Sometimes I hang out with Vince Vaughn

Yes, folks, that's right. The big celebrity reveal is Vince Vaughn. This wasn't just a sighting either. No, no, my friends, this was a full on meet and greet. A full on exchanging of societal niceties. I would even go so far as to say that I have chatted with Vince Vaughn....or rather, "Vince" as we now like to call him.

I really should start at the beginning as that is what one does when telling the story of 'that time I hung out with Vince'....

Saturday's leg of the race found us wandering quite aimlessly in Chinatown searching for the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. The label "Factory" was really quite misleading here as it implies a large production facility. While the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory may in fact produce a large quantity of fortune cookies, they are actually a teeny tiny shop located in the middle of a crowded side alley. Really, I am just trying to make myself feel better about the fact that we wandered aimlessly for as long as we did. That 10th place finish still stings a little.

We soon met up with another team, found the 'factory', and decided to complete the remaining parts of the race together, as one team. You see, by this point in the day, we had lost all hope of finishing in a reasonably respectable position and realized that it was simply about finishing. Also, the other team was just too much fun to abandon. We fondly named ourselves The Midwest-England Alliance and continued on our way.

As we made our way through the rest of Chinatown, my new partner in crime, Jen, suddenly grabbed my arm and began pulling me into the street.

"Look, look, it's...it's...." Jen exclaimed. My eyes searched the street. Who?! Who could be wonderfully delicious enough to pull a gal you just met into a street full of traffic?! I'll tell you who. Vince.

Realizing that we were standing a mere crowded street away from Vince, we quickly darted across. I should mention at this point that the Husbands were decidedly less enthusiastic about meeting Vince. They also crossed the street, but with far less vigor than Jen and I did. Jen and I were rock stars.

We marched straight up to Vince and asked if we could get a picture together. He very politely explained that if he took one picture, then a crowd would form, and everyone would want a picture. We agreed that was a reasonable argument (as if we had any choice in the matter) and began to walk away. Suddenly though, to our great amazement, Vince began talking to us. I believe it was really his attempt to start a friendship. He could tell just by looking at us how cool and friend-worthy we were.

Like the voice of an angel wafting straight from Heaven, Vince said, "So, you're from Wisconsin?" You see, Hubs and I decided to bolster our team spirit by dressing in matching UW-Madison outfits both days of the race. I am almost positive this is what sold our complete coolness to Vince. I mean, truly, what is cooler than two twenty-somethings, dressed in matching Wisconsin outfits, in the middle of Chinatown? Not much my friends, not much.

Seeing that Vince was particularly interested in our "home states" and wanting to capitalize on the moment, Jen exclaimed, "I'm from Missouri!" This was the exact moment that I knew Jen and I would be buddies. How can you not love a gal who blurts out a random personal fact about herself in the sheer hope of continuing our Vince conversation. Bless her midwestern heart.

Next, because we hadn't quite demonstrated the depths of our coolness to Vince, I explained to him why he was so lucky to meet us. Yes, that's right. I simply said, "You see, we are doing this thing called the Amazing Date for our church and we are actually in a really big hurry, but we stopped just to talk to you." Yes Vince, you really are that lucky. Really, we couldn't have been any cooler.

He replied with a tentative and somewhat confused, "Thanks...."

We ended our conversation with Vince and walked away in complete shock. Well, technically the guys walked away in mild amusement. Jen and I pretty much floated away in a state of utter joy and exuberance. The rest of the day consisted of Jen and I talking about meeting Vince, Jen and I telling everyone we met the story of how we met Vince, and Jen and I remembering that time we met Vince. We were over the moon.

The husbands were decidedly less 'over the moon'. They may have rolled their eyes a few times at our relentless Vince-a-thon. I may have even heard the words, "If I hear this story one more time...." uttered by two husbands who shall remain nameless. I can only reason that they were overcome with jealousy of the incredible 6 foot 5 inches of manliness they encountered in Chinatown that afternoon.

So Vince, if you ever want to, you know, hang-out again, just give me a ring. You know, we could head back to Chinatown for old times sake. We could tell you more thrilling stories about Wisconsin and Missouri. It would be a great time, really. Aren't you tempted?! Let's keep in touch.



*Note: I have cleverly tagged each mention of "Vince's" name to a different Vince Vaughn website. This is my pathetic way of hoping that he is somehow notified of this blog entry and will stop by for another chat. Possibly even a comment?! Come on Vince, you know you wanna....