SJP

If I hadn't seen her with my own two eyes, I wouldn't believe it. Standing there, in the flesh, mere feet across the street from me, the celebrity I have most wanted to see since moving to New York. Sarah Jessica Parker in all her movie star glory, and my camera battery not responding. I suppose I should be okay with the irony of not getting to capture this momentous occasion on film, because much like SJP getting splashed by a New York City bus in the opening sequence for Sex and the City, maybe New York just sometimes has a way of causing grief to the ones it loves.

Everywhere I Look a Celebrity!

Here a celeb, there a celeb, everywhere a celeb!!  The past week has been the most celebrity-filled of my New York tenure.  In true Gossip Girl form, read on to see who all I spotted around the city:

Friday - Spotted: Matthew Broderick - aka Ferris Bueller - on 62nd and Madison....on the phone and walking into Hermes.  Buying a Valentine's gift for Sarah Jessica, perhaps?  Or meeting Sarah Jessica inside??  Gossip Girl followed his brown coat tails...found no SJ, but predicts jewelry is in her future. 

Sunday - Spotted: Heidi Klum sneaking out of the Tents at Bryant Park. Our golden girl of the runway shying away from the spotlight? 

Tuesday - Spotted: Front row at Narcisco Rodriguez fashion show - Is that Kanye West and galpal Amber Rose behind those sunglasses?  Is Juliana Margueles making her comeback as ER makes its exit?  Has Claire Danes finally gotten a so-called life?

 

Wednesday - Spotted: Barely.  Carrie Fisher - aka Princess Leia - stumbles into Braccialini in Soho.  A few pounds and a few raindrops concealed her identity even after a few conversations.  Really Gossip Girl, you're losing your touch...

Thursday - Spotted: Kevin Bacon, Taylor Hicks and New Kids on the Block...street-side at the Regis and Kelly Show...Gossip Girl, you should be ashamed - up at 5:30 AM for them??

Friday - Spotted: Christian Siriano - aka Project Runway winner - dining at Lure in Soho with mom and boyfriend.  No smiles post-fashion week show?  Or is he just too fierce for smiles?

Just another girl in the park

With it being day 3 of NYC Fashion Week, and me not having been to a show in the Tents at Bryant Park yet, I decided the next best thing to models lined on a runway was a table lined with sushi. Eating at the restaurant Koi in the Bryant Park Hotel has become my fashion week tradition, so I made plans to meet there with my fashionista friend Amy who was in town from Alabama.

Excited about the sushi, drinks and conversation soon to be consumed, I energetically hopped off the bus at 42nd Street and walked the few bustling avenues to Bryant Park. My tall boots were click, click clicking as I cut through the back side of the park behind the Tents - the area dark, quiet and all but deserted - a far cry from the onlookers crowded at the front of the Tents on 6th Avenue.

I slowed my hurried pace a few beats so I could enjoy the refreshing sights (trees with a glowing backdrop of skyscrapers) and sounds (distant car horns) of nature. "Ah, to just be a girl relaxing in a park!" I thought, before picking up the pace again. But wait - I'm not alone in the park - who's that tall blonde walking up beside me? And why are there 10 cameramen walking backwards in front of her, and now me, too?!

With a quick glance - and an even quicker jaw drop - I realized it wasn't just any other girl in the park with me...it was Heidi Klum. My first reaction was to flip my hair and rock my hips in a catwalk sashay duel beside her across the park, but I quickly saw that she was just walking, just like me, on her way toward Koi, just like me, her heels clicking, just like mine, her hair blowing into her face, just as mine did. She's just another girl in the park, just like me. But, oh!, how I wished I could be her as the flashbulbs lit up her face and the dark sky around us. As she ducked into her waiting car and I ducked around the back of it to cross the street, she glanced at me through the window, and I wondered if just maybe she wished she could be me even for a little while - just another girl in the park.

