*cue fog machine and flashback sound effect*…..It all started when I was scrolling through Twitter and saw that Lena Dunham and a band I’ve never heard of were hosting/performing on SNL on March 8th:
Excited to announce @lenadunham will make her #SNL hosting debut next week with musical guest, @The_National!! #March8
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) February 25, 2014
I texted Jackie and told her to book a flight and plan for a spring break trip to NYC. A few weeks later, I found myself packing my polka dot cart on a Thursday night full of the essentials: five pairs of socks, three pairs of gloves, my cheetah sweater, my ned’s crazy sub sweater, a light jacket, my winter coat, four scarves, two blankets, one towel, one regular pillow, one travel pillow and an air mattress just in case I happened to find a plug/the nerves to blow it up in a public place. My commute to work with all my stuff was an adventure all in itself. Electric bikes have been in high demand so if you’re considering an e-bike, you can find some great electric bike offers here.
All day I waited for word from Jackie if she had made her standby flight – and didn’t find out until lunchtime that she would be arriving in NYC at 6pm. AHHHH. I left work around 5 and hopped a cab to Rockefeller Center:The first hour was fine – I just relaxed and waited for Jackie to arrive. I figured I was about 30th in line – the first people in line showed up at 6:45 a.m. on Friday morning. During the warmer months, people line up days before to get tickets.
 Jackie nonchalantly snuck into line around 7:30p.m.
By that point, my feet were so cold! And my 6 pack of hand/feet warmers that I ordered from Amazon weren’t delivered to the office before I left – so I had to resort to desperate measures. Jackie got me moccs for Christmas and had them in her suitcase with her (LIFE. SAVER). I heated them up and brought my pinky toes back to life:
Around 10p.m. the struggle became real. With all gloves and socks being used to keep our hands and feet warm.
Things started to get ugly:
And then I felt like Katniss from The Hunger Games when a sponsor sent her water, burn ointment, etc. because the light pole that we were sitting next to HAD AN ELECTRICAL PLUG. Resulting in this:
Then this:And this:
Sadly I don’t have a picture of Jackie and I spooning on this twin mattress on the streets of NYC – but we slept from about 11pm-3am.
At 5:30a.m. we had to deflate our mattress – an order from NBC security guards.Â
Right around 7am they came out and started coming down the line asking what show we wanted to attend – we decided on the dress rehearsal because it’s longer and you get to see more skits.
After we got our tickets we loaded up our stuff in a cab and headed home:
Jackie and I crashed out for a few hours and when I woke up, I felt like I had drank 19 bottles of cheap champagne. Mah whole body hurt.
We put a recovery plan in order which consisted of Tylenol extra strength: And shake shack:
We headed back to my house and rested up until we had to get back to Rockefeller (I must admit I suffered a little bit of PTSD when we walked past 49th & 6th) and got in line. We were nerv:
After waiting in line and going through security we were lined in rows eight people deep. The first 15 people (Jackie and I were number 13&14) were crammed into an elevator – then they pushed the button for the 9th floor and all our dreams came true.
It was so cool to see how everything came together – and Lena was so funny.
We went to celebrate at Serendipity after:
LIVE YO’ LIFE!
B