Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

I want to go everywhere I haven't been, and back to everywhere I have been.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Looking Backward To Tonight's Emmys

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

Are you looking forward to watching the Emmy Awards tonight?

I'm actually looking "backward" to it.

Backwards, to when I still worked in the television industry, and had the wonderful good fortune to be on the 'inside" of this incredible event.

Tonight's awards show is making me feel a bit melancholy…

…because I'll be watching from my living room, instead of actually being there, like I have been in the past.

I didn't even plan to write a post about this, but it kind of just happened this morning, when I saw an article in the paper today about tonight's telecast. 

So it may not be the best-written post I've done…and the picture quality is pretty terrible, so you'll have to forgive me for that, but I have to get this out before the stars start walking down the red carpet! 

Yes, one of the highlights of my career was attending the Emmy awards, and the "After Parties", on several occasions.  

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

I did not attend last September, even though I was invited. 

I had already decided that it was time to leave my job, but hadn't yet given notice. It just didn't seem right for me to have the company spend all that money for me to attend, when I knew I'd be leaving shortly after that. 

When I officially resigned, my assistant admitted that she knew something was up when I rsvp'd "no" to the Emmys. 

I mean, really, who in their right mind would give up the chance to be flown first class to LA, stay in a fancy hotel, get all decked out, be picked up in a limo, walk the red carpet, and hob-nob with the stars at the party afterwards?

So, today, on the the day of the 65th Annual Emmy Awards…I'm taking a trip down memory lane (or the red carpet, more appropriately) to when I had the good fortune to
actually attend the event.

One year when I went, I was invited to the Nominees party two nights before the awards show.  
Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

It was a pretty small gathering, and quite exciting to be so close to so many famous people.

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes
But that was nothing compared to the BIG EVENT!

The day of the Emmy awards, I started getting ready at 9am. I had a hair stylist and make-up artist come to my hotel. It felt so decadent! 

A limousine picked us up at the hotel. I couldn't believe the line of limousines enroute to the Nokia theater. It stretched for miles. 

When we finally got close, a security guard approached the car:


"Are you nominees or presenters?"


It was tempting to say yes, but we were just honored to be asked!

And then, there we were, on the red carpet! 

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

But here's the thing…there is a rope down the center of the red carpet that divides the common folk from the real celebrities. No matter! It was incredible just being there.

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

We were being hurried along by the ushers, who wanted us to keep moving, but hey, there was no way we weren't stopping to ogle at the stars, or take each other's pictures on the red carpet. 

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

Every picture of me on the red carpet came out like crap. So no, I won't share. 

Finally, we were inside the theater. Our seats were WAY back.  Trust me, these photos are zoomed!

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

It was pretty exciting, but, honestly? A little boring. Even though I worked in TV, I didn't watch a lot of the other networks' shows, so I needed the TV captions to tell me who was on stage!

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

One year, I attended the Governor's ball after the awards. The decor was drop-dead stunning (that's my silver purse on the table).

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

However, I much preferred attending my company's "After-Emmy" party. Stars from every network always ended up at our party, because it had the reputation of being the best one. They all wanted to be "seen" at our event. 

Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes

I'm not an extremely outgoing person, but somehow, I found it kind of easy to approach some of the celebrities from our shows, and say, 


"Hi, I schedule your show. Can I get a picture with you?" 

Most of them were extremely gracious and said yes. 

If ever there was a Cinderella moment, it was when, at the end of the ball, I went back to the hotel…

…took off my glass slippers (oy, my feet were killing me!), changed out of my dress, and took off my makeup. 

It's nice to live the life of the rich and famous for a day…sigh. 


So tonight, as I watch this year's Emmy awards…

     I'll feel a little wistful, because I'm not there…


     I'll cheer for my former network as they win their awards…


     I'll scan the audience to catch a glimpse of the executives from my company…


     I'll still feel proud, when the winners thank the people I used to share a conference    table with...


