That's just the foundation for what happened in Dolly Parton's new pop-up shop at The Star in Frisco when travel blogger Jessica Serna got what she calls the ultimate compliment during a Q&A session on Tuesday.
Serna runs the local travel blog My Curly Adventures with her husband, Ismail. She was just coming back to Dallas from a tourism promotion for Corpus Christi when she got the call that Parton would be appearing at her shop ahead of the Academy of Country Music Awards, which Parton is hosting this weekend with singer Garth Brooks.
The news was so last-minute that she didn't have time to get an appropriate outfit together for the occasion. So she popped into the Altar'd State store in Frisco's Stonebriar Mall just before closing time to put together a country-themed outfit that included a pair of pink cowboy boots, cut-off jeans and a Stetson-esque cowboy hat.
"I was going shopping the day before, and they didn't have any pants in my size and I never wear shorts," Serna says. "I was like, 'Am I showing too much skin?' Maybe, but it was a blessing that they didn't have pants or jeans because it caught Dolly's attention."
Serna says that was just one of the surprises in store for her at Parton's pop-up shop.
"I thought I'd be far away, squinting my eyes trying to see her," Serna says. "All of a sudden, Dolly Parton, an icon and legend walks in front of me and I didn't expect to see her. It blows my mind that Dolly Parton came to my home in Dallas."
Parton interacted with the mixed crowd of press people and fans taking questions and threw questions back at them. She invited people to join her on the shop's stage to pose for pictures and even sing with them. Then Parton noticed Serna in Western wear on the right side of the front row.
"I raised my hand to ask a question and she said, 'Hello, cutie! Are you a Dallas Cowgirl cheerleader?'" Serna says with a laugh. "I was so starstruck and I shook my head no."
Serna thanked Parton for taking the time to be there on behalf of herself and her many fellow Dallas fans, then asked the icon whether there is something "that you really take joy in now that might surprise your younger self."
"I take joy in the fact that I have been able to see all my little Smoky Mountain dreams come true," Parton told Serna on Tuesday. "When I used to stand there back on that porch in the mountains with a crack in the floor, I'd put a tobacco stick in there .. .and I'd put a tin can on top of it and pretend it was my microphone and pretend like I was singing to all of you and people around the world and sure enough, I've been so fortunate that those dreams have come true."
Parton turned the conversation back on Serna and asked if she was a singer, to which she replied, "No, I can't sing," according to the video.
"I was scared because she just sang with someone else," Serna adds.
Then Parton just came right out and asked, "Stripper?"
The room burst into uproarious laughter. Serna laughed along and blushed.
"That was absolutely a compliment coming from Dolly and a surreal moment," Serna says. "The energy in the room was really high after that."
Once the laughter subsided, Parton invited her to come on stage for a picture and Serna says she actually doesn't remember the moment because she was so floored.
"I think everyone's been starstruck in their own lives," Serna says. "It was such an incredible opportunity to be in the same room as Dolly and be singled out. It was a dream moment."
