WHY EMILY IN PARIS IS WHAT ALL THE HOUSEWIVES NEEDED

Listen, I’m no real housewife of Nashville. But I am married, a mom to three littles and it’s Coronavirus nation 2020. And I’m a writer. And this is why Emily In Paris is what we are all talking about. Or should I say, swooning about. 

It’s bold and bright, dreamy and cheery, unrealistic and incredibly sexy, and it’s Darren Star perfection. Sure, it’s no Sex and The City and if you’re like me and you’ve memorized every episode and every line of every episode, Emily in Paris might disappoint you. But for what it’s worth, it’s definitely worth your Covid screen time. Especially if you’re married with littles like me. And here’s why.

You see, I was Emily in Paris many moons ago. Only without the very eccentric and expensive wardrobe and also without the perfect little flat on the 5th floor with a view of Paris and all of its magnifique perfection. But I once had a few weeks in Paris alone, and I was single and therefore currently, Emily in Paris is making me swoon over my former single twenties self in Paris. And I don’t think I’m the only one.

Not that I’m not a happy married forties something caring for my 3 young children in the middle of a global pandemic. I am. It’s just that watching Emily in Paris parading across Le Seine for a morning stroll with her pain au chocolat, while I’m wearing the same black leggings I’ve worn for 3 days, I’m un-showered, and my hair is in a weird bun, I suddenly have fomo. Or is it FOMOA. Fear of missing out again? Because wearing leggings three days in a row and taking care of kiddos in the middle of a global pandemic is a far cry from Paris. And it’s fun to reminisce my twenties something single self skipping through Paris on a rainy summer day without a care in the world. That’s what memories are for. Thank you brain.

Yeah, sigh. I know.

That was a time in my life like no other. Which was basically all of my twenties.

I remember my mom saying to me (over a martini and a heavy conversation about her childhood) that her twenties were the “funnest” because there was zero responsibility. I said “I thought your 40’s were your best years?” 

She laughed and said, “I said funnest.”

She went on to say that running around Waikiki Hawaii single and on the verge of 20 was the time of her life. It was also the summer she met Elvis. Yep. Don’t worry, she married my Dad soon thereafter and made the greatest decision of her life.

But as she continued talking about the twenties being superb….I stopped and thought about my life so far.

And well, I strongly concur. Superb yes. The best? To be determined.

You see, like Emily in Paris, (sure she has a high demand job with a high maintenance bitchy french boss), what my Mom was actually referring to, was her exponential freedom. 

Freedom is fun.

Freedom is everywhere in your twenties.

Freedom is life actually.

Freedom is waking up and deciding for yourself to do whatever your heart desires. To go wherever the wind blows you. 

And watching Emily in Paris have her exquisite cake and eating it too (hello Gabriel!), whether fiction or not, is what dreams are made of. 

20’s dreams that is.  

Look, for me, I reflect back to that moment in time…(that is as I boil spaghetti for my family and type these last words before I serve dinner) and here’s my reflection.

The twenties are freedom and they are for the taking when you have them. 

They are for kissing strangers under the Paris moon, for having omelets with hot guys named Gabriel, they are for wandering around the most beautiful galleries and running into the most fabulous people and saying yes to dinners and yes to the South of France for the weekend. 

Had I not said yes to the South of France for a weekend in my twenties, I would have never seen “the Sea” as my French friends called it while frolicking through the Mediterranean with said new friends.

Of course, let’s be clear, Emily in Paris is fiction and no I don’t want my former twenties back.

But damn, it’s fun to look back and I sure wish I could hop on a plane and wander the Champs Elysees right now instead of wearing a mask into Walgreens to buy Vitamin D on a Wednesday.

Just food for thought. And we can all use a laugh right now. And some eye candy. Netflix is winning right now. Ok. That’s all. Au Revoir mon amie.