My Tweet On Katie Couric's SHOW!!

After an eventful January, I decided to take a break from my whole staying up past midnight on weekends schedule and devote the month of February to fruits, veggies and yoga. Sure, we're almost halfway through the month and I have yet to regularly intake fruits and veggies, let alone sign up for a neighborhood yoga class, but oh well. At least I haven't been eating out nearly as much as I had been for the month of January, which is enough of a cleanse for me.

In the spirit of all things low-key for February, I stayed in on Saturday night - my primary goal being to catch up on my DVR. When you DVR hour-long talk shows on a daily basis, your DVR tends to fill up pretty quickly. I just love Katie, The View and Ellen - what can I say?

After watching one episode of The View, I decided to switch over to a couple of Katie episodes that I hadn't yet caught up on during the week.

One thing Katie has started doing on Fridays is a "Friday Follow Up" segment, where she basically summarizes the feedback that she has received throughout the week from her viewers.

As this segment popped up on my screen, I distinctly remembered sending Katie a tweet about a show she'd had earlier that week that featured the men of Silver Linings Playbook. I haven't yet seen the movie but have heard a lot of hype about it and was definitely interested to hear what Robert DeNiro, Bradley Cooper and David Russell had to share about their experiences.

To be perfectly honest, I was shocked with how emotionally charged was this episode. I don't know if it was because of the topic the movie covers (mental illness) or because of all three guys' incredibly emotional reaction to the subject matter... whatever the case, I couldn't stop thinking about that show for a couple of days. So I did what any normal person would do - I tweeted my sentiments to Katie.

I honestly had forgotten about the tweet I'd sent until I saw Katie's "Follow Up Friday" segment pop up on my television screen. It was only at that point that I started thinking about how funny (read: awe-some) it would be to have the Maliyacular show up on the big screen (Katie's big screen, more like). I figured it was kind of a long stretch for a couple of reasons:

1. I figured there are thousands of messages that her staff is sifting through in order to figure out what will accurately portray a well-rounded plate of weekly feedback.

2. I figured I would be notified if my message had been chosen.

Turns out... I was wrong. Because imagine my (DELIGHTED!!) surprise when Katie's introducing the feedback related to her Silver Linings Playbook show and the screen shifts to THIS:

Needless to say, freaking out didn't even BEGIN to describe my reaction. There it was!! The Maliyacular on the Katie's big screen!! I could NOT BELIEVE IT!!! And the best part is... well, okay, there's a couple of "best parts" to this:

1. This episode's subject matter is something I feel strongly about so I'm happy she was able to feel/hear the conviction / emotion in my mere tweet.

2. More superficially speaking... I have it on my DVR!! You better believe I'm going to be saving THAT one for months years to COME!

MAN!! What a great start to my low-key month of February, that is ALL I have to SAY!

Another Twitter Success Story... c/o the Mayor of Ithaca

Oh, Twitter, it's so good to be back.

The past couple of months have been so crazy, that I've had little to no time (especially during the week) for some of my favorite things in life... yes, including Twitter. That's right, Twitter's totally made it onto the shortlist of "some of my favorite things in life". I mean, you have to admit, Twitter's been pretty good to me in the past.

As per usual, I was traveling for work this week. Typically, while on the road, our team doesn't get back to our hotel rooms until about 9 or 10 PM (since most of the time, there's some sort of a team event going on after work). This past Wednesday just happened to be slightly anomalous in nature- there was a freak snowstorm going through Connecticut, so most people in the office were leaving earlier than normal in order to minimize the risk of the quickly worsening road conditions. In any event... sweet success! I actually made it back to my hotel room at a reasonable hour and was able to catch up on some good old-fashioned television-watching... and discover Rock Center on NBC.

Have you seen this show?? I mean, I've heard of the show before, but I've never actually sat down to watch it... a little surprising considering how much I love all those "news magazine-y" types of shows (i.e. 20/20, Dateline, Nightline, etc.). In any event, I was so pleased with how Rock Center was panning out... I mean, you can't really go wrong with Brian Williams (and I just realized, Meredith Vieira is a special correspondent?!?!? Yep- you've just 100% won me over!).

