I'm not Katy Perry, but still....

Our blog project group has once again changed by one member, but I'm still calling it Blog Project 3.0. The newest member is Darwin Shrugged, a friend of Froggie's. I recently got to know her better through "52 Stories" and I look forward to what she has to say on the upcoming topics.

This week I chose the topic: Girl crushes

First, read what everyone else had to share on this topic:
Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock

Over the past few years, I've heard the term "girl crush" going around the Internet. It sparked my interest and validated what I've felt towards certain girls both in real life and on screen. According to Urban Dictionary, a girl crush is defined as "feelings of admiration and adoration which a girl has for another girl, without wanting to shag said girl. a nonsexual attraction, usually based on veneration at some level." Where was this term 20 years ago?!?

I'm not sure how far back I can trace my girl crushes. Maybe they stemmed from some friendships I had with girls I admired a lot. I do remember being more clingy with female friends but sometimes it was because I didn't have all that many friends to begin with. I don't want to pinpoint specific female friends as to not make them uncomfortable (or give them an inflated ego). All I know is that I've never been attracted to girls in the physical sense, but having girl crushes in the past, with no specific label attached to them, made me wonder if I was bi-curious. I heard that label going around in college and at "Rocky Horror." However, even if I thought another girl was attractive, fabulous, or just plain fun to hang around with, I couldn't fathom the idea of doing anything physical with them. I can't even bring myself to kiss a girl.

I remember the first time I applied the bi-curious label to myself. It was during the summer I turned 20 and there was a girl who would go to "Rocky Horror" every weekend. She had that 90s grunge music look to her and was really pretty and charismatic. I basked in the glow of her attention and even tried to hang out with her during the week. The one time we made plans, two other people ended up tagging along, as well, so I didn't really get a chance to talk with her all that much. After the theater closed down (or switched management), I lost touch with her. I still have this picture she gave me where she put a cut-out of David Duchovny's head on her prom date.

Anyway, I still manage to have girl crushes on women in real life. Again, I won't name names or give descriptions. I usually tend to devote more attention to them and become giddy from any attention they give me in return. This is probably coming from the part of me that still wants acceptance from friends that may seem "out of my league." Still, if I think a girl I'm friends with is really wonderful, I won't hesitate to make it known to her, either verbally or through actions.

As far as celebrities go, I have a few girl crushes that I don't mind sharing here. I've always had an admiration for girls in all realms of pop culture. You could even say I girl-crushed on the characters from The Babysitters Club. If the term had been around when I was a kid, it would have totally reflected my love for Madonna. I was obsessed for quite some time.

When I was a sophomore in college, I was all about Natalie Merchant. I'd listen to her "Tigerlily" album countless times and even went to see her in concert. I bought a T-shirt at that time and would wear it often. I also got a 10,000 Maniacs Unplugged CD shortly after the concert and listened to that non-stop, as well. She was (and still is) beautiful with a soothing voice. What's there not to love?

A lot of my girl crushes these days tend to be on TV actresses. The most obvious these days is Mindy Kaling. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way! She's so funny and is such a great writer. As far as acting goes, I don't know how much she's being herself vs. being Mindy Lahiri. I feel like she blends the two personalities together. I can just imagine having a blast hanging out with her. She seems so down-to-earth compared to all the attention divas out there.

Then there are the women from How I Met Your Mother. Cobie Smulders (Robin) is definitely girl crush worthy. I think because she was unknown before this show, she owned her role and really made a name for herself. I love when a book character will remind me of her and I'll easily cast her in that role when I'm playing it out in my head (the latest was Shea in The One and Only by Emily Giffin). And then the game changed with season nine and the introduction of "The Mother." Since I worry about spoiling this show for anyone who hasn't seen it yet and wants a chance to binge watch, I won't name the actress. However, you just need to know that she's adorable, funny, and perfect for Ted in every way. She can also sing really well! I wish they would have just focused on her the entire season instead of anything else. She totally breathed life into a series that had done some shark jumping (especially during parts of the ninth season).

Currently, I'm obsessed with Orphan Black. I don't know how Tatiana Maslany got snubbed for an Emmy nomination (let alone five or six of them for all the roles she single-handedly plays). Even before I started watching Orphan Black, I had seen her in magazine articles and felt instantly connected to her. I wanted to know more about her. And now that I'm almost done with season two, I am even more impressed with her acting talent. She makes it look so effortless.

While you know how much I love Orange is the New Black, I didn't really crush on any of the characters from that show. Not even Piper or Alex (even though I think almost everyone crushes on the latter). However, I thought Lauren Lapkus (who plays Susan, one of the security guards) was adorable and I would have loved to hang out with her in real life.

As far as movies go, Rose Byrne and Emily Blunt definitely rank up there as girl crushes. Maybe it's just the accent that does it for me? However, they both seem very much put-together and they're fun to watch on screen. I look forward to seeing Rose in Neighbors and Emily in Into the Woods.

There's one group of women I have not mentioned yet, and that is all my author (girl) crushes. If I listed them, this post would go on and on. I definitely admire an author who writes such a great book that I can't stop raving about it. And if I continuously promote an author's book(s) aside from anything at my blog, they'll know they've made it onto my author crush list!  I was thrilled to meet some of my chick lit author crushes at BEA and Book Buzz this past spring. Outside of chick lit, it's definitely Jodi Picoult, whose books I've been enjoying for over 10 years and who was so incredible in person that she just further validated my crush. And her hair is just...wow! I could only wish to have such perfect curls!

If you're female and reading this post, I'd love to hear about your girl crushes! Don't be shy. We're all friends here!