Celebrity

I get a kick out of celebrity sightings. I cannot say that I have that many under my belt. There is a story that when I was very little and living in Georgia Kenny Rogers opened the door of a mall for my mom and I. I saw Scotty Pippen a few times in Disney World during ESPN weekend. But that is about it. One of the biggest disappointments I have from Paris is learning that the crew of the Today show was at the Louvre with the cast from Da Vinci's code right before the movie came out. I found out 24 hours too late.

Having tickets to the Food and Wine festival meant being able to see various celebrity chefs and book signings. During our time in the festival square we saw Tyler Florence, Rachel Ray, and Giada Di Laurentis. Now for me I was pretty excited about this, I watch them on TV, I use there recipes and here they are within a few feet of me.

I bought a Tyler Florence book and decided to wait in line to have it signed. Now in the time I waited - it was a fair amount too. I learned a few things...
They have some pretty strict rules about what they do and do not allow at these signings. Only certain books will be held up for pictures. Some chefs would only personalize the most current book. Some chefs would not look directly at the camera for photos. You also could not take your own photographs when up near the front of the line.
I got a bit sneaky and got one of Susie Fogelson, SVP Marketing, Creative Services & Brand Strategy from a distance. She was one of the judges from the Next Food Network Star. She was super tiny in person.

Tyler showed up in flannel with his wife.

And Rachel is super short. She was quite bubbly though just as on TV.

It was fun to see all of the stars. I was a little disappointed though with all of the rules and regulations. We are the fans, we make you popular but yet it was one thing after the next when all I wanted was a book signed. I am a foodie and I don't even think you are that big of a celebrity.