I love meeting celebs at events and snagging a picture with them. It’s fun, I post it all over, and I create a mystery cachet for myself. At least in my own mind.
But what happens when you see a celeb in the wild? Not at an event where they are obligated to be nice and cordial, and say yes to the picture when they would really rather run away from you?
Well, when my husband pointed out that Rosie O’Donnell had just walked into the restaurant we were eating in, I started plotting a plan of action. Why? Because, I have been a huge fan of Miss O’Donnell’s since the beginning of her career. Why? Because her story helped to inspire me to adopt my son. Also, she is one of the few celebs on my bucket list to meet in my lifetime. So what to do? Well, being a social media genius, I tweeted her and left it in my higher power’s hands. Then I gave my son my blackberry to play with while I silently tried not to obsess. We all know that couldn’t possibly work:
@gaynycdad At dinner celebrating my gay marriage and my idol @Rosie walks in! I am verklempt!
@Rosie @gaynycdad – come say hello
OMG! She called my bluff! What do I do? Our appetizers had just come to the table so I grabbed the hubby and kid and said we have to go NOW, I knew Rosie hadn’t received any food yet and I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible.
And she was wonderful. And true to form, I just had to get that picture! Yes, I am obsessed with collecting celeb pictures. By the way, her new wife was gorgeous and very nice while I stumbled all over myself and my iPad.
She then chatted with my son and asked if he wanted a picture. We are working on getting his blog up and running so we both said YES!
All my son could repeat that evening was that Rosie O’Donnell said he was cute. I am not fully sure he knows who she is, but he was thrilled. And again, she was part of my inspiration to adopt my son, she gets a mention in my adoption story.
Afterwards I thanked her and went back to our celebration, my parents and sister were taking us out to dinner to celebrate our marriage. How fitting we should meet someone who did so much for this cause as well! And now I could relax enough to eat!
I got home and tweeted a thank-you to Ro, and lo and behold, she has over 500,000 followers, and added 1 new person to the less than 2,000 that she is following!
“Rosie O’Donnell (@Rosie) is now following you on Twitter!”
It was a fun night!
Yakini says
Omg, MItch, that is an amazing story! What i love most is how you first tweeted her from your table… versus just walking over and taking the chance and disrupting her meal, which may not have gone over as well. It all played out perfectly, and it seems as though this meeting was meant to be. I LOVE Rosie too because she’s such a strong, confident woman who knows who she is. Happy Anniversary to you all!!! (((hugs)))
Tammilee Tillison says
What a fantastic night!!!!
Jennifer James says
I love this so much, Mitch! I read this and got goosebumps! Congratulations to you and your family. Can’t wait to see you again soon.
Buffy says
I love it!
DARLA KIDDER says
See tweeting broke the ice for you!
DARLA KIDDER says
And Rosie is looking good too!
Jenn says
Love her, love this post!
Teresa Young says
It was so wonderful of her to take the time to greet you and your family. She does look good.
Jen says
I love Rosie! What a great opportunity, it looks like she was sweet too!
Jessica says
That’s neat. Very nice of her. A celeb moment you’ll remember forever!
Heather! says
AWESOME!! And very clever, too. I never know how to approach somebody I really want to meet without being annoying. Sounds like you handled it PERFECTLY!! (And yes, it does help that she is sooo nice.) 😉
Betty says
Thanks for sharing the photos and backstory! You realize this tweet was subtle, inobtrusive and a brilliantly correct answer to the situation.
It is great to see Rosie looking so good. Happy Anniversary!
Deanna G. says
What a fun story! 🙂
hillary says
LOVE IT!!!
Terri Betz says
Smart and polite! You impress me Sir!
Richard Hicks says
You are the luckiest man on Earth. Wish I could see a fraction of the celebrities you do!
ardy22 at earthlink dot net
Katharina says
What an awesome story! You played it perfectly and it turned out great.
