The Soup Diaries

Here's what I've been up to for the past week:

Friday/Saturday/Sunday:

On Friday I picked up my bright green rental car, loaded it full of art supplies and projects, and headed towards Pennsylvania.  I stopped in Pennsylvania for two wonderful nights with one of my oldest friends (we've known each other since first grade) and her wonderful family.  Among the highlights of my visit: a jazz concert, helping one of the boys with a sewing project, and just soaking up the warm family atmosphere.  On Sunday I arrived in Cleveland, checked into my hotel, unpacked my suitcase, and girded my loins for the week to come!

Monday:

The first day on set is always the hardest.  It takes a moment to remember everything -- how does it all work?  I always feel a little bit slow on the first day, like I'm wading through Jell-o.  That said, we were very lucky to only have a half day of filming on Monday.  In the morning we went into makeup, unpacked all of our projects and got settled in.  After lunch the filming began.  When I'm hosting I've got an earpiece in so that I can hear the Producer.  During the taping I'm trying to listen to her, be aware of the cameras, follow along with the project the guest is teaching, ask questions, and keep everything on time.  The first day is the hardest.

Tuesday:

My least favorite part of filming Scrapbook Soup TV is having to wake up when it's still dark outside.  I know there are plenty of people who do it every day, but I am not one of them and I always find it a bit depressing.  Of course, as soon as I hit the set, that ennui fades away.  On this day we had a different makeup person than usual.  She made me up much more naturally.  I posted the before and after photo from above on my Facebook page and got lots of good opinions on which is better -- the before or the after.  I have to say that I really enjoy hosting the show.  It's fun to meet people, do the projects, and the crew is made up of a really nice group of people who make it so easy for me to be a total goofball.

Wednesday:

  One of the cameramen and I got into a friendly Jets/Patriots war on set.  He showed up in a Jets jersey.  I taped up a message on my apron.  He put "Jets Jets Jets" on the teleprompter.  And so on.  The whole thing had everyone on set giggling!  One of the highlights from this day on set was the gorgeous postcard book that my co-host Julie McGuffee brought in.  It was filled with vintage postcards that she has collected over a lifetime.  I wanted to run away with the book, but I settled for photos!  As you can see from the food photo we are fed very well during filming.

 Thursday:

Thursday was a bit of a technical day.  We had Patty Debowski teaching two digi scrapping segments and I did two segments for Kaleidescope Kreator.  All of this meant that the computers had to get hooked up and it was all a bit problematic in the morning, but by the afternoon we had it!  In fact we managed to get so much done on Thursday that we got out early and were able to make it to happy hour.  A good thing because by Thursday my battery was starting to feel a bit run down.

Friday:

Last day!  And I was a terrible photo-taker.  Julie McGuffee has way better photos on her blog than I do.  So be sure to check them all out: Here, here, here (some seriously funny photos), and here.  After lunch I hit the road and started driving.  I was so tired.  Around 9pm I pulled over in Utica, NY and fell face first into the bed.  When I woke up in the morning I hit the road again and made it to Boston by lunch time.  All told I drove more than 1,100 miles by myself.  That's the most I've ever driven by myself.  I'm planning to spend a few days here in Boston and then I'll head back to NYC.  It has been a long, but wonderful, trip thus far.  Who knows what adventures this week will hold?

Thanks for stopping by!