The one thing I'm absolutely obsessed with lately is ...
Africa and New Orleans. I was home for a couple weeks recently and was watching the news a lot. It sparked this whole charity thing in me and so I've had this big hankering to go to Africa or N.O. I went to N.O. last week for SI [for the Jimmy Buffet auction]. It was my first time there and I just fell in love with the city. I thought it was beautiful and I thought it had so much history. They were doing Jazz Fest and that was just so cool. Africa, you're going to laugh ... I don't really watch American Idol, but I watched the Giving Back episode. They had all this footage from charity work in Africa and it just really struck a chord with me, and so I've had this hankering to go there, help out and just see it. There are so many different parts. Like, I didn't know a large portion of the northeast is French ... There's so much there to see and learn and I'm obsessed. I guess that's better than [mocking] 'I'm currently obsessed with the new Marc Jacobs handbag ...'
On a quiet, rainy day I usually ...
Lounge around in my PJs, provide lots of business for Blockbuster and cook for my roommates. I love to cook for them. [Best recipe?] Roasted stuffed portabella mushroom. I do vegetables really well. My mom and I try to eat pretty healthy so we're always conjuring up different things; she just taught me to do sliced avocado on a lot of things. [Last Blockbuster rental?] Bobby. I thought it was incredible. I have an obsession with that decade, and that cast is incredible.
If I were giving a tour of my home, the one place I wouldn't show anyone is ...
My bedroom. (Laughs) It's disgusting. I'm a total slob. I'm so ashamed. It's disgusting, my room is a pigsty and I'm 20 living in an apartment! When I go home [to Charlotte] my parents' house is always immaculate, and when I leave it's a disaster. I leave clutter everywhere I go.
The sexiest thing a man has ever done for me is ...
Wrote me a song. It wasn't cheesy or sappy, just sweet. I loved that. I'm not big on sappy, but maybe a gusher here or there.
And the sexiest thing I've ever done for a man is ...
You're going to get me in trouble with my dad! I surprised my BF on his birthday with floor seats to the UNC-Duke game. He goes to UNC and is a huge fan and so am I. That was definitely the coolest things I've done, which makes it sexy.
I feel a secret connection with ...
People don't even have to ask me this, everyone knows I'm obsessed with Dave Matthews. Dave and I would be very great friends if we knew one another. I have no problem meeting celebrities, but if I met him, I don't know what I would do. We're kindred spirits.
In a past life I was ...
A roady for some '60s rock band. I know it. But only back in the '60s, not now.
If I didn't have any responsibilities tomorrow morning, I would spend tonight ...
Driving to the beach with friends. Spend the night, wake up on the beach and hang out all day long. Maybe the Hamptons.
If I didn't have any responsibilities for a week, I would go to ...
I'm big on road trips, maybe a Colorado road trip. I don't think there's anything better than a road trip. We'd have to get a food supply -- lots of treats; maybe gas station candy. I'm a cheap date. Lots of sugary goodies and lots of music like Jimmy Buffet and Dave Matthews and maybe some oldies. Afterward, I think the car would have a few scars and be pretty messy, but that's the best part: finding the old wrappers and the memories that come with them, like, "Remember this ..."
The last thing I really splurged on was ...
Last night. It was one of my very good friends' birthdays and I had some cake.
If I were going to a costume party tonight, I would dress as ...
The last time I went to a costume party was this Halloween. I was Ginny from Forest Gump and my date was little Forest with leg braces and all. I was little Ginny with ringlets in my hair and all. We quoted the movie all night.
When I get dressed to go to the grocery store, my clothing inspiration is ...
I would constantly top the worst-dressed list 'cause I just throw on whatever's on the floor. It's usually just my favorite Carolina baseball hat and jeans and an old T-shirt. The first thing I see; maybe my boyfriend's clothes that were laying around.
When I get dressed up for a party, my clothing inspiration is ...
Well covered. When you go to a party, things get a little out of control.. You don't want any slippages or to pull a Britney Spears. You want to be decent. I like dresses because you can just throw 'em on and walk out the door.
One thing I do only when I'm home completely alone is ...
