Away From Home- Cook-off Day

The night before the actual cook-off I was absolutely exhausted yet couldn't close my eyes

My nerves were crazy and I just couldn't settle down. Looking over the schedule for the next day one thing got me excited like a kid on Christmas morning and it was first on our schedule for the day: Hair and Makeup

Ariel, the makeup and hair guy was so funny and sweet and I was loving the touch ups he'd insist on right before going to film anything! Can't he just show up at my house and make me look good on a daily basis?

On the far left is Megan, then Shauna, Biz and me on the end

Yay for new friends!

As I said before, I really enjoyed meeting these ladies and I really appreciated the relaxed vibe they all had.

We were told by a few of the production people that the whole day would be a lot of "hurry up and wait" moments and they were so right.

Hair and makeup, catered breakfast in the room, personal interviews, interviews with Sunny, Pictures with Sunny, 45 minutes of filming us all walking into and around the hotel, prepping our food, catered lunch, cooking and having sunny pop in and talking about the tips and tricks of your dish.....it was busy, hectic at times and SO MUCH FUN!

I really loved seeing all of the ins and outs of how filming and creating a large contest was done

This was the room I cooked in

Sunny was so nice, funny and really knew what she was doing. I loved seeing her host and do voiceovers, outtakes and discuss things I didn't even understand with the production crew.

Presenting to the judges I felt like I could pass out at any moment.

But apparently, they liked it. They really liked it!

 

I still can't believe it happened, but I won! 

I was so glad that Louis was there with me to celebrate. I was also equally glad that even though he had been relaxing in the hotel room drinking beer and playing online poker all day that he came down fully clothed and acting appropriately.

 And here's the YouTube video if you'd like to watch the sizzle reel for yourself!