Open letter to Rihanna

Dear Ri Ri,

How you doin’ girl? Hope you’re hanging in there. I still haven’t watched your interview with Diane Sawyer. It’s on my DVR. It’s been a busy week. I’ll get to it. But I digress…

I normally love your edgy fashion style. You are young, you’re gorgeous, so I say, why not! Go nuts!

But, sweetie, when you are trying to do origami-inspired drama in an evening gown, you may want to examine how the grown folks do it first. I give you Marisa:

But whatever you do, please don’t ever, EVER, do this again:

No, girl. No. Just, just – no! It looks like you pulled the paper out of a jammed printer and stapled it to yourself!

Better luck next time! Until then, Ciao Bella. Ella. Ella. Eh. Eh. Eh.

Smooches,

-Elleen

Open letter to Jennifer Westfeldt

Dear Jennifer,

I like you. I mean, I really, really like you. I’ve liked you since Kissing Jessica Stein. I was totally, totally excited when, back in 2003 when I lived in New York, I sat at a booth right next to you and three of your friends at City Diner on the Upper West Side. (Now that I think about it, Jon Hamm was probably one of those friends. Doh!). Anyway, what I’m trying to say is I’m a fan.

So as a fan, I have to extend a little friendly, womanly advice to you. I just caught the red carpet from Sunday’s Emmy Awards on the DVR late  last night. (I’m usually more on top of these things but I’ve been busy). And I became very, very concerned for you when I saw you walk the red carpet wearing this:

Girrrrrl, really. I mean, where did you find that – your Autie Grizelda’s attic? And it was even worse on TV than it is in this picture! Just sad!

Jen, let me clue you in to a little fact that may have somehow eluded you: Every woman on the planet wants your boyfriend – me included! That means you must hit every event with a red carpet – or any color carpet, really – and Work. It. Like. You. MEAN. It!! You cannot make a mistake of looking dowdy or dumpy or plain or Auntie Grizelda-like! Because that opens the door for comparisons that should not be made – like when you stand next to your man and Mariska “Hell Yeah, I’m Jayne Manfield’s Friggin’ Daughter!” Hargitay:

Yeah, see? You do not want that happening.

And you can avoid it, girl! You are beautiful!! And you know how to do it – you did it at last year’s Emmy’s:

See what I’m talking about?! You were smokin’ hot, and you had that look that says: “Yep, my man is hot!  But back the @$&# up, ladies, cuz So. Am. I! Beeyatches.”

Don’t fret. It’s ok. We all make mistakes. Just don’t do it again, Boo.

Much love,

-Elleen

The day Tim Gunn called me brave

I can die happy now. Yesterday, I spoke to Tim Gunn.

Now, it wasn’t exactly over lunch at the Da Silvano. It was at a shopping mall in Virginia surrounded by a couple hundred other people. Still, it was a magical moment for me.

Let me back up. I heard that Tim Gunn was coming as part of a post-New York Fashion Week event at a mall about 20 minutes outside of Washington DC. I LOVE Tim Gunn. Really. When I sit at my sewing machine, working on some garment and look at it in a conflicted way, I wish I had Tim there to say to me: “Kim, the work on the bodice of this dress is really stunning. But then we get down to the shape at the hip area and I get very woeful. You have a lot left to do…” Really. These are the things I imagine.

So although I don’t often venture that far out into suburbia for any reason, of COURSE I would go see Tim! I put on one of my own designs (I wanted to be standing in the same room as Tim Gunn while wearing something I designed and made with my own hands!) and headed out.

The trip was not without some road bumps. First, I went to the wrong mall. How was I supposed to know Tysons Shopping Center and Tysons Galleria were two different things?!

When I got to the correct venue, I was already running a bit late (Tim was supposed to come out at 1 p.m. and it was about 12:47 p.m. – barely enough time to elbow people out of the way to get a good vantage point). Then I take two steps on the beautifully waxed floor of the mall, which is quite fancier than the first, and my ankle twists and I stumble. I do not fall, luckily. But about three paces later the strap on my left Steve Madden Mary Jane went “Snap!” and off my shoe went. The strap was broken. The shoe was also impossible to walk in. Oh, this will not do in front of Tim Gunn, people!!

So I hobbled into a shoe store, grabbed the first pair of pumps I could find in chocolate brown, and begged for a pair in my size. Luckily they had it, and I did a quick switcheroo, handed the store clerk my Visa, and ran out as fast as I could. I still don’t know how much the new shoes cost. I will look later.

