After 20 Years Baton Rouge Woman Finally Gets Selfie With Gwen Stefani, No Doubt

How long would you wait to get a selfie with your favorite artist or band?

One Baton Rouge woman by the name of Trisha Thibodeaux waited 20 years—and after traveling thousands of miles, spending thousands of dollars, she finally got her wish in storybook fashion.

Before you can understand how incredible this experience was for Trisha (after all, people meet celebrities every day, right?) you have to understand her 'No Doubt' journey that has spanned over the last two decades.

Ever since she saw the video for "Just A Girl" on MTV at 10 years old, Trisha was hooked on No Doubt. She thought Gwen Stefani was the coolest, and unlike anything she had ever seen before. From the red lips, to her platinum blonde hair and her super-funky style—Trisha wanted to be just like Gwen.

Back in 1996, Bush was touring with No Doubt and when the show came to town, her mom got tickets for Trisha and her older sisters to go. Once she saw No Doubt live, she was hooked.

Since that first show, Trisha has seen No Doubt numerous times, traveling all over the country and has even met all of the band members individually. The first time she met them, was when she was 15 years old when they performed at UNO. Thanks to some help from her step-dad, she was able to crawl under a fence to get into the backstage area where all of the band members walked out.

Even though her situation was less than ideal, she remembers when Gwen walked out like it was yesterday,

Gwen walked out with Lenny Kravitz and that's when he still had dreadlocks. My sister had already put the camera back in the car so I have none of this documented. Just an autographed tank top. I still guilt trip her about this to this day. I would kill for those pictures today!

In 2009, Trisha traveled to Tampa, FL to see No Doubt, and being that she witnessed other people get pulled up on stage at various different shows she decided to make a sign that said "It's our dream to have our picture taken with you." Gwen saw the sign, but just like before, she didn't have too much luck when it came to her camera.

Gwen came over during the show and grabbed my camera (a real digital one, HA!) And I was so nervous that I accidentally zoomed in all the way, as she was grabbing it from me. She snapped a picture of us and handed the camera back to me and all that was captured was my big head and part of her eyelashes. I was SO devastated. I cried the rest of the show and pulled off my fake eyelashes. How could I ruin such a once in a lifetime opportunity?!

She would have her next opportunity 5 years later in 2014. While sitting in a manager's meeting at work Trisha got a last minute invite to No Doubt's Friends & Family Dress Rehearsal show in California. Her boss told her it was cool to go if she could find a flight—and six hours (after she went straight from the office to the airport) and $1000 later, she was at The Forum in Inglewood, CA with 3,000 of the band's closest friends and family.

Once she got in, she knew this was her time.

I dug in my purse for a pen and my printed paper ticket to the show and wrote on the back "Selfie with me?!" Without missing a beat, she came over as she was siniging "Spiderwebs," signaled for my cell phone, took a selfie of us, handed me my phone back, and kept performing. FINALLY!!! A picture with Gwen Stefani!!

After seeing No Doubt a couple more times, Trisha realized that Gwen flirting with the idea of her solo career again meant the band may only have a limited amount of shows left. So when they released six festival dates this year, she knew she had to act.

Justified by her boyfriends affinity for Deftones, who were also on the bill, Trisha decided to take the trip to Vegas for Rock in Rio USA. This was the first time the 30-year-old music festival would be in the United States, so she knew it would be the perfect gift for her boyfriend—even though it was just as much as present to herself as it was to him.

While camping out for over 13 hours in line, Trisha made a sign that said "I've waited 20 years to take a photo with No Doubt!" Once the gates were open, her boyfriend sprinted to get them a spot, front and center where Gwen would have no choice but to see the huge neon yellow sign.

And she noticed—oh, yes she noticed.

During the show, Gwen stopped and said, "All we're trying to do is connect and actually get to know you guys tonight." As she scanned the crowd and her eyes stopped on my poster and she began reading it out loud, over the microphone, to the entire crowd. Oh. My. God. This. is. it. We're connecting! She's acknowledging my dream! This is MY moment! HOLY SHIT! Chills ran through my entire body. She responded with, "Get. The. Fuck. Up. Here. Right. NOW!" And it was as if I lost all feeling in my body. I turned to the people behind me, (didn't know them at all) threw them my purse and camera, and all I could say was "record! omebody please press record!" I started climbing over the railing in a panic. My body felt so heavy, like dead weight. I felt like I couldn't move fast enough to get to her! She kept saying "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Everyone's waiting!" As I was running up the stairs, she was saying "Faster!.. Faster!.. Faster! Get the camera ready!" In a playful manner as if she could see that I was in a sheer panic, already trying to get my phone ready. She then said "Oh, I hope it doesn't have to be a picture with entire band cause...uuuh" as she turned and looked at the guys, insinuating that they were in the middle of playing a show. As I was running up the stairs, I was trying to get my camera into selfie mode to record everything from my point of view. I somehow managed to hit record. Once I finally got on stage, all I could see was darkness, with this one bright light, shinning down on Gwen. Her gold glittery eyelids and infectious smile were awaiting me. All I could get out of my mouth was "you're my favorite girl in the world!" With the biggest, happiest smile on my face and hers. She said "Awww come here!" and pulled me in for a giant hug. Is this real life? Is this really happening to me right now? Am I dreaming? She is my Madonna. My Michael Jackson. There's just no one cooler than her! I noticed that my camera wasn't in selfie mode and I was so frazzled that I couldn't comprehend how to get it to record while facing us.  I'm standing in front of 40,000 people, during a live broadcast, ON STAGE, with NO DOUBT! Gwen Stefani stopped the show, to take a picture with ME! OMG! WHAT?! I hurried and stopped the video and managed to get it into photo selfie mode. It truly felt like the most complicated task on the planet. I was shaking so badly! Like a little chihuahua! We snapped a few pictures, hugged again and she thanked me for waiting 20 years. I turned around to say hello to all of the boys but all of the lights were off on the stage and I couldn't see them. I was immediately saddened because I didn't want them to think that I didn't want to show them love as well. They mean just as much to me. I love No Doubt as a whole band together.

Even though the video is short, it's really cool to see the exact moment she came face to face with her idol, Gwen Stefani on such a massive stage.

Trisha may not have gotten her pic with the full band, but that experience in front of 40,000 people was definitely a moment she will never forget.

She also says that even though her moment was magical, catching the attention of national media like Yahoo! and more, she is still determined to get that photo with all the member of No Doubt.

Hopefully, it won't take another 20 years.