Friendly Encounters: Jenny McCarthy and Jonathan Cimaglio

This is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities.

I met Jonathan Cimaglio at a Chicago Bandits game, where he is a regular.  He is a major autograph collector (or "grapher" as they are now called).  I couldn't even begin to guess how many autographs he has.  I am envious of his collection, but I know he puts a lot of time and effort into it.
Last year, he scored a big hit, that still hurts.  He met Jenny McCarthy.  Jenny has been on my list for years.  I met her a few years back at the NFL Draft, but couldn't get a picture.
Jenny is a Chicago area girl.  She's a bit wacky, but she is likable.  At the draft, she was with Donnie Wahlberg.  She would have done pictures, but it was a bad setup and even a selfie would have been impossible.
On the bright side, Jonathan had to wait about 4 hours for the picture.  Jenny was at Binny's to promote her vodka and the crowd was huge.  I was covering the Rockford IceHogs on that day, but I am not sure I would have committed 4 hours to seeing her.

Jenny McCarty and Jonathan Cimaglio in Villa Park, IL-October 2017.

Back With Jenny McCarthy and Blondies By Jenny

Several months ago, Jenny McCarthy was high on my list of people I wanted to meet.  Within the last 4 months, I have had the pleasure of meeting her four times while she promotes her Blondies By Jenny beverages.

Thanks to the fine folks at Blondies, Binny's Beverage Depot and Jewel-Osco, I have gotten to talk to Jenny about Blondies.  The line started with regular lemonade flavored vodka and strawberry lemonade flavored vodka.

Blondies has no artificial flavors, dyes or added sugar and are gluten free. They are made with real fruit juice and a heavy dose of ultra-premium gold medal winning vodka.  Blondies is light and flavorful.

My suggestion to Jenny was to combine the strawberry lemonade with real strawberries and ice to make a frozen treat.  I'm always up for a frozen alcohol beverage.

At the most recent tasting, they unveiled a blueberry flavor.  Actually, there were two blueberry choices.  Both were very good, but one did get a pretty big majority of the votes.  The blueberry Blondies should be coming out soon.

In talking to Jenny, she also gave me a scoop.  They are working on a grapefruit flavor.  While I am not a fan of grapefruit by itself, I really like the taste when combined with other flavors.  I am looking forward to what Blondies produces.  Based on their current line, I am betting it will be a winner.

As for Jenny, she is a pure delight at these taste-testings.  She is so sweet and fun.  No matter how long the line is, everyone leaves happy and usually with several bottles of Blondies in hand.

Check BlondiesCocktails.com and the Blondies By Jenny Facebook page for updates and all of the news about this tasty beverage.  Of course, I will also have recurring coverage of Jenny and her beverage line.

Jenny McCarthy and me in Naperville, IL-March 2018.

Jenny McCarthy and Blondie's By Jenny

Jenny McCarthy had been on my list of celebrities I want to meet for a long time.  Technically, I met her at the NFL Draft in Chicago a couple years ago, but was unable to get a picture with her.  Recently, I had the opportunity to finally get that picture with her and it was well worth the wait.

Jenny has been out promoting Blondies By Jenny, a vodka lemonade drink.  I met her the first time at Binny's in Highland Park.  It was so much fun and Blondies was so good, I met her again the next week in North Riverside and the next week at Jewel in Saint Charles.

First, let me praise Blondies a bit.  Available in strawberry lemonade and lemonade flavors, Blondies has no artificial flavors, no dyes and no sugar added.  Both flavors were excellent, but the strawberry lemonade is my favorite and seemed to have a slight edge in the tasting at the stores.

Jenny was great at the tastings.  She cheerfully greeted everyone and made a real effort to make sure each encounter was as special as could be within the confines of the situation.  She also signed a lot of other stuff, as well as the bottles of Blondies.  By the third time, we were like old friends.  I wasn't the only repeat attendee and Jenny recognized us each time.

At the first event, I thanked Jenny for appearing in the literacy ad series (Jenny McCarthy Salutes Literacy) I ran while at Lerner Newspapers in the early 2000's.  She was one of the biggest names we had and her ad was the most popular one.  Of course, I had her sign a copy of that ad.

