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[#1]

I wanted to write a recap of all of the fun I've had this season with my friend, Ellen DeGeneres, presenting her ED on Air collection to our QVC customers....but I found that there were so many FUN moments, I would have to write an entire book!! (Maybe I will someday!) Meanwhile, here is a collection of highlights from our final trip to Southern California for 2016, as I bade farewell (for now) to a wonderful friend, and said hello to a  new furry family member!!

After I arrived in Los Angeles and deposited my luggage at the hotel, my next stop was the Pasadena Humane Society (pasadenahumane.org). My producer, Patrick and I had grabbed a stack of Ellen's wonderful, plushy new ED on Air dog beds, and decided to donate them to this incredible animal shelter. It's one of the finest in the country, and I actually adopted two of my dogs, Cocker sisters, Molly and Ginger (now both 14 years old) from this same shelter when I lived in the area!  We were given a fantastic tour of the entire facility, by President/CEO, Julie Bank, and we also met Community Relations Associate, Jamie and Adoptions Supervisor, Kevin. Our tour wrapped up in the dog exercise room, where several adoptable doggies were romping and playing and enjoying their new ED pet beds! One of them immediately captured my heart....and as it happened, the folks who were supposed to adopt him the day before had never shown up! (Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself...)   What a fantastic group of people with the welfare of animals at the top of their lists! A big thanks to Julie and her staff for all that they do for homeless pets!

The next day, we headed over to the Warner Brothers Studio Lot, and the sound stage for The ELLEN Show, for our final ED on Air show of the season. As always, Ellen's team and our team collaborate together to make our ED shows, some of the most entertaining shows on QVC! What an incredibly talented group of people on both teams....actually for THESE shows, they are ONE team, which is very rare in the industry. No egos...no competition...just lots of talented folks having fun and putting on a terrific show together. We took a moment after rehearsal to snap a photo of the entire group! There is a tremendous amount of talent, generosity and kindness on that stage!!

Our final show was our BEST show ever. Ellen's constant shenanigans (NEVER the way we rehearsed it!) and me, trying to hold it together to actually present her products to our viewers (imagine that!)....we both laughed through the entire thing and I know many of you have told me YOU did too!!  Ellen and I have a true friendship, which makes it easy for us to work together. We really just go with the flow and even WE never know what's going to happen next on our shows. I'm so glad that so many of you have told me how  much you have enjoyed them! I adore her and want you to know she is the REAL DEAL. Funny, smart, kind, concerned,  generous, a very hard worker, an animal advocate. A true friend. She's everything she seems to be on TV, and so much more.

After we bid farewell for  the season, our team packed up and got ready to head home to QVC Studio Park  the next morning..... and I called Kevin, at the Pasadena Humane Society, and the airline. Then, went to dinner with some great pals, including my friend, Lauri Marshall, who is also my hair and makeup artist. We enjoyed yummy Italian at Americana at Brand, a fabulous outdoor shopping and dining complex in Glendale, which is a city sandwiched between Burbank and Pasadena. That entire area is where my husband and I lived for 20 years, before moving to Pennsylvania for my job at QVC, 12 years ago.

We flew home the next morning, but my story isn't quite over yet....because the next day, someone else was winging his way eastward through the friendly skies toward Philadelphia...and that evening, I made one more trip to the airport to pick up our newest furry family member, Nicholas, who I met while delivering Ellen's pet beds to the Pasadena Humane Society. He became an instant HIT with my pet family and hubby Mike loves him too! (We've already started explaining to that little California guy all about snow!)

You can see my tour of the Pasadena Humane Society below:

Don't forget to support YOUR local animal shelter this holiday season and when you have room in your heart and home for a forever pet, please consider ADOPTING!

Wanna see Ellen's wonderfully fun ED on Air home decor collection? Click the picture below - It's exclusive to QVC!