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Jennifer Garner and Violet Affleck enjoyed a mother-daughter date at the White House on Violet’s 17th birthday.
The Yes Day actress, 50, and her older daughter attended the State dinner, hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, on Thursday.
The Bidens welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, for the first State dinner of the administration. Garner and her daughter — whom she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck — were two of 400 VIPs who attended the event.
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For the occasion, Garner opted for a floor-length, black Ralph Lauren gown with sequin accents on the sleeve. She paired the dress with Stuart Weitzman shoes and a black clutch.
Violet’s look featured a thin-strapped Carolina Herrera dress with heart imprints, pairing the outfit with a black clutch and red, pointed-toe heels.
The mother and daughter were seen sweetly holding hands when photographed during the event. It was a rare public outing for the two.
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Garner has been candid about her close relationship with her children, including Violet.
In 2018, she shared that her motherly instincts kicked in as she knew she was pregnant with Violet, despite her doctor telling her otherwise.
Garner, who also shares daughter Seraphina Rose, 13, and son Samuel Garner, 10, with Affleck, 50, said while co-hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s annual Mother’s Day episode that her at-home-pregnancy test was “so faint” that she couldn’t quite tell. Though a doctor definitively told her “you’re not pregnant” after giving her a “proper test” later that day, Garner said she woke up that morning and “just knew.”
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“I was like, ‘Yeah, I am. I’m telling you I am,’ ” she remembered telling her doctor, adding that she changed physicians soon thereafter. “So Violet’s 12, and I don’t use that doctor anymore, but I have her so I won!”
Happy as she was to be right, Garner’s first pregnancy — and her following two — were not at all easy. “Every one I was more nauseous,” she said. “Each kid it was worse and worse.”
“With Sera, my middle daughter, I had to listen to Yo-Yo Ma at night,” she added. “It got worse throughout the day. It wasn’t like in the morning and then I was fine. As the day went on, it was worse. For some reason Yo-Yo Ma got me through. I would lie there in the bed, just waiting and hoping I would fall asleep. It’s crazy, you do crazy things.”
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By the time her pregnancy with Samuel came along, Garner had all but given up. “Forget it, it was like Happy Meals,” she said. “It’s just gross. It’s just gross what you do.”
Though she said she wasn’t a fan of the changes her body went through during pregnancy, she added, “I love being a mom. I really do.”
