One Year Later

It is SO hard to believe how quickly the past year has gone by! The past few years have been filled with SO many wonderful opportunities and blessings. Each day I am thankful for my amazing family, a wonderful job, a lovely place to live, my health, my many friends across the globe and on my list goes. This past weekend I was looking at some photos and remembered that last March I attended the Martha Stewart show with many of you. I looked up the exact dates and it was exactly a year ago today (to those of that follow me on Twitter, I was a day off yesterday- whoops!). I CANNOT believe it has been an entire year since I was lucky enough to meet many of you and have the experience of a lifetime! That New York trip was also the last time I saw mother before she moved 9000 miles away to India. In honor of such an AMAZING trip I just had to post my evening recap of the special day!

Well, as you know yesterday was a HUGE day in the life of Hopsy. It was one of those days I will NEVER forget for as long as I live and I am just SO glad I go to share it with so many of you. As mother said to me yesterday, life if all about relationships and my love for Lilly has allowed me to form so many new relationships with so many wonderful people. I am so very blessed!

We arrived at Martha around 8am yesterday and were thrilled to see so many smiling faces all decked out in my favorite brand! We waited outside for about twenty minutes before entering the studio to receive our tickets. If I talk to you often you know I was quite worried about the ticket situation as we got an email last week that sort of left things up in the air. However, it all worked out perfectly and mother and I were handed ticket 3 and 4. We checked our coats and went into the Martha holding room with our new friends.
Here are Becca, Lilly and I waiting for what is to come. Becca and Lilly went to Babson together and met because they were both in Lilly! If you watched Martha yesterday you are sure to have seen them! Our mothers became quick friends and mother has already extended India invitations to them. Oh, and before I forget Becca is the founder of a very fun, preppy line! I am hoping to feature her on here so do stay tuned.
Emilie and I found the perfect time to take a photo as we waited! I met E this past fall and she is simply AMAZING! She has a HUGE love for Lilly as does her husband and I am just SO thrilled and lucky that I got to see them so many times while in the city. Aren't we festive in our pink and green!? Conveniently, we sat right in front of Kate and Landlocked Mermaid (and Erin who I MISSED meeting!) in the holding room. We had such fun chatting. It felt as if we had known each other for ages. I am not sure if I have already mentioned this, but Kate was the very first blogger (aka person with her own blog) that ever commented on my blog! Suburban Prep was the first non-family member and then Kate followed her!
Here is a view of the first holding room. There was another to the right of this photo. While we were in the holding room one of the shows producers came in and said they were looking for people to feature on this special Martha segment. So, if you had a fun Lilly story you should head her way and make yourself known. I was not so sure about this at first, but after chatting with mother and the other ladies I figured I had nothing to lose. I walked over to the producer and told her all about my love for Lilly and my blog. I mentioned my tour of headquarters, my part time job and the Lilly event I hosted the evening before and she took some notes and a photo and said we would be in touch. After about fifteen minutes they started asking the audience to line up so that we could enter the studio. Becca and Lilly were behind mother and I in line and as soon as we got to the studio entrance she took them aside and told them they would be featured on the show! I was thrilled for them and thought my chance had come and gone. However, she came right back over and put a star on my ticket and told me they had chosen to feature me too! I could hardly believe it, I was ELATED! I honestly never once thought my story would be one Martha would want to feature especially considering they only choose TWO people from the audience (the other two ladies had major Martha connections). However, this just goes to show you always need to make yourself known! You just NEVER know what will come out of something!

Not only was I going to be featured on the show, but I was in the VERY FRONT AND CENTER of the studio! It was so surreal! The producer came over and rearranged our question order (I was originally second, but was moved to the final seat) and then hair and make up came in to touch us up. Finally, I was taken to the side studio door to have my microphone put on. I was a bit nervous as I was the only lady that was not given my specific question. The producer went over everyone's questions and then right before we went on air she ran over to tell me to say I had a tour of headquarters, owned over 130 pieces of Lilly and now worked at a store part time. I said a quick prayer before Martha entered and stood right in front of me. I sat up straight and smiled and before I knew it Lilly and Becca were answering their questions and then Dawn was talking about her wedding and then Martha called out "Hopsy." Martha was SO nice and I had such fun being on camera! Before I spoke I thought about how I was representing each of you all. You all helped me get there today and you were on my mind and there in spirit! I did feel bad my shoes were not Lilly and of course I found out they zoomed in, but overall I thought things went very well. I guess it just goes to show you do not have to have a closet full of Lilly to wear Lilly. You can mix it with other items which is important. I did watch the segment this evening when I got home and hope I did not come off as over enthusiastic! During the first commercial break the producer came back out and said I was perfect and too cute so that was a reassuring. She mentioned that everyone in back simply adored me so that was great feedback I thought!

I loved taking in the rest of the show from the front row and now LOVE both Martha Stewart and Lilly Pulitzer more than ever. Martha was wonderful in person and she seemed to genuinely be excited about an all Lilly show. I mean really how could you not be!? The audience was so excited and everyone I spoke with was happy and had a great outlook and attitude. That is what Lilly does, it makes you happy and keeps you positive!

Yesterday was AMAZING and I am so thrilled mother and I were able to attend this once in a lifetime event. From the people we met to seeing and being interviewed by Martha to the amazing goody bags and the after party (check back tomorrow for an after party post!) we simply had the BEST time! Lilly is more than just a brand it is a way of life and I am glad to live the Lilly life!