is my unlucky number. I figured I shouldn’t guess anything with 2 in it. But, before I guessed it, that whole “strategy” (of lucky/unlucky numbers completely escaped my mind – and thank goodness it did!

For some reason 52 starts calling my name. My eyes are ping-ponging around to a couple of different numbers, but they keep going back to 52. I notice that it’s in the 3rd column and the 3rd row. (And 3 is my lucky number.) (Yes, this really all is pretty super arbitrary – though I did learn later that descending numbers at the end is also a pricing strategy, so this wasn’t a bad guess, since the middle number was 6.)

As Drew starts to pull up 52, I really start to believe it’s the back of the car. But it can’t be. But wait! I can see the wheels! It’s the car! It’s the car! It’s the car! It’s the car!!!

When I won, time pretty much stopped. I was in complete shock. When trying to remember what I’d done after I won, I only sort of remembered. But truly, I had to watch the show to actually remember.

The only thing I remembered is my brain speeding unbelievably fast. (I know I’ve said that a lot too, but I just can’t get across how insane everything was.) My freaking dream is coming true right in front of my eyes!

As most people did, I grew up dreaming that perhaps someday I’d be on The Price is Right. And maybe, just maybe if I were the luckiest person, I’d get to hear the magic words that I could win a “brand new car!”

And I’ll continue freaking out about my new car tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 12 (Beginning of The Money Game)

April 4, 2013

Aurora De Lucia kneeling down with her hands over her face after she learns she's playing for a brand new car on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

George Gray says those magic words – “a brand new car!”

As soon as they revealed the car, I just – I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I saw someone hold a sign that said “Chevy Cruze” (just like the signs our names had been printed on) below the camera.

I didn’t hear a single detail about the car. I don’t know if it was because of the general sound issues of being in there, or if it was because my ears stopped working (possibly a bit of both).

I just looked at the shape of the car. (Yeah, I know nothing about cars.) And I estimated it looked like the shape of a $20,000-ish car. (No, I don’t even know what that means to have the “shape” of a $20k car. I was shooting in the dark here.)

So, Drew brings out the game. This is one of the easier car games, I think. I definitely felt that I’d rather be playing this one than the one the other car person in my show played.

Since I was estimating $20,000 and didn’t see the number $20, I went with 19. Sure, I thought it might be 17 or 18. But, I almost always underbid when playing at home, so it’s time to be bold! And OH MY GOODNESS. Already on the first guess, I have the front of the car.

This cannot be happening to me right now. How this is possibly happening? How?!

Aurora De Lucia screaming after she won the front part of the car in The Money Game on The Price is Right
after getting the front of the car

Now, at this point, I’m pretty much seeing just a stack of ten to twelve thousand dollars (after taxes/depreciation) where the car is.

It’s a car to me only in the sense of the dream of being able to say you won a brand new car on The Price is Right. But for all other intents and purposes, it is a huge pile of money – a pile of money that’s going to change my life a little – because it’s going to completely free me from debt.

I will have a post later dedicated to what I did with the prizes, but the main gist is that instead of rearranging my entire budget to try to afford gas, car insurance, maintenance, parking, and all that jazz for a little more convenience – I’m gonna sell the car and be debt free!

So, I’m looking at this big, huge pile of money (in my eyes). And again, I am terrified – absolutely beside myself terrified. If I have the possibility to change my life, and I can’t guess the right number, I promise you, I will be having nightmares about this for who knows how long. I will sob the entire way home. This will not be a pretty picture – not at all.

But what the heck is the last number in the car?! The good news is, I have 4 chances to get it right. And I only have 8 numbers remaining on the board. So, basically, I have a 50/50 shot. And I think the 17 and 18 were really numbers to throw me off for the beginning number… unless of course, that’s actually just one big trick – and that’s what they’re supposed to look like, but truly one of them is the last number in the car.

Well, I don’t think that suspiciously while I’m onstage (and I’ve never seen something quite like that happen – that would be possibly a little torturous to the contestant). I just rule those numbers out immediately – meaning, now I’m really more around a 2 outta 3 chance.

I figure 96 is perhaps a safe bet, because you know how places like to charge in the ’90s for something, so as to get close to the next 100 without actually saying it costs that much.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 11 (I’m On Stage!)

April 3, 2013

Aurora freaking out - possibly a bit too much with a very wide open mouth in contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

I’d just been called out of contestants’ row!

I ran up onstage. I had a fleeting thought as I’d had when I was called on down in the first place – “How do cool people run down here?” “How do cool people run onstage?” “Is there something creative or cute I can do here?”

But I was too nervous to ever try to be “cute.” And I didn’t have any fun, groundbreaking ides. So, I just ran on hope, hoping I wasn’t boring people – “Oh, look at her. She just runs up like normal. Boring. Where’s your somersault or something?” (Sorry TV viewing public.)

As I was coming onstage, I saw all the cameras moving like normal, and Drew just going to his next mark. Everyone had their jobs completely down to a science. They were just going along, business as usual.

Okay, but how can you all be so normal?! My life is changing here, people!

(I know, I know. That’s their job. And it’s great that they’re so good at it. At least some people know what they’re doing ’cause I was a complete mess!)

So, I go up to Drew Carey. I’m pretty sure I’m shaking a little. I think I’m usually okay on most stages, and with a crowd. But it was all just happening so quickly and unexpectedly!

What do I say? What do I do? I have no idea if I was being coherent at all.

Aurora De Lucia going up the stairs to get on stage at The Price is RightNow, when I first went up there (this part was edited out, so welcome to the behind-the-scenes tidbits from the day) – When I first went up there, I said, “I saw you at the Goofy Challenge and we weren’t friends then, but now we are.” He said, “Yeah, now we’re friends!”

(Drew Carey said on tape that we were friends, and I didn’t even get to keep that moment forever. Wah wah.) (I think, by the way, this was all edited out because we couldn’t plug a Disney thing on the show, but who knows.)

He then explained to the camera what the Goofy Challenge was – a race in Disney World where you do a half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. Then, we said something about my shirts and all the races I’d run.

I remember him making jokes about me, since I lived in L.A., just seeing a line and getting in it. My mind was going 3 million miles a second. I remember thinking, “Wait. He’s being really funny here. You think this is funny. I think you’re smiling. Are you laughing? You just have no control over your face muscles anymore, do you? Nope. Didn’t think so.”

