Thom Filicia is one heckuva nice guy

Yes, Virginia, I get star struck.

Mind you, I don't fall for the kinds of 'stars' that most of you might. Sure, I think it's way cool that Jessica Lange shopped in the store at Tobacco Row when filming a really forgettable movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. And do I love telling people that Sissy Spacek used to shop in Charlottesville on Christmas Eve (her birthday is Christmas day), and would walk through the store shouting "Schuyler! Madison! Come on... time to go"? Uh, yeah... it's a great story.

My real star struck, dumbfounded, must see, can't think what to say moments happen when I see, meet, or hear about a sale to (drumroll) an HGTV designer.

These people are like my family. They come into my living room and bedroom and show me how wonderful it can be to have GOOD TASTE and FUN IDEAS when you decorate a space. They ask their homeowners to be receptive and creative. They take risks. They are almost always disarming, charming, and funny.

You may remember the post about last fall's High Point market, when I mentioned being really really close to Candice Olson at a Revco party. Well, I actually MET Ms. Olson 6 months earlier at an American Leather party. As she towered over me, there I stood, between friends Jeff & Tom. Jeff, too, was a fan. I blabbered on about how funny she is and how she and her crew seem to get along so well (*ugh*). Jeff told her he was a fan of all of her kitchen renovations. Tom, seizing the opportunity to mortify both of us, asked her if she remembered the episode when the Klingons took over... comparing us to nerdy little Trekkies. If the shoe fits...

Anyway, back to last fall, which was the prelude to this past weekend's events. You may remember that our own Lisa Degenaars had a brush with fame when she got to meet Thom Filicia - original 'home design specialist' on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and now HGTV star and furniture designer.

Lisa attended a breakfast where she sat with one of Thom's friends. Afterward, she made her way to the man himself and got this photo as proof. She was thrilled.
(Vicariously, so was I.)

Now... to last week. It's a Thursday morning like any other. We walk into a 10:30 meeting and learn that our warehouse manager, Terry Fisher, will be making a delivery to upstate New York to deliver a bed that Bethany Magus sold. Cool. We like selling stuff, so this was good.

Two hours later, Andy-husband-president-of-LaDiff shows me the paperwork for the bed sale.

The customer is none other than... Thom Filicia.

Really? REALLY??? Are you KIDDING???

Lisa was in the next room. I called her to my office and told her to sit down - she did, laughing at me. I handed her the pink ticket.

She saw the name and looked at me in disbelief.
So exciting...

Now, at this point, we have no idea if Thom bought the bed for himself or if one of his employees bought the bed in his name for a client... but, we're going to find out. And... just in case he's there at the delivery, Lisa plans to send the photo with Terry... so that Thom maybe, might sign it for her.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, and the phone call I got from Terry Fisher.

"Mission Accomplished."

Thom WAS there. The bed was for a friend & neighbor.


He signed Lisa's photo, and he willingly let Terry take his photo on the new bed.


He posed for photos with
Terry and his wife Theresa in front of our truck, and he encouraged Terry & Theresa to walk around the property and check out the lake.


Like we said... Thom Filicia is one heckuva NICE GUY. Thanks, Thom. Shop with LaDiff ANY time!