Katharine McPhee Makes Selfish Look Good

Full disclosure: I have no previous attachments to Katharine McPhee. I can’t seem to get down with the American Idol machine and Smash really started to bore me towards the end of the first season. (I’ve never had much patience for ballads, unless we’re talking Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston). She just hasn’t compelled me to feel anything one way or another, honestly. And I’m the kind of person that loves to love or hate celebrities with gusto.

So imagine my surprise when I recently decided that I think she’s really great. First things first: I covet the floral Katie Ermilio top and green Nanette Lepore skirt she wore inside the February issue of Lucky (pictured right). Real cute. But more importantly, Katharine and I are the same age (28) and she said something in her interview with Lucky that really resonated with me:

Girl, thank you. A lot of the ladies I went to high school with in North Carolina are married with kids by now (McPhee has been married for five years to Nick Cokas, btw). And sometimes when I go home, I feel like I should also be married with kids by now because I’m almost 30 and still live with a roommate and would rather spend money on shoes over food. Most of the time, at least. I do like food.

But the fact of the matter is that I am SO not ready for a kid. Some days I can barely make time to shower, much less change a diaper. I’m busier than I’ve ever been in my life and I’m okay with that because I finally feel like I’m taking care of ME. And it’s kind of cool for a celebrity my age to validate that feeling. Especially since, when I envision celebrities with babies, I imagine ’round the clock help and high-tech newborn muzzles. It just seems easier, somehow. Less long-term life-planning involved, you know?

Work may not currently be “the thing I love the most” (because my boyfriend, dogchild and pizza are in a constant battle for the #1 seed), but it is something that means a great deal to me these days and I find myself happily consumed with it more often than not. So if Katharine is any indication of a modern woman’s struggle to balance work, play and family, maybe women can have it all. We just don’t need to have it all right now. 

Featured image via Lucky magazine