The next day...
I think it was the Thursday before Columbus Day. I wake up and I was huunnggrrryyy and my fiance is trying 
to shape himself up a bit by shaving. I'm anxiously waiting for him to get ready so we can just go eat. When I realize it's going to take a him longer than I want. I decide to head out and grab some water and snacks from a convenience store. I hadn't "freshened up", but I put on what I thought were fabulous black gym shorts and that tantalizing, new TripAdvisor t-shirt. All with my army bandanna around my natural 'fro, and with my Oh-So-Fly $14 XOXO purse. Yea, I bought it in NYC when I was shopping with my model friend from undergrad (see pic on left). Anyway, I was ready for SoBe....MIT-style. I go out grab some goodies and return. While I was out, I had overheard the news saying that it would be record temps around 100 degrees. But I never thought to change my all black gear. Well when I return, my fiance is now ready to eat so we head out on the beach side of ocean drive, so not to be haggled by all the restaurant people trying to get you to eat their spot. We were pretty sure we were going to eat outside at the News Cafe. Funny side note, the music on News Cafe's site is the wedding music Cannon. Hmm... maybe that's a sign?!?! It's a spot my older sister had told me about and I had eaten there in the past. I also randomly hear of stars eating there so I thought it was cool. But I didn't think I needed to upgrade my clothes or freshen up. I was on a mission to eat! and then maybe walk back along the beach, come back and freshen up and get ready to jump in the ocean.
to shape himself up a bit by shaving. I'm anxiously waiting for him to get ready so we can just go eat. When I realize it's going to take a him longer than I want. I decide to head out and grab some water and snacks from a convenience store. I hadn't "freshened up", but I put on what I thought were fabulous black gym shorts and that tantalizing, new TripAdvisor t-shirt. All with my army bandanna around my natural 'fro, and with my Oh-So-Fly $14 XOXO purse. Yea, I bought it in NYC when I was shopping with my model friend from undergrad (see pic on left). Anyway, I was ready for SoBe....MIT-style. I go out grab some goodies and return. While I was out, I had overheard the news saying that it would be record temps around 100 degrees. But I never thought to change my all black gear. Well when I return, my fiance is now ready to eat so we head out on the beach side of ocean drive, so not to be haggled by all the restaurant people trying to get you to eat their spot. We were pretty sure we were going to eat outside at the News Cafe. Funny side note, the music on News Cafe's site is the wedding music Cannon. Hmm... maybe that's a sign?!?! It's a spot my older sister had told me about and I had eaten there in the past. I also randomly hear of stars eating there so I thought it was cool. But I didn't think I needed to upgrade my clothes or freshen up. I was on a mission to eat! and then maybe walk back along the beach, come back and freshen up and get ready to jump in the ocean. We eventually arrive at the News Cafe sit-down and order. It's burning hot outside and a bird is eating splenda in a tree over my fiance's head and the splenda dust is falling down. Hahaha! We start talking about weddings and traditions. I was saying things are not like the old days. Weddings are INSANELY EXPENSIVE!! I remember Googling the cost and seeing that a $10k wedding was considered a shoe-string budget! Which makes me think wedding or honeymoon!?!? Isn't a honeymoon more important? You know ...an opportunity to start your married life off right ;o) Plus can't we travel to like several countries for the cost of a wedding?! Sigh...Well, I have my back up plan for a honeymoon..Win The Lottery! I don't need millions just a few thousand! Anyhoot, since we are grad students and don't come from money, I knew we had our financial work cut out for us. Maybe we can get a bailout in the spirit of promoting family values! Hmmmm... I was explaining that times have changed and both of us will have to work, and save, and cover the wedding ourselves. No more rich family member who covers the wedding with a dowry full of chickens and cows :o( But I was feeling kind of frustrated that people when it comes to relationships and getting married folks might expect one thing because of tradition or what they see on TV but in reality, at least in ours, things were much different. So I'm kinda grumpy talkin about this when
All Of A Sudden...
This HIGH ENERGY, well dressed woman comes up to me all excited. She introduces herself as someone from Glamour magazine and said a few things about how I was dressed and if I wanted to do a makeover. My first thought was "when does the GIANT SCARY MAN named BRUNO come in and ask me to fly on his private jet back to some amazing country?". I've seen Burn Notice,
I know how these things go down in Miami! But eventually three other adorable ladies walk over and one has a camera. They are saying things to each other, to me, and I'm just shocked and embarrassed by my outfit and possible funkiness. Then I see one young lady with a camera and hear something about B-roll, and I never see the big scary guy. So I start to think that this might be legit. Well the first lady asks me will I do it? She also mentions that I get to fly up to the Today show. And I'm like yea right. And I'm also like, I dont want to be on camera especially not because I dress...well...dress like I was about to pull out my laptop and start coding in the middle of South Beach after a nice stroll down ocean drive. So I look at my fiance and he is emphatically nodding yes, I was actually looking for him to be unsure about it. I guess he secretly wished I would upgrade my look too. Anyway, since he was nodding yes, and given where our conversation was going, I said yes. And was looking forward to this crazy unknown opportunity. At least to check it off my Life List. A phrase I learned from my older sis' when she semi-secretely but SUPER EXCITEDLY went to get her nose pierced.
