Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I Didn't Act Like A Total Fool!

Have you ever wondered how you'd act (or react) if you met a celebrity? Not just any celebrity, of course. If Lindsay Lohan walked by me right now I'd probably duck and cover. No, I'm talking about someone you admire, maybe are a member of their fan club, have seen every TV show/movie they've been in or read every book they've written, etc. I've always suspected that, try as I may to maintain the Three Cs*, I would fall apart and become a blubbering idiot the moment I came within 10 feet. Maybe 50 feet.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet someone I admire greatly, and whose show I LOVE - Chef Duff!! If you don't know who he is, Chef Duff Goldman is the host/star/driving force behind the Food Network show, "Ace of Cakes." He has one of the most infectious laughs ever, and really is one of the most huggable-looking guys out there. Plus, well, he makes AMAZING CAKES!

Duff came to Grand Rapids this week to help out with a fundraiser for Hospice of Michigan's 30th birthday. The event & cake unveiling is tonight, but last night he signed copies of the book Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes at the Schuler Books in downtown Grand Rapids. And I was there!

My friend Rachel and I waited in line for over two hours, but it was worth it! Here's my conversation with Chef Duff: (Note: While we were in line, if we wanted Duff to write our names when he signed our books, they wrote them on a sticky note inside.)

Duff: Are you Katherine?
Me: I am!
Duff: I have a Katherine!
Me: [a little confused...] You do?
Duff: Yeah! On the show!
Me: Oh, yeah!
Duff: Where is she? [Looking at the little cartoons at the bottom of the page of all of the people who work with him at Charm City Cakes - this is when the above picture was taken] There she is! [Draws an arrow up to her] Only we call her K-Money. [writes "K$" under her picture]
Me: Ah, I've been called that before.
Duff: Yeah?! [Laughs...I love his laugh!]
Me: Yep! [Duff hands me book, smiles at me :)] Thank you!!
Duff: No problem!
Compelling drama, right? ;) And I think you'll all be happy to know (I certainly was!) that I maintained the Three Cs with gusto! Now if you'll excuse me, all of this talk about cake is making my stomach growl...


*Cool, Calm, Collected

4 comments:

Elizabeth Downie said...

What an adventure! It sounds like it was a lot of fun. I wish you would have said something like, "would you sign my forehead too?" or something like that, just to stand out. I'm so glad you got to meet him. I know you'd been looking forward to that for awhile. Great pictures!

Erin said...

I LOVE LOVE that show!!! Totally jealous you met him:) Sounds like fun!!!

Melanie Carbine said...

i only get giddy around artists that are really only famous among the avant-garde.

violet50 said...

I get tongue tied around famous people. I probably would have told him that he was Chef Duff, to which he would have replied, "I know".