Julia Stiles!!!

This is the awkward way it went down:

Faith and I went to the 14th St YMCA to look for a bathing suit that she had lost. We walked into the dressing room and I saw three women talking. One of them looked like a well-scrubbed Julia Stiles. I said to myself, no, couldn't be. But then from behind me I heard her voice- that low pitched, news caster type of voice. JS has a very distinctive way of speaking as well. At that point I was 85% certain it was her. My heart beat a little faster.

Because here's the thing. I've seen some celebs in NYC. But I haven't really had a run in with someone I'm a real fan of. I mean a genuine I bumped into a celeb moment that gives you a little high. And that was what this was like. We made eye contact, I did a double take and she gave me this look, like not again.

So we left her in the dressing room to go talk to the security guard who suggested we look again in the dressing room. So we returned and I passed JS as she was leaving. Once she was gone I asked the woman in the dressing room if she knew JS since they had been talking. She shook her head in confusion.

We left again and this time I asked the security guard, who gladly told me that yes JS was a regular along with Robert Rodriguez (yay Austin) and Amanda Bynes (at this point Faith finally got excited).

The pic is from 10 Things I Hate About You, JS's breakthru movie with Heath Ledger. I immediately thought about Heath when I saw her. They were so cute and original too- they genuinely had that extra something that defines a movie star. whatever it is that makes someone so compelling on screen. I think its their very strong personalities. JS and Heath both have this strength in their acting which also offers a vulnerability. I also LOVED that movie. I wish Hollywood would revive the classic literature-into teen film equation like Clueless (Emma) and 10 Things (Taming of the Shrew). There was an Amanda Bynes movie doing Twelfth Night, but it was sub par.

It was genuinely cool. Today NYC is my favorite place in the world. :)