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Julia Louis-Dreyfus Pops By Furniture Shop, And Owner Calls It 'Surreal'

By  Alisa Hauser and Mina Bloom | November 28, 2016 5:30pm | Updated on November 28, 2016 5:47pm

HUMBOLDT PARK — Julia Louis-Dreyfus was under the radar perusing vintage furniture in the West of Western "WOW District" on Saturday, but it was an eventual request for a tape measure that outed the famed actress to shop co-owner Lynne McDaniel.

"She asked me if I had a tape measure and she had that look in her eyes like, 'Please, don't recognize me,'" McDaniel recalled.

"I said, 'Are you... ?' and she said, 'Yes.' I said 'cool' and around that time, all of the customers were figuring it out as well," said McDaniel, who owns An Orange Moon, 2418 W. North Ave., with her husband, Ty McDaniel.

McDaniel had been assisting another customer when Louis-Dreyfus first walked in, but noticed that the woman in the black puffy coat who'd entered was "examining all the high end pieces."

McDaniel declined to say what items Louis-Dreyfus bought but said that after about an hour and a half of shopping, the actress selected six pieces from the store, which specializes in mid-century modern furniture.

Initially, Louis-Dreyfus had been looking for a credenza by designer Johannes Andersen that had been featured on An Orange Moon's website but it was already sold, McDaniel said.

McDaniel said she was flattered that Louis-Dreyfus had been checking out An Orange Moon online and even more pleased with the timing and the fact Saturday was also "Small Business Saturday."

McDaniel described Louis-Dreyfus as "naturally funny and naturally kind" and said the actress has great taste in music because she knew the songs that the McDaniels had been playing on the store's soul music playlist.

"I looked at her and she named the song, it was "Go Round in Circles. It was a wonderful and surreal moment," McDaniel said.

Louis-Dreyfus is most well-known for her role as Elaine Benes on the critically-acclaimed '90s sitcom "Seinfeld," which is commonly referred to as one of the best TV shows of all time.

The actress recently reinvented herself on the popular HBO show "Veep" for her role as role as career politician Selina Meyer, whose ineptitude is equal parts hilarious and cringe-worthy. She's won a total of six Emmys for "lead actress in a comedy," giving her the most wins ever in that category.

"Veep" is entering its sixth season in the spring.

McDaniel said she was not familiar with "Veep" but recognized Louis-Dreyfus from "Seinfeld."

McDaniel, the self-proclaimed Goddess of WOW (West of Western), relocated her and her husband's Gage Park vintage furniture shop, An Orange Moon, to Humboldt Park/West Bucktown on Nov. 11, 2011.

As Louis-Dreyus was leaving, McDaniel made a photo request.

"I asked, Would it be OK if we took a photo together?' She said, "I don't see how it can hurt,'" McDaniel said.

Over the holiday weekend, Louis-Dreyfus was also spotted in Evanston, where her son is a student at Northwestern University and a player on the school's basketball team, the Tribune reported. 

After An Orange Moon, Louis-Dreyfus and a man who had joined her in the shop, along with a "small entourage" who'd been on the sidewalk outside the store, headed west toward other stores on the street, such as Cup & Spoon, McDaniel said.

Ty McDaniel, co-owner of An Orange Moon, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. [Lynne McDaniel]

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