Diary of a Star for a Day
April 2005
I was sitting at my desk slightly stressed and attempting to multi-task when my husband called me on my cell phone. While we were talking, my office phone rang. A very chipper young man asked to speak with Jayne Pelosi. Certain he was a telemarketer, and preferring to speak with my husband, I almost dodged the call and hung up on him. But for some reason I replied, "this is she, can I help you?" He then said he was Jeremy Cook from "Designers' Challenge." I paused (actually gulped) and asked, "You mean HGTV's "Designers' Challenge?" to which he replied "the one and only." My heart pounded and instantly I said, "Excuse me, let me get rid of this call," and promptly hung up on my husband!
Mr. Cook said they found me on the web and thought I would be a perfect contestant for a new episode they were planning to film in nearby Kingston, MA. For those of you unfamiliar with HGTV's "Designers' Challenge" (is that possible??), it is a great little show where three designers compete to present a design plan for a particular project. Whether I was chosen to implement the design or not, I knew it would be a wonderful experience that included exposure on national television.
This particular project sounded delightful. A young couple expecting their first child had recently bought the home of the now deceased acclaimed local artist Marshall Joyce. The space they wanted to rehab was the studio where Mr. Joyce created all of his masterpieces, an old and shaky gem of a building overlooking the stunning views of the Jones River. The couple wanted to turn this into a sports museum-inspired entertainment room, complete with surround sound, a plush sectional and sports memorabilia.
In the ensuing thirty days, I met with the couple, brought in my architect and builder to assess the structural integrity of the building and was hard at work creating my vision for their new room. With some TLC (and a few new structural beams!), the abandoned building that held countless memories of a huge talent now gone was about to be transformed. I set out to create a new space for this new generation: a young family eager to create their own cherished memories in this new incarnation.
On April 1st and 2nd, on a cold gray New England day, Hollywood came a-calling! Initially they filmed me in my home and office, then at the clients' home on presentation day. Aside from bemoaning the fact that my hair was going to swell like Jiffy Pop due to the rain, those two days were nothing less than thrilling. When the cameraman powdered my face and said "action," I truly felt like Julia Roberts (a slightly less wealthy JR that is...). There were a lot of funny moments such as when my cats Lilly and Henley started brawling in the next room, which caused the director to smirk and blurt out "CUT, let's shoot this piece again."
I can honestly say that I felt nervous only once during the whole experience: when on presentation day, I looked up and there before me were two cameramen, a lightingman, the HGTV Producer Mike Noble, the clients, the clients' Mother, three reporters from local papers and my dear husband and most loyal fan Steven. There they all were, a small and enthusiastic crowd eager to see what I was about to unveil. At that moment, my heart skipped a beat and then began to sing. And while I was not chosen to complete the project, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude, celebrity and glee.
-Jayne