Zooey Deschanel and Property Brother Jonathan Scott have been engaged for over a year. Did you think they’d be married by now? Maybe Jonathan is having a hard time settling on a location that’s special to him… Meanwhile, Zooey is a brand ambassador for Vera Bradley, which I guess jives with her twee core aesthetic. She’s selected her Top 12 bags from their Winter/Holiday line, accompanied by a very jewel-toned, ornamental photo shoot of Zooey posing with them. I did a double take looking at the photos, because in some of them Zooey looks like a dead ringer for Rachel Brosnahan! Anyway, Zooey spoke with Us Weekly recently to promote the brand partnership, where she talked about some of her favorite things and one chore that is very much not a favorite thing: unloading the dishwasher. I could muster up some sympathy, were I lucky enough to have a dishwasher myself, sigh.
“What’s cool about Vera Bradley is that they have all these beautiful, very high-end bags that are lovely velvet things that feel very fancy and special,” she tells Us. “And they also have really great practical everyday bags and backpacks and little pouches that you can organize stuff in, like travel things. Toiletry bags, I mean, they have so many things. So it is a really great place to shop for a lot of different holidays.”
Us: when was the last time you did laundry?
Deschanel: I do laundry all the time. I do my own stain removal. I’m obsessed with stain removal.
Us: What’s the one task that you tend to put off?
Deschanel: I hate unloading the dishwasher. Doesn’t everybody? It’s the worst. I don’t mind loading it. Loading is fine. Running it is fine. But if it’s clean and it’s in there, I’ll disappear. Jonathan usually will end up doing that.
Us: What movie do you watch during the holidays — Elf?
Deschanel: Meet Me in St. Louis is a favorite of mine. I don’t watch myself in anything. I feel like that might be narcissistic. I think Jonathan used to watch Elf every year before we met, but if someone has me on a TV, I’m probably running away.
Us: What board games do you like to play?
Deschanel: I love Monopoly and Balderdash. I love playing games, but I’m not competitive. I find it really weird when people are competitive about games.
Us: What’s your favorite song to sing in the shower?
Deschanel: I don’t sing in the shower. I sing outside the shower.
Us: What was the last show that you streamed?
Deschanel: [The HBO MAX docuseries] Chimp Crazy. I did fall asleep. That’s my problem. Chimp Crazy — check it out. It’s really weird.
Us: Who is your favorite Real Housewives star?
Deschanel: My girl Crystal [Kung Minkoff] isn’t on Beverly Hills anymore, but she’s my friend, so she was my favorite. … I mean there’s so many icons. Beverly Hills, I mean, I loved the days when Kyle [Richards] and Lisa Vanderpump were on together. I know that they’re not friends anymore, but I love watching those two together.
As I lamented earlier, I live sans dishwasher, so to me this is a champagne (or Cascade) problem. Cherish your dishwasher machinery, you blessed people! My grumblings aside, I find it rather peculiar that Zooey prefers loading dirty dishes into the washer as opposed to handling clean dishes. But hey, she shouldn’t feel bad about divvying up the responsibilities so that if she loads, someone else puts everything away. And I say that as someone who only has a nine-pound, four-footed roommate to split chores with. (Wow, these Kismet-to-Zooey Deschanel comparisons are really not working out in my favor.) Other bits of this interview I found quirky was Zooey’s abrupt answer to what she sings in the shower. Ok, so you sing outside the shower. But what are you singing?! And then, her “recommendation” of Chimp Crazy. “I did fall asleep. That’s my problem. Chimp Crazy — check it out.” A ringing endorsement! Or is she slyly pitching it as a hack against insomnia? I don’t mind either way, given it’s from the manipulative/exploitative director of Tiger King.
Photos via Instagram and credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images, IMAGO/Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Legit I just reloaded dirty dishes into a clean dishwasher last night because I loathe unloading the dishwasher !
I feel for you, for not having a dishwasher.
