It began with paint: a rusty orange and an electric blue. Our photo studio at Bluefly Corporate Headquarters was being painted, transformed into The Workroom. As I sat behind my receptionist’s desk, the pleasant scent of fresh paint hit my nose. Then the production crew, known as the Magical Elves, came onto the scene: a bombardment of metal, lighting, and men and women in hooded sweatshirts. Their presence proved less subtle than that fresh paint smell.

Monday arrived. Now I had assumed that all of the work was going to take place inside The Workroom, but apparently all that behind the scenes stuff—that was going to take place in the lobby, five feet away from my desk, and on the three-seater couch. Also set up in my lobby (hooray): the Craft Services table! Energy bars, bagels, soft drinks, a basket lined with Hostess cupcakes. Amy, the production manager, noticed my lustful glance and said: "The food is for the whole floor, in appreciation for you having us here." Us included the crew, and of course, the designers.

Incidentally, I did not meet any designers. When a designer did breeze past me, someone would say something like “Designer coming through!” I never quite figured out the reason for this. Was I to alter my behavior in some way at that moment? I did meet Tim Gunn, however. He was very elegant, very nice. And of course -- the models. During casting for the Project Runway Finale, approximately 200 models hovered in my lobby, which made me feel rather -- short.

Through it all, I -- being the receptionist -- answered the phone. Obviously. But whenever I said "Good afternoon, Bluefly," I was greeted with a giant "Shhh!" They were filming a television show, you see. Sigh.

Then, the requests: Kelly, what's up with the wireless internet? Do you have any power cords? Why isn’t that printer working? Suddenly, my clipboard disappeared, then the wastebasket, then my highlighters. I was losing office supplies! My sanity! I countered these losses by emotionally eating. Craft services comforted me during my time of stress.

My stress was minor compared to the frantic work of the Magic Elves, however. Juggling laptops, cell phones, headsets, they worked 24 hours a day. And of course, the Project Runway contestants were busy designing amazing new collections in the next room, soon to be critiqued by millions of views, (plus Heidi, Nina, and Michael, of course).

When the shoot was over, I said goodbye to all my new, tired television friends; they promised to get my clipboard back to me. I told them not to worry about it. It's been nearly two weeks since they were here, but I still find remnants of the show here and there. An empty water bottle that I remember from craft services, a spare Non-Disclosure Agreement. And I smile.

Oh, and the painters: they came back and painted my lobby blue.

--KELLY DUPUIS

Kelly shhhhhhhhhhhhhhush!!!

Posted by: Laura at March 6, 2008 10:57 AM

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