Laura Reyes of El Paso appears on The Tonight Show, hugs Jimmy Fallon

A childhood dream came true for one El Pasoan who found herself on national television beside her favorite late-night talk show host.

“I am still shaking,” Laura Reyes said. “It was like an out-of-body experience.”

Reyes ventured to New York for a business trip in mid-June and decided to try her luck at getting into The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon .

“I’ve been obsessed with him since I was born,” she said. “I’m the biggest fan of his.”

Reyes would have to line up at the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza early to snag a spot in Fallon’s audience. For two mornings in a row, she ran — dressed in pajamas — through the Big Apple’s bustling streets.

“They only let a certain number of people in,” Reyes said. “I didn’t get in the first time.”

Finally, June 12, Reyes made it inside Rockefeller Center, where The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is taped.

“I passed through security, and they took us to the peacock room,” she said. “When they came and got us, a girl from security told me to follow her.”

Reyes could hardly contain her excitement as she was led to an aisle seat inside NBC Studios. Moments after the show started taping, Fallon began heading up the stairs toward his biggest fan from El Paso.

“I almost literally fainted,” she said. “I asked him for a hug and then he started interviewing me.”

The moment was surreal, Reyes said, as she shared an embrace with her favorite celebrity amid the audience clapping.

Then, Fallon attempts to pronounce “Laura” as she does — with an accent.

“He said it kind of weird, and then he said, ‘Laura from Texas,’” she said.

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As he continued to fumble her name, the audience laughed, and to her surprise, Reyes said she was not nervous during the encounter.

“We are friends; that’s why I wasn’t nervous,” Reyes joked. “I didn’t think I could speak in front of so many people, but I felt like I knew him. I can’t even explain it.”

Just when she thought life couldn’t get any better, Reyes said she was elated as the show’s band, The Roots , began playing an impromptu song about Reyes being from El Paso.

The show aired the next day, on Thursday, June 13.

“It was great to represent,” she said. “This changed my life. I’ll never forget it. I love Jimmy.”

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Laura Reyes of El Paso appears on The Tonight Show, hugs Jimmy Fallon