Before you know it, they’re introducing my possible prize.

This part again was edited out, but George Gray started the introduction with, “You’re not gonna have to run anymore!” – which was an excellent intro. (Thank you, George.)

The moment I heard, “You’re not gonna have to run anymore,” I knew it was going to be a car! (A car! A freaking car, y’all! On The Price is Right. American dream, much?)

In the split second between “You’re not gonna run anymore” and “a brand new car,” my brain was screaming, “Say a brand new car. Say a brand new car. I know you’re gonna say it. Let me hear those magic words.”

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 10 (My Big Moment in Contestants’ Row)

April 2, 2013

Aurora behind her podium in disbelief that she's the next person up to contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

So, back to contestants’ row and my super nervous brain. If I don’t get up on that stage, my stomach will be in knots for weeks (read: the rest of my life). I’ll be having nightmares about what I should’ve said! Don’t let your dream slip away, Aurora!

The moment before speaking into the contestants’ row microphone is quite possibly one of the scariest moments of my life. 15 years of The Price is Right flash before my eyes as I see my childhood dreams within reach! It’s terrifying to lean into that microphone and say a number – terrifying, I tell you! The next time around, I’m 3rd to go. Okay. Not the coveted 4th spot, but 3rd’s not too bad.

When the camcorders come out, I feel like I’m just intently staring at them – as if staring is going to make me hear better. I do a quick little tangent in my thoughts. “Is the camera on me right now? Do I look super weird intently staring at these cameras? Am I even blinking?” Okay. Who cares. Look as weird as you need to look. Just lock in on those cameras. And really think – what are they worth?

Well, from the sounds of what you can hear (which luckily with this prize was most of it), there are some special features on two of them. Did they just say 3D? Is that a thing? Normal people can now tape in 3D? Well, fancy that. Okay, so these camcorders are gonna be expensive-ish… But how expensive?

I was sort of leaning in the $1,100-ish range. I was unsure of my ability to price camcorders. Then, the first two people did me a huge favor by bidding so far apart. I knew that I didn’t think the cameras were more than $1,800. So, the only question was – were they under $1,200 or above it?

Betting $1 as the 3rd person is super risky, because if the 4th person also thinks the other two people were too high, they’re just gonna bet $2. Of course, if they think it’s more than $1,200, you get to be all alone in the $1 – $1,200 range.

I did always kind of wanted to bet $1 while in contestants’ row because you look so cool when you say “$1!” But, who cares about looking cool? I’m trying to get onstage here!

So the big question remained – were these camcorders more or less than $1,200. I figured that had to be pretty close to the price. I was going to be so angry with myself if we all overbid! But since I knew $1,200 had to be close – I just did it. $1,201. (Sorry 1st person.)

Pretty sure I'm saying, "Don't you dare even bid 1201" with my eyes
Pretty sure I’m saying, “Don’t you dare even bid 1201” with my eyes

(I knew my usual instincts were to way underbid. So, if I was thinking close to the price, I needed to lean over here instead of under, figuring that would probably get me closer.)

Then, there was that dreaded last bid still to be placed. Every everything in my body was incredibly tense at that point. She’s going to say $1,202, isn’t she? Aren’t you? You are going to lean into that mic and say $1,202. Don’t you do that to me!

Surprisingly, even though I was completely expecting her to say $1,202, she said $1,801. We’ll I’ll be.

Then my thought was, “Hey, Aurora. You got the range you chose. So, at least if you don’t get this, it’s on you – not somebody else grasping it at the last moment.”

(When I watched the show, I think you could tell that I really, really thought I was right. I smile and shift my weight back and forth in a little dance.)

Sure enough – oh my gosh, I can barely even breathe while recounting the story – he pulled out the card and started to say $1,200 in a way where I knew another number was coming after it. Guess what? It didn’t matter what that number was! I had all twelve-hundred numbers other than twelve-hundred even.

I could see him looking at me as he said it. But I couldn’t believe it was really happening to me. “Wait is it really – is it really, in real-life, seriously me?” (said my eyes). I knew it was me, but I was waiting for him to call my name officially. He said Aurora.

Oh boy. This is real. This is REAL, y’all! It’s really happening.

This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 9 (The Commercial Break, & My Small Costume Change)

April 1, 2013

Aurora De Lucia getting more high 5s in contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

So, the 4th pricing game of the show was played (and I was in a daze the whole time). Then came the commercial break.

During the break, someone comes down and asks me to take off my scarf and jacket because they’re obstructing my name tag. My pleasure!

Why was I wearing 1,000 layers? The studio was not cold. It was just because I wanted to wear my 52 half marathons shirt. I thought it might help me get on the show.

That sounds brutally honest, huh? I won’t lie to you and say, “’cause I think I look good in red,” (though it is my color) or, “’cause I’m proud of my accomplishment.” I wanted to get on that stage, by golly! So, I wanted to pick a shirt I thought they might like.

So, I wanted to wear my 52 half marathons shirt, but there’s all this stuff in all The Price is Right paperwork that you can’t publicize things on your clothes. And my blog address is on my back. I didn’t want to get in trouble. I thought they wouldn’t stand for my self-promotion. So, I put on a jacket.

I only have one jacket that’s completely plain and opens/closes in the front (as opposed to a pull on sweatshirt that would cover everything – front and back). (Actually, I have no plain sweatshirts anyway.) Also, I think “jacket” may be the wrong word. Maybe I’m meaning some sort of sweater apparatus. But,whatever the real name is, you know what I’m talking about, ’cause you can see it in the video.

Aurora De Lucia making her bid on camcorders on contestant's row of The Price is RightAnyway, I didn’t like the jacket. I didn’t even like it when I first bought it! I think I bought it for the same kind of thing in the first place – trying to cover something on my back (or I think it may have been to hide my arms ’cause I thought they were looking chunky) or whatever.

Even if I didn’t like it, I didn’t want to get in trouble, so I wore it. Then, I wore the scarf to try and wear something to distract from the jacket I didn’t like.

(I actually do like that scarf. And I’d just found it while cleaning out my closet a couple of days prior. Fun.)

