Leighton Meester hangs on to her mom, Connie, behind the scenes of her Nylon Mexico photo shoot.

The 22-year-old actress dished on fashion, Gossip Girl and her love for Mexico. Check it:

On her hit TV series: “My experience on Gossip Girl has been a dream come true. For the last year and a half, it’s just changed my life completely. I’ve moved to New York and I love it here and I’ve got to do really fun shoots like this [Nylon Mexico].”

On her character, Blair Waldorf: “I’m like my character in ways that I have made her. But as far as her initial reactions to things and the core of her personality, I don’t think we’re very much alike. I have insecurities like everyone else, but hers really dominate her life and dictate what she does. I also really admire her because when I was 17, I wasn’t as fashionable or popular. She’s got a lot of fire to her.”

On wearing what she loves: “I just have fun with it [fashion]. I don’t really think about what other people say or think. I just wear what I love and what I feel comfortable in.”

On her favorite vacation spot: “I went to Mexico for the first time in May [2008]. I went there for vacation, there was a writer’s strike and the show was put on hiatus for an indefinite amount of time. So we got a little break and before we went back I decided to go on vacation. I went for about a week and I absolutely fell in love. I was so happy there.”