Josh Hartnett can't hide -- not dressing the way he does.

The Minnesota-raised movie star and producer apparently thought he could hide outside Barbette in plain sight.

U medical school student Julia Morrow tells me that her friend Gina posted a tidbit on Facebook.com about Hartnett being spotted recently at 112 Eatery. "She had chickened out from saying hi," Morrow said in an e-mail. "Immediately I wrote her that 'I would have gone up to him.'"

Hours later, Morrow, who had just returned from LA, where she spent the previous six weeks interviewing and working at a hospital, decided she was in the mood for some of those famous Barbette fries. "On my way out with my fries, I spotted him (around 10:30 p.m.) in a similar outfit to what he was wearing when my brother [What's up! Jake Morrow] met [Hartnett] years ago -- zipped up hoodie, plain hat, thick rimmed black glasses. He was outside with a girl, at least one of them was smoking..."

Ah, did the future doctor, now interviewing in Minnesota and California for a residency, say what all smokers need to be told? "I usually do, but I refrained from lecturing Josh Hartnett," she said, laughing. "I have been known to lecture smokers when I'm out on the town."

Returning to the celebrity sighting, Morrow said, she stopped when she saw Hartnett and asked whether she could take a picture with him. "He definitely seemed very surprised/speechless that I recognized him!" she wrote.

Morrow suggested they step away from Barbette's window to diminish calling attention to the photographic moment, and a girl in the company of Hartnett agreed to take the picture. "He said Sure and immediately put his arm around me to take the picture. The girl couldn't figure out my iPhone and the picture turned out blurry, but I thanked them and left."

She wasn't gone long. Morrow rushed to her nearby apartment, "grabbed my disposable camera" and returned to Hartnett, apologizing and asking for another shot at a focused photo.

"Took off his glasses both times. He was super nice about it, yet few with his words," said Morrow, who may have melted the heartthrob's heart by disclosing, "I've just loved him for so long."

Morrow apologized about how she was shaking next to Hartnett. Cold? Excited? "Oh, excited," she said. "This time the girl took two photos that were not blurry. I don't know who she was, but they didn't seem super close. I thought about staying and chatting with them -- but he just isn't too outgoing, it seems," Morrow said.

"In case you wanted to mention it, tell him I'm newly single, a former professional European basketball player and a future doctor who may possibly move to LA in June to start her residency. Tee-hee."

Get in line, doc.

Now on deck, Joe Mauer And the hunks just kept on coming.

The next weekend, Julia Morrow was a guest at a Sweeney's Saloon birthday party in St. Paul that was also attended by Twins darling Joe Mauer. "It's funny, he doesn't make me as excited as Josh Hartnett. But my friends said, 'Go talk to him.'"

A supremely confident young woman, she did for 30 minutes. "He was hanging in the corner with a bunch of high school friends. He seemed like a shy guy. I talked about almost being out of school and he said, Isn't that exciting to be done with school? I always tell people school is fun; when people say they don't want to go to college, I tell them they should. He said something like I was over school after high school. Then I realized he didn't go to college, so I felt kind of bad," Morrow said.

"His friends were talking about fishing in the Everglades, and I was trying to sound interested. I complimented him on his outfit. He had expensive-looking jeans and a sweater that wasn't quite as trendy. But it was obvious he was trying, and I told him I could be his stylist if he wanted. He smiled and laughed a little."

Although Morrow noticed that "All these girls were all over him, he's just not that famous in my mind; I don't follow the Twins that much. He wasn't too entertaining."

That may be true, but my gut tells me that when Mauer finally picks a wife, he's not as great a risk to go all Tiger Woods on his spouse as some Hollywood types do. Morrow agreed.

And Mauer would be wise not to pick someone falling all over him.

Lady Gaga alert! Lady Gaga is causing a stir by suggesting she's Minnesota-bound.

According to LOL-OMG blog spot, Gaga posted a photo of herself on Twitter with a business card that reads "Lady Gaga," Polaroid "Creative Director." The address on the card is half-heartedly blacked out (the words Baker Road and Minnetonka are still decipherable). But there was no attempt to hide the "MN."

In the background, behind the business card, is a head; the eyes are covered but the hair, nose and lips are viewable. Could be Gaga, but I'm not sure.

Who knows the status of Polaroid these days considering the Tom Petters financial demise? On Friday, I called to find out, but Polaroid's marketing and public relations voice mail box said it was "currently full and cannot receive new messages."

All I can say is that Gaga should be careful in the event she's overcome the urge to go bluffin' with her you-know-what outdoors...

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. More of her attitude can be seen on FOX9 Thursday mornings.