RS: In your roles as a journalist and content creator, you've taken on everything from your love of horizontal stripes on Pinterest to writing about serious topics for the New York Post, such as Bill Cosby's recent rape accusations. Do you like balancing lighter and more serious topics? Are there subjects that you prefer to write about more than others?

DP: Whoa with the good questions, Ryan! Yes, I do love balancing all the things because I’m a woman and I yearn to have it all. It’s always incredible to me that I’m capable of writing anything at all. My actual writing process involves a lot of “you’re a piece of crap and every word you’re typing is the worst” thinking. Once something is finished, I’ll read it back days/years later and go “no way I wrote this, someone else must have edited it.” That’s probably not healthy. It’s also not what you asked. 

So yeah, I have to balance silly things like Jose Canseco being a maniac on Twitter with serious things like my years-long obsession with finding the perfect blazer for sanity. There are at least three thoughts forever fighting for attention in my brain. Example: Which social media practices to implement for a work account? What if I rip up a Baby Bell and melt it on a tortilla in the microwave? (side note - excellent idea) and Wait, what filter did she use?

I can’t imagine that anyone is totally serious all the time and that’s definitely not what my *personal brand* (read: me as a human) is about either. Because I’ve covered just about everything under the sun, I’ll say that things that are related to culture and entertainment are way easier for me to write than business pieces because my brain is always thinking about music, tv, and movies, and almost never thinking about financial results.

Please rank Stuart Murdoch's output with the understanding that the God Help the Girl soundtrack (not the 2009 album) is his low point as an artist.

This is wrong and God Help the Girl is quite nice although yes, the original recording by a lovely lady named Catherine Ireton is better than the film soundtrack. That said, “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying” is their 100% best song and my favorite in this entire world. For albums: “The Life Pursuit,” “If You’re Feeling Sinister,” “Boy With the Arab Strap,” and “Write About Love” - in that order. Also pretty excited to see what happens come January.

What's your favorite holiday movie/song/food item? 

Thank you for this opportunity. How did you know I love lists?

Movie: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Then Love Actually, Elf.

Song: All I Want For Christmas Is You because it’s incredibly fun and because my typically surly father loves it. We blast it driving to Publix to get eggnog on Christmas Eve and it’s really the nicest 2 miles of my entire year. Let’s take a minute to acknowledge I’ll Be Home For Christmas though cause has anyone sang a lovelier song than Karen Carpenter? No.

Food Item(s): The one cup of eggnog I have with my dad each year -- he insists on the full-fat kind so it’s basically drinking butter -- and my mother’s Olivier Salad that she decorates with pepper, carrot, and olive slices like it’s the ‘70s. Also, puppy chow which is crazy delicious and sometimes people call it muddy buddies but I don’t know any of them. I do, however, know the Collins family, who has had a giant bowl of the stuff ready for me since I started spending Christmas evening with them back in middle school.

Delia has kindly requested that you follow her on Instagram because “it’s the only thing that means anything to me.”