I logged into my MySpace account today (because yeah, I’m 29 and have a MySpace account) to find that Jennifer has posted a picture on my page. But not just any picture. This picture:

I know, I know, so many questions. Like, What is going on here? How did two awkward teens score a photo with such a sexy beast? And whose hair is more awesome, Cara’s or Fabio’s? (I think I win).

The simple answer is that back in day day my father was director of the National Italian American Foundation and their major fundraiser was an annual dinner held in D.C. Many Italian American celebrities and politicians attended over the years and I got to meet a lot of them, since my dad was in with the security guys. I met people like Perry Como and Debbie Gibson (that’s right, she’s Italian American) and Jon Bon Jovi - and if you think this picture with Fabio is a rather embarassing relic of my adolescent years, you should see the picture I have of me and Bon Jovi. Jesus Christ. Luckily for me, I’m not going to show it to you.

Jennifer and I attended a few of these and had many adventures, that got more age-appropriate over the years. For instance, when we were 14 or so, like in the picture above, we tried to score as many autographs as possible. We once, out of sheer good fortune (and because we were smaller than regular sized adults and could push our way in) rode the elevator with Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Dom DeLuise.

When we were a little older, we waited until everyone had left the banquet room, then went from table to table taking the mini bottles of Sambuca and other goody bag loot attendees had left behind.

Meeting Fabio, though, is probably the best story I got out of all the dinners I attended. And judging from the look on his face, it was one of the best moments of his life, too.