I love celebrity encounters!

If you've read my blog post (which by the way is still my most popular post...even months later!) about the time I saw Kristin Kreuk and Allison Mack (both of Smallville fame) in Vancouver, then you already know that I LOVE seeing celebs.

Seeing a star out of his or her element -- outside the confines of the LA "jungle" -- always makes me feel like I'm on safari, searching for an elusive and rare animal.

In my teenage years, while passing through LAX on our way to Hawaii, my family saw Gabriel Byrne (at that time, most known for his role in Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda). We were facing a long layover and nothing to do...and then Byrne strolled by. My mother was so excited that she chased followed him for several airline gates in a (failed) attempt to get an autograph. As a teenager, I was mortified. I wasn't a Byrne fan, and to say that I could not relate to my mother's over exuberant enthusiasm at that time is a gross understatement.

Around that same time, while working as a cashier at a local grocery chain in West Des Moines, Iowa, Clint Eastwood just happened to come through my check out lane with his groceries. He was staying in a rented home in Waukee, Iowa while filming The Bridges of Madison County with Meryl Streep. That time, I remained cool and collected and treated him like any other customer (though later, I forced my "brush with fame encounter" story on pretty much anyone who would listen).

Then 10+ years later, as much as I hate to admit it, I have to say: like mother, like daughter. Thousands of miles away, I had my first over exuberant enthusiasm for a movie star when I just happened to see Robert Redford at a local movie theater in Saratoga, California.  Redford was there for a special screening of the movie he directed, The Legend of Bagger Vance. At that time, I was in my early twenties, and he would have been in his early sixties (and his face showed it). He was sitting in his car in the parking lot of the theater.  Foolishly, I must have waited for several minutes seconds in an attempt to get an autograph...before deciding that I looked more pathetic than cool and that he probably just wanted to be left alone. Regardless, to this day, I still gush to other people about how old -- but still good looking! -- Redford is.

It's pretty rare to see a celebrity in our area of California...that's probably why I enjoy being on the lookout for celebrities whenever we're in southern California.