Anyway, one of the stories on Rock Center this week involved a profile of Ithaca's newest mayor... who just happens to be the ripe old age of 24. Isn't that crazy?!?! I was immediately intrigued. And rightly so- Mayor Svante Myrick's story is incredible. From growing up homeless to graduating from Cornell to, oh yeah, becoming Ithaca's mayor at the age of 24... it's clear that this guy has a very bright future ahead of him. But that's really not what struck me the most... sure, he sounds good on paper, but so do like 75% of the other Ivy League politicians out there.

Nope- what really sticks out about Svante is how GENUINE and humble he is. Of all the things that he interviewed about, the one thing that has stuck with me is the amount of respect and credit that he gives his mom and grandparents in raising him (during a very difficult childhood). Let's be honest here... heartstring-tugger.

Anyway, I was so pleased with my first viewing of Rock Center (in no small part thanks to stories like this), that I decided to take it upon myself to get right on Twitter and let those Rock Center folks know that they just won over a new fan... gotta spread that sunshine and happiness at any and all life's turns, right? Right.

And would you look at that? Shortly after tweeting them, Rock Center totally FAVORITED my Tweet!! (I don't really know what that means, but I got that notification in my Inbox and, quite frankly, was on cloud NINE!) Not only that, but a supervising producer of NBC primetime news totally mentioned me on Twitter as well!! You'd think that would be the end of it, right?

Well, it wasn't. Because, that's right, the next day... Mayor Svante Myrick replied to my Tweet!!! As if that weren't enough... umm, that's right. He started FOLLOWING me on Twitter as well!!!! lkjlkjlkfajdlkfajdslkjfdslkj!!!! Not gonna lie, it was a little hard to concentrate at work that day as I was seeing those notifications coming through my Inbox... I mean, YOU try maintaining neutral expression as you read (and re-read... and re-read) your Gmail notification that the mayor of Ithaca is now following you on Twitter. alkjfdslksajflkjdslkfj!!!! Come on!! I know I have NO poker face whatsoever, but even people with the BEST poker faces would have trouble containing their excitement with such monumental news, right?! RIGHT?! Right.

(Watch Svante Myrick actually read this post and proceed to unfollow me. I guess I should be a bit more concerned at the prospect of potentially being unfollowed, but, quite frankly, as this thought just crossed my mind, I got a little more distracted by the thought that... oh. my. Lord. What if he actually DID read this BLOG POST?!?!?!?!? Dare I DREAM!)

Sigh... chalk it up to yet ANOTHER Twitter success story. #happiness doesn't even begin to describe it. All I can say is... lesson LEARNED- never again will Twitter fall to the wayside, no matter how crazy life gets. Priorities and all that.

2011 - One of the Best. Years. Yet.

I can't believe 2011 is already coming to an end. Although the onset of New Year's is typically defined by the setting of New Year's resolutions, I haven't yet cemented my New Year's goals just yet... sure, my New Year's goals are in their solid formulation/cementing stages, but that post will be coming at a more appropriate time (i.e. closer to New Year's Eve/Day itself) because, quite frankly...

I can't get over 2011. It was ONE OF THE BEST YEARS YET!! I would say that 2011 was right on up there with the years 1996, 2001 and 2006. That's right- I have favorite years... don't judge (unless that ship has already sailed).

I could go into the details about each of my favorite years, but, quite frankly, laziness is getting the better of me. Instead, I'm simply going to provide a synopsis. A synopsis, if you will, of why 2011 was simply one of my favorite years ever. (So far.)

5. I finally travelled abroad a bit more! With the completion of paying off my graduate student loans (there is no greater sense of accomplishment... well, slight exagg but whatever), I finally got to experience complete and total debt-freedom. So... off to gorgeous Iceland and that place which shall remain nameless (for legal reasons) I went!

4. The year started off on just about the most perfect foot possible, when I landed my first television gig (of the year, that is) thanks to Mother Nature... and Weather Channelman Jim Cantore. I think I was the ONLY Chicago resident who was THRILLED with the onslaught of that blizzard to end all blizzards...

3. I made some really just gosh darn great new friends. Sure, I can befriend like a brick wall if I really have to (what can I say? I have that gift for gab, really...). But this year really made me realize just how much I. Love. Chicago. Sure, the city is great. But it's the people that really make this city feel so much more like a home than any of the other cities I've lived in. Sigh. Virtual hug and all that.

