These days it seems you can’t toss a towel in a Pilates class without hitting a Twilight fan. The obsession had spread to all kinds of females we know, from the 30-plus girlfriend who analyzes the books over Merlot, to the mid-20s coworkers who stood in line for New Moon tickets, to the 11-year-old girl who rattled off the sequel’s opening night box office numbers. Yep, this teen vampire saga’s no child’s play; last winter, a male friend noted that every woman he knows was either reading Twilight or having a baby.

So, it’s no doubt a coup for Chicago women, especially on the heels of Friday’s “No-prah” announcement, that a Twilight starlet spent New Moon’s huge opening weekend among us. Ashley Greene, who plays the lively, pixie-like vampire, Alice Cullen, greeted fans all weekend at the Hollywood Cinemas in Woodridge and Naperville and appeared in the procession at Saturday’s Magnificent Mile Lights Festival.

We caught up with Ashley at the Light Festival’s parade staging area, before she boarded her float for the crowds lining Michigan Avenue. With the sun setting, the temperature dropping and crew members, marching bands and Disney characters buzzing around, the gorgeous, brunette 22-year-old gave interviews, signed autographs and took pictures with fans.

She told us she’s enjoyed her trip to Chicago. “I’ve been meeting a lot of fans, doing signings. It’s crazy, they see the movie and then they come out and I sign their stuff, and they give me their feedback. So it’s been really cool.”

That feedback has been positive to say the least. According to Variety (and our 11-year-old friend), New Moon pulled in the best midnight gross and first-day gross ever. The opening weekend total of $140.7 million ranks third ever, behind Dark Knight and Spiderman 3.

It’s been widely discussed that women relate to the Twilight story for its heightened depiction of forbidden love and the “falling for the bad boy” phenomenon. So we had to ask Ashley the hard-hitting question that has American women divided: is she on Team Edward (Robert Pattinson, the vampire poster boy) or Team Jacob (Taylor Lautner, the werewolf dating Taylor Swift)?

“The first time around I was definitely Team Edward because, you know, he’s my brother,” said Ashley, referring to her character. “But on New Moon, I’m Team Jacob, just because Taylor Lautner did such a fantastic job, and he fought so hard for his position in the film. And, if you see it, he carries the film and he rivals the chemistry between Edward and Bella [Kristen Stewart]. And I’m very proud of Taylor, so I kind of switched over.” There you have it, ladies. A flip-flop.

We also asked Ashley about the cheekiest thing she did this week, and she mentioned braving the Chicago weather in a dress on Friday night (it may have been warm by our standards, but Ashley’s from Florida and, let’s admit, it’s still cold here). “I came back today and I was like, no, I’m gonna wear a jacket and jeans and socks!” Spoken like a true Chicago girl.