So I run over to where the first fashion show, hosted by Mr. Gunn, is being held and it is just about to get started. I find a spot right behind a bevy of photographers at one end of the runway and get ready. I feel the blisters already start to form from my new shoes. But it doesn’t matter, because Tim comes out!

(Yeah, no idea why the pictures look bad. Think my camera was on the wrong setting. I was too star-struck to notice). Tim was so cool, and graciously thanked all the people who came out (surprisingly, I counted only about 75 people in the VIP seating area, and maybe another 80 to 100 in the standing-only area with me. And about 50 more people gathered on the second floor to watch from above and he thanked them too!

He commented on the fashions in the show, exchanged witty verbal volleys with the other host (no idea who she is – wasn’t listening), knew all the models by name, and he looked impeccable as usual! I loved his gray suit with cranberry tie. I’m convinced he was born in a perfectly-tailored suit.

He was even interactive during the fashion show, helping a model off with her jacket (from her reaction, this was not rehearsed) and helping her put on some blingy jewelry and pumps to take the look from day to evening.

He did the same thing with another model, wearing what was my favorite dress in the show - a hot little Juicy Couture number.

At the end, he even did a Q & A with members of the audience. At first, I was too timid to raise my hand, so I just listened to the other questions. My favorite:

“Are you going to do your style show anymore?” one woman asked.

“I used to do a show, as some of you may know, called Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style on Bravo!” Tim said. “I loved doing the show. But Bravo!’s not speaking to me right now.”

Ok, I thought to myself, it’s now or never. I motioned to the microphone-wielding, well-dressed woman taking people’s questions and she motioned back that I’d be next. “We have time for just two more questions!” the blonde lady standing next to Tim said and a woman began another question. I’d be the last one!

When my turn arrived I remember Tim looking at me. I did not take a picture at this moment, but he looked a little like this:

And I was thinking: “OhmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodOH.My.GOD!!!”

I think I asked something like this: “I’d like to know what advice you would give someone trying to open a little fashion design business as a second career.” Yes, I know it’s, like, my fourth career, but the details aren’t important.

Tim’s first words spoken to me: “You are brave!”

He was kind, truthful, blunt, and encouraging. He told me to be prepared to work about three times harder than I expected to (I already am! But glad to know it’s not just a sign that I don’t know what I’m doing!).

Then he asked me if I am actually making garments myself. I froze for a second. Did he say something to me? OMG, Tim is asking me a question!! OMG! OMG! The microphone lady was gone, so I had to shout from my vantage point of about 20 feet away that I make all of my own stuff myself.

He told me to be a good student of fashion – know what my customers want, know my competition, and know what how to select the proper price points. And at the end, he said:

“You are brave; it’s a tough, tough time in fashion,” he said. “But I commend you, and I wish you the very best of luck.”

I was so thrilled. He didn’t comment on my dress (he commented on some other people’s outfits, all positively). But I chose not to believe that he hated it and was simply following the “if you don’t have something nice to say…” rule. Because then I’d die.Just die. Not happily. But other people who talked to me afterwards (several people said to me later that day in the mall: “Oh, you’re the designer!”) and I got lots of compliments on it.

So there you have it. I got fashion design biz advice from Tim Gunn! It was one of the coolest effin’ things to happen to me. I went home, finished a dress for one client and met with two more, excited and invigorated. I’m ready to Make. It. Work!

Jukebox: Anatomy of a soundtrack

I literally just finished watching Boomerang. It’s one of those films that I find on a random channel surf every few years, and end up watching until the end and laughing my ass off. It’s really hysterical! What every happened to Grace Jones? Strangé!!! I digress…

One of the best parts of the film is the soundtrack. Even though the movie is stowing its age a bit – the early 90’s outfits were cracking me up – it’s the music that sort of brings it all together and helps it withstand the passing years. Yes, it’s the comedy too, but also the music.

I started searching through my stack of CDs to find the soundtrack so I can upload it onto my iPod. I have a trip planned for this weekend and my iPod can use a change. And of course, at first I found every film soundtrack I own other than that one. But I did find it eventually. And the search got me to thinking about how films and music go together. Or, how sometimes even a bad film can be saved by a great soundtrack. So I pulled a bunch of movie music and made a Jukebox.

I’m sure I have more soundtracks than this – and even more on tape, probably. This is not an exhaustive list, to be sure – I just grabbed a bunch on the fly. But they are a pretty mix. Grab a popcorn and enjoy.

