Taylor Hallman didn’t realize who the woman she was ringing up at the register was, until she read the name on the credit card receipt: Lana Del Rey. Before that, Hallman, who works at Russellville’s Maggie J’s Boutique and Gifts had just been enjoying chatting with this friendly customer, who also happens to be one of this century most iconic music stars,

“She was so down-to-earth. It was crazy,” Hallman says of Del Rey. “You know how some people you can tell that they’re just famous? It’s almost like they walk around, and they want people to know that they’re famous. She was not like that.”

Del Rey is known for her alluring, haunting vocals on songs like “West Coast” and “Young and Beautiful.” Femme fatale charisma magnetizes her hit albums, including 2012′s “Born to Die,” 2014′s “Ultraviolence” and recent ninth studio LP “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”. The Los Angeles-via-New York singer’s also an in-demand headliner for top music festivals like Coachella.

As glamourous as she is on recordings, in publicity photos and onstage, Del Rey’s caused a stir this week by being everyday people in, of all places, Alabama. First, she was in Birmingham at a nail salon and, reportedly, a Starbucks. Tuesday night, Del Rey was spotted out and about while dining at a pizza place in downtown Florence. Thursday, she turned up at a local Waffle House, donning one of the restaurant’s waitress uniforms and pulling a lunch shift.

During her ‘Bama jaunt, Del Rey’s left a trail of sweetly starstruck fans, autographs and fans’ selfies, smartphone videos and social media posts in her wake.

Media outlets worldwide, including this one, have speculated about what Del Rey is doing in Alabama. On Wednesday, AL.com with the Shoals area’s two iconic recording studios, FAME Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound, to see if Del Rey has been recording with them. We were told she has not.

After the curious Waffle House appearance, my personal theory was Del Rey is here to film a music video for the song “Paris, Texas” off her latest album. In the song’s second verse, she sings about going “to see some friends of mine, down in Florence, Alabama.” Although professional cameras and lighting didn’t appear to be a part of Del Rey’s Waffle House lunch shift, with today’s high-quality smartphone videos it’s totally possible footage could’ve been shot on the downlow.

After Hallman met Del Rey on Saturday while the singer was shopping at Maggie J’s, she asked Del Rey why she’s been in Alabama this week. “She told me she was visiting family in the Florence area,” Hallman says. “And I want to say it was on her sister’s husband’s side, but I could be wrong.” Del Rey didn’t mention anything about shooting a music video here for “Paris, Texas,” but Hallman points out that doesn’t mean she couldn’t be doing that also.

In a 2014 Fader interview promoting her album “Ultraviolence,” Del Rel was quoted as saying that at one point she “lived down in Alabama with my boyfriend.” However, there’s been some fan speculation whether the singer was being truthful about that detail or sculpting a noirish backstory.

The laidback Del Rey took her time shopping at Maggie J’s. Hallman says perused the shop for around 40 minutes, and even though Maggie J’s was busy at the time, no one else there noticed her. The singer was dressed down in a denim top and coral-colored skirt and minimal makeup. At the counter, before Hallman placed her, Del Rey talked about growing up in frigid New York state and how the hot Southern weather was a nice change for her.

At the boutique, Del Rey, in the store by herself, purchased: a pair of blue jeans, a bohemian-styled Earth Grace bracelet, costume jewelry necklaces, two accessory bags, and a coffee mug emblazoned with the slogan “See The Good.”

After reading her name and signature on the receipt, Hallman, a 20-year-old studying at Athens State University to be an elementary, asked Del Rey if she could take a photo with her phone. “She was like, ‘Yeah let me come around there, it’ll be easier.’ She just walked behind the desk and gave me a hug and I stuck my phone out and snapped the picture.”

After seeing the pic on Hallman’s phone, Del Rey said, “That’s so cute!” Hallman, who’s 5-foot-7 and speaks in a honeyed Southern accent, estimates Del Rey is around 5-foot-10 in height. Hallman says, “She was so nice to me. She’s was just so graceful and amazing. I can’t quit thinking about it.”

Like many people’s, Hallman’s social media feed has been heavy with buzz from Del Rey’s recent Alabama sightings. The day before the singer walked into Maggie J’s, Hallman and her boss were talking about how crazy it would be if she came in here and shopped. “And I’ll be danged, if she didn’t come in the next day.”

A fan for years, Hallman’s favorite Del Rey tracks include “Summertime Sadness,” “Young and Beautiful” and recent Taylor Swift collabo “Snow on the Beach.” Since meeting Del Rey, Hallman says she’s been listening to her music nonstop and she’s dying to see the singer perform live, something she’s yet to experience.

Hallman, the stepdaughter of late ‘80s/early ‘90s Grissom High School basketball star Greg Edmonds, posted her Del Rey-starring selfie a couple minutes after Del Rey left the boutique. Soon her phone was blowing up with friends asking if the singer was still there.

Before Del Rey left, Hallman says she told her she was headed to Haleyville, about a 30-minute drive from Russellville, next. But as of our phone interview today, Hallman, who says she knows a lot of people from Haleyville, hasn’t heard of any Del Rey sightings there yet.

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