2. I realized just how powerful the Internet can be... so powerful, in fact, that I've taken the opportunity to sub-bullet this point:

2a. I was introduced to Twitter... God, it is only the Best. Thing. Ever. Not only was I retweeted by the Today show (as if the Royal Wedding wasn't a glorious highlight of 2011 in and of itself, who knew that my tweet about it would actually be RETWEETED TO 1.1M followers?!?!?), I was also retweeted by Katie Couric?!!?!?!? lskdjflkds! Oh, the DREAMS!! (Clearly, I dream big.)

2b. I joined CNN's iReport team! Not only did I join the team, but it only took me two reports before my second iReport was vetted and approved by CNN... and received 20,000+ hits in the course of three days!!! Having my iReport be like the fourth story down on the CNN US News page that first day it "went viral" was simply icing on that cake, baby!!!!

1. I was invited to the final, final taping of The Oprah Winfrey show - fulfilling a lifelong dream to see Oprah in person AND see a taping of her show in Harpo studio! This was honestly the PEAK of my year... I still can't believe it happened. While I have no idea why her staff chose me to be one of the exclusive few to be in her audience, I am eternally, eternally grateful. All I have to say is that this experience 100% cemented my belief in good karmic forces and the fact that Someone really is watching out for me...

So there you have it! 2011- a year in review, if you will. 2012 sure does have some big shoes to fill...

Burgers for a $1.50? Don't mind if I do...

Burgers for a $1.50?! That Twitter-headline making news is how I started off my Friday. And you know me... a sucker for pretty much any deal under the sun. I didn't really have an appetite for a burger but hey, for a $1.50 at RJ Grunts (a bar/restaurant which I had yet to try), I can MAKE an appetite.

At first, I was a little put off. I mean, burgers for a $1.50? Alarm bells quickly went off in my head... especially with all those recent unknown E. Coli strains hurry scurrying about the world. What can I say? Health and safety is my middle name.

But of course, thanks to the tweet by good old @nbcchicago (GOD, I love Twitter!), a link was included which thoroughly detailed that this was Lettuce Entertain You's 40th anniversary. Lettuce Entertain You is a company that owns a ton of seriously legit restaurants primarily in Chicago (RJ Grunts is one of them), and in honor of their 40th anniversary, they were rolling back the prices of burgers to the prices of 40 years ago...

Well, in honor of this whole attempt at daily blogging bit, I knew I had my entry for the day all ready and set. The thought of any sort of wait was the only reason I was still half-minded about going to RJ Grunts...

But it CERTAINLY didn't hurt that Lettuce Entertain You TOTALLY RETWEETED ME!

They clearly know the way into my heart. Who are we kidding here?

I figured I might as well just stop by RJ Grunts (it's literally less than half a mile from my place) at an "off hour" so I could avoid any waits.

Wrong-o. Even at the off hour of 3:30 PM, there was a wait! Not to mention a BUMPIN' live DJ already in FULL swing... who would've thought? Sigh. I decided to settle down at the bar for my 40th anniversary burger experience.

I totally felt like a food critic... I never usually go out to eat on my own, but hey, I needed a liberating experience (or something like that) and hello, some serious blog research was at hand here, people! Hahah.

YUM-O! Check out RJ Grunts' MENU!! So many OPTIONS! I was delighted!

And ALL for a $1.50?? Yowza burger it is (sans the bacon... I mean, I didn't want to keel over from an ACTUAL coronary right in the bar)! You better believe the thought of saving NINE whole dollars put an actual smile on my face. It was all rather ridiculous. But WOWZA (no pun intended... hahah)! Check out this YOWZA of a burger!


Juicy, delicious, ketchupy... all kinds of heaven wrapped up in one burger, if you will. Ironically, my appetite quickly developed upon my first bite. And it was totally worth it... every. last. bite.


And all for...


Weeeee!!! A $1.50 (plus tax)!!!!! Best anniversary celebration EVER!!!

As I was savoring each and every bite of my Wowza of a Yowza (like that one? Just thought of it all on my own. Hahaha), I also ended up chatting with one of the other guys at the bar who was eating on his own. You know me, Chicago ambassador, that I am. But this is exactly what I mean about my love for Chicago... you can TOTALLY chat with the stranger sitting next to you and feel like you've made a new friend. Midwestern charm and all that.

