A few of our members were able to meet Jen at the New York City signing of her new fragrance:
How many people can say that the person they’ve looked up to for 12 years actually knows who they are? I never thought I would, but today I can say that she does. Joanna and I were waiting for Jennifer to announce the date of the New York City signing of her new fragrance since July & when she finally did, we knew we had to go no matter what. We lined up at Sephora at 6:30 am because the store said that the first 250 people to buy the perfume received wristbands and were guaranteed to meet her. We wanted to take no chances so Joanna, Jennie, my mom, and I were there bright and early with Rachel and Roxanne. I was the second person to buy the perfume at 10:00 and we were told to come back at 4:00.
The wait kills you; the anticipation builds up so much and you just don’t know how to channel it. I didn’t eat the entire day – just looking at food made me feel nauseous. Anyway, the six of us met up again at 4 and there were two people in line ahead of us, which was fine. We were all freaking out so much – none of us knew what we were going to say to her. Words didn’t exist to explain what a big deal meeting her was for us. She arrived at 5:15 and a swarm of people gathered to see her so we didn’t get a really good glimpse of her. We saw her strapless red dress and her amazing hair (last time I saw her, it was still long, but she can really make anything look good), but we barely saw her. She posed for the paparazzi for a bit and then went inside. The people working for Sephora, whom we were sure to make friends with, told us that she was doing interviews with People Magazine and ET and once she was done with those, we would be able to go inside.
At this point, I was so panicky that I just decided not to plan what I was going to say and let whatever came out in the moment happen. People were being really obnoxious and rushing everybody along quickly so I was even more nervous than before. We weren’t allowed to take pictures with her, but we were able to photograph her while waiting in line. Joanna was right in front of me and when I saw her finishing up her meeting with Jennifer, I was so so so so so so nervous.
I went up to the table and handed the bottle of perfume to her – it’s really hard to concentrate on anything going on around her because she’s just so stunning, you can’t take your eyes off of her. She looked up at me and said, “Oh my God, aren’t you just gorgeous?!” I smiled, wanting to tell her that SHE is the most gorgeous person ever, but I couldn’t. As she was signing the perfume, she caught sight of Joanna leaving behind me and I’m not sure what happened, but something clicked in her mind and she asked, “Wait, are you with that girl who just left?” I said yes and she snapped her fingers saying, “Oh my goodness, I knew I’d seen you two together before!” I died. I’m not even kidding – it was the most surreal moment of my life.
I was so overwhelmed, but I realized I hadn’t said anything of consequence yet and I didn’t want to let the opportunity get away from me, so once she was done signing the bottle, she held it in her hands and looked at me and the words just came out. I said to her, “You don’t even know how special you are. You should know that you have helped me through some really difficult times in my life and I just want to thank you so so much, from the bottom of my heart.” At one point while I was talking, she grabbed onto my hand. It was so sweet of her – I think she realized I was on the verge of tears. I was shocked that I was able to sound coherent in front of her and she teared up immediately. She was so touched, I think she wasn’t expecting to hear something like that. When she talks to you, she looks right at you and hangs on to every word that comes out of your mouth. It’s incredible. And when she smiles, you can see it in her eyes; she really smiles from the heart. I love that she didn’t hold back what she’s feeling. She became really emotional and said, “Thank you so much. That means so much to me. Thank you.”
Then she stood up and gave me such a tight hug, I was really caught off guard. I didn’t think she would hug me with so much affection. She grabbed onto my shoulder and squeezed me, it was so amazing. After she handed my perfume back to me, she said, “Have the most amazing evening. Thank you – that meant the world to me.” There are no words to adequately describe my feeling, but I’m trying my best.
I ran downstairs to tell Joanna that she actually knows who we are and we both died. There weren’t too many people left to meet her, so we waited for her to come back out. The crowd was uncontrollable at this point and it made me really mad because the paparazzi were so obnoxious and ruining it for everybody else. She came downstairs but didn’t come out for about 15 minutes and we later found out that it was because she was shopping LOL. How adorable is that!
She came out and everyone was screaming her name, but when I called out to her, she actually heard me and stopped. She stared and looked directly into my eyes for a good five seconds and gave me a small wave; it was so special. I wasn’t even paying attention to the screaming people around me at that point, it was just such a strong flood of emotion.
After she left, we went back into the store to see what she bought haha and we talked to our Sephora friends, exchanging experiences. They couldn’t believe that Jennifer knows who Joanna and I are. It was crazy. We asked them if we could have the cardboard signs they used for the signing since they were probably going to throw them out. The woman we were talking to went to Charlotte, the supervisor, and asked. She took one look at us, knew exactly who we were, and said “Sure, why not?” Everything just fell so perfectly into place.
I looked at the photo of her hugging me and I just love the expression on her face. Even her publicist, Stephen Huvane who rushed everyone along didn’t say a word to me about hurrying up and is smiling in the picture LOL. I am so happy I chose her to be my role model all those years ago because quite frankly, I can’t think of anybody else who can measure up to her. There is not one bad bone in this woman’s body and she is definitely lying about her age – she’s not 42. She doesn’t look a single second over 30. So many people admire actors and actresses only to be disappointed by their temperament in person. I am so lucky to be able to say that each time I meet Jennifer, I fall in love with her more and more. She is the sweetest, kindest, most adorable, beautiful, stunning person I have ever had the privilege of seeing. People who say bad things about her clearly don’t know who she really is. I could never have asked for a more special experience and I’m so proud to be able to call her my role model.
