<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" While many celebrities consider interviews an obligatory, somewhat intrusive part of their job, Jessica Simpson sees them as a form of therapy. So it&amp;#039;s fitting that her chat with Cosmo takes place in an office (her producer/manager father&amp;#039;s) in Sherman Oaks, California, where Jessica is curled up in a club chair. &amp;quot;I definitely know a lot more about myself from being asked questions and being forced to answer them truthfully,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;They make me face the reality of what people want to know.&amp;quot; Lucky for us inquiring minds, the bubbly 28-year-old is apt to tell. Having appeared for three seasons on the MTV reality show Newlyweds with her then-husband, Nick Lachey, and weathered a very public divorce from him in 2006, Jessica is something of an open book. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m see-through,&amp;quot; she readily admits. &amp;quot;And I&amp;#039;m the worst liar of all time.&amp;quot; Her first confession of the day: She gave herself a vitamin B12 shot &amp;quot;in the butt&amp;quot; before the interview to boost her energy. Why the need for the pick-me-up? Though her purple halter dress shows off her sun-kissed shoulders, Jessica hasn&amp;#039;t just come from vacation. She&amp;#039;s been working hard, both on her growing empire of clothes, accessories, and fragrance and on promoting her first country album, Do You Know, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Country charts when it was released in September. A NEW BEGINNING &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s like I&amp;#039;m 19 again and starting out all over,&amp;quot; Jessica says of introducing herself as a country artist. &amp;quot;But this is the first album I&amp;#039;ve made that is a reflection of who I am and where I&amp;#039;m at. It is Jessica Simpson. Every single song is a life experience for me.&amp;quot; Take, for instance, &amp;quot;Sipping on History&amp;quot;: a wistful, bittersweet ballad in which Jessica sings of how she imagined herself at 80 years old, sitting on a porch swing with her great love, drinking lemonade and watching their grandkids play on the trampoline. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s really about the love that could have been,&amp;quot; she says contemplatively. &amp;quot;The moment you realize that you could have been that with someone [but weren&amp;#039;t]. That&amp;#039;s a hard moment. I really did love marriage. But unfortunately, things happen and people change.&amp;quot; Jessica herself has gone through a mini metamorphosis. When she and musician and songwriter John Mayer broke up in 2007 after a year of dating and her last album, A Public Affair, failed to meet expectations, she moved to Nashville to write her new record...and also, she now admits, to face her fears of being on her own. &amp;quot;I kind of had to introduce myself to myself,&amp;quot; she explains. &amp;quot;I was just like, I can&amp;#039;t deal with the hurt and guys anymore. I need to be myself for myself. When I started doing that, I feel like God sent Tony to encourage me and inspire me.&amp;quot; FINDING TRUE LOVE &amp;quot;Tony,&amp;quot; of course, is Tony Romo, the 28-year-old Dallas Cowboys quarterback she began dating in November 2007. She describes him as driven, humble, and a man of character. &amp;quot;I would always fall in love with guys I wanted to save,&amp;quot; says Jessica. (She is rumored to have dated Johnny Knoxville while on the set of The Dukes of Hazzard, her Employee of the Month costar Dane Cook, and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.) &amp;quot;For the first time, I fell in love with someone who saved me. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s my pillow,&amp;quot; she goes on. &amp;quot;I can just lie down and be comfortable with him. He can talk me through any situation, and he made me value the woman I am. And I know that he loves me for being me. That&amp;#039;s what my best friends give me. And it&amp;#039;s nice to be in love with your friend.&amp;quot; While chastity used to be a top priority for Jessica, those days are long gone. &amp;quot;[Tony and I] are definitely compatible in all areas,&amp;quot; she says, letting out a naughty giggle. At the moment, they are dating long-distance since Romo is traveling with his NFL team and Jessica is, well, all over the place. &amp;quot;Thank God for iChat,&amp;quot; says Jessica, &amp;quot;because you at least get to see the person you&amp;#039;re talking to.&amp;quot; So far, they have kept the talking on the Internet as innocent as possible. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m too scared of somebody tapping in to it and recording it and making some tape. I kind of freak out a little bit over stuff like that,&amp;quot; says Jessica. When they are in the same state, Jessica and Tony live a surprisingly low-key existence, inviting friends over to play the video game Rock Band and hitting the movies\u2014 though, jokes Jessica, &amp;quot;I think he really goes for the chicken nachos and not the movies.&amp;quot; Romo made her see the critically panned Speed Racer. According to Jessica, he also &amp;quot;really liked Blonde Ambition,&amp;quot; the movie she starred in opposite Luke Wilson. Unfortunately, the rest of the viewing public wasn&amp;#039;t nearly as enthusiastic\u2014the flick quickly went to DVD after a brief showing in theaters. Jessica is fast to point out that Romo doesn&amp;#039;t live the extravagant lifestyle of most professional football players: &amp;quot;He is the type of guy who will be so excited that he got a cool tee shirt at Target.&amp;quot; In fact, she says, her own spending has decreased since the two began seeing each other. &amp;quot;My business manager even noticed it,&amp;quot; she squeals. &amp;quot;He was like, &amp;#039;Wow, I like this Tony guy.&amp;#039; &amp;quot; Despite her obvious happiness with the state of her love life, Jessica is decidedly coy when she is asked whether an engagement is on the horizon, saying, &amp;quot;I think any person who I&amp;#039;m gonna date for longer than six months, I definitely am investing in something long-term. If I get married again, then it will be the last time. Nick will always be a part of my life, but next time, I&amp;#039;m marrying the right one.&amp;quot; MARRIAGE VOWS In hindsight, she says she got hitched to Lachey too young and that &amp;quot;it&amp;#039;s important to fall in love with someone you don&amp;#039;t want to change.&amp;quot; Her advice to her sister, Ashlee, who married rocker Pete Wentz this past May, was to build a &amp;quot;quiet room&amp;quot; for spending time alone. &amp;quot;Go there and write or paint,&amp;quot; Jessica told her. &amp;quot;Always remember to take time for yourself.&amp;quot; Watching Ashlee get married was an emotional experience. &amp;quot;I cried my eyes out,&amp;quot; says Jessica. &amp;quot;The vows were the hardest thing to hear. You hear everything that you [once] promised\u2014 the &amp;#039; &amp;#039;til death do us part.&amp;#039; [I felt] like I&amp;#039;d let down everybody in my life. When I was standing up there, I was like, &amp;#039;I hope people aren&amp;#039;t thinking about the fact that I&amp;#039;m divorced.&amp;#039; I don&amp;#039;t want to be known as that girl.&amp;quot; With her session drawing to a close, Jessica wants to stress that it&amp;#039;s not just Romo who&amp;#039;s helped her become more introspective but also the cathartic songs she&amp;#039;s been producing. &amp;quot;This record was a great way to learn about myself,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;and I&amp;#039;m ready for people to know what I&amp;#039;ve gone through.&amp;quot;         Star Style Evolution: Jessica&amp;#039;s Fashion Makeover  Despite a platoon of primpers, celebs take years to hone their paparazzi-worthy hair and makeup looks.  Check out how this sexy Texan has polished her look.           Celeb Hairstyles: Jessica&amp;#039;s Posh Ponytail  Here&amp;#039;s how to recreate your favorite stars&amp;#039; hairstyles! These &amp;#039;dos are red-carpet worthy.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/news/a2738/jessica-simpson-cover/?src=global_footer>