So, when someone came down and asked if I could take off the excess stuff, I was all, “Heck yes I can! My blog address is on my back. That’s the only reason I’m wearing this. Is that okay?” I’m not totally sure why I offered up that information when I probably should’ve just kept quiet and been happy. But nonetheless, full disclosure won out, since he said it was okay. Yay! Everybody wins.

Also, during the commercial break, the really nice sound guy, Henry, came and got me to mic me up. I forgot I was wearing my crazy high yoga pants, which are a little hard to clip onto, but he’s a pro. He made it work.

It didn’t even dawn on me that people wear the little microphones on TPiR, but sure enough, we do.

When Henry put a little extra tape on the mic because of the crazy floppiness of the top of my pants, he joked about how he had to make sure it’d stay in place when I was jumping around onstage.

Oh, hardy, hardy, hardy, har. I only have 2 shots left. Are we or are we not scared to death that I’m gonna let those two chances just slip through my fingers?

But I’m so glad that everyone there was so nice and positive, even though the odds weren’t necessarily in my favor…

This is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 8 (My First Bid)

March 31, 2013

Aurora De Lucia really scared in contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

Being in contestant’s row was probably one of the most stressful experiences of my life. I kind of even want to call it the most stressful.

Getting called down is a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one. The farther into the show you get called, the fewer chances you have to get onstage.

Who wants to get called down, but not get to go onstage? What kind of Price is Right story is that (to tell every single person you’ve met in your life)? (My sincerest apologies if that is in fact your Price is Right story.)

So, I was putting all of this super pressure on myself. Basically, my life was pretty much flashing before my eyes.

As I said, the sound is no good in there. Really. I only knew what was going on for probably about 1/4 of the time. For the first prize, I only sort of knew what was happening. Granted, I have absolutely no idea about purses and wallets, ’cause I’ve never bought any designer stuff. So, even if I had every detail clearly relayed to me, I’d basically have no clue.

(Of course, as a game show (and specifically TPiR) lover, I still should’ve been able to make a much more educated guess. I mean, come on. $799? I would’ve been yelling at the person on the TV for that one, had I been at home.)

Zuri and Patrick (George when you’re watching) had actually been really good at guessing prices all morning. So, I looked back to them. I don’t think either of them heard any of the details, ’cause neither of them seemed to have any clue what I was bidding on, nor have any advice to give.

Aurora De Lucia bids 799 in contestant's row on The Price is Right, and the guy behind her judges that bid.
I love the face of the guy behind my left shoulder. He does not look like he thinks that price is a good idea.

(Plus, again, they were back in obstructed view. So, all too often when I looked at them, they were just looking up at the monitor – not at me.)

Drew Carey called on me to make my bid. He said my name. Oh boy. I am seriously here. On The Price is Right! I will never get over this ever. In my life.

So, Zuri and Patrick are giving me nothing. I do a quick look around the audience. Yeah, I’m not understanding a single person. I’m just seeing a lot of yelling. So, this is not that helpful.

(Note: In the episode, it doesn’t look like I look around at all. So, I don’t know if it was edited out, or if I looked around less than I thought.)

Drew Carey calls on me to make my bid (because I’m in contestants’ row on The Price is Right, and my dreams are in the process of coming through, and that’s what happens when you’re behind that podium). I just throw $799 out there. I figured that was low. I had no idea how low. But I knew I’d rather underbid than overbid.

Aurora De Lucia really has no clue what she's doing in contestant's row on The Price is Right - and that's all over her face

I’m pretty sure my voice was shaking, and I had fear in my eyes. I was hoping the world knew I had no idea what I was doing.

“Don’t expect too much from me world! Yes, you can yell at me in your living rooms. And when you’re saying, ‘That girl has no idea what she’s doing!’ just know I’m thinking that too, about myself.”

(I felt like I could hear the at-home audience screaming at me. I’m sorry, people at home! I’m gonna try not to let you down in the next one-bid!)

So I don’t make it up on the first one. Not that surprising. I don’t like being the bidder who sets the tone. Really, my main hope here is to have someone else make a smart bid and add a dollar (or have 3 people make a bunch of not-great bids and bid $1).

I absolutely could not tell you what pricing game is that the next person plays. Seriously. I have no clue. All I can hear is my brain screaming that I’m on The Price is Right.

And this is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 7 (“Aurora De Lucia, Come On Down!”)

March 30, 2013

Aurora De Lucia getting high fives in contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

I had this weird, crazy feeling that my name was about to be called, though I was trying to push that down.

But sure enough, when George Grey announced the name, I could’ve sworn he’d said mine. (Remember, sound is not to be trusted in that studio – many of the names I couldn’t even hear at all.)

Then, energetic stage guy rips the empty poster board covering off, and reveals my name.

I can’t –

There are no words here. What do I even say? How can I even describe the feeling? I was in disbelief. I was in shock. I didn’t even know what to do.

I look over at Patrick. In my mind, I’m thinking, “Do I hug you?! Do you want to be hugged? I know we’re best friends now, but I can’t tell if you’re the hugging type or not. Okay, you’re not hugging me. Forget this. No hugs for now.”

(After the show, I told him I had a “should/I should I not hug him” moment. He made some jokes about how I can regret that forever, and he would too. (But not too much, y’all. We’re okay. ;)) We also learned after the show that even though he was my new best friend, he didn’t know my last name. So, he wasn’t totally sure that when my name was called it was actually me – and it was all just happening so fast.”)

Also, I’d just like to point out that in the pre-show instructions, they ask you to do one thing, and one thing only when your name is called – and that is to stand immediately, so the camera can find you.

Aurora De Lucia beside herself in contestant's row on The Price is Right
Everyone else is paying attention, and I’m still just in shock.

I already started out wrong, ’cause I felt like I was glued to my seat with just wide mouth and eyes for what felt like minutes (but I’m sure was only seconds – ’cause time weirdly somehow sped up and slowed down during the whole Price is Right experience). (And they nicely edited out any extra sitting.)

