Rachel has kindly given me permission to edit and post her story about her experience at the Screen Actors Guild awards ceremony and after party:

It was the best night ever!! So, where do I start? From the beginning…

We got there around three, watched from the parking lot Melissa Rivers [E! News] get ready and Nancy O'Dell [Access Hollywood] and all those cool people. That was fun. Then, at about 3:30 or 3:45 we decided, OK, we're fashionably late enough and people are coming, so we went down.

Just as we got to where the red carpet started, Joaquin arrived and so he was right by us. We said hi and stuff, and Robyn and I (my friend I had with me) kind of stood to the side to see who else was coming. Joaquin, in the meantime, was having his first cigarette of the night.

So, then Kate came, and the minute she stepped out of her car I recognized her hair. I was like 'Oh, my God, Robyn, we gotta go.' So, we walked more quickly, cause I'd gotten her a present and found out her seat number. I wanted to surprise her and put it there for her before she saw me with it. Really random gift, but we bought her peppermint tea - cause we thought it'd remind her of home and it's a favorite of hers - and a cute little card.

We went in… small talk for a minute or two with Kate, but then her publicist came by cause she had to go backstage to present. So, I wished her luck, squeezed her hand, and she said she would see me later, so I said I'd come down to her table on commercial break, which I did.

So then, we took our seats, ate everything on the plates regardless if we recognized what it was or not. Most was very good. We had this like half-cooked tuna, half sushi thing, spicy shrimp, this round little stack of salad stuff, some breadsticks, red peppers, a tiny piece of chicken, and this weird thing that looked like a cooked flower that none of us ate. OK, mind you, by this time, Rachel is on the third drink of the evening, so if you heard a really loud cheer when Kate came out to present, yeah, that was me.

By the second commercial break I had to pee, but the bathroom line was huge. Kate was near the front of it, but we didn't feel like waiting, so we went out to smoke. She came out, too, after she was done in the bathroom. She had her agent, Hylda Queally from William Morris, with her. Very sweet lady, and she had a publicist with her who looks very much like Hylda, but I forget her name now. She did tell me like twice, but, oh well… Whatever… I'm sure I'll see her around. Hylda had on this huge diamond choker, so we were talking about how she was so scared to lose it and it had to be back at the store by 10 the next morning. She borrowed it, and so she told me mine was much more special cause I was wearing my necklace from my senior prom. Aw, isn't she sweet? Then, we talked about how Robyn and I wanted to raid Harry Winston on Rodeo.

It was fun. All the while Kate was still next to us smoking… la de da… Ooh, and she had this bodyguard with her - huge black guy. I think if he wasn't there I would have spent more time with her. He was very scary looking, so I'd only go chill with Kate when I didn't see him. I talked to him once and he seemed okay, but still, he was huge and scary looking, LOL.

So, on the next commercial break I went down to Kate's table for like five minutes. She was actually kneeling at Joaquin's table, so I went there with her and we were talking. Then, Diane called me and I asked Kate if she'd talk to her on my phone, but the announcer said, 'please return to your seats,' so she said she couldn't cause she had to finish telling Joaquin her story. Blah. So, she said she would later.

OK, so I had Diane talk to Gillian Anderson for a bit, who is another one of her favorites. Oh, by the way, when I was down at Kate's table, I was totally playing with her hair while I was talking to her. I don't know why, but she didn't care. It was kind of cool. Very weird, but, whatever. Joaquin got quite a kick out of it. He's like, 'yeah, pet Kate.' LOL!

OK, so we also met all the 'Sex And The City' people, all the 'Sopranos'. James Gandolfini was awesome. He loved us cause we went to Rutgers University, where he graduated from, so he kept finding us and talking. Tom Hanks came over and introduced himself, 'hi, I'm Tom,' and I was like, 'hi!' (Duh!) Kate Hudson is just the sweetest ever. She talked to a friend of mine on the phone for a while and it was just so cute. We met up later with her and Chris Robinson, her husband, at the Peninsula Hotel having drinks outside the HBO party.

OK, so at the main 'after party' - I was drinking lots with Geoffrey Rush. He was my favorite - so cool. We went to our car and sneaked our camera into this party so we got some pics. I took pics with Kate and Geoffrey. I don't know how retarded we all looked though; it was pretty late! So, yeah, I talked to Geoffrey a lot. And when they were about to leave he made it a point to come and find me and give me a hug and a kiss goodbye and tell me how nice it was to see me again and he'd see me sometime soon. He was soooo sweet, I couldn't believe he came and found me and all!

OK, I'm dragging on so much… There were so many others, too, and I can't even start to tell all the stories… We're going to the X-files set now to see Gill again, so I've gotta get ready…

Later,

Rachel