Saturday, March 19, 2011

Saturday Seven

What is this Saturday Seven? My friend Lizz over at Am I a Funny Girl? began Saturday Seven earlier this year in an effort to blog more this year by pulling prompts from the book List Yourself: Listmaking as the Way to Self-Discovery. She’s invited friends to blog along, so here I go!


List mentors, dead or alive, you wish you could have access to.

1. Martha Stewart. She’s iconic. She’s a mogul. She’s my hero. Except for that whole stint up the river. If anyone is to be the poster child for rehabilitated criminals, it’s her. I seriously contemplated applying to her season of The Apprentice. Even more seriously than when I contemplated applying for the Bachelor the season Bob (of the Bachelorette fame) was up for grabs. I liked Bob a lot.

Where was I? Oh right.

Sometimes I still find myself looking at jobs with her company even though there’s less than zero chance my husband would agree to move our family clear across the country to NYC (I’m not even sure that he would agree to ever visit there). Most times I find I’m far inferior in talent and/or experience for most openings.

2. Julia Child. Talk about a groundbreaker. I remember watching her T.V. show with my mom and thinking she sounded funny. Half the time I couldn’t understand what she was saying. But now I’d like to eat, drink and be merry while learning all she has to share about…everything!

3. Giada De Laurentiis. Are you starting to see a trend?

I thought the first season of her show on the Food Network was abysmal. Not because she made bad food, but because she was so stiff, so unnatural in front of the camera. It was painful to watch. But back then I didn’t know she was descended from Hollywood royalty. Thank goodness she loosened up and came into her own, otherwise I would have been one short for this list.

While she hasn’t been as successful with the branding thing like Martha, I would love to cook with her and learn about life as a chef…who isn’t a restaurateur. And let’s face it, I’d LOVE to go shopping with her. In Italy.

4. The Pioneer Woman. I was a late arrival on the PW wagon trail. I was only introduced to her right when I returned to work after maternity leave in January 2010. Her love story, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels was so endearing and utterly hilarious. All I did the first week back in the office was read that story!

PW’s smart, witty and became a published cookbook author from the comfort of her Oklahoma cattle ranch.

5. My grandparents. (the ones who passed on before I could truly appreciate them).

My Farfar (that’s father’s father in Swedish). He passed before I was even a glimmer in my parents’ eyes. And even though he was practically a stranger even to my own father, I would have liked to have known him. I’m told he played the banjo and I’ve always wondered if that’s where my musicality came from. I’m not sure there’s much of anything else I could have learned from him, but isn’t the banjo enough?

My grampa. He passed away the day before my 19th birthday. He was a deeply religious man and a sports fanatic, especially for the Cubbies. And even though I had 19 years to spend with him, I feel like I didn’t really know him and my gut tells me I didn’t get to learn enough from him.

My Farmor (that’s father’s mother in Swedish). While I got much more time with her (she passed when I was just shy of 22) I resisted learning things from her that are important to me now. She was a single mom to two kids and worked as a nurse until she was in her 70s! And she still managed to keep so many Swedish traditions alive. My biggest regret is that I never learned how to make some of the traditional Swedish baked goods that she always had on hand. She was also unbelievable with a crochet needle. She tried to teach me both, but I didn’t have the patience for either at the times she tried.

6. Martha Graham. I didn’t dance enough when I could. I mean, I still can physically, it’s just not practical. I’m sure Martha would teach me otherwise.

7. Mireille Guiliano. Business woman. French. Not fat. I aspire to be two out of three of those things. She headed up Veuve Clicqot. She wrote a diet book (or three) and a fourth on women in business.

I don't know how the women on my list do it. Do it all and then some. I'd love their help figuring it out!

1 comment:

  1. I'm so excited you joined us this weekend! You've got a couple that I could have added too; Julia is my "it's never too late" mentor... did you know she didn't start cooking until she was 37?!?!
    And I've never heard of Mireille Guiliano... but Veuve? I like her already!

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