She’s kind of a big deal. ⁶

by Katrina • Adventures, Blogging, Fitness, Travel • Tags: Celebrities, Fitness, Health, Travel, Turbo Kick

At 2:00am on Monday morning, I returned home to Smalltown after four incredible days at Camp Do More 2012.

While my body was two pounds lighter than when I left, my suitcase was at least twelve pounds heavier. What can I say? I may have gone slightly overboard in regards to the new Turbo Wear line.

Yes, there are skirts. I picked up two, and have every intention of wearing them when I teach. As soon as “Operation: Honey I Shrunk my Thighs!” is complete, of course. And not to worry, the skirts come fully equipped with bloomers, or as I like to call them, “shanties“.

I can’t even begin to explain that magic that is Camp Do More. It’s four days of friendship, fashion, dancing, workouts, personal development and motivation. I think perhaps the best word to describe the experience  is “spawesome”, which obviously is a hybrid of “sparkly” and “awesome”.

By the way, “spawesome” is totally the new “sick”, so you better get familiar.

If I had to pick one highlight, it would easily be meeting Chalene Johnson, creator of Turbo Kick and Turbo Fire.  I look up to her as not only a mentor in fitness, but also in life. In my eyes, she’s kind of a big deal.

While I was beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to meet one of my role models in person, the entire situation was slightly problematic as I don’t….um…have the best track record when it comes to meeting those I look up to. You may remember the catastrophe that was me, meeting my literary hero, Jen Lancaster back in 2011. Basically, I made her extremely uncomfortable when I suggested our encounter was quite similar to being on a lesbian speed date.

And I’m not even going to discuss my 1998 meet and greet with the King of Norway, other than to say that the monarch actually laughed at me.

And not in a good way.

Needless to say, I was a tiny bit nervous to meet Chalene. While I’m typically a confident social butterfly, being in the presence of people I deeply admire can cause me to transform into a socially awkward twelve-year-old who compensates for her anxiety by telling mildly offensive jokes.

Although…technically a joke has to be funny, right? So really, my outbursts are more like mildly offensive observations as no one typically laughs. Think of it like Tourette’s syndrome, except the ticks are really random stories that make people question my sanity. (And relationship with my dog.)

I had three goals when it came to my meeting with Chalene:

1. Refrain from telling stories. Particularly ones involving nakedness, drunkenness, or my chihuahua. Especially ones involving all three.

2. Not trip. It was my first time in heels since my hellacious ankle sprain, and I didn’t want to fall flat on my face–particularly as my dress was barely long enough to cover things properly while I was just standing.

3. Keep it brief. We were each given two minutes with Chalene. I didn’t want to get carried away explaining the idiosyncrasies of my love for cupcakes while security was dragging me off so the next person could have their turn.

After an hour or so at a VIP cocktail party, my big moment had arrived. I took a deep breath, stepped forward and put a big smile on my face.

I then proceeded to give Chalene a giant hug.

Realizing mid-embrace that this might have been a little awkard, I quickly exclaimed, “Thanks, Chalene! What can I say? I’m a hugger!”

Thankfully, she responded almost instantly with “Me too! I always go in for the hug!”

Phew.

We quickly snapped some photos and started chatting away.

The good news?

She liked my dress.

She really liked my dress!

And I don’t want to go out on too much of a limb here…but I think she kind of liked me, too.

Okay…that last part is a lie. But if you ever happen to read this, Chalene? I can so make it to Orange County for a coffee date if you give me at least twelve hours notice.

So the good news was that Chalene liked my ensemble, and even asked me if I was a makeup artist!

(This was probably because I was wearing false eyelashes that looked like black caterpillars, and she was so shocked she didn’t know how else to respond. Whatever the case, I’m choosing to take it as a compliment.)

The bad news is that after a full day of Turbo Kicking, I had engaged in a bit of Turbo Sipping, which is basically guzzling champagne at a rapid pace while dancing to the house music playing in the background. Katrina + 4 glasses of bubbly + meeting a celebrity = the potential for some serious cray cray.

The fact that nothing went horribly wrong as a result of my Turbo Sipping is truly a Camp Do More miracle. We snapped our photos, I told Chalene about this blog, as well as the book I’m working on, and thanked her for all of the ways she’s helped and inspired me, particularly through her PUSH book, which is helping me inch closer and closer to my writing goals each day. Believe it or not, there was no over sharing, no issues with tripping,  and I didn’t even go over the two-minute time limit!

I did, however, forget to tell her my name.

Chalene, my name is Katrina Taylor, and I want to sincerely thank you for the autographed copy of your book you gave me this weekend.

I also want to let you know that next year, when I come see you at Camp Do More 2013, I’ll be bringing you an autographed copy of my book. A book that, whether you know it or not, you’re helping me write every single day.

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