A Half-Baked Love

There are many reasons why Emily Blunt and I are destined to become best friends. First, we both appreciate her delectable diet of starvation and cheese cubes in "The Devil Wears Prada." Second, we both enjoy a sassy British monarch—she, as Queen Victoria; I, as a fan from afar. And, what’s more, Blunt was recently spotted in a bar not far from my current haunt in Ann Arbor, Mich., belting out "Total Eclipse of the Heart," one of my favorite songs of all time.

I can already see our future together, grumpily nibbling at our celery and cheese cubes, pretending to be Helen Mirren as an eclipse blocks out the sun in the Great Lakes region.

I'm not usually one to fall naively in love with characters, but this winter I've found myself intrigued and surrounded by references to her latest film project, "The Five-Year Engagement." This is primarily because of the many hours I have spent in Zingerman's, Ann Arbor's favorite patisserie and one of the film's settings, whose selection of pastries, charcuterie, and cheeses is unrivaled.

On my first adventure to that magical gourmet land, I realized that I was walking in the footsteps of royalty. As I ordered my cabbage and goose fat strudel and my ham and cheese croissant, the staff behind the counter were raucously reliving the day Blunt shot a scene in the bakery. "She came over and started banging on the glass to get Jason Segel's attention because he was back in there," one of the employees said, gesticulating enthusiastically at the unsuspecting workers in white chef hats and aprons kneading large tabletops of dough. "That girl there in the purple, you can see her in the background in the movie!" she added with glee.

When I opened the newspaper the next evening, I saw that the movie crew had returned to Zingerman's after I had left. I was devastated. When again would I have the chance to profess my love for Jon and Amy's Double Dip with a garlic pickle and a lemonade on camera? When else could I stand in the background of a take and proudly recite, "I'm one stomach flu away from my goal weight!" I returned home and resigned myself to the truth that Blunt’s path will likely never cross with my own. But, in the meantime, I'll be prowling Ann Arbor's karaoke bars in the hopes of snagging a duet. I'll just tiptoe up behind her and croon, "Turn around, bright eyes."