My Apologies Gilmore Fans

I have been SO remiss. Thank god I'm an avid reader of Hello Giggles and I came upon this lovely piece: A Note on Melissa Mccarthy by Sarah Heyward (who, by the way, writes hilarious and wonderful things on Hello Giggles, so you should probably read all of her stuff.). What Ms. Heyward's article reminded me is that in my recent All Time Favorites: Gilmore Girls post I COMPLETELY neglected one of my favorite parts of the show: Sookie St. James, played by the amazing Melissa McCarthy, who is oh-so-hot right now.

She always wore the cutest little kerchiefs!

This was partly because I was focused more on my lessons from Gilmore Girls and in my description of the show, more focused on the most central plot points, but I was still a total loserface for not including her at all, because she is a gem. She is a wonderful friend to Lorelai, another great role model for Rory and she provides such awesome comic relief that she will make you laugh every episode, even the more drama-heavy ones. She honestly has great chemistry with everyone on the show. Also, the love story between her and Jackson Belleville, the local produce farmer, was honestly such a sweet and amusing story. You get to watch this great couple go through all the traditional relationship stages from first date to children in often non-traditional and uproariously funny ways.

Look at these two lovebirds, making goo goo eyes at each other over produce. Totes presh.

So anyway, I'm sorry Gilmore fans and Melissa McCarthy lovers. I totally blew it. Read Sarah Heyward's piece in Hello Giggles for even more, and likely more cleverly put, reasons to love Sookie St. James, one of TV's best BFFs ever.

All-Time Favorites: Gilmore Girls

Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, an unfairly pretty mother-daughter combo, am I right?

I don't know if any TV show has had the effect on me that Gilmore Girls has had. I'm not saying there aren't other shows I've completely loved in my long career of television appreciation, but Gilmore Girls is the show that I think most affected me as a person.

For the GG-illiterate, Gilmore Girls is about a mother and a daughter, Lorelai and Rory (short for Lorelai also) Gilmore. Twist: Lorelai had Rory when she was 16, so when the show starts Lorelai is 32 and Rory is 16. Partly because of their closeness in age, they have an almost freakish bond that makes them best friends as well as mother and daughter. The bulk of the obstacles in their relationships are when they have trouble figuring out which side of the friends-or-family line they are on in certain situations, which is really interesting. They also talk incredibly fast in conversations so full of pop-culture references, you need Wikipedia open for quick searches during each episode. As a fast talker and pop-culture geek girl myself, I find myself envious of their conversational abilities, although some critics found it jarring when the show initially aired.

Ten Fun Things About Fall (Part 2)

Hello fellow adorers of autumnal awesomeness (and alliteration!), here is part 2 of my list of things I love about my favorite season:

6) Fall Holidays (specifically Halloween and Thanksgiving, but I'm down with Columbus Day too!)

This makes me happy to no end.

Fall contains my 2 FAVORITE holidays!! First, Halloween. It's a holiday dedicated to candy and dressing up. I mean for reals, if that's not reason enough to make fall the best season, I don't know what is. I've had some pretty killer costumes throughout the years, ranging from the supremely girly (I was a bride at age 5, it totally freaked out my kindergarten boyfriend.) to the supremely awesome (I was Kim Kardashian last year complete with really dark eyebrows and fake derriere.). And I eat so much candy during Halloween time that 4 out of 5 dentists agree I might end up with dentures by age 30.
Next, Thanksgiving. I love cooking and I love eating. Thanksgiving is a day where the entire day revolves around FOOD. I get so excited for the impending feast that I purposely fast a little bit in the day or two leading up to it, just so I can cram that much more food into my face and not feel guilty about it on the big day. I mean my version of fasting of course, which is basically cutting out snacks and candy, let's not get crazy people. Plus Thanksgiving means being with family, which I happen to really enjoy and taking naps in full public view with no shame whatsoever. I'm getting so excited just thinking about it, I'm bouncing in my chair.

The New Girl or My Girl Crush on Zooey Deschanel

Seriously, how cute is she?

So unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks, you've surely seen some of the intense marketing push for Zooey Deschanel's new show The New Girl. Based on my past experience, TV or movies that are marketed this heavily are usually a disappointment and I was worried that this would be the case for The New Girl. However, when I saw that they had made the pilot available for free on iTunes, I had to check it out.

