It happens every time when I see you. It happens every time when I think of you.

Hello, my friends.

The last few posts of mine have been a little more on the serious and reflective side, so I thought today I would keep it light-hearted and start a series on this blog about my favorite thing of all – celebrities. 

Over the next 4-5 posts (I haven’t decided on the number yet, but I’ll let you know when it’s the finale), I will be sharing some of my favorite celebrity encounters. 

For those of you who don’t know (which is probably like .01% of you), I am absolutely, unashamedly obsessed with celebrities and pop culture. I always have been. I remember being about 7 years old and sitting across the table from my dad at an ice cream shop. We were likely talking about the usual things – school, friends, etc. – when I suddenly paused and said, “I wonder what Brad Pitt is doing right now...” [This was before he broke Jen’s heart... obvi].

If that’s not a perfect insight into my brain, then I’m not sure what is. 

I truly believe that God has given me the gift of celebrity spotting and chance encounters. Though this sounds like a joke, I’m actually totally serious. Most of these moments are so inexplicable and perfectly designed that I know, without a doubt, that they came from Him. 

I started to really notice this gift in college and since then it’s continued to surprise me. I mean, I can practically sniff someone famous from a mile away. I’ve had many a dm conversation with some of my favorite mainstream humans, spotted celebrities in the wild (even recognizing Jordyn Wieber by her back while in Paris), been on Zoom calls with a Bachelor, and had full-length conversations with celebrities who I’d come to love as if they were friends.  

Now, I ain’t saying any of this to gloat. I know good and well that I have done absolutely nothing to earn, deserve, or manufacture these moments besides making myself available. That’s why I’m so thankful for them – because I know that they are simply an act of love by the God who cares about all of the pieces of me whether big or small.

Today I am starting with the memory that I hold closest to my heart. You better believe it has a little something to do with a man who has a Beautiful Soul. 

Hello, my lover. Hello, my friend. 

Oh, my dear, sweet, beautiful Jesse McCartney. The love of my life. The king of my heart. My beginning and my end. The Mr. to my Mrs. 

I first fell in love with Jesse when I was four years old. Yep, you read that right – four. I am not of the poser JMac generation of fools who believed that they were true fans after hearing his “debut” single. I am his true day one – having loved him before his name was even broadly recognized.

I’ll stop blathering on about my love for Jesse shortly, but please indulge me for just one more moment. I have listened to every song (hundreds of times), watched every interview, seen and supported all of his visual content (except for Summerland... don’t even get me started on the fact that it was too inappropriate for me as a child and then suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth once I was old enough...), forgiven him for his venture into Botox, and loved him through every hairstyle. For many years, I had an entire wall in my room dedicated to him. In high school, I had an orange and blue backpack because my favorite color is blue and his is orange. I kid you not – his voice is as familiar to me as the voices of my own family members. 

At this point, we've had a decades-long love affair. 

For years and years and years I said that my life wouldn’t truly be complete until I met him. I had patiently waited, resigning myself to the fact that perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.

And then, one fateful day, I wandered into his tour bus and my life was both forever changed and fully satisfied.

Let me back up for a sec to the moment I knew this was a possibility. It was spring term 2018, only months before graduation. I was on campus, staring out the window, watching the days go by. Okay – it wasn’t quite that dramatic. 

Real talk: I was procrastinating on my homework by scrolling through Instagram. It was at that exact moment that my handsome Jesse posted an announcement that he was going on tour. My nervous system reacted as quickly as my heart swelled with love and before long I was clicking away on his website, intent on finding out if he was coming to Portland. 

He was. 

BUT THEN I SAW THE VIP PACKAGES AND THERE WAS ONE WHERE I COULD SPEND REAL, QUALITY TIME WITH MY BOYFRIEND IN HIS TOUR BUS AND THEN ALSO GO TO A PRE-SHOW PERFORMANCE AND ALSO HAVE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTO TAKEN AND ALSO HAVE HIM SIGN A PERSONALIZED SETLIST AND ALSO GET FREE MERCH WELL NOT FREE BECAUSE THE VIP TICKETS WERE SUPER EXPENSIVE BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. 

I neeeeeddddeeeedddd it. Like bad. 

However, there was a hurdle I had to overcome: my bank account. As a broke college student I didn’t have much to contribute, so, naturally, I called my parents. 

To my joy and delight they shared in my excitement and offered to buy the VIP package as my graduation present.

Best. Graduation. Ever. 

Also, Best. Parents. Ever. 

So, there I was, on his tour bus. The next several hours transpired as if from a dream. Me and four or so other girls got to spend 30 minutes with him prior to the rest of the evening. They were all so starstruck and incapable of speaking that it felt like Jesse and I were the only ones in the room. We traded stories, we laughed, we (I) screamed (only once), we grew in love together. I shared with him a letter I had written professing my love, admiration, and commitment. He shared with me how much the letter meant to him and how grateful he was that I had written. It was perfect – and made even more perfect by my sister joining me for his main stage performance. 

I can still hear the introductory beat of Leavin’ ringing in my ears.

But here’s the real kicker: A year later,  he ended up in my small town (wild, I tell you) and I had the immense fortune of meeting him again. 

And he remembered me. 

Life complete. Maximum level of gratitude surpassed. 

~ End Scene ~

Titular Song: It Happens Every Time by Dream Street*

Subheading Song: Goodbye my Lover by James Blunt (Adaptation by Abbey Kate Martin)

*I will forgive you if you don’t know this song. I will also be deeply disappointed.