Fashion Friday

My stepmom LOVES Cityline. She loves Marilyn Denis, the host of Cityline, but she also has a deep connection to all the guests. She feels she knows them intimately - and likely she does, given that she PVR's the show daily and watches it as soon as she gets home from work. She can tell me what accent pieces Brian Gluckstein has added to his home collection, what hairstyle Bill Rowley is loving this season, what new foundation makeup artist Derek Selby is recommending. The other day, while having a normal conversation with her, she told me that Janette had moved magazines from Chocolat to Chatelaine.

I knew that she meant Janette Ewen - Janette's one of my friends and I knew she'd gotten a fab new job at Chatelaine when Chocolat folded last year - but I wondered how on earth my stepmom knew this.

Cityline.

On Sundays, she doesn't go to church. She catches up on any shows she missed during the week. Marilyn is her Moses.

Years and years ago, we got tickets to the show, and since word got to the 'burbs that Marilyn might not be the host of Cityline for much longer given the corporate hubbub, my stepmom was panicking that she wouldn't see Marilyn & Cityline together live.

So on Friday, as a belated birthday gift (like practically a YEAR late, I’m an awful stepdaughter!), I finally got us tickets to her favourite day on the show, Fashion Friday, and I called to tell her. Cityline tapes live at 10 am, and one of my friends who works at MuchMusic said to get there around 9:15 or 9:30 and stand in line so we'd get a good seat. I relayed the info to my stepmom.

She got up at 5:30. Drove 45 minutes to the train station. Caught the 7 am train. Was in Toronto at 8 am, where I met her. We headed to Starbucks to get lattes and people-watched since we had like an hour to spare. When she saw Sandra Pittana come in for a coffee before heading across the street, she leaned over and told me -- based on the asymmetrical hemline peeping out below Sandra's trench coat -- exactly what outfit she was wearing beneath.

I was secretly impressed.

Even though we could've been first in line, we were too wimpy and didn't want to wait in the cold, so by the time we saw everyone else lining up we were last in line. But, as though my stepmom has super-Cityline powers, they were seating back to front, so we scored front-row seats.

"We're going to be on camera the whole time," she told me knowingly.

And she made sure we were, even when the producers kept saying "Don't look at yourself on the TVs. You're there. Trust us." At one point I leaned over to her to say "Did you hear them? We're not supposed to look," but she just laughed and pointed at us.

When they picked people for makeovers, she didn't get chosen, because she's too well groomed. She takes Bill Rowley's tips to her own hairstylist every four weeks and gets a cut, lowlights in winter, highlights in summer and a cute style.

Still, we got a huge bag full of products at the end, in a large green bag, which we toted around to lunch, then shopping. People kept asking us what the bags were from.

"Cityline," she would say, beaming.

Sometimes people would think she meant a store, and they would repeat "Cityline?", looking for clarification.

To which she'd just nod and say, "Yes, with Marilyn?”

And then she'd smile, pat her bag and move on.