day in the pants

a day in her pants: the posh deluxe interview with amber oliver

pantsers and pantsaritas, i am utterly delighted to present to you today the fabulous miss amber oliver!

and really, her name should always be typed like AMBER OLIVER!! because i just can’t help but sort of *exclaim* it whenever i say it.

one, because i just love the way her name sounds. there’s a natural rhythm to it, a sweet roundess of sound that really echoes her personality.

two, because amber is a dazzling, irresistible force of nature! she’s the kind of gal that really lights up the room the second she walks in, with her incredible energy, her boisterous storytelling and, most importantly, her no-holds-barred, raucous laughter. there are no meek, lukewarm hellos for amber; the minute you see her, you have no choice but to yell, “AMBER OLIVER!!!” followed by a little dance and/or fist pump in the air.

amber oliver means instant dance party.

amber oliver means HIP STYLE.

amber oliver means big-hug love.

amber oliver means contagious energy!

so, i met amber a few years ago (when was it, 2006?) in my community small group that meets on wednesday nights. i was instantly jealous of her insanely cool fashion sense and intrigued by her profession– elementary school theater teacher. and, as usually occurs with two outgoing, extra-friendly people, we were total pals in no time!

amber, like me, gets REALLY EXCITED about things she loves, and so, when we’re, say, going to a ryan adams concert, THE WORLD BETTER WATCH OUT BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE CONTAINED. she’s also prone to telling cute stories about her students or *hilarious* tales of her two little nephews, which is basically like crack to me. plus she’s perfected the art of being a “regular” at her favorite hotspots, a skill that i’ve coveted since i watched “cheers” reruns as a kid. basically, when you combine all of these factors, it’s OBVIOUS why i’m totally a huge amber oliver fan.

plus, guess what? her birthday is on sunday! so i consider this celebration of all things ambo to be perfectly timed.

AMBER OLIVER! LET’S GET (THIS PARTY) STARTED!

let’s start with page 1: once upon a time, amber was born… (tell me about yr family, where you were born, all the good stuff!)

Wow, what an amazing chance for me to shamelessly plug my 26th birthday!!!!

On October 19th 1982 I was born in Liberty, TX to a very young Angie and Roy Oliver (my mom was 21 and my dad was 22). I grew one town over in Dayton, Texas. I have one older sister, Candice, but I’ve always have called her Candi or if I wanted to make her really mad I used to call her Sissy. With that being said I’ve always considered myself belonging to a big family. Both of my parents’ families are from Dayton and when I was younger they all lived within a 15 minute drive from us.

amber and her totally massive, crazytown family.

I was extremely close with my dad’s parents, NeNe and PawPaw. When I was a little girl my PawPaw had me trained to reply, “I’m PawPaw’s girl” whenever someone asked, “Whose girl are you?” We spent a lot of time at NeNe and PawPaw’s house and usually my cousin’s Leah and Lori were there too. Leah is my sister’s age, 30, and Lori is a year younger than me, 25. (A fun side note: all of the granddaughters on the Oliver side are October babies, Lori and Candi actually share a birthday). Leah and Lori were really like sisters to me growing up, we played pretty hard as little girls…somewhere there is video of Lori and me prancing around in NeNe’s clothes singing ‘rich lady rich lady. I am such a rich lady’.

NeNe and PawPaw are both very skilled crafts-people; My NeNe is an amazing painter, cook and master sewer but I would say her specialty would be quilting. I have always loved watching my NeNe use her hands and I still believe she can do ANYTHING. Actually, Sarah, you have seen one of NeNe’s masterpieces, she made my sister’s wedding cake. My PawPaw can build anything, seriously anything, and as kid I loved to see what PawPaw was up to, I was always down for a ride if he was driving!

cutie patootie little amber.

Now a-days my family has grown to the inth degree ….like whoa. My Paw Paw and I are still close but recently he has nicknamed me Austin. I truly feel blessing to have such a great relationship with my family like I do.

you and yr sister seem really close. Were you always that way, or did you ever have a time where you, say, put gum in her hair?

Me put gum in my sister’s hair, never! That was something my sister, the sly trickster, would have done. As kids we really were not very close, there is a 4 year age difference between us and when you are younger that is a BIG difference. I was ALWAYS up to something, I was 100% kid and in my own world of pretend 100% of the time. My sister on the other hand was always being Miss Joe Cool; seriously she was a teenager at the age of 7. Miss Cool Candice wasn’t much into chillin’ with her little sister. A normal conversation between us would go something like this:

Me: Hey Candi (as I sit down next to her)
Candi: EWWW get away from me! You stink, go take a bath.
Me: (walking away to go play outside)

ORR

Me: sitting on top of her to kiss her. (Apparently I was really good at being annoying).

a dazzling display of sisterhood cuteness. you can see from the trucker hat and scarf that amber was already a hipster by age 3.

