Meeting Office Space Star Ron Livingston! Karalee Finds and Exchanges Her Stapler! Total of 24 Minutes! Photos! And More!

From TPS reports to the Post-It note heard ‘round the world, Ron Livingston is definitely affixed to pop culture lore forever. And, for me, he will forever be remembered as the most efficient, stress-free celebrity photo opp I’ve ever had.

I needed to make an exchange at Nordstrom and decided to take a mid-day work break to do so. I arrive at The Grove and see the “Extra” stage set up, with the mini fan pit waiting for the next guest. I do a quick scan but see no Mario, no Maria, no anybody. It’s hot and I need to get back to work. So rather than hang around and looky-loo, I head straight into Nordstrom and exchange my item.

The transaction is done in less than 10 minutes and I head back outside. As I pass by the stage, applause begins. No, not for me. It’s for Ron Livingston, who’s wrapping up his interview with Renee Bargh.

Like so many, I’ve been a fan of Ron since “Office Space.” And he was in one of my all-time favorite films, “Swingers.” Then there was his turn on “Sex and the City” as Jack Berger, who penned the best/worst break-up note ever. The list goes on. On this day, he was promoting his new movie, “The Conjuring.”

I’m hopeful I can get a quick pic with him, but it can be a crapshoot as to where to stand and wait. You pick a spot and hope that the celeb exits in that direction. On this day, I walk to the side, stand in the shade and hope for the best. Mind you at this point, I’ve now been out of Nordstrom for all of maybe two minutes.

I must be living an honest fangirl life because Ron shakes a few hands, hops off stage and immediately starts walking toward me. And when I say toward me, I mean only me. There was no one else waiting where I was. He is by himself (I think maybe his publicist was a few feet behind him), and as he comes toward me I quickly say what a fan I am and ask if I can get a photo. He smiles, stops and says, “Sure!” I take the pic, thank him and then he’s off. I turn back around and now people — who were standing on the other side of the stage — are running after him.

Total time spent at The Grove: 24 minutes. It takes longer for my nails to dry. Not a bad way to start any week.

Thanks for letting me share…catch ya on the flip side!