I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat the truth here. I am in mad girl love with Sofia Coppola.
Not the romantic or “I want to sleep with her” kind of love. Just the manic obsession that has made me do things like collect photographs, clip articles from magazines and paste them into a journal, and consider taking a side trip to Versailles when I was in Paris not because of any historical interest, but because my keen internet cyberstalking skills revealed that Sofia was there filming Marie Antoinette at the time. No. I’m not kidding.
My Sofia obsession was born when I saw The Virgin Suicides. Her dreamy interpretation of the lives of the Lisbon sisters completely mesmerized me. I love that all of her films have a soft, dreamy aesthetic – very feminine and cool.
Then I saw Lost in Translation, and I was hooked. I wanted more Sofia. I started combing the web for stories and photos and ended up finding other people like me. I read the Lost in Translation script. What did Bill Murray say at the end?
I spent $50+ on eBay for her photography book(let) that was published in Japan and nearly impossible to find. I researched some of the artists and musicians that Sofia likes and realized that I like them too. I trusted my friend when he said that he could get us into the Marie Antoinette premiere. Note to self: Don’t believe everything that people tell you.
After all of my shesearch, I just knew that if Sofia and I met in real life we would totally be BFFs. It wouldn’t just be Sofia, Spike, Marc, and Zoe. It would be Sofia, Spike, Marc, Zoe, AND Melanie!
Some time passed, and eventually my obsession was dialed down a few notches. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a supersized girl crush on this amazing writer/director/photographer/designer/mother/queen-of-cool. It’s just that having a husband, a one-year-old, a full-time “day job,” and trying to jumpstart a totally different career as a blogger/writer/photographer/artist leaves little time for scouring the interwebs to find out what Sofia likes to eat for breakfast. Even though I am curious.
But what if I could know? What if I had a chance to hang out here, in Seattle, with Sofia Coppola for a day? Where would we go? What would we do? Besides what she likes to eat for breakfast, what would we talk about?
I’ll tell you.
First I’d meet Sofia at the top of Queen Anne hill for breakfast at the 5 Spot. I’d tell her how awesome the cinnamon swirl French toast with caramel sauce is and she would reach down into her Marc Jacobs bag and hand me a beautifully packaged box of macarons that she brought me from Ladurée.
After breakfast and coffee (or tea for Sofia, if that’s what she prefers), I’d ask her what she’s reading and she’d tell me about some phenomenal book that I’ve never heard of but sounds like it was written just for me. We’d go to Elliott Bay Book Company in Capitol Hill for book and greeting card browsing, and I would buy every book that Sofia recommended.
Soon our conversation would turn to art, and we’d head over to Peter Miller Books, Seattle’s home of super cool art, architecture, and design books. We would discuss our common art and design interests, then Sofia would tell me some crazy awesome story about hanging out with “Ed.”
After devouring books on photography and typography, we’d visit the Olympic Sculpture Park for some outdoor art and a gorgeous view of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. During our stroll, Sofia and I would talk about motherhood. We’d discuss how it’s changed us and how we balance our life and time between family and creative work, and then we’d show each other photos of our adorable children.
I’d ask Sofia if she’s ever seen the gum wall at Pike Place Market. She would say no, and I would feel so great because I would finally be the one to show her something cool. We’d take some super artsy photos of the wall and each other in front of the wall, that would later be published in Vogue. A passerby who loves Sofia would offer to shoot some photos of the two of us in front of the wall. I would hand him my iPhone so I can immediately change my Facebook profile photo when he’s done.
I don’t know about Sofia, but by this time I would definitely need more coffee. Still feeling confident from my gum wall reveal, I’d let her in on a little secret that most Seattleites would never admit. Shh…come closer. The best coffee in Seattle…comes from Portland.
Next Sofia and I would hop on a bus and head to the Seattle neighborhood that I spend a lot of time in, Fremont. Since it’s Sunday, we’d stroll around the Fremont Sunday Street Market and take photos of some of the vintage (aka, funky and oldish) stuff you can find there.
After she compliments me on the great job I’ve done shooting photos, I would tell her about my idea for a series of collages and she’d love it! I would swoon and we’d walk over to Burnt Sugar and pick out some fantastic papers for the project.
Now it’s later in the afternoon and we’re getting hungry, but I wouldn’t want to ruin our dinner plans. We’d pop over to Pie and pick up one of their handheld pies to tide us over. Sofia would opt for a savory veggie pot pie and I would choose the delightfully sweet chocolate cream pie and we’d split them. After our treats, we’d go our separate ways until dinner.
We would meet up later at Delancey, where I would manage to talk them into bending their rules and reserving a table for two. I mean, hey, I’m having dinner with Sofia Coppola!
Molly would be there and she would come over and introduce herself, and I’d be like, oh my God this is even cooler than the time Quentin Tarantino said hi to me at the ArcLight even though he doesn’t even know me. Then I’d remember that Sofia dated Quentin and I don’t know how she feels about him, so I don’t say that out loud.
After dinner, we’d say our farewells. Sofia would invite me and my family to spend some time in Paris with her, Thomas, and the girls. I’d hastily accept and we would hug goodbye, promising to keep in touch, be Facebook friends, and nurture our new BFFship.
The End