Once I finally stood up, I freaked out, and hugged Zuri on my way out of my row. Then I’m kind of looking around the audience around me, thinking, “Any of you wanna stand up and hug me? I kind of want to hug everybody, everywhere. I mean, I’m going to contestant’s row, here people! No? Nobody gonna hug me? I guess that would be weird. I’m just some stranger. And they already briefed everybody not to stand up and clap for people, ’cause then the camera wouldn’t know who was standing from excitement and who was standing because they were coming on down… Okay, okay. I’m outta here down to contestant’s row.”

(Watching the tape, I saw that I accidentally missed some guy’s high 5. So sorry, stranger.) (Also, I did get a hug from Anna who was so nicely hugging everyone.)

So, I went on down. And I really couldn’t believe I was there. It was the weirdest feeling.

Since everything looks slightly different (and a bit smaller) in the studio (and from behind the podium), I felt like I was playing some kind of version at a road show or theme park, or just generally some version that’s not really real.

This all-for-fun-only Price is Right seems so lifelike. They got Drew Carey and everything. How is that possible? Oh. Because it’s the real freaking Price is Right!(!!!)

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 6 (Pre-show and 1st Half)

March 29, 2013

Aurora De Lucia with head tilted way back on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

Before the show, George (Gray – the announcer) pumps everybody up and gives the low down all about what’s going to be happening with the show.

He gives this little talk at the beginning where he says, “How many of you have planned exactly what you’re gonna do to get down here if we call your name?”

Tons of hands in the audience shoot up, and there’s a huge burst of cheering. (I did not put my hand up, ’cause I knew I’d have no idea how I’d go down there!)

He then said something along the lines of “None of you know what you’re gonna do. ‘Cause if we call your name, you’re going to basically black out. And only after the show will you have any idea of what’s happening to you.”

Let me tell you, I don’t know that truer words have ever been spoken. I was in complete and total shock from the moment my name was called. I didn’t know what to do with myself!

But we’ll get to that in a bit.

It was during this intro time that I also learned, because it’s so loud being in the studio audience – not only will they call you down to contestant’s row, they will show a big poster board of your name as well.

It was crazy how much you couldn’t hear. I mean, really. The sound was just nuts. I didn’t even know what people were bidding on sometimes.

Though I could make a guess by what I was seeing on the monitor (using the monitor since not only could I not hear, I couldn’t see everything on the stage). (Aye, aye, aye.)

I guess in some ways is sounds like some weird sort of sensory deprivation thing – which it kind of is once you’re up there, because as George Gray says, you kind of just black out.

Aurora De Lucia after she fell on the ground at The Price is RightSo, we’re watching the show. And it’s awesome, moving quickly, and hilarious. George keeps turning to our little audience section, asking us what we think stuff is priced.

At one point, when a contestant was overbidding (in my opinion), I just yelled out very matter-of-factly “I disagree!” George smiled at me. I was pretty proud of myself for making the announcer smile (dusts off shoulders).

Once the first wheel spinning of the show occurred, I start thinking, “This is starting to be the danger zone.”

If you go to contestants’ row, you want as much time there as possible – so that you have as many chances as you can take of getting it right. When there are only 3 games left, it’s nerve-wracking. Between the producer seeming unimpressed by my small posse, and us sitting us in the corner like bad kids, I didn’t think it was my day. (I was having a wonderful time anyway, laughing at the jokes between the comedian beside me, and the ones onstage.)

But on the off chance it was my day, in my head I started pleading with The Price is Right universe, “Please, oh please, Price is Right, if you are going to make my childhood dreams come true, and make me the next contestant to come on down, please do it now or don’t do it today. I don’t want any fewer than 3 chances up at that podium. Please?”

Then, it was so weird because when the incredibly peppy, energetic guy (Scott Robinson, I think) came out with the poster board covered up and ready to be revealed, I got a bit of butterflies in my stomach. Something in my brain said, “Aurora. I think you’re gonna be called next.”

I know that sounds completely crazy. And it is. So, I tried to push that down. “Now, Aurora, that is just silly. You can’t just ‘feel’ things like this.”

This is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 5 (Entering the Studio)

March 28, 2013

Aurora turning to the side, happy to be on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

After the interviews, we went around the corner to another set of benches. We all had to check in our phones (and any other electronics that could take pictures and video (or could fetch secret pricing information for us)).

Then we sat around on for a while. As always, it’s really nice when no one has her or his phone, so people can focus on each other and the world around them.

(It makes it hard if you’re having a conversation and say, “Wait. What was the name of that one actor, or that one TV show?” But it’s fun to use your brain!)

Videos of The Price is Right started playing on screens above us. There was one that was really funny. It talked about going to the show, and some of the rules or suggestions. It said something like, “remember to act with grace and decorum.” Then it showed a montage of people making complete fools of themselves. (‘Cause that’s what they really want us to do… So, that was the joke… Get it? Hilarious, right?)

They also showed us a full episode of TPiR. This was actually super helpful. It got us really in the right frame of mine to go see the show – reminding us of the TPiR strategies. Of course there’s that whole thing in contestants’ row – if you’re one of the later ones, go $1 over someone else, or just bid $1. It was a good time to think of all that kind of good stuff with strategy/game play.

Before you knew it, it was no longer time to watch old episodes on screens, but be a part of our own episode in person! Time to enter the studio!

I’d been singing The Price is Right theme song all week whenever we mentioned taking our amazing upcoming adventure to the show. Zuri said she wondered if they played the actual music during the show, since they could so easily add it in post. I believed they would play the music. (It just wouldn’t feel like Price is Right otherwise.) Sure enough, they played my jam.

We walked through a door and all of a sudden there were just colors everywhere. Agh! Why don’t I have a picture taking device with me?!

The first thing we saw as we walked in was a board that said what show number we were attending, and what our air date would be.

Aurora De Lucia coming on down to contestant's row on The Price is Right

“Everybody remember March 18th! We don’t have phones to write this down on, so just remember it, y’all!” (Note: The episode ended up being changed to air on March 19, but at the time, they planned on showing it on the 18th.)

Then we entered the actual room. And you bet the theme song was playing. People were getting so pumped! You could not help but be excited there.

Ushers would ask “How many in your party?” and seat people based on – who knows – excitableness, good-looking-ness, wardrobe, group size? I’m not sure exactly what they seated by. But we were not directed to the center section. We were off to the side (in time out?), so I figured they didn’t love us – again, reinforcing the idea that this was probably not the day that I was going to get called down to contestants’ row.

