Hey There, It's Christa!

Yeah, The Realities of Fame Aren't Pretty

I've never watched an episode of "Jon and Kate + 8," but like most of America, I've seen the nasty secrets of their crumbling marriage unfolding, well, everywhere.

No matter how much I wish I could escape, I can't because any new development, no matter how minor, is prominently displayed on each and every tabloid. Even the drive-time chat on my favorite radio station is dedicated to the latest developments and CNN.com isn't immune from the Jon and Kate train-wreck, and that's where I'm supposed to be reading the actual news.

It's all a little disheartening to say the least, especially when I heard the show's ratings have quadrupled since the scandal. Seems that viewers have a taste for controversy (no surprise there), so I'm sure the Jon and Kate media onslaught is only going to continue.

Of course, I'll admit that I don't know the true ins and outs of the situation. And with so much spin and speculation out there, I'm sure no one, aside from the Gosselins themselves, really does. But as Jon and Kate's dirty laundry is aired in public like this rather than behind closed doors, I can't help but wonder if they're thinking about those eight kids that made them famous in the first place. After all, without the "+8," these two were unlikely to score a show, let alone the celebrity perks, on their own.

While the kids are still young, they're definitely old enough to understand what's going on. And how strange it must feel to see their parents feuding on those aforementioned magazine covers. I mean, how is it possible to have even a quasi-normal life when everyone on the planet is aware of your parents' very-public spat?

All I can say is this makes me very, very sad. Yes, with fame, there are certain realities. Your private business inevitably becomes everyone else's, especially when your family's every move is carefully chronicled for the camera. But maybe this is the sort of reality TV we shouldn't be watching—because ultimately, until we stop, the Jon and Kate +8 craziness isn't coming to a screeching halt any time soon.

Christa-Ology (Not to Be Confused With Christology)

Yet another random survey is circulating on Facebook (yeah, I love 'em as time-wasters just like everyone else), so here are my oh-so-riveting answers for everything "ology."

* FOODOLOGY*

What is your salad dressing of choice?
Raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
La Grolla for their amazing calamari to start, incredible penne alla vodka, delicious herb bread and if that wasn't enough to make you feel like you're going to burst—light and fluffy mascarpone cheesecake that beats NY cheesecake anyday in my book.

What food could you eat everyday for two weeks and not get sick of?
Pasta

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, onions or pineapple and Canadian bacon if I'm feeling like Hawaiian

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Definitely chocolate

* TECHNOLOGY *

How many televisions are in your house?
Just one

Do you have a laptop?
Of course

How about a desktop?
Too bulky

How many cell phones do you own?
Does anyone really need more than one?

* BIOLOGY*

Are you right handed or left handed?
Righty

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Just my wisdom teeth

What is the last heavy item you lifted?
Groceries

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Yep, to have the aforementioned wisdom teeth removed

* TRIVIA-OLOGY*

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No thanks!

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Addison

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Make it $10,000, and we'll talk

* DUMBOLOGY*

How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
Six...I love me some flip flops.

Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Not unless speeding tix count

Last person you talked to?
Will :)

* FAVORITE-OLOGY*

Season?
Definitely fall

Holiday?
Christmas—yes, completely unoriginal, but true

Day of the week?
Sunday

Month?
October...Will's birthday, the start of fall and our anniversary!

* CURRENTOLOGY*

Missing anyone?
Definitely

Mood?
Happy. It's sunny out, I just had my hair done, and I get to pick up the hubby in about an hour and a half.

What are you listening to?
Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

Watching?
See "What Are You Listening to?"

* RANDOMOLOGY*

First place you went this morning?
Dropped Will off at work

What's the last movie you saw?
Sadly, it was "17 Again," had to review it.

Do you smile?
It's my favorite. ;)

Do you always answer your phone?
Yes, unless I don't want to talk to you.

You get a text message at 4 a.m. Who is it?
No one is crazy enough to text that early.

If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I like mine just fine.

What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
I LOVE the Cherry Limeade!

Do you own a digital camera?
Yes! Love it.

Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yes, I have—R.I.P. all of you!

What's on your wish list for your birthday?
Get back to me in a few months, k?

Can you do pushups?
No!

Can you do a chin up?
No!

Does the future make you nervous or excited?
Definitely excited.

Do you have any saved texts?
Yep, pics of Adelyn

Ever been in a car wreck?
Yes, and it's always scary!