But I also understand Zooey’s point on this: ” I find it rather peculiar that Zooey prefers loading dirty dishes into the washer as opposed to handling clean dishes. ”
Putting dirty dishes into a dishwasher is taking something gross and *poof* making it disappear, in an instant, into a magical box. So it looks like your kitchen is clean and you’re on top of things. But then when they’re clean , you have to deal with each thing in there, one by one, or you can’t ever use your dishwasher again.
For me, it’s not unloading the *entire* dishwasher that’s a drag … the chore I dislike is only the putting away the utensils park. It seems like too much bending and paying attention for so little satisfaction.
I feel so validated by this entire post. I honestly thought I was the only one that had this aversion to having to unload the dishwasher
Same, girl, same. I HATE it! Combine it with folding laundry and putting it away and you have one “first one problem” situation!
The only thing I hate more than unloading the dishwasher is putting away the stuff I had to wash by hand and left to dry. I’ll create a pile that ressembles a modern art installation/jenga and pick items straight out of it to use but I just can’t put those pots and cutting boards back in the cabinets, seems useless anyway as I’ll probably need them 5min later
I get the not wanting to unload thing. Every dirty dish I load is one I don’t have to wash. It’s like hiding them in a drawer that cleans them LOL.
I hate unloading the dishwasher. I have figured out that its because its always there. I’ve timed myself, I can do it in 5 minutes, sometimes less, but I still hate it. It just feels like no matter how many times in a week I unload it, it needs to be emptied again. And then the dirty dishes pile up around it and the kitchen looks gross etc. I’ve started getting my boys to empty it and that’s amazing but my oldest says the same thing basically – why does it need to be emptied?!!? we just emptied it!
Because, my child, that is the curse of the dishwasher.
Can we talk about men who will stand over you and ‘direct’ how you fill the dishwasher? And insist more can go in later even when it stinks to high heck and is begging to be run? And sneakily turn off the ‘heated dry’ because they think it will save on utilities? They won’t actually load or unload, they just wish to ‘oversee’ the entire production. I live alone now and find having agency over my own dishwasher to be one of the greatest joys of independence.
Ha, my husband hates how I load the dishwasher and he’ll stand over me and move things around as I do it. So now if he starts doing that I just walk away. If its that big a deal to him, he can do it himself.
His big thing is that I don’t maximize space and I admit that he can fit more dishes in there – but then there are always some dishes that didnt get clean enough and have to be soaked and then go through again. So I think my way ends up being better lol.
My spouse is a not someone who cares how the dishwasher is loaded- but me, on the other hand?
I call myself the dishwasher tetris queen bc i can fit all kinds of stuff in it without impeding water flow and dish cleanliness when the cycle is over. It’s kind of like completing a puzzle for me. 🤷🏼♀️
I also hate unloading the dishwasher. My ADHD can’t stand it – there’s only one place a dirty dish can go but a million different places a clean one goes. If it’s a coffee mug it goes somewhere else than a utensil than a water glass than a plate than a bowl. Just thinking about this overwhelms me and it makes me wanna hide under the blanket on the couch.
Same.
I made up a song “the worst 2 minutes of the day “ & sing it to myself while I unload. It works for me, distracts my mind long enough to get it done.
I timed it, it does just take me 2 minutes but it’s the worst lol
ADHD person here. I hate it too but what helped me is when I started to unload it based on where dishes ho. For example I would first unload plates, cups and glasses because they all go in the same cupboard. That’s usually half a load done already. Next it’s pots and pans, they all go to same cupboard too. And then salad bowls and utensils. Made it so much more interesting for my ADHD
Oh that’s a great tip! and i had no idea this was a thing, but ya’ll have explained it so well. I feel so seen.
I am with her. I HATE unloading the dishwasher, I’m a bartender and have to load and unload one at work dozens of times a night. At home, it’s the last thing I want to do, especially since I live by myself and there’s no one to pawn it off on 😂 I’m totally guilty of rewashing clean and dirty stuff together out of sheer laziness and dislike.
