C.J.: Was Nate Berkus shopping at J.B. Hudson? Hmmmm

Word has it that Oprah's favorite decorator, Nate Berkus, and another guy were seen shopping at J.B. Hudson last week.

The uninitiated should be informed that J.B.Hudson is a high-end JEWELRY store. There are shops in Wayzata and on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. I had a confirmed sighting at the Minneapolis store.

If Berkus was with his fiancé, Jeremiah Brent, it makes one wonder if they were shopping for rings? If so, could this have been Berkus supporting a store from his childhood or browsing off the beaten path with Brent, a former assistant to Rachel Zoe.

I sent Berkus a subtle tweet Monday: Have you been in MN at a store with initials followed by the letter H?

Haven't heard back from Berkus.

Beyonce fan

Beyonce helped Paul Douglas celebrate his 29th wedding anniversary with his wife, Laurie, last week at St. Paul's X.

They had front-row VIP seats, which I believe ran in the $1,000-a-pop range. "What I paid for those tickets I was expecting at least one slow dance with Beyonce," Douglas told me Monday.

He didn't want to say how much those tickets cost except to say "it was ridiculous. I don't make that big TV money anymore," said Douglas, who worked at KARE 11 and WCCO-TV.

Douglas slogs away as founder and president of Media Logic Group, six separate companies that do weather consulting, new energy technology and other weather services. Among the projects, said Douglas, is a new national weather channel.

"We're celebrating, and I wanted to do something nice. Believe me, I don't make a habit of this. And I've never gone the whole VIP thing. I was just curious. It was a great evening. I don't know if I'd ever do it again. I thought it was a great show."

VIP ticket holders were guests at a private reception area with appetizers and drinks — but no Mrs. Carter.

"We got a couple of autographed photos, which was cool. She personalized the autograph, one is to me and one is to my wife. And a couple of bottles of her perfume. Before the concert, they sent out like a case of Pepsi with her face on it and a tote bag or two. A little bit of swag came with it," he said.

"It was cool — they had this room set up behind the stage where her roadies keep the amplifiers and crates, so when they leave you back there, you get a peek at the underbelly you normally wouldn't see."

Laurie is the big Beyonce fan, but P Doug said: "I love her music, too. I respect her as a businesswoman. She has a really, really good head on her shoulders. She's also obviously gorgeous and talented. We saw that HBO documentary. I was smitten by her entreprenural spirit. If I'm going to support anybody, it's going to be somebody like this."

"The computerized show was just amazing, the images. Imagine a flat-screen TV, only this one is approximately 150 feet wide and 25 feet high," said Douglas. "She had incredible images that told the story visually as she was singing. I thought it worked." Sounds similar to the one she used at Target Center a few years ago when I saw her.

I asked Douglas if he could do the fist pumping "Single Ladies" dance moves which even President Obama cops to mimicking. P Doug laughed: "In my bedroom with the lights turned off, yeah."

As an unexpected bonus, Douglas also go to see one of his favorite local singers, Kiana Marie, who is the biggest Paul Douglas fan I know, in addition to being so mad for Beyonce; Kiana would follow Queen Bey wherever she performed, if financially possible. Kiana's Beyonce highs included appearing for about two seconds in the "Single Ladies" video Beyonce did featuring fans from all over the world.

"It was bizarre — as we are walking into the X, in the elevator, all of a sudden I hear 'Paul?' I turn around and there she is with her gorgeous mom [Joyce Mayes]. Holy cow, what are the odds?"

With a note from Laurie, I'll bet P Doug could get a dance with a Beyonce-channeling Kiana Marie when she performs Wednesday at the Eden Prairie Redstone or Saturday at the Crooked Pint.

First lady of news

Helen Thomas went home over the weekend to an eternal front-row seat at presidential news conferences.

The dean of the White House press corps, who was never afraid to ask questions other reporters were once too timid to utter, died Saturday at the age of 92.

In June 2001, bright and early as 6 a.m. is, I had a chance meeting with Thomas at MSP. She was flying back to D.C. after a speaking engagement. She called me "gossip girl" and patted my arm.

Rest well, trail blazer.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.