Do you have an accent?
People here say I sound like I'm from the south, which is hilarious, considering I grew up here. I did live in Nashville for eight years, but I don't hear any twang.

Plans tonight?
Laidback ones.

Have you ever been given roses?
Yes

Current hate right now?
Many of the headlines on CNN

Met someone who changed your life?
Definitely

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
No, I don't think I would.

Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
The longest was Will...we met and married in 11 months.

Do you have any tattoos/ piercings?
Just ear piercings...I don't like needles or having holes placed anywhere but my ears.

Does anyone love you?
Yes :-)

What songs do you sing in the shower?
I refrain from singing in the shower...I'm tone-deaf, after all.

Do you like to cuddle?
I LOVE it!

Have you held hands with anyone today?
Yep.

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Adelyn when I was visiting her and Linds in Colorado

What kind of music did you listen to in elementary school?
Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Simon LeBon rocked my world those days.

Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Old

Do you like pulpy orange juice?
A little is fine

Have you ever ridden an elephant?
Nope, can't say that I am.

Do you like to play Scrabble?
Addicted to Scrabble, just ask anyone who knows me well.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
You know, I'm not sure...maybe one that allowed me to be in more than one place at once?

When is the last time you ate peanut butter and jelly?
It's been a few weeks

What were you doing at midnight last night?
Wrapping up an episode of "Gilmore GIrls"

DSTC: Feelin' Sorry for Khloe Kardashian...

Really, it's all my hubby's fault. He's the one who got me hooked on "Celebrity Apprentice" in the first place...

Back when the show got started, you know back when Andrew Dice Clay was still in the running, I blatantly refused to watch it. Somewhat self-righteously I maintained that I had way better things to do with my spare time. (I'd just suffered through my first—and definitely last—season of "The Bachelor" after all), so I wasn't quite ready to take on another guilty pleasure reality show.

But the more Will went on about how entertaining it was, the more I was intrigued. So a couple of weeks later, I decided to watch just once—and yep, it wasn't long before I was hooked.

For the uninitiated, it's one of those it's-so-bad-that-it's-good T.V. experiences.  You know, your basic train wreck involving C and D-level celebs competing in whatever business-type endeavors The Donald dreams up. Thankfully, the proceeds for winning do go to charity—definitely a plus.

For those who've seen various installments of "The Apprentice" before (I haven't until now), yes, The Donald still seems to get a huge kick out of firing people during the weekly boardroom round-up.

And strangely enough, watching this show has somehow endeared me to celebrities I never would've expected to like. Sure, Melissa and Joan Rivers are still as annoying and frighteningly Botoxed as ever, but I found myself actually feeling sorry for Tom Green—yes, THAT Tom Green, former king of juvenile gross-out stunts and Drew Barrymore's hubby for like two seconds—when Clint Black chewed him out for everything that went wrong during the wedding dress episode. Even worse than Clint's tongue-lashing, however, was the Donald's harsh words during his firing a week later. Sure, bailing on his team when he was project manager definitely warranted giving Green the boot, but what Donald said afterward was so personal and incredibly mean-spirited that I almost shed a tear for the poor guy...a guy I couldn't stomach for more than a few seconds any other time.

Ditto for Kim Kardashian's sister Khloe. For the record, I just don't get why the oh-so-annoying Kardashian/Jenner clan actually has its own reality show that seems to be on a perpetual loop between episodes of "E!'s True Hollywood Story," but Khloe isn't quite so bad on "Celebrity Apprentice." Sure, she's never seen NOT texting, but aside from that, she seems to make a good effort on the assigned projects.

But last night during the boardroom breakdown, the unthinkable happened. She was fired not because she did a bad job on the viral video her team was working on, but because of her DUI that Donald just found about. First off, it's hard to believe he didn't know, considering all the media coverage it got. I mean surely he would've kept tabs on the potential contestants for his show, right? But even if that was the case, it's a little ridiculous firing a contestant over something that has nothing to do with the show he/she is on. 

Now don't get me wrong, a DUI is a serious, serious thing. And given her celebrity status, she probably got off pretty easy on the punishment. But when she said she was taking the necessary steps to recovery, via classes, counseling etc., hasn't she made good on the offense? And if the show's whole tagline about it being "not personal but business" is true, then wasn't she fired for the wrong reason?

Um, yeah.