The last time, I mentioned that I liked putting Blondies in a blender with ice and strawberries to make a delicious frozen drink.  Jenny liked the idea and even mentioned it on twitter.

It's funny because after wanting to really meet her for so long, I saw her three straight weeks.  The Blondies tour is done in this area for the year, but there should be at least one more event here in early 2018.  You know if at all possible, I will be there.

In addition to picking up a great vodka, these events are a great opportunity to meet Jenny.  As a veteran of hundreds of comic cons and celebrity appearances, I can tell you that Jenny would be a hugely popular guest at any of them.  Her line would be among the longest and she could charge much more that the cost of Blondies.

Thank you to Jenny for a great drink, for a lot of fun and for being very sweet.  I hope to see her again in 2018.

Check out BlondiesCocktails.com for more info.  You can also follow Blondies by Jenny on Facebook and Blondies by Jenny on twitter.

Jenny McCarthy and me in St. Charles, IL-December 2017.

Sort of Met Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg

I don't usually feature celebrities here unless I have actually met them.  I will make a partial exception today with Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy, because I did meet them, although there is no photographic proof.  Also, because it is Jenny McCarthy, who is on my Top Ten To Meet list.

This all happened at the 2016 NFL Draft.  I was meandering around, trying to snag pictures at Draft Town and I saw the Sirius Satellite Radio booth.  I figured some sports personality would be at the booth, but I did not expect Jenny (and Donnie).

First I must say, I am not a fan of Jenny's views on certain things, but she is a local girl who I have followed from her days at Mother McAuley High School.  I must also say, she was stunning.  She was dressed fairly casually in a Bear sweater, but she looked fantastic.

Donnie and Jenny were being interviewed by a few others and then they settled in to their own talk segment.  They were good, too.  They knew their football, too.

Coming from the Boston area, Donnie is a big New England Patriots fan, but fortunately, Jenny remains true to the Bears.  I wouldn't call either a football expert, but Donnie knew plenty and Jenny held her own.

The pair signed a few autographs and chatted with the fans, but there really wasn't any way to take a picture with them.  Maybe a quick awkward selfie attempt would have worked, but I am not coordinated enough to have pulled off that trick given the situation.

In the end, it was just part of the fun of covering the NFL Draft.  I have not taken Jenny off of my Top Ten list and I will not until I get that elusive picture.  Maybe at some future comic con, I can accomplish that.  Until then, i'll always have the draft!

Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy in Chicago, IL-April 2016.

Jenny McCarthy Salutes Literacy

This recurring series spotlights the Literacy ad series I ran while at Lerner Newspapers.

Since I had virtually no budget, no help and no support, when I was running the NIE program at Lerner Newspapers, I was allowed a bit of freedom (as long as there was no cost attached). I started the NIE literacy ad series and I went after whatever celebrities I wanted. Sometimes the challenge of getting someone was half the fun.
I really didn't expect Jenny McCarthy to agree to appear in the series, but she did. On the other hand, I always was surprised with each new celebrity on board. Still, landing McCarthy was a nice boost for the ad series.
McCarthy had just come out with her book, Belly Laughs. We used the ad to promote her book, while she promoted literacy.
This was going to be the start of a great relationship with McCarthy's agent and PR firm. They liked the ad series and what we had to offer. We obviously liked the possibility of other celebrity-author appearances in our ad series.
Unfortunately, this was one of the last ads I ever ran at Lerner. Once the evil empire (aka Pioneer Press) took over, they weren't too excited about anything done under the old management.
It was really hard for me to take. As much as I joke, I worked hard to make our NIE program a success. Just when it really started to get recognized and show results, it was ended.
It was almost 6 years ago and it still saddens me. I must not look at the negative side though. I had a lot of fun, worked with a lot of celebs and did a lot of good for students in our area.

Learning to read is well worth the effort--it's fun and can lead to great success in life.
--Jenny McCarthy as quoted in the NIE ad series in 2005