Candi has always had my back though, like when I was in Kindergarten and I had a crush on Steven Ashby, Candi totally wrote a love letter for me to give to him. It wasn’t until we got older that we go really close…it is a relationship that my sister summed up perfectly in a blog: “We speak a language only her and I understand…I get her.”

aww! now i wish i had a sister! although i guess that would mean a split in the christmas presents… hmm…

you grew up in dayton, tx. tell me about yr childhood and what it was like to be a kid in that community.

Dayton is a small town; at least it was when I was growing up. Everyone knew everyone, which is pretty cool when you are a little kid, it really was a community. All my teachers from K to 5th grade either taught my sister or grew up with my parents. In Dayton we never locked our doors and frequently walked across the street to ask for a cup of sugar. I had a really great childhood in Dayton; it was carefree and full of good memories. It wasn’t until high school that I could not wait to get out of Dodge. Even though I plan to stay in Austin, I will always consider Dayton home.

snapshot of an idllyic childhood. check those training wheels!

you obviously have a flair for the dramatic. has this always been the case?

Pretty much. Playing pretend was (and is) my forte and performing is in my blood. I had imaginary friends as a kid, Gindo and Darlin, they traveled with me always. And of course there was a summer of the Amber Shows, I would create songs with chorography and sell tickets to the neighborhood kids.

There was also a several times when my dad set up the video camera to the TV so I could see myself and I would perform my own variety show, little did I know he was taping me….these tapes are stored in a secret place so don’t even try to find them. I also was a twirler, I did this from Kindergarten to 6th grade so I was always in recitals, parades, and competitions. I loved twirling.

omgg!! tiny twirler!!!!!

what were you like in high school? what sorts of activities/clubs did you participate in?

High school was kind of hard for me. I was good kid and growing up in a small town made me feel like I had to choose between the party crew and the goodie two shoes crew. I wanted to be in neither so I was my own crew. I was friends with everyone and mostly bounced around from group to group. I always felt like was an outsider, a very involved social outsider albeit. I was hard to find close friends but eventually I did, a fellow hyper-involved outsider, Glenna Carmack. She was a godsend….Glenna and I did a lot of dreaming together and we both had big plans for our future, plans that didn’t involve living in Dayton for the rest of our lives.

freshman duchess?! amber, you were total high school royalty!

I also had a high school boyfriend, Christian MacDonald. Christian was my best friend and a perfect first love. Our favorite date was to go to the gas station and buy a ton of snacks on his dad’s gas card and drive into Houston and get lost. My dates with Christian were some of the happiest times of my high school life. (And yes Christian and I are still very close).

amber, totally bringing it on. i am kinda jealous that you actually sort of *lived* “friday night lights.”

As for activities and clubs, I did it all. Let’s see here I was in: FFA, BPA, Student council president, Drama Club President. NHS, National Thespian Society, and I was a cheerleader (Head Cheerleader my senior year). Outside of school I was a cheerleading coach and I was heavily involved in community theatre. I was a busy busy girl but I loved every moment of it.

please tell me you still have yr FFA jacket.

when you decided to attend UT, did you know that you wanted to study theatre education? how did that passion come about?

Out of all my high school activities, theatre was my passion. My theatre teacher, Ms G, had a big hand in shaping who I am today. Ms G grew up in Toronto and when she graduated she decided she wanted to do something she has never done before, thus moving to small town Texas to teach theatre. My freshman year was Ms. G’s first year in Dayton, and we automatically hit it off. I was sooo intrigued by her and wanted to learn everything she had to teach me. Ms G. really pushed me to get out my comfort both on and off the stage and she challenged me to go beyond what I ever expected out of myself. Ms G. presented the world of theatre as a community and a venue for self-discovery and change. I knew that I wanted to be someone’s Ms. G one day.

girl, you totally are!!! (<– now i’m teary-eyed)

sophomore amber and her co-star, logan, in the valley players community theatre production of “gypsy.”

while in college, you worked at diesel. is this where you gained yr totally hip fashion sense, or did you already have it (and that’s how you got the job)?

Fashion has been a big from me. In high school I had a subscription to Vanity Fair so I could collage the fashions I loved. SO my freshman year at UT when I saw the Diesel store opening I knew I HAD TO work there. Once I was a part of the Diesel family I feel I really gained my own fashion sense, and man, I had some GREAT outfits during those years.

seriously, I always love yr outfits. do you mind sharing with pants world a few of yr style tips?

