Yes, you heard that right. The one and only Sarah Jessica Parker paid a visit to the humble Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton to meet and greet her fans (and sign bottles of her fragrances) at Macy’s and to promote her fragrances, Lovely, Covet and Covet Pure Bloom

Donned in a beautiful Peter Soronen dress (the perfect silhouette on her), ferocious sequin dipped Miu Miu heels (she had to check and make sure they were Miu Miu) and a gorgeous Fred Leighton necklace, I had a brief interview the “Lovely” SJP.

We talked about everything from the vast difference of weather between the East Bay and SF and she even complimented my suit! When I told her I lived in the area she said, “Lucky You!” and she loved the cozy rural charm of the Tri-Valley Area…

Nonetheless, here’s what she had to say:

How do you go about creating your fragrances?

Well they have three different stories that are particular to each fragrance. Lovely, I had very specific idea in my mind based on this 20 year “vulgar” version of a chemist that I was. When I finally found Catherine and Cody, it was a matter of interpreting what I wanted, having real professionals and perfumers come into the conversation to teach me about the fragrance business. That, in a way, was the simplest process. Catherine told me early on in the journey of Lovely that I was much further along than I thought because most people come with all the options in the world available to them. With Covet, it was a very different animal because there was nothing specific I was thinking except that I wanted to have some connective tissue to Lovely. I wanted to create a fragrance that had drama and had more subversive qualities. With Pure Bloom, it had specificity from a flower – which was unusual for me. It was about capturing the idea of pikake and the experience I had with the flower when I was in Hawaii and when I was a young girl. They’ve all been different. As a result, I’ve learned so much about fragrance and getting to the final destination.

How do you think perfumes and cologne reflects one’s personality?

I don’t know if I have a philosophy, but people have relationships with fragrance. There’s a long history of women using fragrance and men using certain kinds of fragrance and more recently there have been genderless fragrances. I think fragrance makes you feel different. People use it for different reasons, some are more perfunctory others use it as an escapism. For myself, I’ve always just loved fragrance. From the time I was a little girl, my mother and a lot of influential women in my life wore fragrance. I had all this sense memory of fragrance. I think a lot of people like where fragrance takes you. It transports you.

How has life been post-“Sex and the City:The Movie”?

I am really relieved that it received that enthusiasm. I am thrilled that it has had success. Mostly I am very proud of the movie we got to make. Now that it is behind me to some degree, it’s an enormous sense of pride, satisfaction and relief. It’s been really lovely to hear people’s experiences seeing the movie. That was always the important part of the process to us; how the audience reacted. We were very cognizant of that. It was only with their commitment to the show that we were having this opportunity. Our fervent hope and wish was that the audience would respond. It’s been thrilling to see how they responded – and it’s been more restful now compared to those months leading up to the movie’s release.

What do you like about San Francisco and the Bay Area?

First of all, aesthetically speaking, we were really struck by the light. We arrived in San Francisco and then drove into Pleasanton. It’s really unique and very arresting. It’s stunning. The food, the culture, the people and the sophistication of the people and their curiosity – it’s just a very unusual part of the country. Before we had a child, my husband and I used to drive up the coast to Big Sur a lot and travel up further to San Francisco. It’s just very different from New York and Los Angeles. It’s really its own little world. This part of California is especially pretty.

SJP had to be one of the warmest interviews I have ever had (not temperature-wise). She is so grateful, personable and just unbelievably nice - no wonder why everyone LOVES her.