Kristen Bell covers Redbook’s October issue. They put her in a striped sweater and a jean skirt with front pockets and I swear I’ve worn a slight variation of that outfit. I don’t know if that makes me fashionable or if this outfit is just common, but of course I like it. From the preview of the interview they released, I also don’t know how I feel about Kristen. She’s been saying variations of this same thing for years, and she’s been coming across as hyperaware of her image for years. However she earned so much goodwill for her stay in Florida during Hurricane Irene, finding shelter for people and entertaining hurricane victims, that I’m coming around on her. Kristen is promoting that Bad Moms sequel where the moms deal with their mothers visiting for Christmas. I didn’t see the first one, but some of my friends love it so I might catch this one on demand at some point. (Personally I like all raunchy women-centric comedies will pale in comparison to Girls Trip but I’ll give Bad Moms a chance.) Here’s some of what Kristen said:

On being asked about “doing it all” and “finding balance”:
“Being asked ‘How do you do it?’ implies that a) I am doing it, which I am not—I am doing what everybody else is doing, which is trying their best, and b) What is a balance, anyway? A balance teeter-totters. It moves, something gives and other things take, and other days it might be the opposite.”

On the importance of not being perfect:
“Humans want nothing more than to be accepted, and I’m no different. That doesn’t happen by presenting perfection. I believe in showing your dirty hands and your bumps and bruises and your faults, because that’s what makes people feel connected—and isn’t that kind of the purpose of, you know, being on Earth?”

On dealing with jerks:
“I have gotten to a happy place the last five years or so where I have so much sympathy toward people who are unhappy or jerky. Like, ‘Oh, man, we have one ride here—that’s how you are going to spend it? What a bummer.’”

On raising her two daughters:
“I love having girls. The truest thing in life is that girls rule, boys drool.”

[From Redbook]

Kristen has anxiety and she’ll tell you about it. She’s claims she’s talking about her issues to be real but she also really wants people to know and like her, and she’s transparent about that too. In turn she cares deeply about other people and can feel so personally raw that she’s incredibly emphatic. I think I can understand that. Part of the reason she rubs me the wrong way is that I see things in her that I dislike in myself – I know I overcompensate, I know I prepare for things to a ridiculous degree and I know that I feel like I’m barely holding it together some days. I don’t want to tell people that I’m anxious so I cultivate this image of having it all and managing perfectly fine. When celebrities admit that they’re doing this too it’s like they’re breaking the unspoken code of faking it. I’m being too nice though, this woman is just annoying. I’m never like that. I’m never extra.

photos credit: Yu Tsai/Redbook and WENN