Much to my surprise and delight, I discovered that The New Girl is an adorable and charming show! Huzzah!

I always knew that I loved Zooey Deschanel, but I think this show is going to take my girl crush to a whole new level. She's kind of my hero. She's married to the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie, which is one of my husband's favorite bands (I like them too, but I liked Postal Service better). She's an actress, musician and co-founder of what is quickly becoming my favorite website, hellogiggles.com. She frequently pulls off outfits that I wish I could pull off myself. And now, she is the star of what I think may become one of my new favorite shows. I know, I'm gushing, but seriously I want to be her.

Anyway, back to The New Girl. The show made me laugh out loud on numerous occasions. The pilot contained multiple references to Dirty Dancing, which was enough to secure my loyalty alone. The supporting actors were pretty good for the first time out and I feel like they will gel even more now that they can find their groove. The character Jess, played by Deschanel, is quirky to say the least. She has awesome nerd glasses and frequently makes up theme songs for herself, a talent which I wish I possessed.

See? Freakin' cutest nerd glasses ever.

So to sum up: I love Zooey Deschanel and everyone watch The New Girl so it stays on television and doesn't get cancelled like Running Wilde. Kthanksbye!

What I'm Watching Wednesdays

That's right you crazy kids (all 4 of you), since I was out of commish this weekend on blogging, you get TWO posts in one day, contain yourselves! Also let me say on a completely unrelated note that I'm watching Gone with the Wind on Netflix Instant right now and they only have it listed as TWO STARS. Um, hello? It's probably one of the greatest movies of all time. You're fired Netflix ratings guy. You. Are. Fired. Anyway, onto What I'm Watching Wednesdays, in which I regale you with more of my television obsessions and encourage you to follow my lead by being thoroughly entertained by these marvelous shows! First,

Iron Chef America! How great is this picture of the Chairman, seriously? For those of you unfamiliar with this magical program, ICA is a competition show on Food Network where one very accomplished chef from a prestigious restaurant pits him or herself against one of the Iron Chefs (Bobby Flay, Cat Cora, Mario Batali, etc.) by each creating a 5-course meal revolving around the Secret Ingredient. Oh and they do this in 1 hour. The picture above is the Chairman, whose role still remains unclear to me except that he announces the Secret Ingredient before the battle and makes that face. This show is great because they do some wildly creative things with food and the elements of competition and cooking against the clock make it exciting.

Pretty Little Liars. The only show ABC Family could have created to fill the Greek-sized hole in my life. (RIP Greek!) I realize this show focuses on high school students and I am a decade (!) out of that holy institution, but it's irresistible! I don't want to reveal too much but basically the show revolves around 4 friends who have a scandalous secret to keep after the death of their manipulative ringleader friend Allison and they are terrorized by an anonymous pot-stirrer called "A" with texts, emails and threats. It is awesome. They've really upped the stakes this season and I can't miss an episode!

I've loved the Office since Danny introduced me to it in Season 2. We spent one of our long distance weekends watching about 25 episodes to catch up and I've never missed another one. It's obviously not on right now because it's summer but thanks to Netflix, I get to watch my favorite episodes whenever I want. So, totally normal behavior, I've watched the Jim and Pam wedding episode approximately 10 times and cried every time. It is so sweet and adorable and truly, if you're planning a wedding, it's a wonderful way to be reminded of what really matters when you are getting married, each other. It's not too often a sitcom can be touching and ridiculously hilarious with multiple viewings, but the Office does it all the time. (Silent prayer that it can still be good without Steve Carell!)

What I'm Watching Wednesdays

I love television. I promise I try not to watch too too much and if there's nothing on that I'm feeling, I do have the willpower to turn it off and pick up a book or go outside. That said, there are some shows that I just can't help but get hooked on. And so What I'm Watching Wednesdays is born. 

White Collar is a USA original series and I assure you that it will not be the last USA show I mention on this blog. Some may call these shows "formulaic" but isn't that the case for lots of television? If the characters and plot are good, it's fine if the episodes follow a pattern. White Collar is awesome. It's about a conman who cuts a deal after he's caught and pays back his debt to society working as a consulting in the FBI's White Collar Crimes unit. Matt Bomer plays this charming conman, Neal Caffrey, and he is witty and impeccably dressed and super handsome. He's the best reason for watching this show but I'll give you one more: Tiffani Thiessen, aka Kelly Kapowski, is in this and she's ADORABLE, in an upbeat, perky, but grown up Kelly kind of way.

