We ask Leslie Marinelli, the funny behind The Bearded Iris and new wizzard behind the bathroom door at In the Powder Room, our 7 Q+As »
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1. What are you grateful for today?
Strong coffee, healthy children, a supportive husband, and a wonderful blogging community, among many other things, and not necessarily in that order.
2. Tell us about one of your friends and what you love about her.
My neighbor Terri is one of the best friends I’ve ever had. She’s my sister from another mister, and the first person I always call in an emergency, like the time I was 10 months pregnant and crashed my minivan into my garage door. Plus, she’s more fun than a blender full of dirty monkeys. We almost got thrown out of the theater watching “Bridesmaids” for laughing too hard and disturbing other patrons. Terri showed up to my book launch party for “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth” with actual lipstick smeared all over her teeth and then bought 8 copies to give to all her friends. Yeah, she’s *that* friend. I love her more than my luggage.
3. Describe one of the best days of your life.
I know it’s cliché, but the births of my three kids are all firmly entrenched as the most awesome days for me. But if I had to cast a wider net, when I was in my mid-twenties, I lived and worked in Mexico City for a few months with a group from my graduate program. One day we hiked Mount Popocatépetl, an active volcano in central Mexico. The terrain is mostly ash so you sink in to your ankles with every step, and it’s very steep. When we started that morning, our group was about 15 people strong, but because of the extreme altitude and difficult terrain, one by one people got sick or quit the further up we climbed. I was one of the few people in our group to make it to our destination: the snow line. I’m not a very athletic or active person, so I still count that as one of the greatest days of my life.
4. What’s the best lesson you learned from your mother/grandmother?
My mom always says “Done is better than perfect,” and truly, she is the single most efficient human being I’ve ever known. I mean, the woman scrapbooks with a stapler, hand to God. She is a well-oiled machine, and she gets more done in between her smoke breaks than I can accomplish in a week. I’m too easily distracted and I obsess over minute details, which really gets in the way of my productivity, but one day I hope to be more like my mom, minus the stapler and the nicotine.
5. We’re all unique. What is your special gift?
I can whistle with my fingers louder than anyone else I know. It’s great for calling the kids in for dinner…as well as all the dogs within a three-mile radius. I’m also a great tinkerer. I fixed our broken freezer and washing machine last year after watching YouTube videos about appliance repair. True story.
6. What could women be doing to make their community a better place?
Hmmm. Good question! I feel really privileged to live and work in communities full of incredibly engaged and supportive women, so I’m not sure I know how to answer this. On the whole though, I think if we as women spent more time accepting ourselves the way we are and less time obsessing over aging or our looks we’d have so much more free time and energy for things that really matter like trying to understand Google Plus or binge watching Orange Is the New Black.
7. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
I’d do my own auto repairs and/or stand-up comedy.
