If you're one of those people who can't understand why people care when celebrities leave their homes and what they wear and which beaches they frequent, then you probably won't understand this. But I have a tiny obsession with Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise. It started because Katie was pregnant with Suri the same time I was pregnant with Jake. And I kept hearing about the expensive layettes Katie bought and the two thousand dollar bassinet she purchased twice for different parts of the house, etc., etc. Then not long after our babies were born, Tom and Katie got married, and I read of the designer gowns made just for little Suri and saw pictures of the castle they were married in. Around that time I was holding Jake in my arms and looking out our big, sunshiny window onto the pretty street outside, and I asked him, "Would you be happier if your home were more like Suri's?"He was way too young to answer me in words. But I've never been more sure of anything than I was of his response.
Now I still enjoy the pictures of Katie and Suri taking on Manhattan with Suri's adorable little dresses and Katie's cute mom-crop. I loved the one recently where they were sharing cupcakes, because I'd read of Katie's love for them long before Suri was born. I try not to think of their lives as better than mine - but just kind of parallel, with a lot more cameras around. It's been over a year since the last paparazzi shot of Jake and I - this one above while watching the homecoming parade in our small town. And I don't think it really counts as paparazzi when the guy gets you to sign a release afterwards. It's not exactly cupcakes in Manhattan, but it was our life, and we were totally starring in it.
Have you seen The Holiday? Because this is the perfect time for yet another life-altering movie quote:
Arthur: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for God's sake!
I'm thinking all those great movie lines we quoted last week - if we apply them - can help us play the leading roles in our own lives. It's taken a while, but at this point I don't watch the celebrities because I wish I were them. I don't watch them for their clothes or their bags or their shoes or their shoe closets. I watch them because bits and pieces of their lives are just exactly like ours, and it's fun to see that celebrated and photographed and put in a shiny magazine. Did you see Brad and Angelina navigating the airport with six kids? The next time you walk out the mundane - imagine a photographer cares. It could totally elevate the experience for you - and remind you who's playing the lead.
15 comments:
oh dear, serenity... oh dear.
i'm in chicago, just finishing up some time at our denominational annual conference and i've come down with a cold. a really nasty, horrid, i'm-too-sick-to-wish-i'd-die kind of cold. i'm here by myself, no husband, and today i'm going back on the plane to san francisco.
the more i envision that, the more i think i'm in some sort of goofy, life-transforming comedy. i can picture it all. i'll be coughing and hacking and people will be backing up away from me with horror on their faces. there will probably be a slapstick moment or two when i drop everything or my suitcase comes open and spills everything all over the floor. and i'm sure that getting down the aisle of the airplane (because of course my seat's at the back) with my big coat and over-full carry-ons will mean bumping into people and running over their feet. i'll be the leading lady, all right. oh baby oh baby.
my only consolation is how well those movies turn out in the end!
How much do I love The Holiday. I think its the funny, cute piano player (I have one of those!). That line is a keeper!
Ah, Zanne! It's hard to feel inspired about anything when you have a cold. If anyone can do it, though, it sounds like you can. :)
And, Felic, when he writes you a song, does he "use only the good notes"? :) That line made me think of you and Dan the moment I heard it.
Very nice post.
BTW, I work in Manhattan, and can tell you that so far I've found the cupcakes here taste the same as they do everywhere else I've ever been. So, have cupcakes in Kirksville and pretend someone's taking a picture (or have Michael tail you and do it).
:-)
Adam, that is wonderful to know. Of course, as far as I know, Kirksville doesn't have any sidewalk bakeries that traffic solely in sweets. You have to admit that difference.
Serenity,
Sure, but for as impressive as NYC is, after a while everything gets as routine as a trip to Wal-Mart. And hey, last time I checked there was a Christian bookstore, a used bookstore, a theatre and an antique store (I love the brand of plain bottled sweetened tea they sell there) on or around Kirksville's square. Take a walk around there in the Spring.
