some quality time with kelle & ellen

Over the past week, I've read two books. Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres and Bloom by Kelle Hampton. So different, but so great. Both highly recommended.

I'm pretty sure Ellen DeGeneres would be one of the people I would invite to my fictional famous people dinner. She is hilarious, down-to-earth, and loves to dance. What more could you ask for in a dinner party? Throughout her book, she talked about how to be a supermodel, the secret of life (it's kale), how awesome it would be if Jesus bought her book, the pros and cons of making pros and cons lists, and how awkward dreams are. 

My favorite chapter was about what to do when you're bored. Here are Ellen's suggestions for what to do:

1. Clean my house.

2. Look at your pets. If you look at them long enough, you can almost figure out what they are thinking. Usually it's "Why has she been looking at me for so long? She must be really bored." 

3. Cut up fruit.

4. Sext.

5. Make a smoothie.

6. Volunteer.

7. Volunteer opinions to strangers.

8. Hitchhike.

9. Photograph geese.

10. Put on a blazer and pretend to be a docent at your local museum. 

Bloom was a different kind of great. Less laughing out loud to myself awkwardly, more tearing up at how real and touching every single word was. I love how she encourages everyone to just be themselves, to "fly their freak flag." I love how she uses words like rockstar, fabulous, and badass. I love that she makes me excited for motherhood. So I can try to encourage and celebrate my children, in ways like this.

I love that she is all about community and friendship. She calls hers, The Net. With all that life throws at us, she knows that women can "empower, inspire, and lift each other up." 

And remembering all of the great people that are part of my community, makes me want to celebrate. Which is another thing that Kelle Hampton does really well. We should celebrate not living a life full of perfection and white picket fences. We should love that life makes our fences color and fabulous because it means that we have grown and learned and experienced things and loved. 

"Happiness with all its messiness and not-quite-thereness. It's knowing that life is short, and the moments we choose to fill our cup with should be purposeful and rich. That we should be present for life, that we should drink deeply. And that's perfection."