Boomerang. This is a great soundtrack – you have upbeat tracks, nice ballads, a bunch of, um, well, booty-getting joints, and a song that goes right with one of the lines Halle Berry said to Eddie Murphy: “What do you know about love? I’m tired of men like you talking about love. Love shoulda brought your ass home last night!”

Essentials: Love Shoulda Brought You Home, Toni Braxton; Give U My Heart, Babyface feat. Tony Braxton; End of the Road, Boyz II Men; There U Go, Johnny Gill.

Pulp Fiction. I don’t think I even need to explain. I mean, it all goes without saying, right?

Essentials: Let’s Stay Together, AL Green; You Never Can Tell, Chuck Berry; Son of a Preacher Man, Dusty Springfield; Jungle Boogie, Kool & The Gang; Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon, Urge Overkill (Not as good and Neil’s, but still good).

Batman. Prince could have made a living just doing soundtracks. He doesn’t even need to be in the movie, although it helps. But it’s enough to see Jack Nicholson dancing as the Joker dancing to a Prince song. That is all!

Essentials: Partyman, Prince; Scandalous, Prince; Batdance, Prince. Arms of Orion, Prince and Sheena Easton.

Parade (Music from the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon). OMG, I LOVE Under the Cherry Moon!! The adventures of Tricky and the Christopher Tracy? Kristin Scott Thomas? The Wrecka Stow? Brilliant. It really think I need to own this film. The soundtrack is just not enough. But even if there was no movie, this is one of the best albums that I own.

Essentials: Under the Cherry Moon, Girls & Boys, Mountains, Kiss, Anotherloverholenyohead, all by Prince & the Revolution.

Purple Rain. Again, this needs no explanation. I know some kids will see this movie today and not understand it. But those of my generation see it as a work of brilliance. We’d gladly purify ourselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

Essentials: ALL OF THEM! Namely, Let’s Go Crazy, Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki, When Doves Cry, I Would Die For U, Baby I’m A Star, Purple Rain, all by Prince & The Revolution. Literally the whole album. No exceptions.

The Jazz Singer. Neil Diamond. Sir Laurence Olivier. ‘Nuff said.

Essentials: Love on the Rocks, America, Hello Again, all by Neil Diamond.

Boys On The Side. The caliber of ladies they got for this soundtrack truly proves that men need not be the main course.

Essentials: You Got It, Bonnie Raitt; I Take You With Me, Melissa Etheridge; Somebody Stand By Me, Stevie Nicks; Dreams, Cranberries; Why, Annie Lenox; Ol’ 55, Sarah McLachlan; and one of the greatest songs to grace the planet: Willow, Joan Armatrading.

Detroit Rock City. Honestly, I know I saw this film, but I don’t remember it. The soundtrack, though, is unforgettable. You gotta lose your mind in De-troit Rock City!

Essentials: Shout it Out Loud, Detroit Rock City, both by Kiss; Iron Man, Black Sabbath; Surrender, Cheap Trick; Rebel Rebel, David Bowie.

Pretty Woman. I’ve developed a complete repulsion by anything related to Julia Roberts in the years since I first saw this film. But I still love the soundtrack.

Essentials: King of Wishful Thinking, Go West; Fallen; Lauren Wood; It Must Have Been Love, Roxette.

Streets of Fire. Again, no one who reads this blog needs an explanation.

Essentials: Nowhere Fast, Tonight Is What it Means To Be Young, both by Fire Inc.; I Can Dream About You, Dan Hartman; Never Be You, Maria McKee; Sorcerer, Marylyn Martin.

Flashdance. Because this is me we’re talking about here!
Essentials: ALL OF THEM. Ok, I’ll narrow it down. A little: Maniac, Michael Sembello; I’ll Be Here Where the Heart Is, Kim Carnes; Lady, Lady, Lady, Joe Esposito; Imagination, Laura Branigan; Flashdance …What A Feeling, Irene Cara.

OTHERS: Some other soundtracks with really amazing stuff: Cruel Intentions; Boyz N Da Hood; The Devil Wears Prada; Fame, Waiting to Exhale, Slumdog Millionaire; Saturday Night Fever.

That was fun, and I have a new playlist for my weekend trip to New York City. Have a safe holiday, y’all!

[Roll credits]

Liveblogging Part 3: Models of the Runway

This is Models of the Runway! The pressure is on! And so is the liveblog!