I'm going to sound like a psycho freak, but I dance around my home and sing to my dogs. Only when I'm home in North Carolina. I have four dogs and a cat, so my house is like a zoo, and when I'm completely by myself I jump up on the couches, use the remote as a microphone and I grab one of my dogs and pull him onto the sofa with me. I look like a lunatic. It's usually '70s rock stuff or '80s metal band -- not even music that I listen to on my own. I'm like a rockstar, complete with the headbanging and everything.
If I had to spend $1 million right now, I would ...
Of course charity, because you don't have a heart if you don't give to charity. Part of it would go to a new house -- I don't know where. And then I'd rent a big cruise ship and bring everyone I know on it.
If I had to spend $10 right now, I would ...
I'd go to lunch. There's this amazing place in NYC called Rice -- it's my favorite. Healthy Thai rice.
And if I had to spend $1 dollar right now, I would ...
Give it to a homeless man on the street. What can $1 buy in N.Y.?
The one place I've seen that I'll never forget is ...
The most amazing was Alaska. I went for a modeling job and I really wasn't expecting much. It was just so stunning. We took a helicopter up to the glaciers and it was just so rustic and lodgy-feeling, it was so beautiful. That's a gorgeous life up there.
I won't date a man if he ...
Is arrogant. I hate arrogance.
My favorite time to be naked is ...
When I go to bed. I sleep in the nude sometimes.
When it comes to nudity, most people don't know that I ...
Am not that scared of it. If you want to be nude, you want to be nude. I don't prance around naked all the time, but I've got nothing against it.
When I open my eyes in the morning, the very first thing on my mind is ...
I hope it's sunny outside. I love the park and being outdoors all day long.
My favorite thing to do in the comfort of my own room is ...
Sing. I never sing around people ever, ever, ever, but when I'm alone in my room I kind of pump myself up and I think I'm good. At karaoke, I purposely do good so I can laugh at myself. I don't want to try and then have other people say, "Oh, she sucks." I don't want to be THAT girl.
An athlete I have a secret crush on is ...
Chris Leak. We're both from Charlotte and his high school was a big rival with mine. We played all the time. He graduated a year ahead of me. But I never met him. We never quite beat them. I cheered, so I saw him, and I knew who he was, but I had never seen him without a mask and pads on until the Gators won the 2006 national championship and I thought, "That's a really good-looking guy. And he's from Charlotte, which makes him that much cooler."
How about an entertainer?
Ryan Gosling and Adam Brody. I think Gosling is the best actor of our generation. He's so good looking but he's a great actor, too
And name one surprise crush who most people wouldn't find particularly attractive.
Tom Hanks. He's my favorite actor but he's not conventionally attractive. He's so nice looking that you just can't help but like him.
If I could be anything but a model, I would be ...
I would want to own a sweets shop with candy and pastries. Not a bakery, but a candy store, like Dylan's Candy Bar in N.Y. My favorite is Sour Patch Watermelons.
In a group of people, I'm always the first to ...
Laugh. I'm the first to crack up at something. It's a deep loud laugh, but nottooo crazy. I don't have a donkey laugh or anything.
The worst lie I ever told was ...
In the third grade, I stole a Beenie Baby keychain from Kohl's. I lied to my mom about it, but I'm a bad liar and she found out. She made me return it and I wasn't allowed to go in there for a whole year. I'm such a felon. A rebel.
The last time I saw a woman and thought "I wish I looked like her" was ...
My mom. It was her 40th birthday and I was saying to myself, "Gosh I hope I look like her at 40."
The one thing I'm superstitious about is ...
I don't have one thing. I always make a wish and kiss the clock at 4:44 and 3:33 and stuff like that. And I'm always knocking on wood; and If I cant find wood then I'm knocking on my skull. Always.
Do you have any sort of special connection with your hometown?
I'm from Charlotte, N.C., and I go home usually every six-to-eight weeks. All of my friends are still in school in Chapel Hill.
Where's the one place you have to go when you're in your hometown?
I have to get a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich every time, and then there's this place called Beantown Tavern. It's just beautiful and I have to go there every time I go home.
