I was soooooooooo tired last night that I just didn't have a blog post left in me by 11pm. I was up at 5:30am to get ready to leave my house by 7:30am with entire family in tow so we could make it to CBC studios for 9:30am. I made it just on time and was whisked up to the wardrobe area by Tara to wait for Kristjan. Jessica arrived at the same time as me. I got to see my outfits again and the killer shoes I'd be wearing. These are from my second outfit. I'm just surprised I didn't fall on my ass!
Anyway, I'm nervous as all get out. Like seriously, I am taking deep breaths to try and regulate my breathing and my stomach HURTS! I really just wanted to go for a run. Kristjan arrives and we're sequestered in a locked make-up room. Locked? Why yes. Just in case Chris tries to sneak a peek. They went to great lengths to keep us apart before the big reveal. I suppose it was so his reaction on the show would be genuine. The footage you will see of us on the stage is the first time he sees me. Now Steven on the other hand? I saw him back stage and he was lovely. Very complimentary and just as sweet as could be.
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| Waiting for makeup! Warning...except for this one and the last pic, I don't look like myself! |
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| This is Kristjan's arsenal:) |
So Kristjan and I, we're putting on make-up. Or, he is mostly, but letting me do some so I can practice. Have I mentioned how amazing he is? He is funny, sweet, personable. He told me he went for a run that morning and thought of me because he read my blog and I run some mornings. He said to himself, "If Leigh can do this, so can I"! So sweet. He shared a funny running story with me that I told him I was going to repeat on my blog. He and his his best friend ran a 10K together. And while they're training for this 10K and they ran together for the first time, she takes off like a shot out of hell. He tells her that she runs too fast. So fast forward to another practice run and they're running a nice slow pace on Queen Street in Toronto one day. They're running along and somebody yells "Jacques Cousteau" out of their car window. They can't for the life of them imagine what that means. And while he's telling me this I'm thinking real hard and wondering if this is some kind of secret runner's lingo. Anyway, they keep running and eventually his friend turns to him with a AH HA moment and says, "they weren't saying Jacques Cousteau", they said, "You jog too slow"!!!!!! I thought that was hilarious and it definitely made some of my nervousness go away. His goal I'm sure!
Kristjan applied camera make up on me. Basically makeup that is way too much to wear in public, but enough that a camera can pick it up. He also styled my hair in a way I will never be able to duplicate myself, because I don't own and never will, the $150 brush he used on my hair! Did I mention that he does make-up and hair for major fashion magazines and famous people? That's right, and he did my hair and makeup. Once again, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Let me brag just this once!
So anyway, Kristjan finishes up with me and I'm brought back to the wardrobe area. I'm put into my Spanx. I'm not gonna lie, I can rock the Spanx because they feel just like compression running pants! At this time they tell me that Jules is restless and needs to come see me. So he comes back stage to hang with me for a bit. It only lasts about 15 minutes before he's totally freaked out by my transformation and he has a major break down with tears and everything and has to return to his father in the audience. So now I'm nervous and feeling completely ill because my baby is traumatized. Just before I went out on stage, they told me that he was fine again.
Tara and Jessica were great. They kept me grounded and tried their best to keep me at ease. I'm not even going try to pretend that I was all easy going and and carefree. I was not. I felt like I was going to vomit at any moment. I had no idea what Chris was going to ask me once I got on stage, and I hadn't worn heels since my wedding day 10 years ago. I pictured myself falling on stage as I walked out for the big reveal. I was watching the show in back and did see my hubby get his picture taken with Steven and Chris. I didn't even get my picture taken with them!
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| That's my daddy between Steven and my hubby's head. |
I had two outfit reveals. A daytime look and a night time look. You will have to wait for the show to see the outfits. I can't even tell you what happened during the first reveal except that while I was waiting back stage to walk out in front of the audience, I was shaking so much that my teeth were chattering. While I was on stage, I kept thinking, "Thank God I'm wearing pants". My legs were shaking so much. After the first reveal, I hurried back to the wardrobe room to change into my second outfit. Anyone who knows me personally knows I don't normally like to be touched. I had to let go of every inhibition I have between wardrobe changes. I had to change in front of whoever because I needed help to not smudge my make up on my dress while Kristjan changed my makeup to the night time look. And funny thing was, I didn't give a shit. I just needed to complete the process and get back on stage. The second reveal I was much more relaxed. Thank God! Because I was wearing a dress. I was relaxed until I talked about Julien being my inspiration for my weight loss , then I got tearful and choked up. I cannot talk about that boy without getting emotional. Not even on national television.
While on stage I didn't know where to look. I tried to look into the audience to see some of my supporters. I had a bunch. The most ever for a make over show. Thanks to all of you who came out to support me. I really appreciate it. Some of you left before I could make it out to the audience area after the show let out and I'm sorry I missed you. I had my hubby, son, father, sister-in-law Maria, Aunt Mary, cousin Rick, Nokomis, Eli, Estelle, Mandahh, Beverly, Linda, Nina, Brett, Caroline, Monica and Rossana. It meant so much to me to see so many friendly faces in the audience. Since I didn't know where to look, I kept looking at myself in the monitor and wondering, "how did you get here?"
After the second reveal I could relax. I changed back into my street clothes and waited for the show to end. Jessica and Kristjan changed and got ready to leave too. Before he left, Kristjan and I took a picture together of him wearing bangs he used at a photo shoot the day before. Hilarious! He looks like Moe from the Three Stooges! I said goodbye to Jessica and Kristjan and thanked them for helping me build my confidence. They were great and I felt so comfortable with them.
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| This doesn't even look like me! In case you're wondering, I wore this make up out to lunch at Jack Astor's:) |
After the taping, a bunch of us went to Jack Astor's for lunch. I had a celebratory glass of wine and chicken fajitas with lettuce leaves in place of tortillas. The wine was my treat. Everything else was on plan! We made it home before 5pm and I got ready to go to my running clinic. We ran eight hills the night before for a total of 10K. My water and my eye lashes froze because it was -15 Celsius with the windchill. Last night was a 7K run. My eye lashes froze together again, and I got a little frostbite right under my eyes. My outer jacket also began to freeze because it was wet from sweat. It wasn't supposed to be as cold as the night before, but it felt colder to me. Either way, I still got my runs in regardless of the temperature. I got home from my clinic after 8pm, ate a quick dinner, changed into yoga pants without showering and went grocery shopping at Walmart. Ah the glamorous life!
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| From this... |
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| To this! |
Now back to regularly scheduled blogging. I promise not to bore you with the details of my awesome experience any longer. I will mention the show again just before it airs to remind you of the date (February 7th @ 2pm on CBC...NOT February 1st like I previously said) in case you feel like watching it. Back to my boring mundane life. My fifteen minutes of fame is officially over!