I just got back last night from my week-end of amazingness! This is one of those times where I just won't really be able to explain everything that happened, but I will do my best. And here is my official disclaimer that this post is super long and full of shameless boasting about our trip. And if you don't care about or don't know what So You Think You Can Dance Canada is, you will probably be super bored and should skip it.
First I have to explain how we got so hooked up to come to the Finale. We LOVE SYTYCD and Alysha's husband got really lucky and got tickets for us online to go to a taping of a results show in the beginning of September. Me,
Maren,
Sarah and
Alysha all went and it was super fun! After the show we started to talking to this guy Josh who does the pre-show and was so funny. (We didn't know he was the associate producer at the time). He was so impressed that we came all the way from Alberta and he introduced us to the executive producer, who also couldn't believe we came all that way and that we all had kids too! She told us that she could get us tickets to the finale if we could come back and would put us right up front. That is the very condensed version of what happened, but
Alysha blogged about the whole thing.So...we flew in to Toronto on the red eye and so we were pretty tired all day Saturday. But we still managed to get in a few hours of shopping! We went hot tubbing and planned our outfits, make-up and hair for the next day. It was the perfect girls day!
The next day was the concert. We got there a couple hours early and hung out in the VIP lounge for a while. We saw Luther's and Tre's families in there. It was so funny because most of the CTV and SYTYCD staff was super nice and friendly and knew who we were. They kept calling us the "Alberta Girls" or those "Young Moms" or some combination of the two.
I'm not gonna lie we were so bummed that Nico wasn't there, meeting him is the only that could have made this night any better
That is Luther Brown's brother behind us
This is Josh, the associate producer, that hooked us up! He does the pre-show and is hilarious! We made him a t-shirt (and by we I mean Sarah) to say thanks, and he loved it, he thought it was "Brills!!!" Here is his reaction.
When we were waiting in the hallway to go into the studio we said Hi to Stacey Tookey walking by (I love her!) and Tara Jean ran past us. I think that's when it totally hit me that we were there and so close to all the action!
We got into the studio and we were right up front and centre, although they moved us around a few times, they never moved us from the front row. Everyone else would get shuffled around during commercial breaks so that they could have new faces up front. So we got moved around to different sides of the stage, but Josh made sure we never left the front row. Which is why we are on TV so many times. The show was incredible!! It's one of those things that I can't describe. But some things that I noticed that were different is that all the dancers are tiny. Even the ones who look taller or bigger on TV are still not very big at all. Seeing the dances in person you notice the dancers emotion and connection with each other SO much more than on TV. The lifts they do look soooo much crazier and more amazing in real life! I was SO excited Tara-Jean won, she is so good and her reaction was priceless! The energy in the studio was so overwhelming and exciting!
So after the show we head back to lounge where we were supposed to meet Josh for a meet and greet with the judges. But he was super busy and wasn't there yet and so the security guards were trying to get us to leave. We got it all sorted out and it ended up that we were going to be meeting everyone as they left the media lounge after their interviews. I totally thought that is was going to be a really formal thing with the judges sitting at a table and tons of fans there and they would be hurrying us along. But it was just us, we were the only fans there and everyone else was media, so I was feeling super lucky that we got to be there. Even though we were waiting in the hallway and meeting them as they left. The PR girl that was with us was so nice and made sure we got to meet and get pictures with everyone we wanted to. So here they all are...
This is PR girl, I can't remember her name
Tu est mon judge preferee!
Leah was awesome! She chatted with us for about 10 minutes and was so friendly and down to earth, totally different than she seems on TV!
This is Vincent meeting his 3 week old niece for the first time, so cute!
While we were waiting there this lady
Susanne Boyce, that we had met briefly last time, walked by and asked if we were the Alberta girls. She was impressed that we had come back for the finale and told the PR girl to get us wristbands for the wrap-up after party! We could NOT believe our good luck at this point! Little did we know that she was actually the president of the CTV network. PR girl and the other staff were all shocked when we told them she was the one who got us into the party. They were like she doesn't even know my name or who I am, how did you guys get hooked up with her?
After a while of waiting and meeting people we were getting super tired of standing so PR girl got us chairs to sit in right inside the room. It was getting less crowded since lots of people were already done and at the after party. Then she told us to just go over and help ourselves to some food and candy. Tara-Jean, Vincent, Everett and Jayme Rae were all in there hanging out and being interviewed. It was so funny because we were supposed to just be meeting people quickly as they come out and next thing we know we're right in there with everyone eating the food and as we're standing there Jayme Rae comes up to us and starts talking to us about all the drama they were making about the injuries, and Everett was telling us what it's like to work with Mia Micheals! We got to talk to all the top 4 and they were so cool and friendly! PR girl was telling us that no one ever gets to meet the dancers. Sometime the judges will sign autographs or something, but very rarely does anyone ever get to meet or get pictures with the dancers. We were feeling so lucky. I don't know how we went from getting to be front row and meeting the judges to now being in the room with, meeting and getting pics with the final four and then getting to go to the after party with all the dancers and some from last year, judges, choreographers and their families. So crazy!
The after party was all gold and sparkly. It was funny to see some of the dancers and judges just letting loose on the dance floor. We saw so many people there and we just couldn't get pictures with everyone. But here are some from the party.
Cody is even cuter in real life, if that's possible
Taylor was super creepy
Our magic black wristbands!
We did not want this amazing night to ever end. We love this show and so this was such an awesome experience for us to totally meet everyone that we see on TV twice a week and feel like we were a part of it. As we were leaving we saw Trisa Deyot, who is the executive producer of SYTYCDC. We met her last time we went out there and talked to her for a while. She thought it was so cool that our husbands let us come out for the show and have a girls week-end, and was the one who told Josh to hook us up for the finale. She asked us if we would be coming back for Season 3? Ummm, Yes, I would got back again in a heart beat!! But that might be pushing our luck.
We were a little tired by the end of the night
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We were supposed to have a ward Halloween party and trunk or treat that day, but it was canceled because there was a blizzard and the only road to the church (which is a long steep hill) was closed. So they rescheduled and had a simple trunk or treat in the parking lot of a school right by our house. Jayna was so sad the party was canceled so she was happy that we still got to do something, but even she wasn't so sure about it once we got there. She kept crying that the snow was getting in her eyes.
And Kepler wasn't really loving life either, in fact he spent half the time in the car, where he was way happier.
My cute little trick or treaters!
Jayna excited about the candy or "trick or treats"
Jayna was so cute, every time we saw other trick or treaters she would say "Oh look, there are my friends!" She loved yelling "trick or treat" at every house, and was very good at remembering her manners. She loved all the houses that were decorated, or "the happy halloween houses", as she called them. I thought she would be scared of them. At every house she wanted to stay and chat and we had to drag her away to the next house. So funny. She has had a total personality change in the last year or so. She used to be so shy, quiet, scared of everything and wouldn't talk to anyone. Now she says Hi to everyone we pass and won't stop talking.
My little monkey, a very fitting costumer for Kepler this year.
You can see his new haircut here, we went a little too short :( At least I won't have to cut his hair for a while!
She's flying!
We still had a fun night, it was just more of an adventure!
The best night of Jayna's life!!
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