Stars, they're just like us

I wanted a few things to happen in Los Angeles. First and foremost, I wanted to spend tons of time with my best friend Jennifer, who lives there. I wanted to meet her friends, and hang out where she hangs out. She’s in the movie business, so she was the perfect host in the thriving city. We had an amazing time in LA, just like I knew we would. Jennifer is just so much fun, no matter what you’re doing, and she took us out and about and showed us the real LA, beyond the LA I’m used to seeing on E! News.

She took us to LA establishments, like Philippe’s, home of the first French Dip sandwich. She took us to get Thai massages, where little women step all over you and generally beat you up and, somehow, it feels totally awesome. She took us to her friend’s house for Thanksgiving, where we ate a certifiable feast and hung out with cool people in, you know, “the business.”

We also had breakfast in the coffee shop at the Beverly Hills Hotel (after, of course, humming the “90210” theme song loudly on the way), which is now one of my favorite places in the world, I think. Trust me, pay the place a visit on your next trip.

The other thing I wanted to do in LA was see a celebrity or two.

I mean, I’m not obsessed with celebrities, contrary to what you might think after reading my blog, and I certainly didn’t want to go celebrity stalking or anything. I just thought it might be cool if we happened upon someone famous when we were otherwise minding our own business. Because, come on, it’s LA, and celebrities live there. I know what’s up.

So imagine our delight when we ran into Geena Davis in the Whole Foods in Glendale on Thanksgiving Day.

J and I had wandered away from Jennifer, who was in a frantic state trying desperately to pick the right kind of chestnuts for her Martha Stewart Brussels sprout dish, and there she was, just walking down the aisle, a basket on her arm and a smile on her face, just like, “Hey, I’m Geena Davis. I shop for Thanksgiving, too.”

I immediately exchanged a glance with J because we’re not from a place where people like Geena Davis casually stroll down the aisle at the supermarket and this was big. Geena Davis! She’s a pretty good one, right?

When we left the store we told Jennifer about the sighting and she said she was happy for us.

Later, when retelling the story to each other, as though we hadn’t both had the exact same experience, J lifted the incident to legendary status, explaining to me that the two of them had “had a moment.”

“I looked at her and I was like ‘Whoa, Geena Davis,’ and then she looked at me, and she was probably like ‘Yeah, that guy totally recognizes me,’ and then I just nodded at her, like this, and then she smiled at me.”

We eventually got over it. It’s LA, you know? You see famous people. It’s, like, totally normal. But I think secretly, when “A League of Their Own” or “Beetlejuice” comes on, we’re going to watch with a special, new sense of admiration.