But that was fine. I was happy to at least finally have the experience of going to The Price is Right. I could always try again another day.

If we were going to be seated in a place where we couldn’t see the stage very well, we got the best obstructed view scenario. We were close to George Gray (the announcer) who was lovely and hilarious. He kept interacting with the audience, and was so fun to be around.

And this is where I’ll pick up next time.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 4 (The Interview pt. 2)

March 27, 2013

Aurora with her hands in front of her face on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

We were in a “what are we gonna say we do” pow wow.

(Again, the point wasn’t to lie, so much as to phrase our lives the right way, highlighting the good parts. You may only get less than a minute to talk to these people. All your seconds have to count!)

I couldn’t very well go up there and be like, “Uh, I’m unemployed right now.” Real interesting. And how am I supposed to say, “Well, I just finished up a stint at Playboy?” Real morning-game-show friendly there, huh?

I could say that I blog… I don’t make any money off of this, so it can’t really be classified as a job. (I suppose. I dunno. Some people work, but don’t actually make any money in that work…).

Anyway, I have a blog. So, you know. I could say it. (We don’t have to take the “what do you do” question so literally as to mean, “how do you pay your bills?” We’re not filling out our taxes here.)

But then we all discussed if blog stuff made me sound “too L.A.” I actually thought blog made me sound “down home-y.” (I guess… I’m not sure what words I’m going for there.) I’m sure lots of bloggers watch The Price is Right. (Heck, there are even some great game show blogs out there.)

I know a lot of bloggers are mothers, and I think moms make up a lot of The Price is Right audience.

Zuri and Patrick didn’t feel like blogger screamed friend-to-moms. They thought it was on the “too-L.A.” category. One of them suggested maybe a “social media” type job title. But I thought that sounded way more L.A. than blogger.

Now, to some of you, it might sound silly that we’re so worried about getting the wording right to make people like us – but what can I tell you? That’s the world (especially the world in L.A. – and the world in game shows).

Aurora De Lucia laughing at something Drew Carey said on The Price is Right stage

I wanted to highlight the things they would like about me. It’s an interview. Show your strengths.

Finally, I decided I’d just say “I adventure and do fun stuff. I just ran 52 half marathons in 52 weeks.”

Surprisingly, the whole group of people I was being interviewed with applauded after that. Thanks, everybody.

After people applauded me, the producer asked how many people I had with me. I pointed to Zuri and said one, then pointed to Patrick and said something like, “but two now, since we’ve become fast friends in line.”

And that was the end of my interview. I thought that question had ruined me. The producer didn’t seem too excited about me having a posse of two. I thought since I didn’t say “20” or something super cool like that, that the interview had slipped out of my hands.

(I’d also thought I’d been a little too “normal” in the interview – that maybe I wasn’t excited enough. But, judging by the fact that I thought I was a robot on the actual Price is Right stage – then seeing the difference between my perception and reality, I realize I have no idea how I actually acted in line. (Do I actually know how I act anywhere ever?))

So, the interview was complete. There was only one last phase in line, and that’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 3 (The Interview pt. 1)

March 26, 2013

Aurora De Lucia running in contestant's row on The Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

It was time for the interviews.

About 12 of us (at a time) get sent to stand in a little interview line (barely off to the side of the area in which we’ve been waiting). A producer (at least, I assume he’s a producer), goes down the line and asks a couple of quick questions to each of us.

“What do you do?” “Where are you from?” – that kind of stuff. (Basically, just those two questions.)

Patrick (George for today), the incredibly funny, charismatic guy next to me seemed to be having a great interview. There was some great back and forth banter, but when the producer got to the “What do you do?” question, Patrick said he was an aspiring comedy writer. That was the end of Patrick’s hopes of being on The Price is Right that day.

(I felt as thought looking in the eyes of the producer, I could see Patrick’s chances shatter in that moment. Of course, I could be way off base, but that’s how it seemed…)

Word of advice (Again, this advice is just based off what I’ve seen/heard. Don’t ever risk anything on any opinion I give here. What do I know, really?) –

Game shows don’t like the “L.A. type” people. They don’t want people in or around the entertainment industry, because that isn’t as interesting to the audience at home. If you’re a struggling actor and a night security guard, I’d go with night security guard.

(Caveat: Let’s Make a Deal seems to pick a lot of performers.)

Obviously, if you work in the industry, you have to disclose if you’re in any way involved in/affiliated with the show or anyone surrounding the show. Definitely be honest about all of that stuff.

Aurora De Lucia in contestant's row on The Price is Right, looking like she really wants those camcorders

But other than disclosing things that are legally necessary – I’d skip the boring talk of working in TV, and bring out all of the other sides of your personality. I’d talk about all of your other hobbies before you bring out an “L.A. sounding” job.

(But I don’t even know why I’m saying that here, ’cause I’m pretty sure that’s common knowledge to L.A.-types, yes? And because who do I think I am telling you how to answer game show questions? I get on The Price is Right and now have all the answers to life? Don’t think it totally works that way…)

I actually kind of felt bad for Patrick. During the show, when Rori got called up, Patrick leaned over and reminded me that she had been the woman on the other side of him during the interview. Later, I got on. So, the people who’d been on both sides of him during the interview ended up getting called down to contestants’ row.

But what was so sort-of funny (about what I believe to be a little sad misstep) was that we’d all already discussed not being “too-L.A.”

(But you know, maybe Patrick is the best one of everyone for not trying to color his life in any way than the exact way it is…)

Anyway, right before we went up for our interviews, the 3 of us (Zuri, Patrick, and I) had had a little pow-wow about our L.A.-ness. “Uh, what are we gonna say we do?”

And this is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 2 (Arrival, Pictures, Name Tags)

March 25, 2013

Aurora in line at Price is RightPicking up from yesterday –

Zuri (my roommates’ friend (although, at this point, I guess I could say my friend too)) and I went down to CBS studios.

Once we got there, the CBS pages showed us all to benches to hang out for a while – and we got our cool, iconic Price is Right name tags.

I made friends with our neighbor, George – who turned out to actually be Patrick…

On the Price is Right, they make you go by your complete legal first name (off of your photo ID). So, if you go by your middle name of Patrick – today you’re George.

