The Baby-Sitters Club: Where are they now?

My friend T and I were reminiscing about the BSC and, specifically, which members we would have been or wanted to be.  T: a total Stacey through and through.  I, personally, was a little more conflicted: I thought I was a unique combo of part-Claudia, part-Stacey, and part-Kristy. 

Cue: the where are they now game.

President - Kristy Thomas

Then - Bossy, big mouthed, the founder of the BSC, a tomboy, and coach of the softball team Kristy's Krushers.  Occasionally dated fellow softball coach Bart Taylor.  Best known for wearing: jeans and turtlenecks.

Now - Lives in San Francisco as a software developer with her partner Jan and their adorable son.  Plays on an intramural softball team (but has "Koach" on the back of her jersey), and likes to mountain bike.  Best known for wearing: jeans and turtlenecks.

Vice President - Claudia Kishi

Then - Japanese-American, creative, artsy, and funky.  Not very good at school (except for art) and had the spelling capabilities of a 4-year old.  Addicted to junk food and candy.  Best known for wearing: homemade jewelry.

Now - Lives in a hippie commune with her equally-hippie Japanese-American husband Merlin.  Teaches arts and crafts to the children living in the commune, but has now sworn off all processed foods and only eats what grows on their land.  Best known for wearing: homemade clothes and jewelry.

Secretary - Mary Anne Spier

Then - Perfectionist, always organized, incredibly neat handwriting.  Sensitive, cried easily, but a wonderful listener.  Obsessed with her kitten Tigger.  Dated mega-hottie Logan.  Best known for (not) wearing: earrings.

Now - After attending college in the Big Apple, fell back into her old ways and married Logan Bruno, who is now a surgeon in an affluent Connecticut town.  Stays at home to watch their three kids, and turns a blind eye to all of Logan's "late nights" at the hospital.  Partakes in competitive couponing.  Best known for wearing: yoga pants as pants.

Treasurer - Stacey McGill

Then - Native New Yorker, incredibly fashionable, dotted her i's with hearts, had diabetes, and was extremely gifted at math.  Briefly dated Robert Brewster and even chose him over the BSC before coming to her senses.  Best known for wearing: trendy, bold, graphic patterns.

Now - Got her MBA and started her own internet fashion company.  Dates lots of investment bankers and hedge fund managers, but refuses to settle down after she once gave up her "career" for a man.  Best known for wearing: Prada

Alternate Officer - Dawn Schafer

Then - Native California, health foods nut (didn't eat meat or sugar), environmental activist.  Easy-going, independent, liked surfing and ghost stories.  Best known for wearing: shorts and a Cali-themed t-shirt.

Now - Lives in the suburbs with 2.5 kids.  *snooze*  Best known for wearing: Gap.

Junior Officer - Mallory Pike

Then - Oldest of eight children, wore glasses and braces, but got her ears pierced.  Loved reading and writing and was an aspiring children's book author and illustrator.  Also loved horses.  Was briefly interesting when she dated Australian Ben Hobart.  Best known for wearing: clothes inspired by the local Stoneybrook librarian.

Now - Married to a fellow redhead and has six red-headed brats.  Never made it as an author/illustrator upon realizing that her writing/drawing sucked and that she'd never finish her "novel."  Instead, is a teacher and runs a summer camp.  Best known for wearing: clothes inspired by Mary Anne

Junior Officer: Jessi Ramsey

Then - The only African-American in the BSC (and probably all of Stoneybrook, besides her fam).  Highly talented ballet dancer and aspired to some day go professional.  Witty and intelligent.  Best known for wearing: her tutu over her regular clothes in an un-ironic way.

Now - Has actually made it big and performs in the American Ballet Theater in NYC.  Was the first black female soloist in decades when she took the lead role in Romeo and Juliet last year.  Goes out on the town with Stacey, but is in a serious relationship with her ballet director.

Editors Note: Shannon Kilbourne and Abby Stevenson were excluded from this trip through time because, well, mostly, they sucked.

...wandering...

via

Savory vs. Sweet - The Thanksgiving Cupcake

I know I'm in the minority of the general population, but I far prefer savory foods to sweet. With very few exceptions (fruit, fruit candy, popsicles), I don't really enjoy sweet foods. Don't get me wrong, if I'm in just the right mood I can certainly appreciate a fresh baked sugar or oatmeal raisin cookie, some Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, or funfetti cake. But those moods are far and few between, and more often than not I'd rather eat an extra appetizer than dessert.

