Ivanka Freaking Trump

The title says it all.

Yesterday, my favorite Trump child tweeted that she would be in Madison Square Park this afternoon to help promote a new Hewlett-Packard printer. I didn't care if it was HP, BP, or KY who was putting on this event -- all that mattered was that I was going to get to see one of my biggest celebrity crushes.

So at 10:30 a.m. I told my co-workers that I was taking an early lunch break. You should have seen their faces; one of them was still eating her breakfast.

I literally sprinted to Madison Square Park (it's medium distance from Penn Plaza) and arrived about quarter to eleven. There was a modest size crowd already brewing, but no Trump daughter yet.

Twenty minutes passed... still no one...

I kept checking my watch, knowing that my hour lunch break was ticking away fast. And then, from the gates of heaven (actually from behind a wall) walked Ivanka Trump. She was with Bill Rancic, Donald Trump's first ever Apprentice winner, and both were smiling and confident, ready to say a million nice things about HP's new printer-whatsit. They gave a quick little back and forth welcome, then handed out some coupons to a dozen lucky bastards who got to go up on stage.

Now. I could describe and compliment and extol Ivanka at length, but why don't I let my pictures say a few thousand words instead?

I shoved myself to the front of the professional photographers to get the best shots I could. They all had ginormous lenses and tripods and microphones, and there I was, front and center, with a tiny little Best Buy cam.

At the end of the press junket, interviewers continued to swarm Ivanka on stage. At this point I saw Bill standing off to the side -- perfect opportunity! I waved and pointed at my camera; he smiled and strolled right over, shaking my hand immediately. I asked how he was doing and how this season's Apprentice was going. He didn't spill any secret info (too bad), but I did end up with these awesome pictures.

Special thanks go out to the security guard who took these two shots. In the first one, I was half way through removing my sunglasses when he snapped prematurely; we all agreed it looked purposeful and totally awesome.

Ultimately I would have loved to get a photo with Ivanka, but she was surrounded by impenetrable hordes of paparazzi most of the time. In retrospect, after having hours to think over this ordeal, I probably could have shouted something to catch her attention (something about how I love her book "The Trump Card", or even a comment about the new Trump SoHo Hotel or a compliment on her personally-crafted designer jewelry), but, honestly, everything happened so fast that my wit and charm couldn't keep up. I know, I know. Hard to believe, right? But in addition to that, I think there's always a little fear in meeting someone you really admire, too -- like you don't want to say something so incredibly stupid that the thought of it will embarrass you for years and years to come.

All in all, it was a damn good day. But if there's something I'm learning from meeting all of these crazy celebrities, it's that success doesn't rub off. If I really want to be on the other side of the red ropes one day, it'll take a lot of hard work, ambition, and sacrifice that few can even fathom. We can't all be born Trumps, but that just makes the mountains we climb that much higher and the views at the top that much more spectacular in the end.