Tip #1: If you can put it on you can pull it off. Never be afraid to try something new when comes to fashion, that is when it get FUN.
Tip #2: You need several big fashion pieces, the ones that POP. Pair these POP pieces with simple pieces from your wardrobe. I.E. Neon Yellow Reebox High top with a pair indigo demin and a black T. H-O-T.
Tip #3. Make sure you pay attention to stores at the end of a season that is when you will find the best sale. Don’t forget about the high-end stores, even SAKS has affordable ‘pop’ pieces at the end of a season.
Tip #4: everyone need one very nice pair of jeans, buy a pair based on fit and fabrics, then ignore cost.
Tip #5: never take yourself too seriously.

hot retro jacket? check. designer fanny pack? of course. fashionista at the wheel? you BETCHA.

since you graduated from college, you’ve been working as a theatre teacher at an elementary school in leander. YOU ARE TOTALLY MS. G!!! what sorts of challenges did you encounter during yr first year? what are things you know now, as a teacher, that you wish you knew then?

Wow that is actually a hard question. I had an amazing and pretty seamless first year. The educational theatre program at UT really prepared me for that year, there wasn’t much that happened that I didn’t expect or wasn’t equipped to handle. ….okay I take that back, there is one point of weakness in my teaching, I think farts are hilarious. My first year did not know how to handle this in my class (cause dude it happens like once a class period). Now I just ignore but if it is really funny and the kid who dealt it is laughing then I’ll join in the laughter ☺ and now I realize that is okay!

teacher amber. note the HP poster (HOLLA) and the ice cream bar that the cafeteria lady gave her in spite of her lack of a permission slip.

i LOVE hearing about the activities you facilitate in yr classroom (seriously, can i visit yr class sometime? i promise to behave). can you share a few of yr all time greatest hits?

Of course you can come visit! And no need to worry about behavior, the bad kids are my favorite

Right now I working on creating Podcasts with my students– this explores the idea of theatre as storytelling. Right now we are working on podcast called This Elementary Life (modeled after This American Life). I believe it is important to let students know that their voice and their stories are important and that some one wants to listen!

that is such a fantastic idea!!! i hope the podcasts will be online so i can listen and squee along!

don’t you wish yr elementary school teacher had been this cool?!

and of course, you’re my #1 source for stories about cute little kids. tell me a few of yr faves!

HaHa. So last year I was standing at my door welcoming my first grade class and this little boy walks up to me and says “I’m not feeling good today…pause….and I can do a really good funky chicken!”

I had student last year that would a notorious kisser, not of classmates but of teachers. One day I was sitting in my chair reading a story and he just walked right up to me and planted a big wet on me. It took me so much by surprise that I didn’t know how to react! Luckily this student’s mom works at the school so we had a talk about it and she let me that this is an issue and he is supposed to ask beforehand! As last year progressed he went to just kissing your hand and this year we no longer have the problem…. I have to say I kind of miss it. He is definitly a special kid and has a big space in my heart.

oohh!! that is the sweetest!! seriously, amber, you’re like my squee dealer. I AM ADDICTED.

speaking of cute kids, you are the v. proud aunt of two (soon to be three!) adorable boys. go ahead, do yr auntly duty and tell us about their awesomeness!

OMG. Seriously I love Oliver (Ollie) and Otto so much it hurts. Ollie and Otto are the sweetest, cutest, and funniest kids alive.

freaking adorable otto and his doting aunt.

My all-time favorite Ollie story comes from my sister’ blog:

“Lil man has a hard time remembering to stop what he playing and run to the bathroom when he needs to go. Saturday when we were playing outside he made a habit of “relieving himself” in the grass when he needed to go. I would praise him for going b/c thankfully he remembered to stop playing and pee but he didn’t have time to make it inside to a bathroom. When we got home and were showering I explained to him that his wee wee was private. His best playmate is our 5 year old neighbor girl and obviously Ollie doesn’t understand boundaries older kids get. So, I told him he should tee-tee in private and no one needs to see him do that especially girls. He was quick to tell me “NO, my wee wee is a Cool Cat*!” It was hard to hold back my grin…I really couldn’t argue with the dude. I’ll leave the rest up to dad to handle.

*I’d like to note that I have never referred to anything as a cool cat to my son. I have no clue where he heard this.”

after you told me that story the first time, i immediately retold it to about ten different people because IT IS SO AWESOME. gah.

what is yr secret power?

I have gift of parking, I can always find a good spot. It is kinda like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter but with parking. This secret power is very helpful on Saturday night in particular.

do you sleep in jimjams? what kind?

Yes. I have the most amazing bamboo cotton camisole nightie dress. Love love love it. I actually wore it to the pirate party, I love it that much. I got it at whole foods, so can you too!

me and amber, looking fierce at the aformentioned pirate party.

what is yr #1 favorite food?