I know how these things go down in Miami! But eventually three other adorable ladies walk over and one has a camera. They are saying things to each other, to me, and I'm just shocked and embarrassed by my outfit and possible funkiness. Then I see one young lady with a camera and hear something about B-roll, and I never see the big scary guy. So I start to think that this might be legit. Well the first lady asks me will I do it? She also mentions that I get to fly up to the Today show. And I'm like yea right. And I'm also like, I dont want to be on camera especially not because I dress...well...dress like I was about to pull out my laptop and start coding in the middle of South Beach after a nice stroll down ocean drive. So I look at my fiance and he is emphatically nodding yes, I was actually looking for him to be unsure about it. I guess he secretly wished I would upgrade my look too. Anyway, since he was nodding yes, and given where our conversation was going, I said yes. And was looking forward to this crazy unknown opportunity. At least to check it off my Life List. A phrase I learned from my older sis' when she semi-secretely but SUPER EXCITEDLY went to get her nose pierced. 
They offered to cover breakfast, and I thought well if it's a scam at least we got to eat breakfast for free. That's $30 towards our wedding! So they ask us to stay for a bit as they go and eat their breakfast too. Well I'm starting melt in the hot sun and am feeling really funky, but don't want to miss out on this crazy life opportunity. So I go and buy a toothbrush as we wait. And hope that I can escape to at least clean my teeth. The good news is one of the ladies came and told us that we could go and come back. And we exchanged cell numbers. So I rushed back with glee and hop in the shower and brush my teeth. I rush and put on my same outfit, and get a call saying they are ready to do some taping. I still can barely believe it, so I hadn't called any of my family yet. I really wanted to see what was going to happen. We go back to the News Cafe and I was feeling better cause I was smelling better. And we did some taping, that you'll see on the show. Then they said it was time to go shopping!
One funny moment was when they also looked at the awful flip-flops with some broken sequins that I was wearing. I obviously did not think they were awful at the time. Well that prompted my fiance and I to look down at the shoes the ladies were wearing...and my fiance said "oh i've seen women wearing those shoes before", and i was like "where!?!?" 'cause their shoes were fashionable and adorable..not something we see all the time while working in the lab... and he said "at Harvard!" ha ha ha ha. I thought of course you have to go to the school down the street a little to see a lot of fashionistas. Well...WHATEVUH! Anyhoot, we got in a minivan taxi cab and headed to a brand new TJ Maxx that just opened in SoBe. Apparently one of the few discount designer stores in the area. I gave my fiance my camera and told him to take pics of all this. Here's a picture of me (on the right) and the four fashionistas to my left.At The Store...
we did a little bit of filming of us going into the store. Once we were in the store everyone's eye's lit up at all the clothes. Me, well I was overwhelmed by the huge clothing selection. I'm one of those people that sort of freaks out when she sees a huge collection of clothes. I usually have something in my mind that I've "designed" and I never see it exactly, so I'm always disappointed. Then I leave with nothing. Anyhoot, while everyone was walking in the store, I was getting tips on how to tackle shopping in a place like this. Like take it one aisle at a time. So my primary "personal shopper" was, if I recall her name correctly, Suze Yalof Schwartz from Glamour Mag, and she was leading the way and shouting out ideas for clothes, colors, etc to the other women. My fiance and I started browsing around, and I let him lead the way because he does a great job at shopping for me. So he picked out a couple of interesting pieces too. Remember that the clothing that we were looking for were clothes for the beach and for vacation, so that included swimsuit attire and cover-ups. So I definitely felt nervous about being "exposed". There's me and THE SUZE,
At some crazy point in time I was escorted over to the fitting rooms. I remember the ladies saying do you have a really big dressing room, or something like that, and pushing around a racks of clothes!! So TJ Maxx handed over the handicapped dressing room, which was available at the time. And within seconds it was filled with clothes and like 10+ pairs of shoes/sandals!!! Wow these women were gifted artists of their craft, fashion! I was beyond impressed!! I think it was around that time that I decided to call some of my family to let them know this was really happening. I think I started with my older sister. And I was like "yea... I'm being ambushed for a makeover ...blah..blah..blah...Glamour Mag!!...Today Show...yaddda yaddda yaadda".. and she did not say anything at first. And I had to give her a lil' more back story to realize I was not making this up! Eventually, I get in contact with another sister of mine, younger than me. She had already "heard" the news because my older sister, a freelance journalist, avid blogger, and more had already posted something about my makeover on Facebook and had apparently Twittered it Out!!! Ahhh the beauty of social media! So it was not long before my 3rd, also younger, sister knew too! Yea, yea,yea, I know I have a big family. I'm a family girl so I love it sooo much! There is younger brother too! The youngest! I had sent him a text message along with my mom and Dad about the whole ordeal too! 
