Jennifer Love Hewitt is no stranger to the red carpet, but gearing up for her first Golden Globes as a nominee is bringing out a whole new range of emotions.

“I’m super excited [and] very nervous, oddly enough,” Hewitt told PEOPLE at a W magazine party celebrating the Golden Globes Friday night. “I don’t get nervous, but I feel nervous. I’m really excited.”

Hewitt, who attended the party with her actor boyfriend Alex Beh, earned her first Globe nomination – best performance by an actress in a mini-series or a motion picture made for television – for her portrayal of a Texas physical therapist-turned prostitute in The Client List.

One thing the actress can feel relaxed about is her Golden Globes gown.

“I tried on like 20 dresses, and it was the one that each of the three times I went back, I put it on and it was the dress I stood up the straightest in,” she says. “I felt like, ‘Yeah, this is me, and this is my dress!’ ”

And Beh is a fan as well, according to Hewitt: “He saw a picture and he loves it,” she said.

The Ghost Whisperer star and her new man are “good” and “feeling good about where we are,” she says, shooting down the idea that they’re feeling pressure to take the next step in their relationship.

As for what makes them work as a couple, “friendship … is the best part,” Hewitt says. “We are good friends, and we have really good communication, oddly enough, because I’m not good at communicating in relationships [but] he’s teaching me.”

The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will air live Jan. 16 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

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