The NYC Experience: And Here He Is... JIIIIIMY FAAAALLON!

Wristband!

Yesterday was a super fun day!!

Jules and Gina did the downtown tour and Empire State Building. I went to Macy's with the girls and then came home to rest a bit. The girls went on to do more shopping.

I grabbed a quick cup o' soup at the diner and then met Gina and Jules at NBC studios. I really didn't get excited about seeing Jimmy Fallon until that moment. We were directed to the digital cafe, where we waited in line about 20 minutes to wait in line to get our wristbands and tickets. It was a good thing to have to wait because G and Jules had not gotten to eat! So they were able to get some lunch.

Once we got our wristbands and tickets, we had to wait about an hour and a half to line up for the show. We cruised down to the basement of 30 Rock and found the bathrooms, then just hung out and chatted. When we got bored with that - we went upstairs to watch the ice skaters. Finally it was time -

TO LINE UP AGAIN!

We waiting in a really jam-packed "line" for about 25 or 30 more minutes until they were ready for us to sit in the studio. The line was so warm and stuffy that we were thrilled to get into the studio - which are always super cold.

The studio is SO small compared to how it looks on TV, especially where The Roots sit. They are in such a tiny area you can hardly believe they not only fit but play! One of the writers does the audience warm up and he was so funny - we loved him. Then The Roots come out and do a song that really gets everyone going - they even run up and down the stairs through the audience. Next is Steve Higgins, the announcer and finally JIMMY!

The show runs like clockwork. They don't really stop for anything and they make every use of the commercial breaks. It was fun to hear The Roots play full songs - much, much better than commercials actually. The guests were Rod Stewart (who did a Fallon original song with Jimmy), the girl from "Once Upon a Time," and a stand-up comedian. At the end of the show, Jimmy runs up the bleachers and high-fives the audience and YES, Gina and I both shook his hand. So fun.

Our big surprise was that after the show was over - they had us stay and the audience warm up guy came out again and chatted with all of us while they re-did the set for Christmas and everyone changed clothes. They taped Rod Stewart doing a Christmas song which they will play later in December! So cool - we got a bonus!!

There were no cameras allowed and all cell phones had to be turned off so we didn't get any pics from the experience - other than being in line. For me, it was such a highlight - I really, really had fun!

We checked out the NBC store on our way out, stopped in Times Square to take pics, stopped at the grocery store to restock paper products and then slept for 12 whole hours!

It was a very good day :)