Oh yea.. back to getting in the handicapped dressing room. Well one by one I was trying on different beach-type, warm weather-type clothes. I could not hide my juicy figure as I stepped out the dressing room and showed the outfits to everyone. I figured these women have seen all body types so whatever...it's the being on TV part that makes me a lot more nervous. U know that whole image thing for women...well me I'm juicy and I kinda love it! But it may not fit in with the mainstream magazine look. Too bad for them ..missin out on the juicy look!! Anyhoot, as I am trying on clothes and am half exposed at times, I'm wondering if a dark niplet might slip out! But the girls managed to stay in side their stable even as they were squished and pulled in different ways to fit different types of clothes. I learned some great secret inside tips while trying on the clothes too!
I try on some stuff walk out the dressing room ..with Suze Super Energetic, talking fashion talk about what I have on to the other ladies. Commenting on color shape, do's and don'ts. And it was so cute when they ask for my fiance's opinion, who is always brutally honest, and they are able to interpret his like and dislikes, even though his laid-back and chill personality can be hard to read. Well, I made it through trying on the racks of clothes (and some sandals), keeping track of the looks that work and putting back those that did not. When it was all said and done...the makeover women choose "the look" and the 2nd place finishers are kept in a pile. Then there is all this chatter about the 2nd place pile, ya know....is it possible for me to keep those looks as well? 
And Suze says something like..."You are going on a honeymoon right? ya know...it's new beach attire"...My face lit up not saying anything, just enjoying the experience either way. DOOT, DOOT, DOOT, DOOT, and one of the make over women have sent a text message to somewhere important to see if I could keep the other looks.
And Suze says something like..."You are going on a honeymoon right? ya know...it's new beach attire"...My face lit up not saying anything, just enjoying the experience either way. DOOT, DOOT, DOOT, DOOT, and one of the make over women have sent a text message to somewhere important to see if I could keep the other looks. 
We wait a while and chat, and come to find out two of the women are getting married too so of course we talk wedding talk;o) Which reminds me ,I have a new idea of how to afford a wedding...have it sponsored! I mean isn't that what Heidi and Spencer had? How'd she get to wear all them *Diamonds* at her MTV wedding? SHhhhoooo... I'd be happy to show some commercials or give some product shout-outs at my wedding. I can see it now..."And these vows are brought to you by Dictionary Dot Com!" 
Then up on the projector screen interlaced between loving images are commercials for Campbell's soup and the local Florist. Anyway, back to reality...after some time passed another one of the ladies went to talk to the store's P. R. people...I guess..and then she comes back with a big smile on her face whispering they are letting you keep the clothes! Super Smiles all around...and I'm also told to bring them to the Today Show...
We wrap things up...
and say our good-byes. They say they have to take the outfit that was chosen back to the studio with them...let's pray that it still fits...given the all-nighters and crazy bags of chips mixed with stressful robotics research....we shall see...anyway, we all squoosh in the elevator to leave TJ Maxx and head back to wherever we came from. The fabulous ladies grab a cab headed back toward Ocean drive. My fiance and I are walking back as well, as it's a beautiful day out and I still have my oh-so-awful...happy disaster clothes on...but in my hand is this bag with a couple extra new beach pieces! it was maybe around 1 or 2pm, so the overall experience was fast. I grab my phone and chat it up with my fam and rattle off a few texts. We eventually walk all the way back to Ocean drive and as we walk along the drive we see the ladies again on the other side of the street and wave...That was the last time we ever saw of them.
After all that, I still had real doubts that someone was going to call and book us on a flight (or train) to go to the Today Show! Especially since all they had was my celly. Also since it was early Oct and the taping was planned for Dec. so I was not really holding my breath just remember the crazy fun memory and enjoying the new beach clothes. Also, I'm known to rarely answer my cell phone and especially when it's an unknown call, cause those are usually telemarketers. soooo I apparently missed a call at the end of Oct. from one of the ladies,, the fabulous camera woman who is an NBC producer. And I rarely ever check my messages. Then I missed her call again in mid Nov and that time I decided to check my messages. 
When I heard it was her I was sooooooo excitttteeddd!!! Then I got really nervous that I'm going to miss my opportunity...so I called, but did not reach her but left a message...to make a long story short I did get in touch with her a few days later...then I let her know that email is the way to communicate for me and...bada bing bada bang I get an email with Transportation and lodging info for the Dec 16 Today Show! ... The trip is short but exciting...NYC...oooh and I hope my sister can come too...and maybe we can pretend we are fabulous for a few minutes...and I can sneak into a DREAM APPOINTMENT at the wedding dress store Kleinfeld's you know from the show Say Yes to the Dress! Well it's at least fun to dream!!!And that ends Chapter One...Chapter Two, the final chapter, coming soon...I'll be on for a couple seconds on dec 16 sometime during 10am-11amEST.