Because of my odd palette, I've never really gotten in to the whole "gourmet cupcake" scene. I know people are obsessed with Magnolia Bakery, Sprinkles, Hello Cupcake, and the like - but I've just never gone gaga for cupcakes. Until now. Behold, the THANKSGIVING CUPCAKE:

via Fetette

This recipe is completely and utterly genius. It takes my single favorite meal in the entire world (Thanksgiving, duh), and turns it into a small delicious-looking, delectable CUPCAKE. Seriously you guys, there are no words. I'm drooling at my computer screen right now.

The recipe doesn't look terribly difficult, but seeing as how I'm not so handy in the kitchen, I probably won't be attempting this any time soon. Therefore, I am now seeking: friends who are handy in the kitchen to make this for me PLEASE. I will be forever and ever indebted.

And tell me, are you guys all sweet-tooths, or are there a few savory-addicts like myself out there?

Karaoke On Demand

Since I've been home with not much to do during the daytime, one of my favorite new pastimes is exploring the ins and outs of my Comcast Xfinity On Demand system. Thus far I've discovered a plethora of hidden treasures including new and old tv shows and movies, various bands live in concert, music videos, and much much more. But none of this even compares to my best find yet: Karaoke On Demand.

pictured: my actual television and the actual song I was singing. Yes, that is Heart's "Alone"

I know my love for karaoke may be somewhat outside of the norm - so much so that I have it listed as one of my precious few facebook interests (is it no longer cool to use that as a barometer for how much you're into something? eep.) - but seriously, this shiz is awesome.

I mean I can just picture it now....you've got some friends over...the music's jamming, drinks are flowing, fun is being had. All of a sudden someone (me) goes, "Hey guys, wanna head out to a karaoke bar??" Someone else replies, "Ugh, no, it's freeeeezing outside, why would we leave?" Someone else (me) responds, "NO FEAR, Y'ALL, I've got Karaoke On Demand!" And with that, the party (and our body temperature) is saved.

pictured: Jason Derulo's "Whatcha Say" featuring the best part of Karaoke OnDemand - the background images

Now in reality, the most use my Karaoke On Demand has received has been me singing, by myself, at my parents house, in a recliner, for an hour. Whatever.

A post about.....running?

I'm sure anyone who knows me at all saw the title of this post and immediately wondered if they'd accidentally landed on the wrong blog.

Nope, guys, it's still me. And yes, I'm writing about.....running.

Let me back up a little bit and explain my history with running. As far back as I can remember, I have always always hated running. I was slow in elementary school when we had to run "the mile" in P.E. I was still slow in middle school, despite desperately wanting to be seen as athletic and a tomboy (anyone remember those shirts that said "____ is life, the rest is just details"? Well, I owned one honoring the great sport of basketball. ha.) Finally, in high school, I accepted that I would never be athletic and met my physical education requirements through marching band practice. Not much changed in college (where I never set foot in Dartmouth's brand new gym), or law school (where I paid membership fees at 24 Hour Fitness for a year without going to the gym), or Hawaii (where I briefly attended boot camp but then quit before finishing sessions I'd paid for). Suffice it to say, I HATE running.

In the last few weeks, though, running has been on my mind a lot. This past weekend everyone was talking about the NYC marathon, and tons of facebook friends posted their times/pictures of them running/people they cheered on, etc. It got me thinking, why am I so incapable of doing this?? Since being back home, I've run on the treadmill at the gym my parents attend a few times, and done a handful of laps around the neighborhood, but never more than like 2 miles. I was talking to someone last night who told me that I shouldn't beat myself up for it because it takes like a year to be any good at running. While I recognize that it takes a level of commitment to be good at anything, especially physical activity, I just can't understand why I'm so incapable of committing to it.

My friend T recently committed herself to a 30 day yoga challenge. I'm not going to do anything of the sort with regards to running, but I will say this. I want to be able to run 3 miles. Yes. Sometime in the near future I would like to be able to say that I can run - no, not 26.2 miles, or 13.1 miles, but - 3 miles.

There we go people - I'm posting it here to keep me honest. And any and all words of encouragement, or better yet, HELP on how I can achieve this would be much appreciated.

Alright People, I'm addicted...

...to Revenge!

For everyone that recommended this show - you guys either know me really well or we have similar tastes in TV. Because I'm officially hooked. I'm on to episode number 5, and I started with the pilot about 12 hours ago. And the ONLY reason I went to bed last night was because my eyes were starting to hurt from my previous several hours of television-watching during the day. What a life I lead, I know.

