Gorgeously Green (with envy)

This guest blog is written by blogger or bloggess – Courtney Kendrick, who I met at a Utah Conference last month. Another girl crush for sure! Here’s what she says about moi: Olivia Newton John. Younger. Much. We were sitting on the front row of the Casual Blogger’s Conference, me and six of my siblings with their spouses and my mom and dad (we’re a gorgeously gigantic Mormon family). Somewhere in the back of the conference room my husband was bouncing our newborn to the sound of Sophie Uliano’s keynote speech.
I had just spoken to the crowd previously and my heart had resumed beating at normal intervals. I was indulging in deep breaths. My speech was over. Now it was time to figure out who this Sophie Uliano reminded me of: J.K. Rowling? I looked over at my older sister Page. Along with her husband Vance and eight children (I told you, Mormon) Page is an advocate of self-sufficiency. She works hard at relying little upon mass produced stuff around their home. They recycle, they garden, they’ve got chickens and often talk of buying a cow. Page was listening to Sophie with her eyes. Just soaking the whole Gorgeously Green Sophie Uliano up.
My neighbor Vanessa?
This was supposed to be my big night. The part of my history where I wow my family with dramatic readings of former blog posts. But it was Sophie’s speech we spent the evening talking over dinner about. It was her charming presentation of herself. And her cause.
“I’ve got one foot in recycling and the other in Manolos,” she had said, kicking her silver-platform shoes in the air.
I tried not to think about how this was supposed to be my dinner. My “Good-job-on-your-keynote-tonight-Courtney!” feast. I had plotted for months how this very moment would heal me of all the insecurities I had amassed from being the blasted middle child. My great, big, shining . . .
“What is compost toileting anyway?” someone asked, to which brother-in-law Vance responded.
But I don’t even remember his response. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself about not being the center piece at the dinner table. Instead, we were talking about environmentally-conscious-rotting poo.
Though, I had to admit myself, Sophie was delightful.
And impactful.
But I didn’t know how much until a week later when I wanted to buy expensive skin treatments at a fancy department store. It was a new line, created for the toxically naive. Basically me.

I heard Sophie’s voice in my head.
“Expensive skin care products are total, complete waste of money.”
And so I passed them up. Just kept walking right out of the store. Even though I was jealous of her books, her story, her relationship with Julia Roberts, her Malonos, her substantial time on Oprah, and mostly, her capturing the attention of my family on a night where I wanted it all to myself, I must agree:  Sophie is passionately persuasive. She makes the lazy Green-go want to be better.
Jane Seymore.
Final answer.

Visit Courtney’s fantastic blog!