Yeah, I’ve gone through the eyebrow phase too. I’m so glad that they’re back. 10 years ago, they were not there. Really grateful for now. It was a hard time.
Before I had makeup [on], I was on the “All About That Bass” music video [set] and I was like, “What are you doing?” And makeup artist was like, “I’m doing your eyebrows.” And I was like, “But what do you mean? What are those?”
I was going to ask about that! It’s now been 10 years since “All About That Bass” was released. Has this song taken on a new meaning to you, especially now that you’re a mom?
Oh, man. Yeah, I look at that song as my first-born and my first… [that song] was my baby and just all her accomplishments and everything…every time I look up and realize how incredible and how blessed I am when I’m doing a big game commercial with e.l.f. cosmetics, I’m like, “This is because that one song that I wrote in 45 minutes that was 10 years old, this all stemmed from that.” So everything I do in life, I always think back to that song and go, “Thanks, you.” You know?
How do you tune out all of the critics and noise? There’s so much pressure on women, and especially moms, to “age” the right way or “parent” the right way. Everyone has an opinion.
Oh, I’m affected by them, for sure. I’m writing this new album and it’s like, (singing). I have a lot of songs that are just like, “I love me, I’m so proud of me. I’m doing great,” because I wish I thought just like that. So I play these songs for me in the gym every day like, “You’re doing great, focus here.” Because it can get very difficult. That’s also why I play on different apps on my phone, like Duolingo. I’m like, “Why am I comparing myself instead of learning a new language?” Let’s do this. And it becomes addicting. So, I try to distract myself in those ways. So taking breaks, finding other activities, trying to live in the moment.
It’s easier to live in the moment when you have babies. That’s all they do. That’s all they know how to do. They’re literally doing that. My therapist was like, “Watch your baby just be.” I’m like, “Excuse me?” She’s like, “Just watch, watch your baby just be.” And he be being, he just be. And I do it with him. I’m like, “We’re just living.”
“Just be!” That’s the ultimate advice.
It’s the hardest thing to do and it’s awesome when you can do it.
On on the subject of parenting, you’ve never been one to shy away from sharing “TMI.” It was even in the title of your book on parenting. How do you feel about being TMI in the first place? Is there really such thing?
I just like when I feel less alone in stuff in life, especially being a woman. Our bodies are insane, dude, we could do so much, but we can also…some weird stuff can happen to us and when no one talks about it, you’re like, “Am I broken?” So, that’s why I’ve been trying to be more TMI and more vocal about everything with my body just because I hope it helps someone else out there because it helps me when I hear others talk about it.