Maybe you’ve already seen these photos floating around the internets. I just found them recently.  I knew Martha Stewart had been a model, but who knew Martha Stewart was this cool? Not me!

I remembered seeing these photos after I had talked to my mom this morning. She’s a dedicated Martha Stewart fan. I believe my mom is the first person I ever heard use Martha as a verb.

“Of course, I have to Martha the living room for the holidays. I’m making wreaths right now. Do you want one?” she asked.

Coining words isn’t unique to my mother.  (There’s flustrated and ordacity to name two. The former being a combo of frustrated and flustered, the latter being…uh…I don’t really know…confusion?)

Mom wants to know where to send the wreaths. Hello. It’s November 3rd!  I suppose that one way to excel at Marthaing is to Martha everything fairly early or you’ll never have it done in time. One thing I’m pretty sure Martha doesn’t do that my mom does is procure her cedar and evergreen boughs from the local dump. “What?” she’ll say with a swagger of pride. “They’re just throwing them away–why wouldn’t I take them?”

I adore Martha. She’s not exactly Marthaing in my style, but why would she? Then, it’d be Hollying.  I think you can see from these photos that she’s got real style. Sure, these shots are professional swanky model pictures, but even now, it’s clear that her style is the kind that comes easily. It’s timeless and it’s her own.

And here she is at age 10. This is proof that you gotta start ‘em early.

Everyone has an opinion about Martha. What’s yours? When do you start Marthaing for the holidays?  I’m going to have to start early as my annual “Come Hang My Balls” party is a tad earlier than usual. I have an aluminum Christmas tree. I only allow balls on it. I’m hoping to add at least 30% more balls this year.

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Photo creds: #1: Patia via Flickr. #2 & 3: The Cheap Girl. #4: Angela Hicks. #5: Chiff.com #6: TimesSquareGossip.com. 7: Academy of Achievement.