My Culinary Inspiration, In Person!!!

Who inspires you?

If you're an aspiring singer/songwriter, maybe your answer is John Lennon or Bono. Or someone less old/dead. (I'm obviously not a singer/songwriter...)

If you're an athlete, perhaps your answer is Joe Montana or Michael Phelps (yes, even post pot)

If you're me, and secretly harbor dreams of having my own restaurant and a program on the Food Network... well, that answer is easy! Because my inspiration is Rachel Ray.

Ya'll, guess who I got to meet last night???

RACHEL RAY!!!

So here's the sitch.

My buddy Steve hooked me and Bri up with tix to a screening of "Watchmen". We were sitting in the "guests of Warner Bros" section right in the center. So we're chilling, gossiping about people around us, and Bri goes "Oh my god, it's Rachel Ray." I totally didn't believe him.

You see, he knows that Rachel Ray is one of my FAVORITE people in the world. She saved my life, ya'll! So my assumption was that he was just trying to get a rise out of me. So I told him where to stick it.

But he persisted, so I turned around and -- sure enough -- there she was! She and her husband had just arrived and were sitting two rows behind us. They were dropping their coats, and it looked like were then headed to the lobby. Bathroom break? Popcorn? Who cares! I could fake interest in either of those to meet her!

I normally have a rule. I will not approach celebrities. They are just people, just like you and me, and I think they should be able to live their lives without being bombarded by fans. Bri knows this, so he convinced me to break my rule. "You have to! You have to!" And he was right -- I HAD to! So I did...

I jumped up and followed them out to the lobby. I approached her, and it went something like this...

Spencer: Hi, Rachel?

Rach: Hi...

Spencer: Hi. I am sooo sorry to bother you. My name is Spencer (extend hand) I'm quite possibly your biggest fan.

Rach: (hesitantly shaking my hand) Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Spencer: Again, I'm so sorry to bother you. I just HAD to say hello. You saved my life.

Rach: (smacking me on the arm) What?! What are you talking about??

Spencer: I'm from Salt Lake City, had tried to move to England but got deported -- it's a long story -- so I ended up living with my sister for a few months while finding a job here in New York. At the time, I weighed about 230 pounds....

Rach: (smacking my arm again) Get out!

Spencer: I know, right?! I lost it because of you... Those two months I watched the food network pretty much non-stop. Your show in particular. I had NEVER thought about cooking before but you made me want to try. Totally changed my life. The first 30 pounds I lost were just from cooking my own food and eating better...

Rach: That is so great! You look so great!(taking my arm) Come meet my husband... John! This is Spencer, whose life I saved...

John: (awkwardly shaking my hand) Um, nice to meet you...

Spencer: Nice to meet you as well! I won't keep you guys... you're seeing "Watchmen"? (obviously knowing that's exactly what they were doing... I'm a dork)

Rach: Ya

Spencer: Alright, well I'll let you get back in there. It was so nice to meet you. And.. well, just THANK YOU!

Rach: (giving me a big hug) You're welcome. Keep it up and stay in the states!

This moment will forever go down as one of the greatest moments in my life. RACHEL RAY HUGGED ME! She may have also insinuated that I needed to lose more weight still by saying "keep it up"... but who the hell cares... SHE HUGGED ME!

So thanks to Steve for getting me in the same room, and Bri for talking me into not missing out on one of the most awesome opportunities ever.

All I need to meet now are SJP, Michael Ciarello, George Clooney, and Paula Deen.