While it's nearing three months since Hoda Kotb's exit from TODAY after 17 years with the network, her friendships and the bonds forged on the show remain eternal.
Earlier this week, Community Partners of Dallas organized their annual Chick Lit Luncheon, a fundraiser to support the organization's work with children facing abuse.
Their chief guest speaker this year was none other than Hoda, 60, who shared some outtakes on social media from her attendance and her weekend spent mingling with the city's other donors.
© Instagram"1200 new friends at the #chicklit luncheon in Dallas," she wrote. "These women do incredible work in the foster care space @communitypartnersdallas I am in awe and it was an honor to come."
However, the biggest surprise of the afternoon was Hoda introducing a special guest to share some words with the Texas crowd, that being none other than fellow Texan and former co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager.
She posted a snapshot of herself fiddling with her phone with Jenna, 43, on FaceTime, holding up the mic so she could speak with the crowd. Jenna returned the surprise Hoda orchestrated previously, watch that in the video below...
"Oh and @jennabhager made a surprise appearance (hahah this is me trying to get my mic on the phone so all of jenna's texas girls could hear her!) JENNA BUSH HAGER (I am doing the dance!) brought down the house!!!"
Jenna herself replied: "Only you would post this picture of yourself — to show me off! Reminds me of the time you met Tom Cruise in a poncho," sweetly adding: "I love you so much!"
Fans reacted to seeing the dynamic duo together once again with comments of their own like: "Why does the song 'Baby come back to me' come to mind," and: "Thank you for coming to see us in Dallas today! You are such an inspiration!" as well as: "I miss you 2 together!!!"
© InstagramHoda has spent her life after TODAY with her daughters, Haley and Hope, as well as working on a new lifestyle venture she plans to put in motion this summer. The Fourth Hour has since rebranded to Today with Jenna & Friends, where Jenna brings in new co-hosts each time.
The NBC veteran spoke with Marie Claire soon after her exit about her plans moving forward, including her journey into wellness. "Over the last three years or so, I've had my toe in the water of all of these things," she explained.
© NBC"Things that I would've thought five years ago were sort of 'woo woo' and weird, I now find very incredible. It started off with a woman who taught me breath work, which I thought was breathing. I thought, Thank you very much. I've been doing that pretty well my whole life."
She continued: "But then I started the technique and after I was breathing for 10 minutes, I burst out into tears. And I said, 'What was that? What happened there?' It's a release of things. That was a real life-changer for me, probably the most life-changing experience I've ever had, after Haley and Hope, my two kids."
© Getty ImagesHoda noted that while things were still being processed, she had an idea of how she wanted her new journey to take shape. "We're still in the infancy stages of the company, but it's going to be something that is for everybody."
