In which I wonder, yet again, where the hell my luck comes from.
I really need to stop believing that I have to be at a place ridiculously early to pull off celebrity meet-and-greets. Because getting up at 4:15am and getting to the NBC Store at 7:30 was kind of ridiculous.
Then again, it did make my brother David and me first on line. Which, I am now aware, means a lot to NBC employees. When we finally asked where we needed to be to line up, the sweet guy at the door told us we were first and that we’d have to start the line without barricades.
Not an issue, since we were there so early, the store wasn’t even open yet! They let us inside a little while later, and we got a bit of shopping done (the new Chuck action-figure T-shirt for me and a Nerd Herd cap for David) and then just hung around until they were ready for us to line up.
While we were technically first, we actually ended up being sixth and seventh. Which was totally cool-there were two contest winners, two employees, and a friend of an employee who (very politely) were put in front of us.
I can’t complain. Because not five minutes later, Zachary Levi-all gorgeous 6'4" of him-walked through the revolving door, the look on his face saying, “Why are all these people on line for me?!?!”and I felt my knees go weak.
He said a quick hello to the crowd as a whole and ran upstairs to change, which let me breathe for about 10 minutes. When he came back down, he said a few quick hellos to the other side of the crowd and sat down and they rushed the contest winners (a very elderly couple, LOL) and the employees through. The girl in front of us didn’t even stop for an autograph-she just handed Zac something (it looked like a business card?) and went on her merry, if nervous, way.
When they waved me through, I took the deepest breath I ever have and stepped up to the table. Zac looked up and immediately stuck out his hand. “Hey there, I’m Zac.”
UNGH. A semi-formal introduction and I slipped into my usual panic mode: the inability to shut the hell up. LOL. I babbled something about how I was a huge fan and I’d been watching since before the pilot, (Him: “Did you see an early screening?” Me: “Um...Time Warner Cable had a preview...” Him: “Yes! I knew that!”,) and how I was hooked on the show (Him: “Me, too!”). He asked my name, and when I told him-and subsequently spelled it for him-he looked at it and said, “You know, my girlfriend spells it C-A-I-T-L-I-N.”
I bit my tongue (I am not a fan of Caitlin Crosby, but I’d never say that because I was brought up to be nicer than that) and said, “Yeah, that’s the more common way. Mine’s...a little weirder.”
His response? “And cooler!”
ZAC. THAT IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND WHOSE NAME YOU JUST DISSED.
Ahem.
Anyway, when I told him that I’d been up since 4:15 and there since 7:30, he looked like he was going to choke. “Did they at least let you in, go shopping?” I told him yes, (he approved of the new shirt,) and he laughed. “Well, you got to be first!”
I pointed out that David was with me, and they pulled him through so we could be up there together. As soon as he got to the table, one of the NBC employees took our camera and told us to go around the table so that they could take a picture of us with Zac while he was signing. He said he didn’t want to just be sitting there, so he stood between us to pose.
As he did, some guy in the crowd yelled, “Get some!”
I blushed, my eyes widened, you name it. And to make it worse, Zac slipped his arm around my shoulder (mind you, the back of my blouse is secured only with a tie, so his hand was on my bare skin, OMG OMG OMG) and said, “I’m trying!” It took everything in my measly power to giggle and not burst into tears, LOL.
Finally, Zac finished signing my brother’s comic book and my DVD sleeve (I had him sign the slipcover for S2) and thanked us for coming. He shook my brother’s hand and winked at me and then it was over.
I’ve been perusing the NBC Store Twitter and I don’t see anyone else who was able to get a picture with Zac. Everyone else seemed to just get one while he was signing for them-so I think the guy who helped us out in the morning gave us a little more than we were supposed to get, and I wish I’d seen him before we left so I could thank him.
Sometimes, I look back on days like this, on the M&Gs and signings I get to go to, and I wonder where the hell I got so lucky. :)
Now, time to get ready for work, as I have to end this amazing day there.
Then again, it did make my brother David and me first on line. Which, I am now aware, means a lot to NBC employees. When we finally asked where we needed to be to line up, the sweet guy at the door told us we were first and that we’d have to start the line without barricades.
Not an issue, since we were there so early, the store wasn’t even open yet! They let us inside a little while later, and we got a bit of shopping done (the new Chuck action-figure T-shirt for me and a Nerd Herd cap for David) and then just hung around until they were ready for us to line up.
While we were technically first, we actually ended up being sixth and seventh. Which was totally cool-there were two contest winners, two employees, and a friend of an employee who (very politely) were put in front of us.
I can’t complain. Because not five minutes later, Zachary Levi-all gorgeous 6'4" of him-walked through the revolving door, the look on his face saying, “Why are all these people on line for me?!?!”and I felt my knees go weak.
He said a quick hello to the crowd as a whole and ran upstairs to change, which let me breathe for about 10 minutes. When he came back down, he said a few quick hellos to the other side of the crowd and sat down and they rushed the contest winners (a very elderly couple, LOL) and the employees through. The girl in front of us didn’t even stop for an autograph-she just handed Zac something (it looked like a business card?) and went on her merry, if nervous, way.
When they waved me through, I took the deepest breath I ever have and stepped up to the table. Zac looked up and immediately stuck out his hand. “Hey there, I’m Zac.”
UNGH. A semi-formal introduction and I slipped into my usual panic mode: the inability to shut the hell up. LOL. I babbled something about how I was a huge fan and I’d been watching since before the pilot, (Him: “Did you see an early screening?” Me: “Um...Time Warner Cable had a preview...” Him: “Yes! I knew that!”,) and how I was hooked on the show (Him: “Me, too!”). He asked my name, and when I told him-and subsequently spelled it for him-he looked at it and said, “You know, my girlfriend spells it C-A-I-T-L-I-N.”
I bit my tongue (I am not a fan of Caitlin Crosby, but I’d never say that because I was brought up to be nicer than that) and said, “Yeah, that’s the more common way. Mine’s...a little weirder.”
His response? “And cooler!”
ZAC. THAT IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND WHOSE NAME YOU JUST DISSED.
Ahem.
Anyway, when I told him that I’d been up since 4:15 and there since 7:30, he looked like he was going to choke. “Did they at least let you in, go shopping?” I told him yes, (he approved of the new shirt,) and he laughed. “Well, you got to be first!”
I pointed out that David was with me, and they pulled him through so we could be up there together. As soon as he got to the table, one of the NBC employees took our camera and told us to go around the table so that they could take a picture of us with Zac while he was signing. He said he didn’t want to just be sitting there, so he stood between us to pose.
As he did, some guy in the crowd yelled, “Get some!”
I blushed, my eyes widened, you name it. And to make it worse, Zac slipped his arm around my shoulder (mind you, the back of my blouse is secured only with a tie, so his hand was on my bare skin, OMG OMG OMG) and said, “I’m trying!” It took everything in my measly power to giggle and not burst into tears, LOL.
Finally, Zac finished signing my brother’s comic book and my DVD sleeve (I had him sign the slipcover for S2) and thanked us for coming. He shook my brother’s hand and winked at me and then it was over.
I’ve been perusing the NBC Store Twitter and I don’t see anyone else who was able to get a picture with Zac. Everyone else seemed to just get one while he was signing for them-so I think the guy who helped us out in the morning gave us a little more than we were supposed to get, and I wish I’d seen him before we left so I could thank him.
Sometimes, I look back on days like this, on the M&Gs and signings I get to go to, and I wonder where the hell I got so lucky. :)
Now, time to get ready for work, as I have to end this amazing day there.