Even super villains shop for toilet paper

Domestic duties topped my social calendar tonight - a visit to Bed, Bath & Beyond for cleaning supplies followed by a few loads at the laundromat. Not glamorous or interesting tasks by New York standards, but essential chores nonetheless.

Arriving at Bed, Bath & Beyond, I grabbed a hand basket and weaved toward the back of the store through the humidifiers, microwaves and kitchen utensils until coming face to face with a shopping cart and having to step aside so it could pass. My eyes locked on the cart driver, who passed with a nod as I stared. "I know that face - that mouth and chin!" I thought with a mischievous thrill saved only for celebrity spotting.

Wanting to make sure the face belonged to who I thought it did (the rational side of my brain thinking "No way could it be him - he's too famous to be pushing a cart unnoticed through Bed, Bath & Beyond!"), I sidled up beside an employee who I thought shared my same "Is it or isn't it?" expression.

"Excuse me," I said, "where is the laundry detergent?" needing a buffer question so as not to appear so star struck. I didn't even let him answer before blurting, "and did you see that guy who just walked by? The one pushing the cart? He went that way. With the dark-haired girl? He's famous isn't he? What's his name? You know? That guy. The mean, scary guy in Batman? No - Spiderman! Yes - he's the mean guy in Spiderman! What's his name?"

Blank stare. "I didn't see him, miss."

"You had to have seen him! He just walked by right here - and he's famous!" I insisted, trying to keep my voice down since the actor in question was still within earshot.

"Didn't see him."

Another Bed, Bath & Beyond employee overheard our conversation and offered up the confirmation I was looking for, "The Green Goblin - he's in here all the time!"

"Ha! Yes - he's the Green Goblin!" I smugged to the blankly staring employee before turning and skipping on down the aisle, the basket of cleaners swinging in my hand, happy that my night of chores turned into a fun story, and strangely satisfied that even super villains have to shop for toilet paper.

Green Goblin - actor Willem Dafoe.

Gossip Girl

I rarely watch Gossip Girl anymore - the CW television show set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan - but I'm still intrigued by the characters who portray the fictional lives of spoiled rich kids. How can I not take interest when its art imitating life is a depiction of my well-to-do New York City neighbors? But, like I said, I rarely if ever watch the show anymore, but I do always keep an eye out for the actors around the city - any one of them being a good celebrity spotting to brag about.

Walking to work this morning, several trailors and crew trucks lined Park Avenue, and I spotted a "No Parking" sign that revealed Gossip Girl was filming in the area all day. Yes! The timing couldn't have been more perfect, because as I walked up the relatively empty block between 62nd and 63rd Streets, resident bad boy Chuck Bass walked directly toward me, wearing a skinny three piece suit and a snooty leer across his face the way only Chuck Bass can. Our gazes locked for several paces as we approached each other, and I struggled with the internal battle I always do when making eye contact with a passing famous face - do I say something or do I just pass like it's no big deal? I decided to return his signature glare with one of my own but did throw in a, "Hey Chuck Bass!" as our shoulders passed.

"Hey East Siders - Spotted: C brooding at a redhead on Park. He's probably been drinking before noon again. Sad." You know you love me - XOXO - Gossip Girl

Carnival of Lipstick

Lipstick Jungle films every once in a while on the street where I work.  Those filming days are like a school day with a carnival going on outside.  I can't focus on work; I can't stop looking out the window; I can't keep from skipping down the street and wanting to play.  Luckily, since work is handbags and Lipstick Jungle is fashion, it was totally appropriate for me to spend some of the work day sashaying down the street, working it with flourishes of a stylish Italian handbag for all to see.  

Time to get to work, "Excuse me, is your stylist on set today?" 

Brooke Shields filming Lipstick Jungle on Spring Street in Soho.

Under the production tent.