Well... okay, so seven hours later (yeah, yeah, I know- the Chicago ambassador can get carried away at some points), my new male twin/self-designated BFF Reggie and I were STILL seated at our barstools at RJ Grunts, chatting away. I think they should dedicate those barstools to us, really. A little plaque wouldn't hurt. Just a thought!

I mean, neither of us really knows what happened. It's one thing to be able to chat with a random stranger, but this dude was like my new MALE TWIN! I mean, come ON. When the dude said he loved Christmas... UMM! It was at this conversational juncture that I knew the BFFness was totally signed, sealed and DELIVERED.

Granted... I proceeded to then introduce him to the ridiculousness that can only be ChristIEmas, but whatever. I've never really had a filter, WHY would one suddenly magically develop at this point?

All in all, SUCH a FESTIVE NIGHT! RJ Grunts was alive and HOPPING the ENTIRE time... only getting busier (and thus more festive!) as the night progressed. At one point, I turned to my right and seated at the bar was this little old lady (she had to be in her 70s/80s), and... well, you know me and old people. Pitter patter SO GOES MY HEART! I nearly swooned (and wish I'd shamelessly snapped a picture, of course)...

And then there were these two men (mid-60s, I would guess) totally rockin' out to some of the DJ's blasts from the past...

And THEN we met a couple of the Lettuce Entertain You folks... whom I totally thanked for retweeting me. Appreciation meets shamelessness, if you will. Haha.

At the end of the day, I guess who can really say no to $1.50 burgers, a live DJ or a seriously festive anniversary celebration, for that matter?

Happy 40th Anniversary, Lettuce Entertain You! Cheers!

Twitter, Retweets and the TODAY SHOW!!

So I joined Twitter a couple of months ago, per some strong encouragement by the one and only Evan Fleming (yes, I will reference him each and everytime I blog about Twitter... giving credit where credit is due and all that). Anyway, for full details about my initial Twitter experience, please refer to the blog post "I'm on Twitter... now what?"(http://bit.ly/ii2XZc) .

I was initially hesitant even to join Twitter. First off, I didn't really understand the point - I mean, who CARES about a nonstop list of status updates of a bunch of random people/places? Not only that, but MAN, it takes some WORK to upstart/maintain your Twitter world. Like... finding people/places to follow, getting people/places to follow you, updating your tweets on a regular basis... who's got the time, really? I, for one, have my DVR on which to catch up! Haha... just kidding... now that Oprah's no longer on, my DVR has surprisingly cleared up rather quickly...

Anyway! Then today happened (no pun intended!).

And my whole Twitter perspective did a complete 180.

First off, I just have to say... it is nothing short of amazing what can happen once you start tweeting on a regular basis!! Granted, most of my tweets are pointless tidbits about my life and/or retweets of interesting articles that others are posting. And sure, I would occasionally get retweeted or mentioned (mostly by my friends), which does make my heart go all a'flutter, not going to lie.

But... why, hello there, TODAY (no pun intended, again... haha), June 7, 2011... a day I shall remember for the rest of my days. Let's just say the heart fluttering went into full-blown coronary mode when, literally one minute after posting a response to the Today Show's tweet about submitting your favorite Meredith Vieira moment (#MeredithMoment), I had THIS pop up in my Inbox....

Now, I don't know about YOU, but it is NOT everyday that the TODAY SHOW POPS UP IN MY INBOXsljfakdsjflkajdsflkjLKJ!L!!l I genuinely thought I was hallucinating for a second (yes, I do get that excited about things), but you know me... QA, QA, QA! Hahaha. You better believe that as soon as I saw that pop up, I Alt+Tabbed (God, I'm such a nerd) on over to my Twitter homepage to confirm. And would you look at that?

Right there on the Twitter homepage!!lkajflksjdf!!!

Maliyacular and the TODAY SHOW SIDE BY SIDE!!!!! A vision of the future, if you will... GOD CAN YOU IMAGINE?!?!

Sigh. And there went my productivity levels for the day. Hahaha. I just couldn't stop thinking about how MAGICAL Twitter is... there I was all disappointed that The Today Show didn't air my interview regarding the taping of the Oprah finale, when lo and beHOLD, the magical world of Twitter totally dissolved ANY Today Show animosity that previously existed (which, let's be honest, was not very much anyway... who am I kidding- I LOVE THE TODAY SHOW!!).

