If Celebrities Were Like Us…..

As we shared with many of you, ever since Harper’s birth 17 months ago, we have become the proud recipients of US Weekly magazine.   We don’t know how or why we get it or who pays for it, but every Friday, it arrives in our mailbox.

Now, my guess is that most of you know what US Weekly is because you sneak peaks at the headlines in the checkout lines at the grocery store (admit it, you do).  But, if you grow all your own food and don’t shop at grocery stores, I will enlighten you:  US Weekly is a celebrity gossip magazine.  It’s terrible.  I feel like I lose brain cells every time I look at it.  And, much like a vegetarian has a hard time resisting bacon, I cannot keep from looking though it every week.  Every week.  I’m addicted. 

One of the sections of the magazine that I find most hilarious is the section titled “Stars, They’re Just Like Us”.  It features photos taken by paparazzi of important celebrities doing “ordinary” things.  Apparently “ordinary” consists of things like, you know, buying fancy coffee for a friend (or 10 friends), bagging their own groceries (at gourmet specialty food shops), or reading a book on the beach (in Rio). 

One day a couple of months ago, I started thinking; if celebrities were REALLY like us, what would we see photos of them doing?  Here are a few of the things I thought of that I’d like to see in US Weekly.

·         If celebrities were like us, they would … acquire 90% of their kids’ clothes from hand-me-downs, garage sales, & thrift stores.  Celeb babies Suri Cruise and Harper Beckham would surely turn up their noses.  But, we feel so lucky to have benefactors a year or two ahead of Harper who hand down a lot of nicely used things.  And, what she doesn’t have we find at thrift stores most of the time.  Poor thing, she’ll probably grow up thinking she’s poor.  But, really, until she cares where her clothes come from (which will come all too soon we’re afraid), we think she can wear gently used clothing because she’ll just outgrow it in a month or two anyway. 

·         If celebrities were like us, they would … splurge on lavish date-nights watching tv shows in their sweat pants. We do go out occasionally and line up a babysitter.  But, the easiest and most common date night for Eric and I is when we put the to-do list on pause and watch a tv show in our sweat pants on the couch.  Seriously, it’s just easier.  We do typically have a glass of wine or some type of tasty dessert; does that make it any more Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-like?   Maybe we should invest in some more glamorous sweat pants (see point # 3).

·         If celebrities were like us, they would … wear worn-out, stretched out, out-dated, and just generally unstylish clothes.  Almost daily, Eric or I make a comment about how long we’ve owned something, how shabby something is looking, or how poorly something fits now-a-days.  And yet, given the choices we have of all there is to do with our weekends, going shopping is very low on our priority list.   The super-rich Kardashian family (not sure why else they’re famous), would be appalled by our choices.  Maybe we could hire one of those celebrity stylists or a personal shoper to take care of that for us?  One can dream, right?

·         If celebrities were like us, they would … make exciting family outings out of the simplest things.  Unlike the Hollywood babes, it really doesn’t take a lot to entertain Harper at age 17 months.  A walk in the park is full of wonder.   A trip to the grocery store is full of new faces to smile and wave at.  A trip to Old Town to get a “treat” is met with squeals of delight.  We know the attractions in our community are great, and I’m sure we’ll frequent them more often as Harper gets older and more interested in them.  But for now, we love the simple wonder she expresses with the smallest of things. 

·         If celebrities were like us …  they would love and treasure the memories they make as a family, like:

o   Hiking (Sherpa-ing Harper) up to gorgeous alpine lakes and rivers so that she can throw rocks in the water

o   Camping in a Yurt we had to snowshoe to on winter Yurt trip with friends

o   Driving back and forth to Kansas a half-dozen times or more to visit family members for occasions both joyous and sorrowful

o   Biking around town with our baby bike trailer pulling not only Harper but diaper bags, jackets, blankets, shopping items, etc. 

o   Singing songs and reading books over and over and over and over… until we know them by heart

o   Visiting friends in exotic locations like upstate New York and enjoying the beauty and power of Niagara Falls (photo below)

o   Watching Harper be completely enamored with her grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle. 

If celebrities were like us, they would feel very blessed; VERY BLESSED INDEED. 

Wishing you all a wonderful, joyous, and blessed new year.  Happy 2013.

Love, Haley, Eric and Harper