After we got our name tags, Price is Right people took your picture in front of a green screen. (And they put something all Price-is-Right-y behind you.. I think they superimpose the wheel.) You can buy the pictures, but we didn’t.

The first one is a normal, smiley picture. Then they tell you to act like you won a brand new car. In my “brand new car” picture (when it was imaginary and everyone was pretending to win one), I just started pretend crying. I thought that’d be a more accurate depiction of what would most likely happen, rather than just jumping up and down. Little did I know, we’d actually see later on in the day!

At this beginning part of the day, everyone also got a little individual picture taken. I’m pretty sure it’s so the producers can see what we look. (I think it comes up with our number on their iPad during (and after) our interviews.)

(It was kind of like this... only less on the verge of tears... :-P)
(It was kind of like this… only less on the verge of tears… :-P)

I’ll admit, I caught a glimpse of it on the computer and it was a pretty nice, excited picture of me.

As you’ve probably noticed on the blog, I often pose for photos with a huge, gaping smile. Sometimes the photos come out really nicely, and sometimes I sort of look like a fish. Well, this was one of my best (if I do say so myself).

Heck, if I could’ve bought that one, I would’ve thought about it.

So, perhaps that’s the secret, people – nail that photo looking as excited as you can… Or perhaps they never even look at it. What do I know? This is all just conjecture. I haven’t seen the inner-workings (of these somewhat-sort-of-inner-workings that you see from the contestant point of view).

My name tag got a little torn. In addition to your name tags, they give you these pink numbers (and you have to stay in that order all day). You have to attach the little pink number under your name tag. When I lifted up the bottom of my name tag and shoved the little pink number in there, I made a bit of a torn mess out of my name tag. Oh well. It still worked!

smiling ready to hear about prizeAfter picture time, we go around the side of the building. A woman makes an announcement that we can order food if we want. So, if you’re planning on going TPiR, remember to bring food or cash if you think you might want to eat. You are there for about 6 hours.

We opted not to eat. I barely had any cash on me. (And I wasn’t actually all that hungry.) Even though the food from the commissary looked delicious, I was much happier that I didn’t eat.

I ended up on camera! And I’m glad I didn’t have food in my teeth (or a bunch of food wandering around my stomach adding to the crazy nervous feeling I already had onstage).

After you have the chance to order food, you go to the interview portion. And that’s where I’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Day As A “Price is Right” Contestant – Part 1 (The “Pre-Story” Chapter)

March 24, 2013

Aurora De Lucia with a huge smile/laugh as Drew Carey makes fun of her on the Price is Right(To skip the pre-story chapter, and go straight to the day, start here.)

As I said in an earlier post, I taped this episode about 6 weeks before you all saw it.

I didn’t even have the ability to start drafting a blog about it about it until about 4 days after the show taped. For the first 3 days, I was too excited to even sit at my computer and write.

When I went back and read my drafts, I was so happy to read how I was feeling at that time (even though it’s only a slightly more intense version of what I’m feeling now), that I decided to leave a bunch of the excited paragraphs practically untouched.

Without further ado, here’s my Price is Right story.

– – – – –

Did I just live the American Dream?!

Honestly, I have no idea what to say. I don’t care how much time passes from when the show was taped. I will never stop being giddy about this!

I don’t – I really don’t even know where to start!

Here’s a warning – we’re gonna be covering this for days. This might be the only story I ever tell for the rest of my life. (That part’s a lie.) But buckle up – even though you’ve seen the episode, I’m gonna describe it in tons of detail with every thought along the way. I want to remember every second of this day.

talking with Drew

Even though I didn’t start drafting this entry until 4 days after the taping, I’m still shaking as I type certain parts. I still had to take breaks to breathe and to try not to cry, because I just lived the freaking American Dream!

I’ve thought about going to The Price is Right somewhat often since I’ve lived in L.A. “I live here. I should take advantage of this stuff!” But then I get the “I live here. I can go anytime” follow-up thought.

I even almost went when a friend was in town – and by almost, I mean went to the studio and got our name tags. But we never actually walked in the studio. I learned that the taping got out later than I thought (2:30pm for the 8:30am show). So I had to leave. (Wah wah.)

My boss had told me I could have the morning off for The Price is Right, but I had to be back in the afternoon for some important meeting. And Burbank was pretty super far from Hollywood. So alas, I left the lot.

I also had gotten tickets a number of other tapings and decided not to go. (Tickets are free, and they overbook. So nothing happens if you don’t go.) Sometimes I’d wake up and think, “Ugh. It’s so early. Forget it. Maybe next month.”

Finally, I decided to go – like in real-life go. My roommates had a friend in town. They were off doing other stuff, and she wanted to do all the California stuff. I wasn’t currently working, so I thought, “Why not? I’ve got time. This’ll be so fun. Let’s do it, baby!”

Aurora De Lucia bidding in contestant's row on The Price is RightIn the morning, I didn’t even think to myself, “I need to look presentable in case I get on television.”

I  figured I was finally going to this thing I said I’d go to a million times. It’s time to see what the experience was like. I groggily got up, put on mis-matched socks and got out the door.

Now, don’t take this to mean I didn’t want to be on the show! I, as (I’m guessing) most people did, grew up watching The Price is Right.

I always told my parents, “Someday, when I’m old enough to be a contestant, I’m gonna go to California and win a brand new car!” This was truly an absolute childhood dream come true.

How crazy is it that as a kid, I wanted so badly to be old enough to be on TPiR, and to have a way to get to California. Once both of those obstacles were out of the way (and I even lived here(!)), it took me over a year and a half to go. Oh, Aurora.

It wasn’t until it all started happening that I realized I was in my magical dream experience. (Still can’t get over it. I’m never going to get over it.)

And this is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.

My Surprisingly Animated Price is Right Appearance

March 22, 2013

Aurora De Lucia looking nervous playing for a brand new car on The Price is RightThis is crazy.

I went to the taping of The Price is Right back on February 6th. I was freaking out all about it well before I could tell you! I started drafting a million-part (hyperbole (barely ;))) series about my day at the show.

And now that I’m ready to go through and edit it, I’ve realized I didn’t need to do quite such a play-by-play since it’s all on video for the world to see. (But you will still get some play-by-play with stuff that was edited out, and my thoughts along the way.)