11:03pm – Oh, Erika, you just got hosed by Ari. There was nothing you could have done.

11:08pm – Ok, I don’t know if I’m just tired, but I was expecting a little more before the first commercial break. They have their own show! Shouldn’t there be enough drama to carry it?

11:12pm – I’v eonly made it about halfway through my wine bottle. In over 3 hours. I am getting old.

11:14pm – I’m trying to care about these models, but really, I’m still trippin’ on Daniel’s collection. I’d watch the episode again, but my BF is watching the game on the TV that has a DVR. So I have to wait until tomorrow. I must have missed something.

11:22pm – Is there going to be a dramatic conclusion? Really? I’m thinking not so much.

11:25pm – Plus Sexy: “Don’t touch me.” The most interesting moment of the show so far…

11:26pm – Until Ebony fell! L.M.F.A.O!

11:28pm – It all comes down to Bobby McFerrin…

11:28pm – Oh, too bad so sad for you, girl. But that show was kinda terrible. Good idea, bad execution.

Ok, off to bed. Thanks for reading!

Liveblogging Part 2: Project Runway Season 6 Premiere!

Here we go – the main event folks! I was still wrapping up my All Star Challenge Liveblog, so all I know so far is that one contestants was a crystal meth addict and another used to live on a potato farm. Interesting start!

10:02pm – “I don’t call it plus-sized. I call it plus sexy.” Sang it, gurrrl!

10:05pm – I don’t like any of these people. Except the “plus sexy” girl.

10:06pm – I didn’t know Bobby McFerrin was a designer!

10:06pm – Wow, that was the world’s fastest pregnancy, Heidi! (I know this was taped before the All Star Challenge. Like, a year before. I was making a funny.)

10:08pm – Three yards for $3! Now THAT is something even I have yet to accomplish! Well. Done!

Much more after the jump!

Liveblogging Part 1: Project Runway All-Star Challenge!

Thank you for watching with me, America! Here we go, kicking the night of liveblogging off with the All-Star Challenge, which I’m as excited about as the Season 6 premiere!!

HIT ‘REFRESH’ FOR THE LATEST!

7:50pm – Bottle of wine? Check! Munchies? Check! Interwebs access? Check! Hi def TV so as not to miss a thread? Check! Liveblog check? CHECK! I’m ready! Oh, crap, I forgot the cork screw. I shoulda bought a twist top! Back at 8!

7:55pm – Did people actually watch Reba?

7:59pm -  YAY!!!!! I’ve missed you, TIM GUNN!!!

8:01pm – I’m starting the show with a bias toward Daniel. Love him.

8:02pm – Jeffrey is talented, but he annoys me. He named his kid Detroit. That’s child abuse…

8:02pm – Oh, Michael Kors, how have I survived all year without you?!?

8:03pm – DANIEL!!!!!!!!! Love you!

Read the rest after the jump!!

Liveblogging Project Runway!!

Are you as excited about the return of Tim, Heidi, Michael, and Nina as I am? Want my thoughts on every twist and turn of tonight’s three-and-half-hour Project Runway extravaganza as it happens? Well you’re in luck, cuz tonight I will be LIVEBLOGGING THE WHOLE THING right on this very blog!!

After all, I’m qualified to give an opinion, right? Well, not really, but that’s not stopping me. We’ll start at 8pm with the Project Runway: All Star Challenge (and I can tell you now I’m rooting for Daniel. Go Daniel!! Chloe Schmloe – you were robbed, Daniel! ROBBED!!I may root for Korto too. And Uli, but mostly Daniel. GO DANIEL! I digress…) Then the main event: The Project Runway Season 6 premiere!!! Yay!!! Then stick around for my thoughts on what could either be absolutely fabulous, or absolutely dreadful: Models of the Runway.

Just a few notes ahead of time: Please excuse my typos. There will be many. They are not a reflection of my intelligence, my sewing ability, or how seriously I take my liveblogging responsibilities. They have more to do with the fact that I’ll be tired and possibly a little tipsy.

Also feel free to chime in the comments section. Let us start a fashion dialogue. Let me know what you think about the show, the designers, Santino’s return, Christian Soriano’s absence, the ridiculous Lifetime commercials – anything! I want to bring people together in judgment.

So set your TiVos for the Real Housewives of Atlanta so you can watch that hot tranny mess another day, and join me tonight at 8pm. Make it work! Oh, and bring your own bottle of vino – I’ll need all of mine!

