I love her

It started simply with liking her as a singer. When she came out around the same time as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, I always liked her best.

Then, when she did “Newlyweds,” I fell in love. I loved her personality. I loved her honesty. I loved her humor. I loved her realness. I thought she was gorgeous. Then, I couldn’t resist anything she did, whether it was a movie, an interview on TV or an appearance in a magazine, I had to see it.

I defended her when people called her stupid or fat.

I even gave slimy John Mayer another chance when she dated him. He couldn’t be all that bad, right? Yes. Yes, he can.

Being a Dallas Cowboys fan, I don’t like Tony Romo (yes, you read that right: don’t like). She renewed my faith in him … for awhile. Now I like him even less.

I saw her in concert during her “fat, mom jeans” time. But that’s as close as I’ve been to her.

She clearly wasn’t fat.

Maybe I’m slightly obsessed. And maybe I shrieked like a little girl when I heard she’d be making at appearance at a local mall. (And maybe you are scared now. I don't blame you.)

So when I heard it was the Saturday before my half marathon on Sunday, it still didn’t deter me. I knew it would probably involve standing on my feet for hours (It did: 2.5 hours’ worth), and my choice of a heeled boot was probably not the wisest shoe choice. But, I had a chance to meet Jessica Simpson, and I wasn’t passing it up.

The deal: if you bought $50 worth of Jessica Simpson Collection merchandise from Dillard’s, you’d get a wristband to meet Jessica and Ashlee Simpson. They were appearing from 1-4 p.m. Saturday.

So I headed to Dillard’s early in the week to make my purchase and get the details. I bought some purple skinny jeans (LOVE them) and was told to return on Saturday to meet Jessica.

To further add to my not-smart-before-a-half-marathon routine, I didn’t eat anything before going on Saturday. My stomach was excited and nervous (due to both meeting Jessica and the race and wondering where my boyfriend was who said he’d be ready to go at noon and was nowhere to be seen) so food wasn’t an option.

We finally made it to Dillard’s, and I got my wristband and got in line close to 1 p.m. And waited. And waited. And waited. We stood in line for more than two hours. But, the moment finally arrived.

When it was my turn to go up to the stage to meet Jessica and Ashlee, I had to give up my purse, phone and camera. I’m not really sure why … maybe safety reasons? They didn’t let people know this in advance, so some people were really unhappy about this. I kind of was because I really wanted a close-up photo of her (and with her), but I was just happy to meet Jessica so I really didn’t care.

Here’s how my interaction with Jessica went down:

Normally, I wouldn't post a photo of my butt. This one shows
me with Jessica Simpson, though.

Jina: Hi.
Jessica: Hi. How is your day?
Jina: It is great now. (Yes, I think I really said that.)
Jessica: What is your name?
Jina: Jina. It’s J-I-N-A.
(Jessica and Ashlee sign photos for me.)

Jessica is listening carefully to my name. Ashlee is not.

I love this.

I knew she didn't listen!

Jessica: That purple looks gorgeous on you.
Jina: Thank you. You are both gorgeous.
Jessica and Ashlee: Aww, thank you!

It was short and sweet, but it rocked. My favorite celebrity said my favorite color looked gorgeous on me. I’m glad since 99.8% of my wardrobe is purple.

After taking massive amounts of photos, we left. I really wanted to stick it out until she left, and I probably could have. I figured my boyfriend suffered enough at this point, though.

As we ate sushi (my favorite pre-race meal), I looked through all of the photos and reminisced about my best day ever (of this year, anyway).