I will say the biggest surprise about that day to me (after having watched the show), is my facial expressions.

I like to think I do some good facial expressions here and there, and am a somewhat animated person. But, I honestly thought – in all seriousness (I stress that whole “I really thought” part because now it seems crazy) – that I was practically robotic on TPiR.

I was so nervous, that I thought I’d completely clammed up. I thought I was unbelievably boring. I thought I just kind of gave an empty start to Drew Carey and basically stood there kind of lifeless.

I was pre-embarrassed about watching it. I was so happy with the outcome (obviously), but I was really embarrassed about the idea of being the most boring Price is Right contestant of all time.

Aurora on the ground with her head back, playing for a brand new car on The Price is Right

So, when the show aired and I was bounding around like a crazy person, I was pretty shocked! But, really happy that I wasn’t as boring as I thought. I was also pretty darn surprised about the huge difference between my perception and my reality.

Is that what I look like every day of my life – broadcasting every emotion and thought all over my face? Probably.

(During a Skype conversation, one of my friends once said, “There’s a camera directly on your face. I see you in close-up. You don’t need to play to the back of the house.” I thought it was a hilarious exaggerated comment, but I guess it wasn’t as exaggerated as I thought.)

Many people have been commenting on my reactions (including my head roll when the girl outbid me by a dollar on my first bid in contestant’s row). I’ll totally admit, I’ve loved all the comments people have been making about my face. I love that people loved my expressions.

I’m really, really ecstatic that I was not a robot up there. But it amazes me how different what I watched was from what I felt was going on at the time.

Now, enough with the random commenting on my own face. (Weird, right?) More car/Price is Right talk tomorrow.

Yep, I picked up the BRAND NEW (Price is Right) CAR! – Part 2 (Setting Up Onstar, and Making It Home)

March 21, 2013

Picking up from yesterday, after Tommy led me through all the various features, it was time for my OnStar orientation.

Tommy left, and I talked to the new, fun OnStar guy. He said, “First, let me congratulate you on your 2013 Chevy Cruze. That’s a great choice.” And I said, “I love it, but it wasn’t really my choice. It was Drew Carey’s ’cause I won this car on The Price is Right.”

(Of course, it wasn’t really Drew Carey’s choice either. It was more the producers’ doing, but still. I think the OnStar guy got the gist.)

The guy at OnStar asked me, “Are you serious?!” I said yes. And he said I was the first customer he’d had who’d won her car on The Price is Right. Then, he told all the people working around him. It was cool.

Then, he told me about OnStar, which is cool. They help you in an emergency, and even give you a monthly diagnostic on your car.

Apparently, my Chevy Cruze even has its own phone number, but I didn’t buy any minutes, ’cause I have a cell phone. I have OnStar (for now) in case of any emergency if my cell phone were somehow not available. Why would my car need a phone number?

I mean, it’s pretty cool. But it doesn’t seem wildly useful… But what do I know?

The nice OnStar guy asked if I needed any directions, but I said I’d call back later for directions. First, we had to take 100,000 pictures of the car – and me with the car, on the car, etc.

He laughed and said okay. And that was it for my OnStar orientation.

After that, Megan took a few million pictures of me around the car. (And someone took a couple of Megan and me together.)  Then, Megan had the idea that maybe we should move into the sun to try to get some better pictures. So, we took it for a drive between the parking lots. (And I wouldn’t stop yammering as you can see for yourself below:)

[wpvideo AoCdeUaZ]

I was a little (lot) nervous to drive the car. ‘Cause it’s a car. And it’s brand new. (And I don’t drive very often!)

After we successfully moved into another parking spot without damaging any people or property, we took even more photos.

And finally, we decided it was time to go home. So, Megan got back in her car, and I got in mine – my brand new car!

I pressed the little OnStar button and said I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to take any freeways. I just wanted the simplest, safest way possible. ‘Cause you know, it’s a new car – which is awesome, but kind of super terrifying.

The OnStar person sent a route to my car. My brilliant car told me before I hit every turn what I needed to do.

I heard a bunch of amazing radio stations. On Satellite, I even got Z100 in New York! So, I drove along just pretending I was there. (But not really, ’cause that wouldn’t make any sense. Why would I be driving in New York?)

Still. It was unbelievably cool.

Somehow, I actually made it all the way home. I told the security guards at the front desk that I’d won a brand new car on The Price is Right! Everyone freaked out, and everyone lived happily ever after.

We’ll be doing more talk about my The Price is Right episode tomorrow… (Oh, Price is Right. I love it SO much!)

Yep, I picked up the BRAND NEW (Price is Right) CAR! – Part 1 (Couldn’t Believe It Was Real!)

March 20, 2013

And it’s perfect.

My awesome friend Megan drove me down to Selman Chevrolet.

When you win a car on The Price is Right, they’ll get it to a dealership within 100 miles of you. Since I live in SoCal, I got to go through the main dealership TPiR goes through.

Probably about 2 weeks ago, I got a call saying, “Hi! This is Tommy with Selman Chevrolet. I got some paperwork from The Price is Right saying you won a car. Congratulations!…”

And I flipped out. I still couldn’t believe it was real! (I’ve had all the way since the February 6th tape date to try and realize it’s all really real, but somehow I’m still in disbelief.)

Tommy let me pick out the color of the car, and the date/time I wanted to come get it.

The official rules in the paperwork TPiR gave me state that the dealership has 90 days from the date the show airs to contact me. Once they contact me, I have 10 days to pick up the car, or I forfeit it (unless, of course, the dealership call before the show airs. You’re not allowed to pick it up ’til after your air date, so pre-show days don’t count in your 10 days).

I didn’t want to wait at all! Megan and I drove on down to the dealership the day my show aired. I was ready to have this car in my possession! Nothing has ever happened until it’s actually happened, you know? And this actually happened!

Basically, I showed up, and said, “Hey, I’m here to meet Tommy for the best day of my life.”

He handles all The Price is Right cars. So, I guess he’s pretty used to people totally freaking out all the time.

We looked around the car. It looked gorgeous. So clean. So new.