Macaroni and cheese. Any kind. I take when and how I can get it…I’m a mac and cheese junkie.

AMEN, SISTER! there is no shame in our addiction.

what is yr top restaurant recommendation in austin? what’s the best thing on the menu?

Mushashino. Get the Evil Kneivroll and an Avocado Kama…I think everyone should save up their pennies and a have a Mushashino feast, get everything you want and desert too! Soo YUMMMMMY. That place makes me happy.

tell me about yr top area of expertise.

I am a master sleeper! I can sleep anywhere, loud or quiet. Anytime, dark or light. And yes I consider this an expertise.

what was yr favorite item of clothing as a child?

My sister was a cheerleader all through Jr. High and High School and when she was in junior high my mom had this shirt made that had a cheerleader painted on the front with pompoms that you pinned on her hands and on the back it said “Candi’s Little Sis”. I freakin’ loved that shirt! My sister was the coolest kid in schooland I wanted everyone to know that I was her sister!!

ok, could you (and yr mom) be any cuter?!!!!

ok, the cheerleader shirt sounds sweet but LOOK AT THIS FASHION MASTERPIECE. you are totally the tot spokesperson for ocean pacific.

what was yr favorite toy as a child? (the moody bonus question)

My fisher price kitchen set…I loved that sucker. It had the whole kitchen set up along with a microwave and toaster!!! Breakfast my favorite meal to cook, I had a skillet and plastic eggs that cracked and had fried eggs inside…seriously it was so much fun. My mom actually just cleaned it out for Ollie to play with and I have to admit I got a little jealous and territorial.

what do you plan on doing when you’re 80?

I think it would be cool to be one of those old ladies that still runs marathons….yeah.

if you could assemble yr own ocean’s 11, who would you pick and why?

Okay Olivers 11

1. Ollie because of his irresistible personality. You cannot meet him without loving him nor can you ever tell him ‘no’.
2. Leana Shefman. This girl she is able to work her way into any party, any concert, anywhere and be sitting VIP by the end of the night. I’ve witness the amazing skill before..like whoa.
3. Lindsay Muse, she has such grace under pressure and has be ability to calm me down when I’m in a tizzy.
4. Jeremy-my-brother-in-law, we can deafen an entire room with our laughter combined…you never know when that might come in handy.
5. Ricky Lenhart, this my one of best friends! Ricky mechanical engineer so he knows a lot about stuff that I have no clue about plus he is one of my emergency contacts…you got have one of those in your group.
6. Bred, he would be my photographer.
7. Courtney Buie- this girl bring the fun to any room, she makes me laugh so hard!! Her Journey interpretive dancing skills are out of this world!!!
8. Tess Chambless- she would be my organizer, she has a system set up for everything. PLUS she is my style guru!!!
9. Sarah Pants- Sarah you just make things happen, a natural leader! You are a great listener, a sign of a true friend in my opinion.
10 Ryan Ray, he is my go to man when i need new good music to listen to.
11. Candi- i think this might be apparent

what is yr best karaoke song?

Hey Ya! by outcast. But if I’m at Circle C, I’ll go with Dwight Yoakam’s “Turn it Up, Turn It on,Turn Me Loose”, you gotta get that crowd on your side early on in the game y’all!!!!

dude. the cowboys at CCC LOVED it when you did that song. you killed it.

karaoke amber, making not only a musical statement but fashion headlines as well.

do people ever tell you that you look like someone famous? who?

When I was a younger I would get Jodi Foster. The first time someone told me that I was in the 4th grade and it made me cry! You see I loved the movie “Freaky Friday” and Jodi Foster as a kid…well…not so cute. I wasn’t until I got older that I understood that was a compliment. Actually just today I got Kate from “LA Ink”…but I don’t know who that is.

tell me something scandalous!

I cheated on a spelling test in the 2nd grade……..but I couldn’t handle the guilt so I told on myself. haha. My teacher still gave me a 100 because of my honestly. I’m not very good with being scandalous.

thanks so much for letting me interview you, amber! it was a pleasure to share yr awesomeness with pants world. now, let’s go get martinis at parkside…

p.s. you can check out amber’s delightful little blog here.

LINKS

feeling bad about the state of things? read the story of andrew young and be INSPIRED.

what? that wasn’t enough for you? well, then how about the tale of two holocaust survivors who found love years after they met in germany (thanks, selina, for making me sigh, “SO BEAUTIFUL!” repeatedly today).

squee of the day: j. reminded me that i had not yet posted upside down dogs, which is just a big old slobbery, wacky mess of great.

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