I’d love to tag along with you day after day… you get to do the neatest things! 🙂
Katharina angelsandmusic[at]gmail[dot]com
Jennifer Hall says
LOL, “plotting a plan of action”, love it! 🙂
Carol W says
I love this. I have loved Rosie since the very beginning of her career! I used to watch her talk show daily and the day that she gave all of that stuff to the multiples that were born in queens (I think on her birthday?) I cried so hard. It was so sweet. She like gave them lifetime clothes and college scholarships and a mini van and several other things. carseats, diapers etc. Ohmygosh what a sweet episode!! Fairly sure she also had the identical quadruplets on (Both the set from texas that were older and blonde and gorgeous and new identical quadruplets that were newborn…i THINK it was rosie. I should google before I look stupid LOL but i wont. 🙂 )
I’ve always loved her as an actress and just thought she was a gloriously wonderful humanitarian. I am so excited that you got to meet her 🙂 I hope you get to meet her a few more times in your life time. I am so excited she followed you back on twitter! 🙂
angie lilly says
OMG that is SO freaking cool! I just love it when they are “normal” and don’t get all stupid over themselves! fantastic story!
Mary Dailey says
That sure topped your evening off! The pictures of her are great too! It’s lovely that she is now following you!
Blessie Nelson says
Oh that was an awesome opportunity! Congrats!!
Pamela Halligan says
I am jealous. There are many celebrities I’d love to meet. I guess it’s one of the perks living in NYC.
kelly nicholson says
went to nyc once saw celebs everywhere..wow!
annette anderson says
I love Rosie! GREAT STORY!
Annette
Bella T. says
That is too cool. The Tweeting is part of what made this story so neat. What if she hadn’t checked her Twitter during dinner? I’m so happy for you! She seems nice! 🙂
Tami Valentine says
WOW! I could feel your excitement as I read the above blog!!!! That must have been such a fun night. I love Rosie. I sure do miss her show!!
You know what? I wouldn’t have recognized her if you hadn’t labeled the pictures. I didn’t recognize her with her long hair!!!!
You’re so fortunate to know so many famous people. 🙂
Alex Roach says
so jealous that this happened!
Holly Trudeau says
Awesome! Did you call you a tootie patootie? 😉 That doesn’t even look like her in the pics, did she get extensions?
Rosie says
How cool!!! You made good on that one!!! I could live in NY and never see anyone, but I’m sure it helps to eat at restaurants where the celebs hang out!!! Great pic!!!
Janet says
Wow! I am a huge fan of Rosie’s as well. What a thrill that you got to meet her in person!
Amy Green says
Rosie is such an amazingly unique and talented person. I miss her performing. She really cares about the welfare of others. I wish that tv would rerun her more, like her standup routines and her original talk show. The Warner Bros. shop, online, does carry a Best-Of Volume One of “The Rosie O’Donnell Show”. I HIGHLY recommend it!
pat says
Love this
jamie braun says
Lucky! i cant believe she called you over! how cool! Love Rosie!
Nancy says
What a nice adventure! She is a sweet lady!
Amy Green says
I loved getting to see Rosie guest-star in episodes of-and the finale for-the NBC-TV drama series, “Smash”. I don’t care what anybody says , I absolutely LOVE that show! I wish that Rosie could in some way return to acting on a regular basis, she’s so exceptionally talented.
Danielle says
Thats a fun story! Its fun that you live in a place where you could spot celebs. Even if I did I don’t know if I would be brave enough to acknowledge them!
Katt Lewis says
That was too cool! I have no opportunity to run into celebs down here and I missed out on getting Paul Newman’s signature years ago, because I didn’t want to be “one of those people.” Rather be one than regret it all my life!
Denise says
Hi. If you like food and celebrities, my favorite blog is “cooking With Mr. C.” It’s also on Facebook. I’ve “Liked” the page and it took me to a cool blog. Check out the “Celebrity Photos” category and of course the yummy food. Denise
P.S. You have a nice blog.
allyson becker says
Congrats for meeting someone off your bucket list!