Dishwasher unloading is annoying but laundering sheets is the MOST annoying chore.
I despise Monopoly.
We have friends (creatives) who hated unloading the dishwasher so much, they got a second dishwasher. Anything that goes into the dishwasher gets washed and used from the one that’s clean. They then immediately load the other one and continually repeat this. Anything that can’t go through a dishwasher gets cleaned and put away.
Oh my goodness! That is funny! I joke with my mom that my dream kitchen would have two dishwashers, with the dishes in constant rotation. Count me among those who hate unloading the dishwasher.
I also HATE unloading the dishwasher. I’d rather clean the toilet any day. Honestly takes me less time
There must be something particularly tiresome about unloading the dishwasher, because I hate it too! The plates aren’t so bad because they go in a cabinet right next to my dishwasher. The utensils really are the worst. They have to be sorted and put in different slots, containers etc. Sometimes the tines of the forks get stuck and you have to yank them out, etc. It’s tedious.
I also hate putting away big items that might require a stepladder or a lot of bending down. If I could save time by hand-washing those items I would, but it wouldn’t make a difference. Either way they need to be put back. And that’s the thing about doing dishes, with or without a machine: it’s lather, rinse, repeat, on an endless loop.
I actually prefer unloading to loading. When I’m loading, I’m stressing about getting the jigsaw puzzle just right and maximum efficiency and are these going to bump against each other and chip and do I actually need to rinse this etc etc. There are no decisions with unloading – it all just goes where it goes.
I don’t mind loading the dishwasher or even hand washing dishes. It’s the putting then away that I dislike. As a kid, I always made sure I was the first one in the kitchen after dinner so I could start on the dishes, and leave the putting away the clean ones for my sister to do.
We’re getting ready to do a kitchen remodel, and we’re seriously considering just adding another dishwasher. Cabinets are expensive and fb marketplace dishwashers are cheap! But then I’m doing the logistics of it, because it can’t possibly be as simple as having one clean and one dirty all the time – there are going to be some clean stragglers messing up the system, then I just have two clean dishwashers and a pile of dirty dishes on the counter…
We added a second dishwasher (smaller, drawer version) in our pantry during a recent renovation and I love it! Easy to toss the extras in there when you have filled the main one, and it doesn’t have to be emptied as urgently. Of course, sometimes both are full of clean dishes, which is a pain but a champagne problem lol
I hate unloading the dishwasher. I pay my grandson to unload the dishwasher when he comes over to my house! He’s always looking for ways to earn money and I don’t like doing that job, so we both win. 😀
Lol I also hate to unload the dishwasher! I don’t currently have one in my apartment and I HATE cleaning dishes by hand. People who say they don’t mind doing this, I can’t understand them. I’ve thought about getting a portable one but it will take up room and when I leave this apartment (hopefully for one that has a dishwasher), I would have to get rid of it. I also feel like I often don’t get pots and pans clean enough and find myself cleaning them a second time after they dry even though I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time scrubbing and rinsing the first time around.
But even though I would love to have a dishwasher, putting clean dishes away is so annoying because it takes up more time than loading a dishwasher. I always leave the silverware for last because I absolutely hate grabbing silverware to put them away in the drawers. I’m so glad to hear others feel the same way.
We need more reporting! i want to know more about her stain removal techniques!
Hate it so much I don’t have one!
Also, it’s just the 2 of us, so …
I’m not crazy about it either. It doesn’t even take that long! isn’t it strange :))
I grew up in a dishwashers-are-for-decoration type house (lol), so now it’s habit for me to just go ahead and hand wash them vs using a dishwasher anyway. We have one, I’ve just never bothered using it since our kitchen sink is so deep. And there’s only two of us, so there’s only so many dishes anyway at one point.
Now, cleaning bathrooms? *shudders* Hate it. I do it, but boy do I hate it. The bathtubs kill me.
Hmm. Interesting. I just do not find this a problem at all. 🤷♀️