But What You Don't See On Instagram Is...

A quick confession: I actually have not yet finished Yes Please! I tried to race through the fifty or so pages I had left before my ride to the airport arrived, but my eyes were like, hey quit it baby girl how 'bout we shut down for a snooze instead?

Anywho. I love this book! I love Amy Poehler! Even more than I thought I did! Amy is honest and frank and hilarious and this book is chock full of good advice, lessons learned, amusing antics, and resonant tidbits. I found myself thinking "she gets it, she GETS it, she really REALLY gets it" more than once.

My absolute passage was this: "Once [Rachel] Dratch and I played Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor, respectively, in a sketch where we sat in a tree twenty feet in the air. I looked out over Studio 8H and for the millionth time laughed at my crazy life. Tina and I used to look at each other before "Update" and also laugh at our crazy lives. We would whisper, "We fooled them!" Sometimes I would pat her knee. One time I ran into Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, and Eric Idle in the hallway and I was legitimately mad that they were in my way, but the gratitude never left me."

This. We fooled them. It's three little words that have summed up more than one experience in my life (albeit slightly different from Amy's cooler version). I scribbled it down in my journal and also snapped a photo lest I forgot about it, God forbid:

But hey! Speaking of "fooling people," you wanna know something else? Those pictures up there are 100% staged. What you aren't able to see on Instagram {I'm not even posting this on Instagram, so by Instagram I mean Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook / Twitter / Perpetually Caroline} {and I'm sharing in the spirit of saying yes please to authenticity and all} is ...

// I didn't even read the damn book casually swinging about on a hammock, swayed by a light breeze and alit in the glow of the sunset. No sir-reeeeeee. (I read it in bed. By the heater. Because it was 65 degrees.)

// The book kept on falling on my face. One-handed photography is a PROFESSIONAL SPORT, y'all.

// I had to shave for this. But on second thought, please don't zoom in.

// Guess what the rest of my outfit consisted of? If you guessed real stylin' workout shorts and a business casual sweater, you guessed right! Top notch #OOTD right here.

// These sandals? Had to dig them out from the back of the closet, dust bunnies attached. The sole was unglued and flap flap flappin', the leather was frayed, and a new one is sitting in my Target online shopping cart.

// It was FREEZING. See goosebumps. (But please don't.)

// This photo op was planned for days. Seriously. In my mind, it was to take place on our cute little balcony and I was going to make a fancy schmancy (wine) glass of iced water with cut up citrus, but well, the balcony was locked and I was too cold to get ice.

// Things that were cropped out: recycling bins, red solo cups strewn all over the yard, condiments on the picnic tables left over from lunch, and a photo bombing squirrel. I would have kept him in, but he was way too smug so I thought I'd show him who's boss. Sorry buddy.

// Reading did NOT go down. Obviously, because I was writing this post and waiting for my burger delivery.

// # of shots taken of this scene: 9.

// I fell out of the hammock tossing and turning, trying to find an angle that would include the Cali-fabulous palm tree.

// What I wasn't doing that I was supposed to be doing while doing this: packing, cleaning, laundry, vacuuming, etcera etcera etcera.

// I then proceeded to repeat the whole thing with my burger, as such:

FOOLING YOU ALL IS HARD, MAN.
BLOGGING IS HARD.