Proust Questionnaire

The Olsen twins tackle the existentially probing 35-question Proust Questionnaire in their new book, Influence.
Today, it is CC's great pleasure to take on the Proustian task!
I encourage ALL my Fellow Fashionistas to complete this survey. It is a splendid, soul-searching way to spend part of your weekend...

Credits: Photos taken by CC except where noted. Questions reprinted via Vanity Fair ; each month, VF interviews a different celeb or artist - check out the last page of any issue or vanityfair.com.

1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? Red wine and S’mores made with marshmallows toasted over an open fire at a remote beach (at right, a photo CC took of a Costa Rican sunset).

2.What is your greatest fear? Losing love

3.What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Insecurity

4.What is the trait you most deplore in others? Selfishness

5.Which living person do you most admire? Diane von Furstenberg

6.What is your greatest extravagance?

Of time: Blogging

Of Money: La Petite Salope dresses! Photo at left courtesy lapetitesalope.com.

7.What is your current state of mind? Peaceful

8.What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Being “nice”

9.On what occasion do you lie? Rarely, but maybe to get out of jury duty… 

10.What do you most dislike about your appearance? My thighs

11.Which living person do you most despise? W

12.What is the quality you most like in a man? Understanding

13.What is the quality you most like in a woman? Grace

14.Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Gorgeous! CC adores! You bet your sweet bippy!

15.What or who is the greatest love of your life? Anthony

16.When and where were you happiest? Raking leaves with my siblings at age 5 in the front yard of my childhood home in Connecticut. (That's CC in the middle; photo taken by my Dad).

17.Which talent would you most like to have? The ability to sew and create couture (Alexander McQueen at right, courtesy style.com)

18.If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My indecisiveness

19.What do you consider your greatest achievement? Getting a law degree and passing the Bar Exam

20.If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Any of Cary Grant’s co-stars or lovers. Photo at left via blog.skpbs.org.

21.Where would you most like to live? New York City

Photos at right: a doorway in Murray Hill and the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art

22.What is your most treasured possession? A silver ring given to me by my mother

23.What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Loneliness

24.What is your favorite occupation? Painting

25.What is your most marked characteristic? My creativity

26.What do you most value in your friends? Empathy

27.Who are your favorite writers? Borges, Ha Jin, and Truman Capote

28.Who is your hero of fiction? Holden Caulfield or Wonder Woman

29.Which historical figure(s) do you most identify with? The Vietnam War Donut Dollies, pictured at right – CC’s mom is on the left; the photo was taken by a G.I.

30.Who are your heroes in real life? My mother, my brother Bryan and my Spanish Professor Ana Diz

31.What are your favorite names? Caroline, Valerie, Catherine, Trent, Beckett, Wesley, and Lars

32.What is it that you most dislike? Discourteousness

33.What is your greatest regret? Picking fights when it wasn’t warranted

34.How would you like to die? Peacefully

35.What is your motto? Live with style!

Photo at right: part of a Van Gogh-inspired self-portrait CC did awhile back.

So TAG, you’re all IT!

xoxox,

CC