Double flop: The Donald & The Daredevil

My weaknesses are well-documented on this site: events, events with celebrities, and - best yet - televised events with celebrities. Although I absolutely abhor David Blaine, after three days of seeing him on television, hanging upside down in Central Park with hundreds of onlookers cheering into the camera, I lost all will power to stay as far away as possible.

Giving in to the weakness is not entirely my fault - if Emily hadn't invited me to a dance performance just a few blocks away, I promise I wouldn't have made a special trip uptown to see the fake that is David Blaine. BUT, since we were SO close, I just couldn't resist! Plus, it was the finale night of his ridiculous "Dive of Death" stunt, so any rationally thinking person like myself would conclude that the chance of getting on TV was worth the hour wasted while watching him hang upside down.

As I approached Wollman Rink and walked unnoticed into the VIP area, it was me who flipped upside down with excitement when I realized Donald Trump stood a few steps away - unmobbed by fans (oh yes, we are supposed to be VIPs, we don't act that way!) and unprotected by a bodyguard (of course, because we are all civilized VIPs). After my internal yelping subsided, I debated the appropriateness of asking him for a job, or flat out asking him to sponsor a poor southern girl in the city.

It was soon apparent The Donald thought he was the only true VIP in the area, and a noticeable halo enveloped him, making contact with the surly Donald off-limits. But his standoffishness couldn't keep me from snapping pictures of the flop of hair on his head - hey, it's not like he owns the place! Well...it's not like I care that he owns the place!

The Donald and his flop of hair as he watches David Blaine with what appears to be disdain and disgust...or is that just his normal face?

The second flop of the night - David Blaine hangs upside down before performing his Dive of Death...aka his feet-first jump while secured in a harness and attached to pulleys.

If I was a celebrity

At the Carlos Miele after party: actor Bill Murray wrinkled, disheveled, and ignoring everyone!

If I was a celebrity, I would be the best darn celebrity there has ever been. For starters, I wouldn't try to hide. I'd say hello to the people I pass on the street who gasp and point, "Look! It's Rebecca!" I'd sign autographs and oblige a "Yes, it's me," to friends who've been called and told, "You'll never guess who I'm standing beside!" Heck - I'd even have my bodyguard break from his duties to take pictures of me with my adoring fans. And if that's not enough for A-List status, how about that I'd always look the movie star part - thousand dollar outfits picked out by my stylist, hair and makeup professionally done every day. You would never have to cringe at seeing a mascara-bleared mug shot of me plastered on the entertainment news or read of my club-hopping forays of illicit behavior; I'd be the kind of celebrity all the girls want to be friends with, all the guys want to date, and all the little girls dream to be.

But, what do I know?  I'll leave the celebrities to their own devices of invincible behavior. I guess they all know that these very things that would put me highest on the pedestal would make everyone want me to fall the hardest.

Thanks to Bill Murray for a fun evening of elusive celebrity behavior!

Thanks to the lips

As I stood on the corner outside Delicatessen waiting for my friends, I thought of how smug I would be about arriving first to dinner. "Gosh, I've been waiting forever!" I would sigh with feigned annoyance at their being late, since I'm the one who is always tardy.  But tonight the Punctuality Gods were really smiling on me, because as I twiddled on the sidewalk, I noticed an average-looking woman with wavy shoulder-length blonde hair approaching.  She wore sunglasses and baggy clothes and swung a large closed umbrella back and forth as she walked with a nonchalant, happy gait.  Had it not been for the obvious collagen-injected upper lip, I might not have taken a second look to realize it was, in fact, the one, the only - Meg Ryan!  

We stood side by side as she waited to cross the street, and as I watched her continue on her way with a little hum in her step, I quickly hummed a new tune in anticipation of my friends' arrival, "Gosh, you'll never guess who I just saw!"

Guess the Celebrity

Let's play "Guess the Celebrity"! Who is this star with a scratchy voice as recognizable as her face?