Jukebox: Whitney!

Yesterday was Whitney Houston’s birthday. And she’s about to put out new music. This is a cause for celebration – and a Jukebox.

Million Dollar Bill, Whitney Houston. I’m so excited that Whitney is putting out a new album. Really. I have been rooting for this girl for so long, and to see her pull herself together and get back to the business of making music makes me so happy. I know some people don’t like this track. I do. Is she the same Whitney she was in 1985? No. Because that was 24 years ago! But she sounds good, she isn’t using autotune like other people (Mariah, you should be ashamed!) Welcome back, Whit! Yay!

You Give Good Love, Whitney Houston. I sang this song at my very first talent show. I was in middle school, and I did pretty well. From that point on, the school’s principal called me Whitney. Which, I thought, was pretty cool.

Saving All My Love For You, Whitney Houston. Y’all know you wanna sing alone. “But no other maaaaaaaaaaan’s gonna doooooooooo. So I’m saaaaaavin’ all my loooove for yoooooooouuuu…”

How Will I Know, Whitney Houston. OMG, OMG, OMG this video made me fall in LOVE with this woman! I remember styling my hair exactly like this. Bow and all. And yes, it was that big. The bow and the hair.

Nobody Loves Me Like You Do, Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson. Ooooh, remember those pair of duets Whitney did with Jermaine?! There was If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful and this track. Oh, and she and Jermaine performed this track on As The World Turns before Whitney was famous. And some wonderful person put it on YouTube. Love the interwebs!

Hold Me, Whitney Houston and Teddy Pendergrass. Whoever had the idea to put these two voices together (I’m guessing it was Clive Davis) deserves an award!

I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston. Boy did the hair grow in height by this time! That’s ok. Nippy could pull it off.

So Emotional, Whitney Houston. Not one of my favorite tracks, but I wouldn’t kick it out of bed.

For The Love Of You, Whitney Houston. This take on an Isley Brothers classic is one of my favorite Whitney tracks.

Didn’t We Almost Have It All, Whitney Houston. Oh, I idolized this woman when this song came out. Watching her sing this is like witnessing a great feat, like an ice skater pulling off a quadruple toe loop or a slugger hitting an in-the-park home run. Something rare and amazing.

I’m Your Baby Tonight, Whitney Houston. My FAVORITE Whitney song EVER! This track gives me vivid memories of driving down 13 Mile Road to and from high school in my big, gold Buick LeSabre singing this at the top of my lungs. “You gotta, you gotta way that you’re makin’ me feel I can, feel I can do a-ny-thing for you baby!” I’m bummed I can’t find an embeddable version of this video to post here, but you can click here to see it. Really. Do it.  She channels the Supremes and Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. Love it!

All The Man That I Need, Whitney Houston. I thought this was the ultimate power ballad. Little did I know the next two songs would come a couple of years later.

I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston. Remember, she married Bobby Brown and was pregnant, and everyone was worried about her, and then she came out with this. And I thought – Whitney is just fine. Little did I know, but it was a nice feeling at the time.

I Have Nothing, Whitney Houston. This song made me feel like I did when Didn’t We Always Have It All came out. This vocal performance is astonishing. Really. No other word for it.

I’m Every Woman, Whitney Houston. You gotta be bad to pull off a Chaka cover. Of course, Nippy hit it out of the ballpark. And how cute is she?!? With her little bob and pregnant belly! Oh, there’s Lisa Lopes! Sads…

Exhale (Shoop, Shoop), Whitney Houston. Great track from a great movie.

Could I Have This Kiss Forever, Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias. I. Forgot. About. This. Song!!! I just found it doing my other Whitney searchs. I LOVE IT!  I’m downloading off iTunes as soon as I get home. OMG, it reminds me of living in New York when I was a grad student. Such a great time. Oh, poor Enrique. You didn’t have a chance on this track. Whitney’s gotta be Whitney!

Try It On My Own, Whitney Houston. Yes, I know I was probably the only person on the planet to plunk down my 99 cents for this track on iTunes. But I do really like it. Plus I want to support Nippy. Even if she wasn’t entirely together yet.

It’s Not Right, But It’s Ok, Whitney Houston. Oh, this is my song. Particularly the remix. When I need to drop five pounds in a hurry I go the treadmill once a week and put this song on the iPod. I feel like I can do anything. I can pay my own rent. Pay my light bill. Take care of my babies. Oh! Oh, Ohhhh-oh!

