Ryan Gosling has been on the press circuit for Blade Runner 2049, and he keeps telling stories about how Harrison Ford punched him in the face or something. It’s a great story! And an interesting one! Can you imagine? Ford‘s fist—all the history in that fist!—connecting with Gosling’s face—all the movie tickets sold with that face! But at a point it’s like, Tell us something relatable and mundane about your home life already. Stars, they’re just not like us until they tell us they’re just like us.

So then, luckily, once every six months or so, Eva Mendes, the actress and mother of their two children, appears out of nowhere to promote her collaboration with sensible suburban-mall staple New York & Co. She gives an interview or two in which she talks a bit about the clothes and offers an update on the kids. It’s a nice cycle! And a reliable one!

So what’s up in house Mendes-Gosling these days? Well, Esmeralda is three now, and she’s “definitely bilingual,” according to Mendes, who was speaking to *People* Chica. Mendes’s parents emigrated from Cuba, which is helpful on the language-learning front. “My mom, who lives 15 minutes away, makes it easy because she speaks to the girls in Spanish and cooks them Cuban food,” she elaborated. “And we’re always listening to Cuban music. It really is a big part of our way of life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My dad, who has been here for 45 years and still doesn’t speak English, is a real asset. It’s so cool because now that I’m trying to make sure that my girls speak Spanish, it’s like, ‘O.K., Dad, take them,’ because I know that all they’re going to speak with him is Spanish.”

Also, on coming back again to promote the brand: “I love malls. I used to hang out there with my friends, and at 15, I got my worker’s permit and worked at a pizza place.” Fantastic.

And then, just like that, she’s over with People* Style, a totally separate arm of the People-sphere, talking about how she prefers dresses but is getting into jeans for date nights with her Gosling. And finally, this perfect, wonderful, delightful little nugget. Her style icon is Helena Bonham Carter, the most perfect, wonderful, delightful style icon. This isn’t the first time she’s sung the praises of H.B.C., either; Mendes said a 2011 Tribeca Film Festival premiere look best represented her “inner frustrated Helena Bonham Carter. I have this secret . . . I wish I could dress like her.”

And that’s it! Until next New York & Co. event, Eva.