I am SO excited this show got nominated for an Emmy, because if it hadn't been, I would not have heard of it, found it on Netflix Instant and watched the first season in its entirety this weekend. It's a phenomenal series focusing on an English estate and all the drama with both the aristocratic family upstairs and the servants quarters downstairs. If you've ever seen Gosford Park, this is a similar idea, but I think even better. Any Jane Austen, Henry James or Bronte fan will really enjoy this. The only thing not enjoyable is that it will not return until January of 2012 and I hate waiting to find out what's next!

I used to plan my wedding in my head, even before I was engaged and now I plan my house in my head, probably long before Danny and I can buy one. House Hunters is the ideal source for feeding my imagination. The show focuses usually on a couple who is looking to buy a home. They get to look at 3 options in their price range, trying to include as many items on their wish list as possible. It's absurdly addictive and as Danny and I could be potentially moving in 10 months, it's fun to see what's available in some of the cities we could be moving to. If buying a home could be in your future, try an episode, you really can't watch just one.

I know. This show is trash. It's partially responsible for the demise of American intelligence levels. I CAN'T HELP MYSELF. Seriously, if a marathon is on MTV, even if I've seen the episodes, it takes all of my willpower to change the channel and sometimes even that fails me. I am utterly captivated by the misadventures of these ridiculous people. The fact that fame has completely gone to their heads just make them that much more hilarious to watch. This season they're in Florence, and I can't wait to see what new meaning they bring to the term "Ugly American."

True Confessions

You might find yourself horrified by the following information, but let me tell you that I'm making steps to correct some of these egregious errors in my development thus far.

1) I've never read the Anne of Green Gables books. And I OWN them. With the odes to Anne all over the internet lately, I actually started reading the first book and let me tell you, I can already tell that Anne and I are going to be friends. Girl knows what's up. I don't know why I never read these as a child. I mean, I loved reading and devoured a lot of the girl childhood classics: Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, Babysitters Club, etc. I know I tried reading the first Anne book once and I guess I was itching to help Nancy solve another mystery or something because I never got into it. Now though, as a 27 year old woman, Anne is speaking to me, so maybe it just wasn't the time.

2) I'm a lawyer but I've never seen an episode of Law and Order. Not the original, not SVU or CI or ABC or whatever the other letters-spinoffs are. This one I'm actually quite proud of and I'm not sure why. Everyone I tell this factoid to is dumbfounded. Partly because I'm a lawyer and partly because there are at least 3 episodes of Law and Order:Something on at every single minute of every single day. Somehow I've managed to avoid them and I'm going to soldier on with that, despite the reactions of disgust and shock I will continue to receive.

3) I think the original Godfather is better than Godfather Part II AND I did not see either movie until just last year. I saw them right before I got married a little over a year ago because my husband couldn't be married to someone who had not seen the Godfathers (of course part III doesn't count). Somehow, after I watched and enjoyed both movies, I still managed to horrify my then-fiance as the credits rolled on Part II by saying "Well, that was good, but the first one was WAY better." Apparently it's some universally acknowledged truth that Part II is even better than the original because of DENIRO, the god of Italian-American actors. Honestly, I felt kind of meh about his part in Part II and (Spoiler Alert!) I HATED that Fredo got killed. HATED. I don't care if he broke Michael's heart, killing Fredo is like shooting a puppy. Sonny in Part I? I got that, he was a hot mess. But Fredo? Not cool, Coppola. Not cool. The original Godfather also has Marlon Brando, who I've been enamored with in everything I've seen him in, starting with Guys and Dolls. Plus, Pacino is smokin' hot in Part I, especially the beginning, so another point in its column. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I is better than II. Sorry Danny, you're not changing my mind on this one.

Ahhh-mazing.

See what I mean? Sizzle.

I will be continuing to do the occasional True Confessions post here and there, because I feel like it's good that you all get an accurate picture of the person whose blog you're reading. Hopefully none of them are deal breakers, but if they are, whatevs, I don't like you anyways. (I often revert to grade school maturity levels as well, one more thing to know.)