Then, we went inside. Tommy took my license and insurance information. (As soon as my dad found out I won a car, his first thought was, “Insurance. Insurance immediately.” (He works in insurance, and got me on a policy probably before the show even aired out here on the west coast. (He’s in Ohio.)))

After Tommy handed me the keys, he took me over to see Wayne, the money guy. I went in and signed a bunch (a whole bunch) of paperwork. I pretty much read it over, but there was so much. I suppose it’s possible I accidentally signed my life away in there or something, but let’s hope not.

There was a form about $1,000 or so in rebates… to CBS. Well, that’s okay. They can have the rebates. They gave me a car.

I did have to pay $2,066.67 for sales tax, and the licenses and registration fees.

There was a part of the form that said they basically had the right to take the car back. I was all, “what?!” But then he said that was mainly for people leasing, if the money stuff didn’t happen. He said, “the important thing about that clause is not that we can take it back, but that you can’t return it.”

It’s a brand new car! Why would I ever want to return it?

After I’d given my money to Wayne (the money guy), I went back with Tommy and he led me out to the brand new car! (I really should give it a name, I guess instead of just calling it, “brand new car!”)

Tommy led me through all the various features. It’s a car from the future (as far as I’m concerned)! The key pops out from the little remote thing. That’s right. The key hides down in the little unlock/lock remote thing, then click – you pop it out. The car also has Sirius XM Satellite radio (which is awesome). (Don’t get too attached. It’s only free for 3 months.) Brand New Car (its name for now) even comes with OnStar (for 6 months)!

Oh, I still have more to say! But, I don’t want a crazy long post. So, let’s just talk more about this tomorrow. Hope to see you then!

So, Did You Watch The Price is Right This Morning?!

March 19, 2013

(- or probably yesterday morning depending on when you’re reading this.)

In case you missed it:

I am absolutely beside myself. And yes, oh yes – we will talk at length about the day, the process, the thoughts that sped through my head, getting the prizes after the show, and all that good stuff. You will know more than you’ve ever wanted to know about my Price is Right experience (aka what I dare say might be the greatest day of my life).

So, if you don’t care to delve into the show, I’ll see you in a few weeks when somehow I stop talking about it. (Though I’m not sure how I will ever stop talking about this! :-))

Oh Man! Okay, Watch TOMORROW’S The Price is Right – Seriously. Please?

March 18, 2013

I know you've seen this picture a lot - but it's the only Price is Right picture I have!
I know you’ve seen this picture a lot – but it’s the only Price is Right picture I have!

Sorry everybody! I’m so sorry to everybody who woke up earlier than usual or was inconvenienced in any other way…

Today was kind of a bust. A huge portion of my extended family gathered in Indiana to watch the show together. (My dad even took the day off of work.)

Early in the game, I realized – none of this looks familiar.

We checked the schedule on the website. Now, I had checked it before. Once I saw it in writing there, I didn’t realize it would change. But I probably should’ve checked it a little more recently than just once a couple (or few) weeks ago.

I went to the taping on February 6. I was around for episode 6271K. As of now, that’s listed for tomorrow.

I would’ve loved to have watched with all of us gathered together, but my dad had a meeting he couldn’t get out of. I already planned to fly back home tonight. It’s just not in the cards to all watch it together.

So, I will be hanging in my apartment, live tweeting during the west coast airing of the show tomorrow (pretty much spoiling it for anyone who isn’t following along).

So, sorry again. (And sorry to all the billions of strangers I told… I told everybody – guy who checks me in at the gym, guy at the post office, waitress at everywhere – every person I met – “Don’t forget to watch The Price is Right on Monday!” (*palm to face. Embarrassing.)

So please, y’all, actually tune in tomorrow.

(Also, if you did watch today, the show was kind of amazing… But don’t hold your breath for me to have the same kind of day that girl did. I would not expect me to come out of there with over $78,000. But good for her!)

Don’t Forget to DVR The Price is Right tomorrow!

March 17, 2013

Aurora in line at Price is RightI know you may be sick of seeing this picture of me, and hearing me say “DVR The Price is Right!”

Well, you’re in the luck. This is the last reminder on the blog, because the show is… tomorrow!

For most people it comes on at 11am on CBS. (Though I’ve heard that with some providers it’s on at 10am. I dunno. You tell me.)

I plan on live tweeting during the 11am (Pacific) time show. So, you can choose to ignore all that if you’re DVRing for later. Or you can follow along on my twitter feed. (I love twitter.)

I dreamed of going to The Price is Right since I was a little girl. I finally went to a taping for the first (and so far only) time on February 8th! That magical show is airing tomorrow!

So, tune in. See if any of my dreams come true – or if you can at least catch a glimpse of me in the audience. I had an amazing time, and I can’t even wait to tell you (in tomorrow’s post) all about my experience of going to a taping of The Price is Right!

That Time I (Hopefully) Gave Away A Kidney – Part 1 (Why?)

March 15, 2013

Aurora De Lucia after just getting dressed in a hospital gown and puma shoes
Back in a hospital gown – this time for fun kidney tests. Woot!

How excited are you for another series of story posts to read?

(That is both a sarcastic and genuine question. I know some of you don’t really like blog posts in a long series, preferring standalone blog posts instead. But some of you like posts that fit together into one big story. Well, latter readers, you’re in luck!)

Yesterday, I announced I’m going to be a non-directed kidney donor. (Hopefully I am, at least – I haven’t gotten the final approval yet. So, please don’t get too, too excited… I suppose I’m maybe jumping the gun a little with the title of the posts, going with past tense. But, I think that will transfer easiest post-surgery… And let’s get real. I’m gonna make this happen. Bam!).

Anyway, when you tell people you’re planning on being a kidney donor for a stranger, the first question people have is why.

If you’ve meandered around this blog, you know that I had a weird congenital heart issue and I’ve spent a good amount of time in the hospital. I know first hand what it’s like to not be sure when you get to return to your normal life – the frustrations, uncertainty, all that jazz.

I quit some jobs and quit school. It’s very nice when people in hospitals are saving your life, but it’s not so nice when the life you’re trying to go back to is sort of falling apart.

If I can sacrifice a few weeks of my life to take away all that uncertainty for someone – to make it so that they can really live again, it seems like a pretty good trade to me.

Part 2 starts (over a year later – eesh!) here.