I'll be loving you forever

I mentioned in the New Kids post from Friday that those of us in the crowd who were perfect strangers at 7 AM were kindred spirits by 9:30 AM! Well, the girl next to me sent these pictures that her husband captured. (Oh, and if you can find the clip of me screaming, "Jordan, I love you!", you can see her next to me absolutely freaking out as Jordan approaches!)

Too good not to share!


Jordan approaching...my hand is the black glove!


Isn't he cute?! This is when we were both holding his hand, mine underneath hers!


If the picture was just a little to the left...that's the corner of my face...Jordan and I meeting. :)

Can't think of a caption that's more descriptive than my expression!

Kimberly, the photographer, had this caption, "Yes, girl. It is not a dream!"

New Kids on the Block!!

Anyone who knows my little sister even casually knows that she has a secret obsession that is, well, not actually a secret. It probably should be, but it’s not.

She’s had the obsession for most of her life. Her two older sisters are to blame. We introduced her to it and reinforced it daily. At the impressionable young age of six, what was a girl to do but follow in her big sisters’ footsteps?

Over the last 20 years, Julie and I have kept an interest in the obsession while Elizabeth’s interest has grown to a – I’ll just say it – cultish level. And for the last two months or so, she has been working overtime to keep us up to date with news. We’ve received emails from her late at night or during work hours, we’ve gotten frantically excited phone calls as she finds out new information, and we’ve laughed as we join her enthusiasm and delve into memories and feelings we’ve suppressed with time and age.

But this week all rational bets were off. The three of us turned into shrieking, giddy and anxious 10 year olds. I haven’t felt this unabashedly wildly excited in quite a long time.

If you’ve been under a block -er, rock- and haven’t heard, let me be the first to tell you – the New Kids on the Block are back together!!

1988: The Mummert girls were New Kids central – every magazine with New Kids on the cover was begged for at the grocery store; every poster inside the magazine was ripped out, fought over and pinned on our bedroom walls; every book was read cover to cover multiple times; every doll and big round pin had a special place in our rooms; every New Kid birthdate, height/weight, favorite color, favorite food, etc. was memorized; every day we watched either Hangin’ Tough Live or Hangin’ Tough or one of the clips we'd recorded from TV interviews or appearances…it’s how we learned to use the VCR; and every wish in our little hearts was to one day meet the New Kids on the Block.

2008: Elizabeth’s investigative work confirmed a rumor she’d been reporting for the better part of two months – the New Kids are reuniting, and they are doing so in Rockefeller Plaza on the Today Show! I had been away from my computer for several hours Monday when Elizabeth discovered the news. I returned to find a long stream of emails between Julie and Elizabeth, and the last one from Elizabeth read, “Somebody call Rebecca. She must not be at her desk. I’m calling her.” Sure enough, I had a breathless message from Elizabeth to call her about something very exciting – too exciting to say over a message (insert the squelched excitement in her voice because she was at work and having to contain her emotions!)

I called her back immediately, and as we discussed that not only are the New Kids getting back together, but that I have the chance to see them, our voices rose in shrieks and laughter as I walked the New York City streets, sometimes stopping to jump up and down in excitement, trying all the while to let the hugeness of this news sink in.

My excitement was quickly replaced by anxiousness because I had the task of capturing the event for both of my sisters, and I couldn’t let them down. And I certainly couldn’t mess up the opportunity to fulfill the one wish we had all those years ago.

I woke up at 5:15 Friday morning, piled on layers of clothes, pulled on my red rain boots, grabbed my umbrella and carefully placed my camera – that had been charged and readied the night before – in my bag. I did take the time to put on make up and fix my hair, I mean, I was going to be in the presence of Jordan Knight. I was waiting for the subway by 6 AM, and marveled in slightly disgusted fashion at how many homeless people were napping in the train at that hour. I got off the train at 51st Street and Lexington Avenue and briskly made my way the few blocks to Rockefeller Center, mumbling more than a few times that I would only be up at this hour in this rain and in this cold for the New Kids on the Block. And for my sisters. And for the millions of girls back in 1988 who would have given their eye teeth to be seeing the New Kids in person.

