The Martha Experience

A few months back, my friend Angel and I went to see a taping of the Martha Stewart Show. It was actually our second time going (the first was a year ago).

Have you ever been to a taping of Martha Stewart? It's quite a whirlwind experience. You arrive about an hour before the taping and pick up your tickets. You go through security (standard metal detector and bag search) and check your coats and anything else you want at the coat check (completely free). There are drinks and sweets laid out for the taking. It was delicious chocolate chip cookies this time.

While waiting, we were asked to sign forms that allow the show to use our images. This time, we were also asked to write down questions we'd like Martha to answer. I thought long and hard, but the first thought that came to mind was "Does she wear sweatpants?" I think it was because I had recently seen an episode of Oprah where she showed her favorite loungewear. Anyway, I wrote something to that effect down and the woman checking the questions loved it and wanted me to be the first to ask a question during the Ask Martha segment.

Unfortunately, they ran out of time so that segment was axed, but we did get some awesome seats out of it (right up front, and the camera LOVED us - check out the whole show here, I am the brunette in the red).

The guest for the episode was Elisabeth Hasselback, whom Angel and I aren't really fans of, so that was a little disappointing. She and Martha made some very cute stenciled stools (check out here). They would be awesome for a child's playroom. However, it was the fussiest of fussy crafts. It requires you to cut out intricate patterns on three overlay stencils to create a very detailed (and adorable) animal picture. Then you have to stencil them one by one. Honestly, it's too much work (I think) for an ACTUAL parent.

There was no chef (darn!) but they did a tip segment with the staff chefs. We picked up some good tips like save your scraps in the freezer until you have enough to make a stock.

Want your own Martha experience? The show isn't currently ticketing, since they are going on hiatus soon (but have taped a lot of shows for first-run in the summer). However, this is the link to get tickets. They will be doling out more tickets for the fall.

Photo from Martha's site.