Last night, I attended the New York blog to book launch of FUCK! I’m In My 20s and Suri’s Burn Book. Hosted by Tumblr and Housing Works, the room was filled with every type of person possible all in support of authors Allie Hagan and Emma Koenig – young women in their 20-somethings making the world laugh/cry/smile a little longer while we’re pretending to take notes on our iPads during a meeting running 2 hours to long. Before the event started, I took a moment to chat with the ladies and got to know them a little better.
StyleCartel – What was your occupation before this?
Allie Hagan – So, I was working at a D.C. policy consulting firm doing education policy consulting and I was doing Suri’s Burn Book at night.
Emma Koenig – Well, I was a drama major in college and so afterwards, I was pursuing being an actor. And you know, I’d also always been interested in writing and singing and performing. But as for my actual occupation I was a cashier at a sandwich place, in the East Village, when I began the blog.
SC – Where did the title of your blog come from?
AH – When I started the blog I knew I wanted to start a celebrity-family, celebrity-children kind of snarky blog, but I knew if I wrote it from my own perspective it would come across as really mean and possibly kind of creepy. So I tried to think what’s the angle I come at this from so that it’s a little more creative and avoids those pit falls. And I realized it was Suri Cruise’s perspective and the burn book concept comes from “Means Girls”, so Suri’s Burn Book – taking down the other celebrity children.
EK – MY BRAIN! It’s funny, because when I had the idea for it, which was about eight months before I actually made the blog, I just knew it. I knew that would be the name of the blog. I knew it would be a zine – that’s what I thought it would be – and the title just came to me.
SC – What would Suri be wearing if she were here tonight?
AH – Oh gosh, I’d imagine if she was actually here that she’d be wearing black and sneaking around. But she has been known to get really dressed up for parties. I mean she has too many choices in that closet to choose from.
SC – What words of encouragement do you have for people in their 20s?
EK – I think that our generation has been criticized a lot for maybe being too entitled to getting what they want, but I think if you don’t strive for what you want you’re never going to get it. I think you have to be slightly delusional to be successful. I think you have to have faith that you deserve to have your dreams come true. And obviously as frustrating as it is, don’t let go of that and don’t give in to people assigning these negative attributes to our generation.
SC – If Harper Beckham and Blue Ivy Carter turned out more like Lohan rather than Shipka, what would Suri tell them when they crossed paths?
AH – Suri really wants everyone to live up to her standards. You know, she wants to be at a 10 and everyone else to be at a 9.8. So I think she’d be disappointed in them but she’d probably rub it in a little bit and feel pretty good about herself.
SC – If you could re-do anything, what would it be?
EK – What wouldn’t I re-do?! I think I have to be thankful for all the horrible experiences I had, because they became material for the thing that changed my life. And so as much as I’m sitting here being like maybe I wouldn’t have taken that job or participated in that relationship or worn that shirt. I think all of that contributed to my work and I wouldn’t change that.
MAD LIBbing with Allie Hagan
I’m [Suri] stuck with Tom Cruise for a week, the 3 things I need are noise canceling head phones, cake, and a TiVo full of her highbrow masterpiece classic shows.
In preparation for tonight I took a shower and ate pizza with my mom.
Parties aren’t parties without drinks.
My favorite breakfast includes cake. When there’s leftover cake, I’m the happiest person ever.
MAD LIBbing with Emma Koenig
In preparation for tonight I drank a lot of coffee and bought what I was going to wear tonight. I had no idea what I was going to wear tonight until a few hours ago.
My favorite breakfast includes breakfast sandwichs! I’m a fan of the classic – bagel, bacon, egg and cheese. Also into bagel and lox, but yeah, breakfast sandwiches are kind of my jam.
Brains over beauty, always! It’s more important.
Parties aren’t parties without more than three people.
Want your own copy? We’ll be giving away a copy of each book to two (2) lucky readers. Tweet us telling us which book you want and why, and we’ll announce the winner Friday, October 5. Plus check out my tumblr for tumblr-ers we met that you should follow!