I approached the Plaza at 6:30 AM – right at the time I had planned. My heart sunk when I saw the set lights and crowd fence with no crowd around. My worst fear – and I’m sure the New Kids’ worst fear – is that I would be the only excited fan eagerly waiting to see them. I felt like an idiot. I decided maybe I should just hang around the area until I see others coming and then start waiting around the fence.

But as I turned the corner into the Plaza area, my feelings quickly reversed – there was already a huge throng on either side of the fence, the empty area I had seen was just the far end behind where the action was to take place. As I entered the area, I saw the line stretched almost the whole way down the other block. I was NOT the first person here! Girls – excuse me, women – were dressed in their old New Kids t-shirts and jean jackets, donning neon green and hot pink hats and big button pins that hadn’t seen the light of day since 1990. Those who weren’t dressed in New Kids gear had signs and posters. Crap! The paraphanelia made these people look like way bigger fans than me, and suddenly I wished I had made my mother dig through boxes in the attic for my Jordan Knight t-shirt!

We grown up girls in the crowd became quick friends over excited chatter and giddy screaming as we anticipated the reveal of the New Kids. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story – see the Kodak link below – but just know a young girl’s wish came true today, and it was all she ever dreamed it would be!

Take a look through my pictures on the Kodak website for a complete recount of the morning's hysteria: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=oef8sup.4m4enx6x&Uy=-yyc7qp&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=121735569490_434338363209&localeid=en_US

But here are some of my favorites:

Mr. and Mrs. Jordan Knight. Can you believe this??


Donnie Wahlberg


Jonathan Knight

This moment is captured on the Today Show by the camera you can see to the right of the picture. I was oblivous to TV cameras, and only knew it had been televised when friends who I hadn't even told I was going to the show saw me on TV! You can't hear me, but you can read my mouth scream - "Jordan! I love you!"

Danny Wood

Joe McIntyre


She drove all night from upstate New York...I guess it was worth it though!

Here's a clip from the Today Show, but not one that I'm in! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23953971#23953971

A Walk to Remember

I decided to walk the mile home tonight from the gym rather than take the subway so I could enjoy the slightly warmer weather. It was nearing 9 PM, and I was looking and feeling tired from a long day and work out. I was just a few blocks from the apartment - on 3rd Avenue around 53rd or 54th Street - and catching up with Ansley on the phone, when my gaze landed on a guy with blond hair walking toward me in a group of three other dark-haired guys. I don't know why I paid any more attention to them than I did to any of the other people I had passed by during the last 30 blocks, but my eyes locked on the unassuming blond and I did an about face as I whispered into the phone, "Oh my gosh, I think that's Ryan Gosling."

"Whhaaat??" Ansley yelped.

"R-yan Gos-ling," I said again through clinched teeth and barely moving lips.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yes!" I hissed. "Well, I'm walking behind him so I can't totally see his face," keeping my voice at a low mumble. "He's just walking like a regular person, but I swear, it looks just like him. Keep talking to me, and I'll try to see his face."

For the next block or two I kept pace with him. Sometimes walking beside him, sometimes walking in front, and sometimes walking behind - stepping my foot into the exact spot his had just left. I hung up with Ansley but kept the phone to my ear and the now one-sided conversation rolling as I discreetly switched the phone to camera mode. As we waited at a corner for the light to change, he turned away from the road to look back at his friends and, by default, me standing right with them. As they chatted, I kept animated with my phone "conversation" - I can't decide what to wear - what are you going to wear? was the best I could think of to say while I kept my eyes locked on who I was now sure was Ryan Gosling. I angled my phone in his direction while keeping it to my ear so I could snap a picture without him knowing.

