You took me up on my offer?

For those who don't know me I am obsessed with any show on bravo- mostly real housewives but top chef takes a very close second. My fixation with reality shows began junior year of college when I became so stressed that I needed an escape from what was going on at school and the crazy antics of the people on these shows helped take it away. Anyways when top chef season 4 came on I decided I could watch this show and then recreate the dishes the chefs made the next day- obviously that didn't work out as planned. From the first episode I became obsessed with Richard Blais. I tuned in every Wednesday night in hopes he wouldn't be at the judges table and would make it through to the next round. I screamed at my tv like I do when the celtics play when he was robbed of the top chef title and refused to watch season 5 until season 6 came on and the Voltaggio brothers made their tv appearance and I once again became intrigued but was still upset over Richard's loss. Then came top chef all stars and Richard Blais was back on the scene, again I became obsessed every Wednesday night just to see what crazy creation he would come up with next. Obviously Richard won and it restored my faith in top chef. Then I had been traveling to Atlanta a few times and going to Flip! burger owned by Blais but he was never at the restaurant when I was there. I then made it my goal to meet him when I moved here in December, well it took me 4 months but I finally met the award winning chef and restauranteur this weekend.

A few weeks ago I was shopping (typical) at Crate and Barrel and they gave me a coupon because their store was moving and it said Richard Blais was going to be there on March 31st. First thing I did was call Lindsey to schedule going to the store to meet him and making her agree to come with me. Saturday arrived and I was SO excited. I assumed the store was going to be mobbed I mean this is Richard Blais, come on but when we got there we were able to walk right up to him and get our picture taken with him! My dream come true haha. So obviously I was so excited to meet him I literally blacked out during the conversation, turns out my favorite chef invited Ashley, Lindsey and I to Flip the next day where he would be filming for his new show! As if I wasn't already on cloud nine I literally floated out of the store after I bought a bar for my living room. All Saturday afternoon Ashley and I texted over what we were going to wear/say/do etc. Sunday comes and Ashley and I get ready to go dressed in adorable sun dresses- cute but not over the top. We go down the street to Flip and Ashley walks up to the hostess and informs her that Richard had told us to stop by to watch the filming if we wanted (as if we are old friends haha), so we are seated 1 table away from where he's filming and obviously we can't stop watching because its RICHARD BLAIS! Then they take a break and Richard and I make eye contact- you know that awkward eye contact where you have to say something because you've both obviously seen each other and if you don't say something its now super awkward? So I go "Hey Richard! Remember us from yesterday?' and then he comes over and goes "oh you guys took me up on my offer to come! Thats awesome- thanks for the support!" Literally the nicest guy ever. We have a 5 minute conversation for which I was so excited over and if it wouldn't have been totally weird I would have asked for another photo with him but 2 days in a row might be kind of pushing it haha. Then he tells us that by where we were sitting we were in the shot which is so cool and he goes "would it be cool if I brought the cameras over later?" I almost fell on the floor. So Ashley and I try to push our meal out as long as possible but we had been there for an hour and a half and everyone was staring at us haha so we felt it was best to leave at that point.

So this is my post dedicated to Richard Blais- I love his new show that aired last night on the cooking channel (reinventing the meal 8pm EST cooking channel- shameless plug). He is the nicest guy ever and makes time for his fans even though his celebrity chef status has exploded. I can't wait to try his new restaurant The Spence- opening in a few months and hopefully get to see him again and to also try HD1!

Now if the Voltaggio brothers would come here during the Top Chef Tour in June I'd probably pass out on the spot-especially if Richard makes a surprise appearance--all my favorite top chefs in one place- hey a girl can dream right?