Pumpkin Patch Paparazzi

As a young girl, my Mom would take me up to the pumpkin farm in Northern California's Half Moon Bay every October. It would be a whole day event. She would make pancakes (sometimes in the shape of a pumpkin...which is actually just the normal circular pancake with a short stem added) so our bellies would be filled for most the day, and then we would make the hour long drive up. Although Half Moon Bay tends to be foggy, pumpkin patch day always seemed to be sunny. There was face painting, autumn crafts to partake in, hay mazes, and of course the task of picking out the perfect pumpkin to carve at a later date. This day was all about celebrating autumn with my Mom.

While at a Los Angeles pumpkin patch today, I wondered if it would have felt as fun and free if my Mom would have been famous. Super model, host/producer of Project Runway, and not-at-all-fair-she's-that-gorgeous mother of four Heidi Klum was visiting the patch at the same time as I was there. She had her children with her just like any mom would have, but she also had dozens of cameras in her face. Even I, enamored with her beauty, snapped a couple of quick ones.

Carrie Fischer, the daughter of famous golden era couple Eddie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds, has said, "As the child of movie star parents, the family is organized around them. You are not the one getting attention. You become part of their audience." A normal non-famous family is focused on the children and if the parents get a date night they consider themselves lucky to be getting attention from their spouse. Children of the famous are pushed into the background and do not have the luxury of picking out a pumpkin with their mom without everyone staring and paparazzi yelling for her attention. No matter how wonderful a famous mother is, and I'm sure Heidi Klum is a devoted parent, she still can never give her full attention to her children when flashes are attempting to distract her every move. I found myself feeling fortunate that I never needed to compete with cameras for my Mom's attention. In fact, it was her following me through the pumpkin farm with a camera. She documented my every move because to her I was the star in her life. The one to be remembered.

Heidi Klum after carving a pumpkin.

Heidi Klum closer up.

It's always more fun going to a pumpkin patch with a child, so I brought one of the boys I babysit.

Simon and I

My pumpkin patch outfit: No, I didn't wear denim overalls, but I did wear a denim dress; thrifted Holly Hobbie tee; vintage camel colored leather and carpet handbag; vintage eighties red booties.

Thrifted "Happiness is meant to be shared" Holly Hobbie tee I bought years ago and literally wear every week (that's a lot for a girl with my size of a wardrobe.)

Amazin' raisin red 1980's booties I snagged at the Rose Bowl flea market last Sunday for $20! I'm supposed to be saving for a new mattress, but I couldn't help myself when I saw them and they were actually my size.