The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everything just seemed perfect. Oh what a day it was. This was not just an ordinary day, but a day when the lovely Academy Award winning actress Cate Blanchett was coming to town. That's right, Cate Blanchett! She would be appearing in a not so distant town for a special screening of the 1998 film "Elizabeth", in which she was nominated for a little golden naked statue named Oscar. Earl's Mom was kind enough to be our chauffeur for this event and we prepared for the one-hour drive ahead of us, hopefully it would be worth it.

       The event cost some big bucks (for a movie you can rent at Blockbuster) so we decided not to attend, but instead wait outside in the cold like dogs. We didn't travel this far to watch a film anyways, but instead to meet the amazing actress behind the film. We pulled into town around 2:50pm, which gave us a chance to try and meet another actress in town, Ali MacGraw. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck finding her at the event and hoped that this wasn't a sign for bad things to come on this autograph outing.

       At around 6:00pm we staked out the venue where Cate Blanchett's event was scheduled to get underway and tried to figure out where she would be entering and exiting the venue. We had our hunches, but the building was just too huge to cover and we'd need some serious luck if we were to have any luck. An hour later the film started rolling and we figured that Cate would probably be appearing afterwards for a question and answer format. Our stomachs were growling so we decided to pass the time at Ci Ci's Pizza (shameless plug for them). After about an hour of that we returned to the theatre fueled up and ready for anything.

        Our best guess was that she would actually be entering through the front entrance, a rare occurrence, but we just felt in our guts that it was the right spot. Our minds really played tricks on us because we were suspicious of every woman with short blond hair that entered the building. After countless false alarms, we were starting to question our instincts on deciding to wait at the front entrance. All of the sudden a Jeep pulled up to the front entrance of the theatre, could it be? A small group emerged and from our distance it really looked like Cate Blanchett was in the thick of them. Were our paranoid minds seeing another Cate Blanchett look alike?

       After heading inside the theatre for a bit, the group reemerged giving us a better look at everyone. The woman we believed to be Cate Blanchett was no mere imposter, it was her!! She had stopped for a second to look at a movie poster, but even that didn't give us enough time to walk up and ask for an autograph. At least we now knew she was here and where she entered the building, possibly her exit as well. We kept a watchful eye on the Jeep she arrived in, which ironically parked next to an almost identical vehicle. The anticipation grew as it drew closer to the end of the event, gulp.

       We weren't getting anywhere sitting in the car so we got out on foot to investigate the venue a little closer. Earl and his Mom worked out a plan with their cell phones; we would go into the theatre, while his Mom kept guard waiting to call if the Jeep moved or if Cate exited. We made a break for the doors and it just so happened that we timed it right as the crowd started to emerge out of the theatre doors. Cate Blanchett hadn't exited yet so one possibility was that she was signing for the crowd, which we've seen happen at this venue before. We cut through the crowd like butter and confirmed that she wasn't inside signing, where on earth was she?

       Fears of defeat were already starting to enter both of our thoughts because things just didn't look promising. When we walked outside Earl noticed that his phone displayed missed call and our sights shifted directly to the empty spot of Cate Blanchett's Jeep! This freaked us out and Earl quickly ran to his Mom to find out where it went.

       She said the driver got in the Jeep and took off down the street, but nobody else got in with him. Making a split second decision, Earl (still not knowing all the facts) quickly told Sterling to follow him around the corner of the sprawling building. We ran to the side of the building and Earl's instincts were dead on because on the other side of the building we spotted the matching Jeep. The lights of the Jeep were still on and thankfully there wasn't anybody inside... yet.

       Obviously they moved the Jeep to find a more secluded area, where the crowd wasn't exiting. A couple of minutes later Earl fixed his eyes on a group of people exiting from a side door, one of which was the very beautiful and talented Cate Blanchett! She had roses in her hands and seemed to be in good spirits. The group was heading right for us and this is always a nail biting moment for us.

       Earl waited for the perfect moment and popped the question, no not marriage. She smiled and simply said, "Sure" and put on the brakes. Cate waited while Earl fumbled to open the Sharpie cap and then proceeded to sign for both of us. Earl told her it was such an honor to meet her and her face lit up and she thanked him. She has a lovely British accent and is very soft spoken.

       Before she took off Sterling asked for a picture with her and she thought about it for a second, but said she had to get going. We had no problem with that and thanked her ever so much for everything. From there we watched her get in the jeep and head off down the street. We did take a picture of the jeep she left in, just so we would have a picture to remember the moment. Both of us went back to the car triumphantly and headed home.

       A couple of months after traveling an hour to meet Cate, she ironically came to our town to visit. She was in our city for a special Q&A session and I was lucky enough to score a pass. I didn't attend the event to get an autograph, but instead to enjoy her interview and learn from her experiences in the film industry. I was really lucky to get such great seats to the event and found her to be such an interesting person.

       She is such an actor's actor and truly appreciates the art of filmmaking. Attending this event was also beneficial in the fact that I was able to get some good pictures of her. If you read the last story you'll remember that we couldn't get a picture with her and didn't have a photograph to go along with the autograph, until now.

       After the show was over, I started to wait to get an autograph (in this case picture with her) because it's just in my nature. I saw another autograph seeker and decided to wait around a pinch longer. The other autograph seeker isn't as experienced as both of us are, but we've seen her on many occasions. I knew where Cate would be exiting and informed the woman, but she was too shy to head over there.

       Cate indeed came out of that door that I had predicted, but I didn't feel the need to head over there. The lady I was with actually tried to use me to go up and ask Cate, but I knew she was trying to use me and wasn't going to be the pawn in this chess game. We watched her get into her jeep (the same one from before) and head off. As she drove past both of us she smiled big and waved and we did the same. Didn't get an autograph this time, but it was just cool seeing her again and listening to this interesting woman. Thank you Cate for coming out and sharing your experiences with us.