My favorite part of the show is definitely Emily VanCamp. Playing the role of Emily Thorne a.k.a. Amanda Clarke, VanCamp is pretty spot on. I already knew I loved her from Brothers & Sisters, but this role is far more multi-dimensional than Rebecca Harper. VanCamp really excels at playing the tortured yet refined rich-girl out to revenge the wrongs committed against her family. I am really looking forward to seeing where all VanCamp can take her character.

As for Joshua Bowman as Daniel Grayson, VanCamp's love interest on the show, I don't have much to say about him except that I was convinced I had seen him somewhere before. A quick glance at his sparse imdb page proved my conviction wrong, but then it hit me - he reminds me of a B-side version of Robert Buckley, who played Kirby on Lipstick Jungle. Fine, fine it's a bit of a stretch....but come one, maybe just a little??

Bowman Buckley

Anyway, as a whole, I'm pretty pumped about this show. I like that the plot is fairly straightforward: Emily/Amanda is out for revenge and taking down the people that wronged her one by one. At the same time though, it feels like there is still some mystery and that we have a lot to learn about many of the key players. However, I am a bit concerned about how they plan to drag this one story on for potentially several seasons of television. I have generally always been a fan of the one-mystery-per-season format (see: Veronica Mars, Desperate Housewives), but I'm sure the writers will figure it out. After all, I had the same concern about Pretty Little Liars, but they seem to be doing fine.

And with that....I'm off to finish episode 5!

In support of my two favorite Indian-Americans in Hollywood

Hilarious story, as I was typing the title of this post I accidentally first typed "Bollywood" instead of "Hollywood". Whoops, way to stereotype/typecast/basically defeat the entire purpose of this post.

Moving on...

Two of my favorite people in the entire entertainment biz - who just so happen to both be Indian-American, but also overall completely badass, awesome and hilarious - have recently been all over the media. So in their honor, I'm writing today's post to encourage people to support their latest endeavors!

First - Mindy Kaling - ahhh, Mindy. My soul sister. My dream bff. My fellow Dartmouth alum. My Tamil long lost cousin. I mean really, anyone who knows me even remotely well knows that I've loved Mindy for no less than 5 years. Ever since I saw her first appearance on The Office in Season 1 Episode 2's "Diversity Day", ever since I discovered her old/original/now defunct blog "Things I've Bought That I've Loved," and ever since I blitzed her (a.k.a. "emailed", for you non-Dartmouth folk) at her alum account hoping that she'd respond to me (nope - I got an automated response saying she no longer checks that account, go figure).

Anyway, Mindy's first book was released yesterday, and after pre-ordering it months ago, I received an email from amazon.com yesterday morning saying that my book is being shipped to me! "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" looks to be an instant classic, sure to join the ranks of other comedic writers' books such as Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and Chelsea Handler's "Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea." *

If her book isn't enough for you, read her blog, check out her latest interviews, follow her on twitter, and really you guys, just type her name into google because there has been endless coverage of her lately (all wildly entertaining)!

Second - Kal Penn - Where to begin with Kal Penn. The renaissance man. Actor, comedian, Associate Director at the White House, visiting lecturer at UPenn, the man has done it all. Kal got his big break in the first Harold and Kumar film (although some may argue Van Wilder), and the third installation of this bud-fueled series comes out on Friday.

In full disclosure, I haven't actually seen the second Harold & Kumar film, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, but I plan to remedy that ASAP so that I can see the third one in sequence. What this blogger has seen, however, is the first Harold & Kumar more times than any other movie in existence. pride? or shame? (don't answer that, please)

Anyway, Kal Penn and his co-star John Cho (who I have loved since the days of geocities.com/American Pie) have been on a press-binge around the country promoting their new movie. Most recently appearing on late-night shows like Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno, Kal has also been soaking in the success of his latest guest-stint on CBS' How I Met Your Mother. Portraying Robin's therapist-now-boyfriend, Kal has found a comfortable niche within the dysfunctional HIMYM family.

If all that air-time isn't enough to satisfy your Kal Penn cravings, follow him here on twitter, where he's actually been posting a lot recently.

Moral of the story? Buy Mindy's book, go see Kal's movie, and revel in the fact that these two fantastic Indian-Americans have paved the way for my eventual Hollywood dominance (ha. ha.)

*Note: I did not choose these writers solely because they're women and so is Mindy, but because they are the first comedian writers' books I could think of. No sexism here, thankyouverymuch.