Jukebox: Legal ease

So the other day I heard Crush by Dave Matthews on the radio in the car. I had forgotten how much I loved it. And like other songs from my formative years of my life, it instantly transported me right back to its time: the law school years.

Oh lawdhammercy, the law school years. In the Tower of Terror. For those of you who don’t know, those years for me were, in a nutshell, agony. Absolute sheer agony. Sure, I made the best friends of my life, met the guy I’ve been dating for nearly 13 years now, fell in love with the city I now call my adopted hometown, and got to do cool things like argue before a Supreme Court justice. But those three years were also filled with about 20 lifetimes worth of mental anguish, self doubt, anger, depression, heartache, loss and the feeling of being lost. It was bad.

So, of course, I took refuge in music. The songs I listened to during that era have become as engrained in me as all those 80s tracks that remind me of my adolescence. Although there were songs from that era that were so ubiquitous they too will always remind me of that time (e.g. Livin’ La Vida Loca (Oy), Macarena (ugh!), My Heart Will Go On (*blech!*), this list is a sample of the songs that literally helped get me through law school.

Always Be My Baby, Mariah Carey. This song, I think, reminds me of the good part of law school more than any other. There was this bar up the street called T’s Pub and they had karaoke on Tuesday nights. So needles to say I spent a good deal of time there. I remember singing this once, which was my favorite song at the time. People started throwing money at the stage. Not much – but enough to buy a beer. So it was a paying gig! I think this was the last time I truly loved Mariah. I really can’t stand her now. But this song was fab.

Naked Eye, Luscious Jackson. The early law school days brought more good stuff. Like meeting a cool chick named Bobbi who introduced me to Luscious Jackson. I became an instant fan of her and the band.

Don’t Cry, Seal. I used to listen to the words of this song on the particularly bad law school days. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, those tears are for someone else.”

Crash Into Me, Dave Matthews Band. While Crush came out, if memory serves, around the time I was studying for the bar exam right after law school, Crash came out right in the thick of my time there. I remember thinking it was the sexiest song – the mid-90s’ answer to Chris Issac’s Wicked Game.

Aida, Sarah McLaughlin. There was no CD more essential to me getting through law school than Surfacing by Sarah McLaughlin. I played that thing until it almost warped. Which, in retrospect, was probably not the best thing to do, because that album is depressing as hell! It’s beautiful, though, and I could not leave it alone. This was my favorite song on it. I’m sure my neighbors knew that, because I sang it at the top of my lungs. Often.

Tubthumping, Chumbawamba. This song reminds me of one if the singularly most fun moments of law school – being at a school-hosted Halloween party at a club, dressed as – with my four girlfriends – the Spice Girls, and being more than a little tipsy, and this song coming on and the entire place erupting and dancing. So. Much. FUN! Oh – and this line pretty much sums up law school for me: “[S]he takes a whiskey drink. [S]he takes a vodka drink. [S]he takes a cider drink. [S]he takes a lager drink.”

If It Makes You Happy, Sheryl Crow. This album made me think she was perhaps the best songwriter ever.

Sittin’ Up In My Room, Brandy. I had several law school crushes as a 1L, most of which were not returned. Which was not fun. But this song was. This song also reminds me of going to my friend Michele’s Brighton apartment one rainy Sunday under the guise of studying, but spending most of the time gossiping about boys. And singing this song.

Fly, Sugar Ray. This song reminds me of going to LA on spring break with my boyfriend. We made a mix CD of a bunch of songs, and this was on it. It was our first vacation together, so I always think of that week when I hear this track.

Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin. OMG I love this song soooo much I can’t put it into words. It might have to become an Elleen’s Essential. I remember listening to it when I was studying for finals. “I’m walking on a wire. I close my eyes and fly out of my mind – into the fire.”

Mo Money, Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy and Mase. This is one of those songs that I tried not the like, but couldn’t help myself.

No Woman, No Cry, Fugees. This was another essential album of that time. Although Killing Me Softly was my karaoke joint (with Alex backing me up with the “One time! Two times!), this was my favorite track.

Bitch, Meredith Brooks. Oh boy, could I relate to this joint. It came out during the darkest part of law school, when the world was bleak, and I was on medication, and I was not nice to be around. I was a total be-yotch!! At the time I was the school equivalent of Class Secretary, and the other students on the board actually nicknamed me “Secretary Beyotch.” Thanks, Alex. Whatev. I embraced it. You know you wouldn’t want it any other way.