Draper James

If you follow my on Snapchat, you heard my long sad sob story of how I missed meeting Reese Witherspoon. If you don’t follow me on Snapchat, have I got a story for you. Pull up a chair, grab something to drink and settle in. Welcome to my newest segment called — Missed Opportunities with Kendi.

As a blogger lots of PR event invites come my way and Dallas has been a bit of a hotbed lately with new store openings, brand pop-ups, etc. I can’t attend all of them so I try to pick the ones I can go to and send my regards to the rest. (Also as an introvert, crowds of people are not my favorite but as introverts we deal with you extroverts and your parties. ;)) When the email invite came to my inbox with the words — and I mean exact words: ‘Kendi, would you like to meet one of your favorite actresses? OK Cool just follow the instructions on this email and be sure to not get confused and write down the wrong time because you will do this and will miss her.” I was like “HELL YES I’ll GO. What time was it again?”

Well guess what? I wrote down the wrong time. I missed her. I missed a chance to meet THE R.W. at her new store in Dallas. Here is what happened — I received two invites that looked the exact same but one was for an exclusive brunch with The Reese and one was a party for her grand opening store. I ended up skimming the second email thinking the event changed times and went happily on my way. For the record, no brunch has ever started at 7 pm. But that didn’t stop me from thinking that it did. That afternoon, when the brunch was actually happening, I was on instagram, scrolling through my feed and guess what I saw? The brunch I was supposed to be at with my beloved, Reese.

I panicked. I looked up both emails — no way did I miss it. Yes. There it is — I read the first email wrong and in fact, missed it. I am officially fired from reading my own emails from now on.

But silver linings: I did end up going to the grand opening party of her store which was amazing, I got to see her in person and while we didn’t get to hug / kiss / talk / become besties / her become scared of me, it was the best time. And I got some Draper James swag, like this sweater and this tote. So only good things came from my brief brush with Hollywood.

Her line by the way is adorable. It’s like a sweet, southern Kate Spade. Whimsical, preppy but classic. I’m a fan for sure.

Oh and the other silver lining? I learned that brunches don’t start at 7 pm. Life lessons, you guys. Life lessons.