     I'll feel just a tinge of envy reading all of the status updates on Facebook from my friends and former co-workers, who are posting photos of themselves with celebrities...


     And then, I'll click off the TV and head up to bed…while my friends will be just heading to the after-party...


But I'll remind myself to be grateful to have had the good fortune to have been Cinderella on more than one occasion…

...and to be immensely proud of the career I once had.



Looking Backward To The Emmys  - Ms Toody Goo Shoes


Ms. Toody

18 comments:

  1. Wow, wonderful opportuntities for you. xo

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  2. Amy, how exciting! I loved reading this and feeling as if I, too, were rubbing shoulders with the glamourous famous stars. I hope you'll post more on your experiences during your career. Maybe you have and I just need to search your archives. I have always watched all the award shows, I and our son Zack are award shows junkies, never miss them. And I always want to be early for the red carpet interviews too. Wish they took us to the parties afterwards..but then, you can tell us about that!

    Of course it has to be a little melancholic for you tonight. But you had that and now you have a new path that I hope you'll enjoy just as much, in different ways.

    Enjoy tonight. I will.
    Dewena

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    1. Hi Dewena, hope you enjoyed tonight's show. I thought it was a pretty good one! I've done a couple of posts on my career life, but nothing too specific. I'm kind of staying away from that for now, but I'm sure it will come out in bits and pieces. I am thrilled with my new path...the blogging world has been enormously satisfying to me now! I'm loving it!

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  3. There's no business like show business...right? I think it's in a class all its own; there's nothing quite like it, good and bad, illusion and reality, people and personas. Growing up, I wanted to be an actress/director/sitcom star, yes, in that order. Then, after watching reruns of 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', I was hooked on writing comedy sketches. Still am.

    Amy, you had a wonderful career in the business, worked with amazing people and got to walk the red carpet, (I think I would be tripping over my own two feet from all those blinding lights!). A different scene from your present routine, which I know you absolutely adore! I hope you enjoy all the glitz and gold tonight from the comfort of your own precious setting!

    Poppy

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    Replies
    1. Well, Poppy, I hope you still pursue that dream of writing comedy. You are an incredible writer! Yes, it's a different scene for me now, but one that I am getting enormous pleasure from. I love the world of blogging!

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  4. How wonderfully exciting it must've been to be a part of that industry! I can only imagine what it was like to have attended the award show. I won't be watching all of it tonight because I'm a huge Dexter fan and tonight is the final episode on Showtime. So from 9-10 I will be planted in front of the TV watching with excitement to see how the show ends.

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    Replies
    1. Hope you enjoyed the Dexter finale, Kelly! I had my DVR set for a few of my faves...I'll have to catch up during the week.

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  5. What wonderful experiences! You could get dressed up and Photoshop yourself into pictures beside your favorite celebrities! ;)

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    1. Ha! Good idea, LuAnn! Or I could pull out some old ones, and pass them off for this years:)

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  6. That must have been a wonderful experience attending those events.

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  7. It must have been so interesting to see all those stars! Yet I would have been the same way about getting out of my shoes and fancy dress. It's fun for a while, kinda like playing dress up. Thanks for sharing your insiders viewpoint.

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    1. It was pretty incredible. It's amazing that these people live this way all of the time, and I got to see what it was like for a day here and there!

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  8. That was a fascinating post. I loved discovering some of your past. I had been wondering since I had read the description of you on your blog. But I also loved how you were able to analyse what you felt then and what you feel now.

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    1. Thanks, Magali. I spent so much time at that company, that it's sometimes hard to separate myself from it, even now that I've been gone a year! BUT -- I am so happy now to be free to pursue other things, like blogging!

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  9. Dear Amy,
    Thank you for sharing your memories. It is nice to hear that the celebrities were gracious when asked for their pictures.
    I am sure you are too critical of yourself and your pictures are beautiful.
    Thank you again for sharing.
    Blessings, Catherine

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