An email flashes across the screen of my inbox and it's from Galacticbabe. Its news that she will be in town the week of April 28th for business and wanted to meet with Nobby, Pidluk, Jazzie and myself for dinner. Nobby and Pidluk already had the pleasure of meeting Galacticbabe when they traveled to Chicago for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. The group quickly moved forward on making plans for a SQUEE fest dinner in San Francisco.

After a few email exchanges, I learned that Galacticbabe would be stuck in conferences for the majority of her stay in town and Nobby had classes to attend. We finally decided on a night in the middle of the week to meet for dinner. Next on the agenda was deciding where to eat. Never fear, twinkle toes (me) and Granny-Wan were able to suggest a cozy little famous burger joint called Mel's Diner; a grease lover's delight where they serve heart attack on a plate. By the way, the original Mel's Diner in Modesto, California, debuted in a little film known as American Graffiti (psst...that's a George Lucas film ).

Since there would be ample time before meeting our dates for dinner, Julie and I decided to make plans for a side trip to a toy store called 'Things from another World'. This toy store puts Toys R Us to shame. A fanboy or fangirl could spend hours just gazing upon the glorious plastic treasures lining the shelves. It's enough to make a grown fangirl weep with joy. It didn't take long for Nobby to chime in that he and Pidluk would be joining us at the store prior to dinner too. This was turning out to be more than just another SQUEE fest dinner. Or so it seemed.

Taking the train ride into the City was long and boring. All Julie and I could talk about was our dinner dates and what Star Wars toy we were going to buy first. Once the train arrived at our stop, we moved quickly getting out of it; a brisk walk down a few blocks and through the front doors of the Metreon, only to discover that the toy store had been closed for business. The horror, the disbelief, the shock was unbearable to take. Jazzie immediately went into shock. I, on the other hand, went into action and picked up my cell phone and called Nobby. Pidluk answered the phone and all I could say to her was, "The store closed. I can't believe it. What do we do?" She chuckled and recommended that I try to research what happened to the store via online at a nearby computer store. To make a long story short, Jazzie and I scratched that idea and ended up finding a small toy store down the street from Mel's Diner. Shortly thereafter, Nobby and Pidluk joined us at the toy store. All was set right in our world again. We were at one with the Force.

We browsed the store for Star Wars toys, but couldn't find much. However, I was able to find an R2 and Trooper tator head, which I quickly snatched up and purchased. We gathered our tiny plastic treasures and waltzed out of the store with glee, knowing that Galacticbabe and dinner was waiting to greet us just a block away. Standing in front of the store with a huge smile on her face was Galacticbabe. After exchanging a round of hugs, we proceed into Mel's Diner for some scrumptious greasy morsels.

As we settled down at our table, I could hear Nobby whisper that he spotted George Lucas. A quick turn of my head, I immediately engaged my visual sensors for the target. Stay on target; stay on target, Mina. Sure enough, there he was in black and white. My heart started to flutter as I scrambled to pick up my camera. Everything moved in slow motion. I think I stumbled over Jazzie and a chair while trying to make a grab for my camera. Success at last, with my camera in hand I proceeded to snap away. Would you like to see our group photo with George? What a silly question to ask you. But of course you'd like to see our group photo with George. Without further ado, I give you our group photo with George here and here (George got cut out of this picture by accident). I also managed to get his autograph and a few other snap shots of him here and here.

I did manage to take other photos of the group after settling down from the excitement of George. Here is Nobby playing with a kid's box car container and a candid shot of Galacticbabe and me. With our bellies full and huge smiles on our faces, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, knowing that this was not the end, but the beginning of an everlasting friendship and more dinners with George!!

What? Did you really think we met George in the flesh? Hah, a fangirl can dream, can't she?!?!?!