I continued following for a few more blocks - stealing a few pictures from a sneaky sideways back angle - until they crossed over 3rd Avenue. I didn't want to be obvious or anything and follow them across the street...but just as we parted, I heard one of the guys say, "Hey Ryan, see that building? That's where-" Hearing his name was all the confirmation I needed, and also all the ammunition I needed, to wait a few seconds and cross the street with them.

I'll stop the story there because we all know I usually go a little too far with celebrity encounters, and I don't want to repeat my embarrassment for all to enjoy.

Although Ryan is known for his role as Noah Calhoun in The Notebook, a movie based on Nicholas Sparks's bestseller by the same name, my Wednesday evening stroll with him actually gave me the title of my favorite Nicholas Sparks book - A Walk to Remember.

Front Row Faces

One of my favorite parts of Fashion Week is reading the "Roll Call" for each show in The Daily. The publication is handed out daily in the Tents (hence the name) and several pages in each issue are dedicated to reviewing the shows from the day before. Each review has a few looks from the show pictured alongside "Roll Call" and "The Scoop". I skim The Scoop - a review of the designer's new styles and trends in the collection - but I read Roll Call in detail, sometimes two or three times, to review the list of the noteable celebrities who were in attendance at each show.

I have my priorities in line, people!

And now, for my very own celebrity "Roll Call" from Fashion Week:


Miss Sixty front row: Anne Hathaway and her fiance Raffaello Follieri to the left, Chloe Sevigny, Ashley Olsen, Milla Jovovich, and Paula Patton.


Nigel Barker from America's Next Top Model is second from right at Venexiana.


At Venexiana, not 100% sure, but it looks like Lauren Conrad from The Hills is the girl leaning to the side.


Eva Longoria Parker at Naeem Khan.


Outside the Tents after Naeem Khan...I don't know who they are, but they were being interviewed...


The beautiful and nice Aisha Tyler from Friends, Ghost Whisperer and Talk Soup at Tadashi Shoji.


Reporters broadcast from inside and outside the Tents all day, every day.

When the shows run short of celebrities to spice up the crowd, there are still plenty of wackos to fill in the gaps. My favorites I saw repeatedly during the week:


I don't know her official identity, but I think "Spiderwoman" will suffice. Here she is posing with tourists outside the Tents Friday night after Venexiana....


...and inside at Tadashi Shoji on the last day of Fashion Week. At least she has a copy of The Daily in hand!

Almost stranger to see around The Tents than Spiderwoman, I spotted this unidentified lady at random times throughout the week, always with a new assortment of hair clips.

Let's call her "Granny"...or the ghost of a gal who was fashionable many moons ago.

Images in the Mirror

I was pleasantly surprised when I returned to New York after Christmas to have received an invitation from Halsey Herreshoff to the "Ninth Annual Sailors Dinner." A black tie dinner at the East Village Yacht Club in New York City...with a bunch of sailors...and Katie Couric!

To everyone requesting a full report of the evening, I don't really know what to say. The best way I can think to sum it up is that during dinner I was seated at a table facing the wall, and a long mirror hung on the wall above us. It reflected the activity of the entire room; I could see everyone laughing and talking in their tuxes and dresses, the soft candle light, the waiters keeping wine glasses full, Katie Couric just a few steps away...and me right in the middle of it. As I sat there, I couldn't help but think of how natural it felt yet how surreal of a scenario was being played out through the images in the mirror - it was like looking at a picture I'd found myself painted in to!


Katie Couric! We discovered we had at least two things in common (well, besides both being loved by millions). 1) This summer was the first time we both sailed, and 2) we both had the same job on the boat...I think that makes us best friends!


Halsey putting Katie on the spot during dinner!


Michael, Rebecca, Halsey and Adam.


My new friend Halsey Herreshoff - a legend in the world of sailing.

After dinner at the East Village Yacht Club.

That's Bob Saget!

I could spot ole Danny Tanner anywhere! Here we are in Times Square where he was nice enough to wait a few minutes while I changed the batteries in my camera!