Anyway, I never expected to get all worked up about this, let alone anything concerning Dennis Rodman and a bunch of other people I'd never pay money to watch, but I actually actually felt sorry for poor little Khloe (and don't even get me going on Tionne from TLC...that was wrong, too). Of course, I think Donald fired Khloe because it's much better TV with Clint (who should've gotten the boot) and Melissa in the picture. But as far as the competition goes, The Donald got it all wrong.

Yet, I'll still be tuning in next week to see what happens next...and I'm guessing Khloe will be, too.

Newsletter 2.0...You Know You Want It!

Greetings from Chicago's lovely O'Hare airport...I'm here (again) because I'm en route back to Minneapolis from Nashville, so I thought I'd make the best of it and write a little something...

I'm going to be sending my new and improved newsletter out very, very soon (the jury's still out on what I'll name it...any suggestions?), so if you haven't already, make sure you sign up via the "Newsletter" link on my illustrious website.

And if the thought of having something fabulous from yours truly—sent straight to your Inbox—wasn't exciting enough, I'm going to be giving away some pretty cool stuff, too. And really, who doesn't love some cool free stuff?

But if you're on the fence, know that you'll only get a chance to win if you're reading my newsletter, so....

You know what to do (and if you're more of a visual learner, look left for inspiration).

Thumbs Up for Spontaneity!

Sure, I love flowers for Valentine's Day or an anniversary like any girl. But flowers on an ordinary Friday afternoon for no particular reason? Well, even better.

I absolutely love this winter bouquet! Props to my amazing, adorable husband for making my day. :)

The List: Random Things About Myself

One of my favorite editors, Ms. Laura MacCorkle of Crosswalk.com fame, tagged me for the following exercise. So in the spirit of giving, (and because everyone knows exactly how random I can be) here we go...

INSTRUCTIONS: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 10 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you...

1)When I was growing up, I wanted to be Hannah Storm. Not the news reporter, mind you. But the cool sports chick on the court (or field, stadium, etc.) interviewing all the sweaty athletes and covering the big games. In fact, there are still a few teachers at good ol' Ladysmith High School who were more than a little disappointed that I decided to go the whole entertainment writing route.

2) For at least two of my years in Nashville, I wore something glittery every day. Normally it was actual craft glitter on my eyelids (i thought this looked amazing, and I've never had any ambitions of being a country star or working at Caesar's Palace—or anywhere in downtown Nashville or Vegas for that matter). Appropriately, I was given the nickname "Glitter Princess" and was referred to as "Glitter" (not the horrible Mariah Carey film, to be clear).

3)Before we knew each other, Will and I hated a telemarketing job we were hired for so much (at the same building in Green Hills in Nashville coincidentally) that we both actually walked out during the first break. He was supposed to sell water bottles, while I was supposed to make appointments for carpet cleanings. Of course, Will probably calmly walked to his car, while I sprinted, fearing that someone would come after me and force me to come back.

4)My favorite flavor of gum during 5th, 6th and 7th grade was those huge slabs of Hubba Bubba chocolate mint. Sick.

5)When I was an enterprising 10 year old, I often liked to sell our family's rhubarb door to door (whenever my Mom was out for the night, of course).

6)During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I wore a Christian Laettner sports jersey to school at least once a week. Yeah, I wasn't in my girly girl phase as of yet...

7)In the past two months, my Starbucks habit (a grande, non-fat caramel macchiato) has almost been exclusively replaced by a medium, non-fat, light-whip caramel high rise from Caribou Coffee. Hmmm, maybe I'm the reason Starbucks stores have been closing left and right...ha ha!

8)I've never listened to an entire New Kids on the Block song and have to say I often felt a little superior to my NKOTB-lovin' classmates growing up, 'cause I was still crushin' on the far cooler Simon LeBon instead.

9)The new Coldplay album that I loathed with a passion earlier this year has actually grown on me.

10)When I need an easy laugh, "Zoolander," "Anchorman" or that scene where Steve Carell plays a babbling newscaster in "Bruce Almighty" always does the trick.

My Latest Obsession...New M.A.C. Eyeshadow

Anyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely love make-up. In fact, any time I pass a Sephora, ULTA or a M.A.C. Cosmetics store, well, I'll confess, I get a few butterflies in my tummy.

So when Will suggested that we go to the Mall of America last Saturday after I got home from Nashville, well, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I haven't bought any new make-up in ages, so it was fun to pick up this new eyeshadow palette—just in time for the holidays from M.A.C. For the record, the colors are much, much cooler in the actual set (the green is divine). And how cute is this compact? Yeah, I'm one happy girl...it doesn't take much does it?