rosemary on the tv

I gotta say, baby girl looks good for her age, don’t you think? To celebrate my idol’s big day, I’m dedicating this post to her and giving you a few of my favorite “fun facts” about Martha Stewart!

You could say that Martha’s domestic prowess first showed itself when she was 20 years old and began working as a babysitter for New York Yankees Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. She seemed to be the only person Mantle’s kids would behave for, and she also planned all four of the childrens’ birthday parties.

Did you know Martha Stewart started out as a model? She modeled for both print and TV, and she was even named one of Glamour magazine’s “Ten Best-Dressed College Girls.” Martha even paid her way through Barnard College by modeling. See more photos and quotes about her modeling career at ToryBurch.com.

When she began work as a stockbroker, she’d use her looks to her advantage – even going so far as to wear hot pants to her business meetings. Read four other things you might not know about Martha Stewart at Mental Floss.

Martha released her first book, Entertaining, in 1982, after she catered her then-husband’s book release party and the head of Crown Publishing Group was impressed with her party foods.

Though Martha has remained mostly private about her romantic life since her divorce, she briefly dated Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2006, but ended things after seeing Silence of the Lambs.  She was too afraid of him to invite him up for a weekend at her Maine estate.

Martha has been struck by lightening – twice! (The dog reminds me, Martha’s black Frenchie, Francesca, is named after a fellow inmate from her days of hard time.) Watch the video from her TV show where she reveals how.

While incarcerated as inmate No. 55170-054, Martha “taught yoga, picked wild dandelion greens, and learned to appreciate the simple virtues of vending-machine chicken wings.”  She didn’t allow microwaves to appear in the pages of Martha Stewart Living until after she was released from prison. Read New York Magazine’s extensive story on Martha here.

And of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without my all-time favorite Martha moment: