Kelly Oxford's favourite things in life
Among them: Canadian candy bars with oddly dirty names, of course
Kelly Oxford has been a Canadian expat living in Los Angeles for over five years now. She is a screenwriter and a best-selling author, unapologetic when it comes to failure, and provides a humorous backdrop of life as a 30-something mother of three.
Her family life is only part of her story. Oxford's writing efforts have earned her serious credibility, and even if a couple of her first-spun scripts didn't get legs (a.k.a. didn't make the "to air" cut), she drew attention from the likes of Jessica Alba and Drew Barrymore, both of which were interested in working with her. She's also made chums with the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and Cameron Crowe, the latter being a major inspiration in her writing journey (she even plastered emails from Crowe up on her wall for motivation). And Kimmel, whom she spoke about during a recent interview with CBC's Tom Power, gave her a place to stay during those back-and-forth travels between Calgary and L.A.
Her wit and online jargon also won over spotlighted names including John Mayer, Amy Schumer, Chrissy Teigen and David Blaine, all of which are among her 700 thousand (plus) Twitter followers.
Oh, and her first book, 2013's Everything Is Perfect When You're a Liar, landed the Edmonton-born writer on the New York Times bestseller list.
Now Oxford is back with a new book, When You Find Out The World Is Against You And Other Funny Memories About Awful Moments, which is a collection of personal essays that cover a wide span of her life. Stories on anxiety, tornadoes, Edmonton coffee shops—they're all in there.
CBC Life spoke with Oxford about her bluntness, the social rallying that came from creating the #NotOkay movement and how she stays motivated, daily. You can check the interview here while also learning about her favourite things in life below.
Kelly Oxford's favourite things in Life.
- McDonalds
"Specifically a Filet-O-Fish (add lettuce, no cheese) with a coke."
Note: McDonalds sent Kelly golden arches earrings on her birthday one year. - Shreddies
"When we first moved to LA I spent 45 minutes in the cereal aisle looking for them, wondering if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life." - Ketchup chips
"American friends raid my pantry when they know I've been back to Canada." - Canadian chocolate bars with oddly dirty names
"O'Henry, Skor, Eat More, Big Turk…" - Glasses
"Bigger is better. This has been a lifelong obsession." - Eyebrows
"Bigger is better, again. Mine grew back even though I plucked them to nothing, thank you Ukrainian genes." - Joan Didion
- Crystals
- The detective emoji 🕵
"It's just so versatile!" - Oprah
"Always and forever."