20 Times Busy Philipps Kept It Real

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Busy Philipps (Photo: FilmMagic)
Busy Philipps (Photo: FilmMagic)

Busy Philipps is extraordinary at a lot of things.

The Cougar Town alum, who now appears in HBO’s Vice Principals, is a great actress, having had a career since the late ’90s. She’s a masterful cake baker. When it comes to doing Elf on the Shelf, just step aside. And she’s a good friend — as bestie Michelle Williams can attest.

All that said, Philipps, 37, seems pretty down-to-earth. She shops for her daughters at Target, the inside of her purse is a science project, her home renovations took longer than expected, her car is a disaster area, and, well, let’s take a look…

  1. She shops at Target. A lot.

When you take your kid to Target and it becomes clear it’s the only place you shop. ????

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Sep 12, 2016 at 8:04am PDT

2. She doesn’t stage her kids’ first day of school pictures so that they are perfect.

Someone was NOT feeling the back to school vibe today. ????

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Sep 6, 2016 at 9:11am PDT

3. Sometimes her goal is to just not drop food on her sleeping daughter’s head.

You know that thing where your 3 year old is dropping her nap but then passes out on the way to dinner so you have to hold her for 45 minutes & try to not drop chips and salsa on her head?? That happened to me last night. And aside from a few crumbs, her head stayed clean!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Aug 5, 2016 at 7:17am PDT

4. Her home renovations had her like…

Our house has been under construction/renovation for A YEAR. We got home tonight and I decided to chill in what will soon be our closet. My husband Marc took this picture. ENJOY.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Jun 4, 2016 at 12:23am PDT

5. Her house gets messy.

I should take this opportunity while Cricket is napping and Birdie is out to lunch with Marc to unpack all our stuff from South Carolina and organize. But so far, sitting in Cricket’s old rocking chair and feeling overwhelmed is all I can manage. And yes, we’ve been back for a week but our house is under construction and we were staying with friends until yesterday. HAPPY LABOR DAY. HOPE YOUR BBQS ARE AMAZING!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Sep 7, 2015 at 1:44pm PDT

6. Including the bedroom.

There’s a mess in my brain, too.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Feb 12, 2012 at 7:08pm PST

7. So does her purse.

I guess if I was featured in that Us Weekly “What’s in My Bag” feature, the answer would be 90% trash.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on May 2, 2016 at 10:01am PDT

8. Let’s not even get into how messy her car is.

My friend Kate came up with an amazing idea- #FORREALFRIDAYS #frf so here’s mine- my car is so disgusting, it’s embarrassing. If you saw it parked on the street and looked in, you might think I was an actual crazy person. #forrealfridays is NOT about posting some “makeup less selfie” but you actually look amazing… Obviously, we all want to show our best lives online but sometimes, it’s nice to be real for a second… #frf #forrealfriday

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Aug 15, 2014 at 11:44am PDT

9. Seriously.

I’m so grossed out by my own stupid consumption of bottled water that I’m taking a vow to stop buying/drinking bottled water. I have been far too f-ing lazy for far too long and this is it. I’m smarter than this. We all are. There’s a great article on Gizmodo.com called Stop Drinking Bottled Water that my best friend just sent me that has reconfirmed my new resolve. Read it. Join me!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on May 19, 2015 at 12:11pm PDT

10. Sometimes she fails at simple household chores.

Does anyone know what you’re supposed to do if you accidentally put dish soap instead of detergent in your dishwasher? oh good lord…

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Apr 14, 2016 at 7:26pm PDT

11. Sometimes she has to wage war against rodents.

How we are attempting to keep the mice out of our kitchen while our house is under construction. They’re coming from under/behind the fridge. In other news, we clearly REALLY like really good tequila. In other other news, ITS NOT WORKING.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Nov 22, 2015 at 6:52pm PST

12. Her kids get cavities.

Ok. Full disclosure. When Birdie was little, I didn’t know to take her to the dentist until a mom at the park was like “WHAT? She’s 4 and hasn’t been to the dentist yet?!” And then she had a bunch of cavities and it was really traumatic. So anyway, needless to say, my SECOND daughter has been going since her first tooth showed up. Which is why she’s so chill while they clean her little teeth!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on May 24, 2016 at 8:34am PDT

13. They take forks from the house and hide them in the car. (Though that could have been her.)

My husband and I have been lamenting that our forks keep going missing- well LOOK what I just found in my car! Also, I know my hair is a mess but I had to run to UPS before the girls got home from school. I’ll do it now, ok?

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on May 10, 2016 at 3:57pm PDT

14. They barf in her expensive shoes.

Today my baby spit up and it landed right into my borrowed Chanel shoes. This is why I can’t have nice things.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Jan 15, 2014 at 6:46pm PST

15. She doesn’t pretend she’s always red carpet-ready.

Sometimes, you just need to FaceTune the shit out of your picture and pretend that’s what you look like for the night.

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Apr 28, 2016 at 9:51pm PDT

16. She doesn’t pretend that her workouts don’t kick her butt.

I fell on our four hour hike today. TWICE. Because of course I did. As you can probably tell from my scarred up legs, falling is kind of my thing,(and not in an adorbs way like JLaw). Also, DID I MENTION IT WAS A FOUR HOUR HIKE?? #ivegained10lbsandnowneedtoloseit #TheRanchAtLiveOak @theranchmalibu @thealistofficial

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Jan 16, 2016 at 6:07pm PST

17. Or that she is immune from average things — like bug bites.

Hey guys, how’s your summer going? Mine’s going pretty well, except that some sort of bug(bugs?) tried to eat me alive at dinner two nights ago. Thank goodness my derm in LA @lancerdermatology is overnighting me a special cream. But until then, I will just be here hanging out like this…

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Aug 3, 2015 at 2:40pm PDT

18. In fact, bugs find her very tasty.

Can’t sleep, too itchy. Counted 27 bites, and that’s just on my legs. #capecod

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Jul 19, 2012 at 2:56am PDT

19. Even her throwbacks keep it real. Tell us this isn’t an excellent depiction of a person’s freshman year at college.

You want to know what college was like in the late 90s for me? Here I am, in my dorm, laying on a random mattress that my roommate @malaria889 & I found in an extra room, eating McD’s 69 cent cheeseburgers(we used to get like 10 and keep them in the fridge) and smoking. WTF. This is part of the reason I gained the freshman 45. (J/k except not really) Shoutout to Dirty D(@malaria889) who took this picture, @brettsweat and all my bros from LMU!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Mar 10, 2016 at 3:16pm PST

20. And this is just so ’80s it needs some kind of Day-Glo photo treatment.

So much 80s going on in one picture. And I’m reading Archie!

A photo posted by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Apr 24, 2014 at 10:56am PDT

Thank heavens for celebrities like her.