me.

I thought I would share a little bit about myself since I have a few new people following me – here are 10 things you may or may not know about me!

1. I hate to fly. I flew for work in high school and never thought twice about it. I had a bad flight coming home from spring break in Cancun, my sophomore year of college and I have never been the same. We were coming into land (on a budget airline from Cancun) and the pilot pulled the plane up because he couldn’t land….this was at 2am mind you. We went straight up. Like the plane was literally straight up like you are shooting into outer space. Everyone was freaking out and praying. I don’t think I flew again until I graduated. Oh, and I will never ever ever get on a small plane. Nope. This is the last picture from that trip- happy as can be without a care in the world! The next day, airplane anxiety would start for 20+ years.

2. I eat in the middle of the night. I think this began when I lived in NYC. It was granola bars then, bread when I was pregnant and currently it’s animal crackers. EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. I even pack a small baggie when I am going out of town. I am petrified of being starving in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep…sounds crazy I know. I am seriously going to try and wean myself off this year….swear (wink)

3. I dated an actor on SNL. This is a funny story….I did a cover for a knitting magazine in NYC with Will Forte. I had no clue who he was, the client just told me that I was shooting with someone that was on SNL. We shot the cover and he was really nice and pretty cute. I was mad that I didn’t get his number to have drinks. Women power right?! I ended up running into him on the street a few months later with Rachel Dratch. Still didn’t get his number. So, I wrote a letter to SNL. Seriously. I am not even sure if texting was a thing then? I sent a note telling him who I was and gave him my email in case he ever wanted to get a drink, thinking he would never get it – just took a chance. I had an email 2 days later – ha! We went out for a few months and he took my roommate and I to a show, his dressing room and the dinner and after party. We got to meet some cool celebs – It was fun couple of months!

4. I didn’t have great girlfriends until I got to college. I had a few special ones in high school, but not a “group”. I started modeling at 14 and worked a lot out of town a lot and was away every summer, so that was tough. I decided to go to college and quit modeling and didn’t work one day in those 4 years. It was the best decision and college is where I made my closest friends. They supported me and were my biggest cheerleaders when I moved to NYC to model full time after college. I had never had that support from girlfriends in my life and these girls will always be special to me. I made some amazing friends in NYC through modeling and we are still close. Now, my friends that I have made through my kids, are my lifeline. I am so so so lucky to have so many wonderful, supportive, encouraging friends that I am so grateful for. I was pretty scared of having a girl of my own because of the girl drama I went through in elementary and middle school. I always tell my friends who have girls who are going through similar things with their friends, that their group WILL come. When that will be, we don’t know, but there will be women who will love and adore you for exactly who you are.

5. I once pitched a shut out in softball. A shut out is where a pitcher doesn’t allow the other team to score. I was subbing in for the regular pitcher and had never pitched a game before. I literally struck everyone out. My parents still tell this story haha! I never pitched again because I was scared to death at that position and really wasn’t even very good at softball. Our coach graded us on our slides at one practice and I got a D if that tells you anything. A teammate of mine broke her leg sliding and that was it for me. Oh helllll no.

6. I got a WORDLE in one try with the word PLEAT a few weeks ago. My brother, mom, sister in law and aunt and I would text about the wordle of the day everyday and what our score was. When I got it in ONE try, my brother said from now on let’s have a weekly contest and ever since then I haven’t even hit the word in 2 tries. What a jerk. He still hasn’t gotten it in one try though 😉

7. I did a shoot at Carole Baskins Big Cat Rescue in 1997 for a Spanish magazine. This was the same year that her husband went missing!!! I didn’t realize that the shoot was at her place until the makeup artist from the shoot got in touch with me over the pandemic when everyone was watching Tiger King and told me! I keep great records and had the address on my photos – we were in shock!! CRA-ZY.

8. I named my first born after a hot charter boat fishing captain in Edisto Island. Lawton Jackson took my dad, brother and I out fishing every summer. He was smoking hot and my dad told me that I needed to name my son after him because it was such a strong name. When I met Jack, it worked perfectly with Jackson as the middle name 😉 He liked it and we went with it! We did change his middle name to Knox for Knoxville (where Jack went to college and is a die hard TN fan) but Lawton stuck.

9. I was Penny Lane for a week. My friend Joe Firstman called me one night when I was in NYC. He was a singer and was playing at a bar and wanted me to come out to watch him. He told me he would treat me to dinner, so of course I said yes 😉 I ended up on his tour bus that night after going back to my place to grab my passport – woke up in the back of the bus in Philli for a morning radio show. My mom called me and said how was last night?! I said mom, I am in Philadelphia…..and she said “good for you!! You never do anything spontaneous like this!”. We went to Phili, then to Canada (he was opening up for Sheryl Crow, and then back to NYC for the Today Show and a show at Rockefeller Center. It was 5 days I will never forget and I had so much fun. I slept on the tour bus with all of the guys and I learned a huge appreciation for music. Joe wrote all of his songs and the music for them – so talented. It was amazing to watch him on stage and see him go from playing in bars at college to huge venues. He lived in LA at the time and later opened up for Jewel and then was the band for the Carson Daily show.

10. I didn’t have my ears pierced for 25 years. I got my ears pierced when I was young, but they closed up after getting very infected. After 2x piercing them, a dermatologist told me that I was a “keloid former” and that they would surgically have to pierce my ears to have them stay. So, I never messed with it. Do you know how many jewelry jobs I missed out on?? Some clients glued earrings to my ears if we really needed them. When I turned 40 and the pandemic hit, I saw a dermatologist and she said no girl, you can pierce your ears – there is hardly any scar tissue in there. OMG. Well, I went crazy. Got them pierced, felt like a new woman. Once those healed, got my second holes. Once those healed, got my third hole….but these were asymmetrical. Recently the one closer to my cartilage (which I loved) got pretty infected and I couldn’t even sleep on that side on my face. Ain’t Nobody got time for that. It closed up within the hour. Now I am down to 5. 0 to 5 in one year – ha! Such. A. Rebel.

11. I keep a real agenda – no phone calendar for me …… and it’s color coordinated. ( Control issues much?) I have been doing this since I started working at 14. I have every agenda that I have used – I love to look back over the years and see what I (or we as a family later) were doing on a particular day. It’s a great way to keep records but also the memories!! Most people have moved on to the iphone for their calendars, but I don’t work that way – I need to see it right in front of me. And don’t think about adding anything to my calendar – my mom once (recently) added some things when I wasn’t looking (with a PEN – GASP) and I was like “what did you do lady?!!!! Don’t touch my calendar!!!” I got pretty mad…don’t mess with my stuff! ha!

12. I went on a shark diving trip in South Africa and never made it into the water. I have been obsessed with shark week ever since I can remember – both my brother and I watched it religiously. When I found out that I would be traveling to and living in South Africa for a few months, I knew there was one thing I was going to do – go shark diving. In South Africa, that is where the HUGE great whites are and they breach out of the water. Well, after LOTS of traveling to get there and time in the boat, we learned they won’t churn for the sharks, they throw a fake seal out there. I was there in their summer time (our winter), and most breach during the winter. We saw some huge ones circling our boat – about 17-18 feet. Once it was time to get in, they said the water was FREEZING. Ya’ll. I tested it and there was no way even with the suit on. I had 3 more days until I left to go back to NYC and my thought process was “I don’t want to get sick and ruin my last few days.” WHAT. I was planning on coming back in January because I had fallen in love with SA, so I thought, I will do this again. I want to slap myself! I ended up not going back because work got very busy in NYC and it is a big regret that I have. I have to tell people, “oh! I went shark diving that in SA….well, I went and saw the sharks but never actually went in the cage.” Loser. The few people who did go in the cage were not in there long because it was so damn cold. Still. (eye roll)

I hope you have enjoyed learning a few things about me – appreciate you following me!

xx

Brooke