A few weeks ago I was among several beauty bloggers across the U.S. invited by L’Oreal to attend Beyonce’s I am…Sasha Fierce concert (which they sponsor and she is a spokesperson for.) I almost fell out of my seat when I was called a few hours before leaving for Philadelphia and told that I was given backstage access and could have a meet and greet with her. A friend of mine, the ever fabulous Billy B, has told me in the past how sweet and down to earth Beyonce was, so I was thrilled and not too intimidated to meet her (although completely nervous I must admit!) I left my house with several outfits in hand, because really? How do you dress when you are about to meet someone so gorgeous?! Here’s a chronicle of how it all went down…

I arrived at the Wachovia Arena with my cousin-in-law, Kim, and stood in line at the “will call” booth like everyone else. Can you imagine the feeling of exhilaration when someone came from backstage and yelled out to the crowd, “Is Shannon Nelson here from A Girl’s Gotta Spa?” Everyone looked around, my face turned red, but I excitedly raised my hand and said, “That’s me.” The best part? That’s when the girl said, “You can come to the front of the line,” at which there was a sudden murmur among the crowd with whispers of “Who is she?” I tried my best to walk to the front of the long line all calm and collected when inside I was totally jumping up and down because seriously, I felt totally VIP! This never happens to me, so I will totally hold onto that moment for a VERY long time.

The girl checked my ID and then handed me tickets and escorted Kim and myself through the backstage doors. At this point there was another long line of people who also were going to the meet and greet. We were all directed to follow several security guards through multiple hallways and it was very labyrinth-like. Once downstairs, we were all lined up against a wall and they began to arrange everyone in order of who would meet Beyonce. Everyone was really excited and I joked around with the people in line next to me. A few people were called to the front of the line, then some ladies from L’Oreal and then…“Shannon Nelson?” was called out. Kim waved at them and said, “That’s us!” which they followed with, “You can come up front.” I looked at Kim, squeezed her arm and said, “Holy crap!” (Because we all know I don’t hold my feelings in! ha!)

I was next in line behind the ladies from L’Oreal, of which one of them said, “Oh you’re from A Girl’s Gotta Spa, right?” Ok, let me just tell you that when I hear anyone say they’ve heard of my blog, it is like winning the lottery. It feels THAT good. I tell her that I was surprised no other beauty bloggers were there and that I was hoping to meet other fellow bloggers from PA. She said, “Well your blog must be pretty good, because you are the only one here.” Let me interject that it is entirely possible that other beauty bloggers were invited, such as my beautiful friend Daneen from Spoiled Pretty who lives in the Philly area, but were unable to attend. However it was a good feeling thinking that maybe my blog is that good. (A girl can dream.)

We were escorted a few at a time over to another space backstage where we had to leave all of our personal belongings behind. Nothing was to be taken into the meet and greet room. We were then put into a hallway 6 at a time, where at the front of the line stood a security guard towering over us at 7 ft tall, looking entirely serious. Behind him was the door to Beyonce. Everyone went in one at a time, some emerging literally seconds later, some a minute or so later. When Kim and I got our chance, we walked in to find a very beautiful, tall and smiling Beyonce. “Hi!” she said in a very sweet and soft voice, “It’s nice to meet you!” For the moment I was taken aback because she was stunning. She is a lot taller than I thought she would be and definitely a lot thinner. (When I put my arm around her waist I thought it would break her!) I shared with her that we had a mutual friend, Billy B, and she broke into a huge smile and said, “Oh! I miss him! He’s great!” Even the photographer chimed in, “Oh I know who you are talking about! Billy!” It was all a whirlwind, but I remember Kim telling the photographer, “Make sure we look cute!” After the pic we said our goodbyes and were escorted to our seats.

The concert was amazing, Beyonce’s makeup and skin was flawless and it will certainly be something I won’t ever forget.

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