Celebrity

Jenna Lyons, executive creative director and president of J. Crew, is everywhere. A profile in Fast Company. Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year. One of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. The subject of a New York Times article, "Jenna Lyons, the Woman Who Dresses America."

My favorite Jenna Lyons piece, though, is the April Harper's Bazaar "My List" column, in which she describes a typical 24 hours of her life and, in the process, describes herself. Reading it was like reading US Magazine's celebrity feature called "They're just like us!," with photos of famous people doing ordinary things such as grocery shopping and tying their shoes. As I read the Harper's Bazaar column, I thought, "She's just like me!" For example, she says, "I try to get my coffee to taste as close to coffee ice cream as I can." I do too. "One of my assistants gave me a T-shirt that says Sorry I'm Late." I don't have an assistant, but I'm always late. "My preferred mode of communication is silence!" Me too. "I check my Instagram far too much." I do as well. "I'll go for a year eating the same thing and then I'll switch. Right now I'm eating Cobb salad; last year it was tomato soup." I do the same. "I like to go out with just a few people at a time. I'm not good in giant group situations." I do too, and I'm not either. "I love looking at magazines. I get every possible one.... It's a problem." I do too, and yes, it is.

So, not too shabby being like the very lovely creative head of J. Crew.

Meanwhile, love, love, love the cover of the May issue of Harper's Bazaar. Partly it's because I like Gwyneth Paltrow, partly it's the colors - white, pale blue, pale pink, and grey - and partly it's something else I can't quite figure out. It feels both old-fashioned and very modern. It has an almost other-worldly feel to it. Just so pretty.

(Photo by Daniel Jackson for Harper's Bazaar)