Oh Serenity! I think you've nailed my small obsession with Jon & Kate Plus 8 and Little People Big World...(Mom comes into my house and says, "Oh dear, she's watching the little people again..."). I love watching those shows! And I think what you wrote is exactly why (I watch them because bits and pieces of their lives are just exactly like ours, and it's fun to see that celebrated...). I guess in someway I identify with these people when they are just portrayed as normal parents, though their challenges are much different than mine, planning birthday parties and cleaning the house and planning a family getaway. I guess I could turn the t.v. off and see all of it in real life in my own house, but for some reason its fun to watch it somewhat glamorized on the screen.
P.S. I could follow you around Kirksville and snap pictures while you are at the Redbox in front of Hy-Vee, searching for a copy of Kung Fu Panda, or pushing Jake's stroller at Farmer's Market, or ushering Drew into basketball practice at the Y...
:-)
luv, sara
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to participate in something along the lines of the movie Ed TV.
"Look, Ed, you put *anybody* on television sixteen hours a day, and sooner or later they're going to fall off a table and land on a cat"
I know this, America would be bored watching me (lol)
But I don't tire of watching celebrities, I like knowing they are basically just like me.
Only shinier ;)
luv
Tiff
Sara - I knew you'd get me. And, Tiff, I love it: "Only shinier."
What a great 'paparazzi' shot of you and Jake!! You look so caught up in the moment! I love it! Loved the post too ... so true ... it's not the shoes, bags, clothes, etc. ... it's that it's fun to see the celebs doing real people things ... only they're being photographed while doing it!
Serenity, I think we just may be kindred spirits! I loved this post and I love that quote from the Holiday.
And quick confession, sometimes, I DO pretend that in making mundane runs to the post office and filling my gas tank, that I'll make the 'Stars: They're just like us' feature in US Weekly...but I usually don't admit that to the people that acknowledge me with raised eyebrows during said errands - or they wouldn't take me seriously!
Anyway, an aside - are you counting down *how many days* of Oscar?
Yes, Sarah, I'm definitely counting down. It's my favorite night of television the whole year.
You look like a movie star in that photo. No wonder the paparazzi shot a pic. I kept looking at it thinking, "That kinda looks like Seren and one of her boys." But wasn't sure if it was you or a movie star.
I loved Holiday. "Love the shoes, love the bag, love it" But wondered about people who would leave their homes open to perfect strangers. Really? Your home?
Thanks to the Holiday, we were 'open' to opening up our home to a family from London. We were going to swap and head to London and Paris. But we visited J's grandma in Tulsa who has cancer. Better choice. But we loved having British house guests. It was so Holiday of us.
I too was a bit obsessed with Katie and her pregnancy. I was also pregnant at the same time as her with my first little girl. Ours was born a few weeks before theirs and was named Soraya. Two weeks later along came Suri. And they said the name had the same meaning as ours!
For a while people were saying, 'Oh, you named her after Suri Cruise, how cute!'
NO!!! I didn't Suri was born a whole two weeks later. They stole our name I would reply.
If only...
I would watch and wish to have the same outfits as Katie or the adorable handmade dresses for my little girl.
I decided to quit looking into it all. It was really brewing a spirit of envy in me that I really didn't need in my life.
That's one of the things that I loved best about the movie 'The Holiday'. Kate's character wasn't smitten into envy for the life that C. Diaz had in LA. She still sought out real relationships even across the globe. Her relationship with that little old man was priceless...real relationships with the people we would usually overlook in life.
All in all I am grateful for the life God has given me whether or not it makes it to the glossy covers of a magazine. I guess even that can make a happy ending to a movie.
Ace, I just love your comment here. I love the realization you came to about relationships - that is a great observation from that movie. And, honey, could we talk. I've been through the envy thing too and I've examined what it is I actually envy and what the heck to do with it all. One conclusion I've come to is that if we live our lives grateful and happy and have a healthy, loving family - then there is plenty in our own lives that many celebrities would envy - stability of family and privacy whenever we want it. It probably really is nice to go to the grocery store without worrying that our mussed-up hairstyle will make the tabloids the next day.
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