And you know what made this whole first-time-being-tweeted-by-a-celebrity experience even better?

The fact that they retweeted something I genuinely did care about! From her days on The View (that's right, I was still shameless back in the day and totally snagged a photo with her during a commercial break for a taping of The View) to her days on Today, I have been an ardent Meredith Vieira supporter. As I told her when I met her... she is one of my idols (okay, okay, so I really have no shame... and no FILTER... when it comes to talking to celebrities!). Seriously, though, she possesses the perfect balance of knowledge, personableness, charisma and... well, craziness! WHO are we kidding here? She totally brightened up my mornings with her naturally zany nature. Anyway, while I'm sad she won't be part of my morning Today Show-watching routine any longer, I'm excited for whatever else she has in store... she hasn't let me down yet, why would she start now?

I’m on Twitter… now what?

Alright, so here’s the thing. I’m all about social networking, making the world a smaller, place, befriending all the world, etc. That’s why I am a firm advocate of Facebook. Granted, I used to be unhealthily obsessed with it (is it normal to start twitching if one doesn’t check Facebook once every couple of hours? Oh well.), but once you realize your limitations and the healthy boundaries of social networking, you’ll realize just how powerful that tool is.

Okay, Facebook is one thing- it’s so versatile and dynamic and oh how I heart thee. I could write an ode to it. But then there’s Twitter, right? So you know how it’s like all the rage right now? I was firmly against Twitter because I never understood the point of it. After all, the implementation of Facebook’s “status updates” is one of the most annoying things ever to me (well, not EVER, who are we kidding here? I always briefly scroll through the status updates anyway! But still. You know what I mean.)… and that’s pretty much ALL Twitter is, right?

Anyway, power of persuasion and all that. I’m now on Twitter. That took about five minutes of discussion. Haha. I’m telling you, if you ever need to convince anyone of anything, you should hire Evan Fleming (no worries about that whole Internet security business… I already confirmed that he is comfortable with me using his whole name because, as he so eloquently put it, “ohhhh…. No I don’t mind… I’m all over the internet”… hahah KNEE SLAPPER). Granted, Evan is one of my favorite people alive (I heavily advertise him to all the world), so that helped in the whole persuasive component, but still.

Okay, so Evan was all about me getting on Twitter to continue to brand myself and just have another wider ranging audience to whom I can advertise my blog. This all sounded so amazing and monumental and like, wow, this is really going to be my big break in the blog/entertainment world. So, there I went, getting on Twitter.

And then… well, I just got lost and confused. I mean, how in the world do you USE this thing? Like, how in heaven’s name am I supposed to know who to follow? And how am I supposed to self-advertise that people should follow me? And then the whole use of symbols to “tag” people, etc. GOD, it is like the most confusing thing ever.

So, there I was… kind of forgetting that I even HAD a Twitter account… when I posted another blog entry (and advertised it on Facebook and Gchat, as per usual). What was I thinking? Dutiful, dear Evan made sure to get right on his follow up with me to ENSURE that I was planning to post my latest blog entry on Twitter. I mean, who does that? Haha.

So, now that I realize big brother of the Twitter world (aka: Evan Fleming) is totally all up on Twitter, I’m MUCH better about making sure I post my latest blog on Twitter as well… with all my four followers or whatever. Whatever makes him happy, I guess. Haha. It only totally motivates me more that Evan totally tweets me out from time to time. His last tweet about me? “pumped that my girl Christie @Maliyacular is going to be gracing #sf with her presence in a couple weeks. let the #tourdechristie begin!”

A #tourdechristie?!?!?! Alsdkfj;laskdjflkdsjf!!! THIS IS WHY EVAN IS TOTALLY THE PUBLICITY DIRECTOR OF MY SHOW!!!!!!!flkdajslfkdjsla! Who THINKS of something like that?!?!?!?

Anyway, so long story short, sure I STILL don’t really understand the point of Twitter (and if YOU do, please, by all means, do enlighten me), but clearly, CLEARLY, it doesn’t take all that much to get me to love it. God, I’m such a sucker. #hearttwitter! Haha or something like that…