A Cottage by the Sea, or How I Became a Chick Lit Character

When I started going to the gym regularly, I had to find a way to make it less awful. Music was a given but I found that reading on my Kindle helped make the time fly by. My 45 minute workout did just that everyday and I crushed my yearly book totals (I read a lot of books this way. I don't even count anymore.). I like variety in what I read but I'm also not interested in spending over $3 for a Kindle book and I don't want something that takes a ton of concentration so I tend to focus on a few genres for my "gym books":

• Mysteries - specifically those involving a sassy woman who can communicate with ghosts and teams up with the cute sheriff to solve old crimes (there is more than one series that fits into this category). My most recent find was called The Girls and it was wonderful despite its lack of sassy woman communicating with spirits.
• Horror - I like stand alone horror so I've reread some Stephen King classics and a few new ones by Christopher Rice and Joe Hill.
• Biography/Memoirs - I'm a huge fan of books about people who used to be cults and odd celebrities who led fantastic lives like the girl who played Veruca Salt in the original Willy Wonka movie (she was not in a cult).
• Chick Lit - throw in travel, baking, or music and I will buy your entire series and read it twice.

I was thinking about this earlier in the week as I walked on the trail near the Village at Shirlington. My apartment complex is still renovating the fitness center so I have to walk outside now rather than on the treadmill. The weather is nice enough (finally) so it's a good way to get out of the house for a little while every day and have something to do. I have a lot of time on my hands right now; it's important to fill the time.

Anyway, as I was on lap four of one of my walks, I had the realization that I have become a woman in one of the novels I read at the gym. Most of the chick lit novels I read involve a woman approximately my age (or in the range of 25-40), something "terrible" happens to her (marriage dissolves, business folds, laid off, death in the family, horrible breakup, all of the above), and she spends the novel reinventing herself or getting her shit together. Along the way, her friends and family get involved (they're always a little quirky), there's a romance, and shenanigans abound. My recent favorites include:

• The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin
• From a Paris Balcony by Ella Carey
• The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag
• The Coincidence of Coconut Cake  by Amy E. Reichart  
• Vintage by Susan Gloss
• Village Books by Craig McKay
• Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

There are many more I could list but you get the point. Of this group, Little Beach Street Bakery is my favorite (followed closely by The Coincidence of Coconut Cake). It involves living on an island (which I have done), baking as a form of therapy that becomes a business, bees, and a puffin as a pet. There's also a sassy best friend, a super rich dude, a sweet American (the novel takes place in England), and an elderly lady who is awful but ends up being a decent person. Polly, our protagonist, loses her business, her boyfriend (with whom she was in business), and her apartment all at once so she moves to a tiny island that is only reachable when the tides cooperate. She begins covertly baking bread which angers her landlady but leads to her opening a little bakery to make her rent. She also adopts a puffin who breaks his wing on her first night in her new home (his name is Neil which is exactly what I would name a puffin if I had a puffin). She makes a bunch of mistakes and then rights them and there's a Star Wars themed wedding (I'm not making this up).There's a sequel but I haven't read it yet; it's not under $3 so I have to wait.

Since my disastrous week last week, I've done many of the things that any good chick lit heroine would do:

• I've wallowed.
• I've visited a winery.
• I've eaten ice cream and let it count as a meal.
• I've gone to a yoga class.
• I've listened to what can only be described as girl power music (you know what I mean minus Beyonce since she's not really my jam).
• I figured out how to get my gym time in without a gym and now have three new dog friends in my neighborhood.
• I've talked to everyone I know (slight exaggeration), trying to make them see this as a good thing as I try to convince myself of the same thing.
• I've reorganized my kitchen cabinets (my closet is next).
• I've baked and cooked a lot (and have more to come).
• I listened to three Radiohead albums. 
• I've talked to my mom at least four times and I'm visiting her today.
• I'm binge-watching shows on Netflix (about to start season 2 of "Love") and spent an entire day watching CSI reruns.
• I've considered becoming a flight attendant.
• I've had conversations with Pumpkin (I do this anyway but it seems like it's happening more).
• I'm going to Ocracoke right after to Easter to spend time with some friends because all great chick lit heroines go on a trip at some point in their journey.
• I think about time a lot as in how to fill it and how to set goals for myself to accomplish things.

Following the chick lit heroine trajectory, I'm right on track for week one following the shake up. I stopped crying, both from grief and anger/shock on Monday so I think I'm good on that front at least for now. I've had multiple pep talks from friends and family (thanks guys, you're all the best) and I've started hearing from a bunch of people with opportunities for me to look into for my next job. Now all I have to do is get the old resume together and start applying for things. I'm also going to build a project portfolio website which sounds super fun and something I didn't think I'd do.

Which brings me to week two. Typically in these novels, it takes more time than two weeks for our heroine to get her shit together and move forward; a novel would be boring if that was how it worked. I'm not drowning in a sea of takeout containers and wine bottles (I'm such a disappointment I know). However, since I'm a real person and a certified (in my mind) planner, I can't sit that long. I've got to make lists and feel like I'm moving forward. It's been overwhelming, in an absolutely amazing and positive way, to hear from so many of colleagues and friends in the last few days about job leads and opportunities and how awesome I am. This gives me confidence to get ready for whatever is coming next. So next week, rather than wallow some more and pretend cookie dough is a food group, I'm going to get my resume updated, build my website, and reorganize my closet. It's good to have goals. And bake some; I promised to bring delicious treats to Ocracoke.

The only chick lit week two plans I'm missing are: a meet cute, a spilled cup of coffee (possibly involved in the meet cute, possibly a way to show our heroine's awkwardness or cause her to have a mini-meltdown in public), an awkward conversation with someone, an improbable connection with someone I know (think something along the lines of my friend's uncle is in publishing and wants to read my unpublished novel and thinks I'm a genius), and a fashion montage. Who's up for a fashion montage?

 This weekend on the Island, we're going on a little field trip to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibition, Infinity Mirrors, at the Hirshhorn. I'll post a photo blog so if you don't get to go a least you can see my photos and feel like you were there. 

DON'T FORGET: Saturday, April 8th is Rex Manning Day! I hope you celebrate appropriately by damning the man and saving the empire. 

You're Doing Everything Wrong: Procedural Drama Edition

I thought we'd end January on a pop culture note. What better way to mindlessly check out for a as long as it takes you to read this than to talk about procedural dramas? How many of you are settling in for a whole Saturday (or weekend) of watching Law & Order: SVU or NCIS reruns during a USA network marathon? You don't have to answer but always remember: I would never, ever judge you for that. Ever.

I was a huge procedural drama fan when I was younger (say 8th-11th grades, followed by right after college). Give me an episode of L.A. Law, the Mike Logan years of Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, or even old school Hill Street Blues and I will be a happy person. My early love of these shows came from the fact that in my early high school years I really wanted to be a criminologist. I thought that was a cool sounding job and I read everything I could about being one. I even got to interview an FBI criminologist who went to our church for a school project. Somewhere between developing my crush on Mike Logan and getting the high school theatre bug, I slowed down on my viewing and my career goal. Later on, when I was working as an admissions counselor at Loyola, I would realize that like every teenager who came to my table at a college fair asking about our forensic chemistry program because they wanted to be a "CSI," I really didn't have the heart for the science part of this world. I know I chose the right path.

Another quality of procedural dramas have that I admire is the structure of the show. Much like a Hallmark holiday movie, there's a certain formula to procedurals. Law & Order (the whole franchise except Conviction) is a perfect example of clear structure: the police detectives (Law) have approximately 22 minutes to track the clues, interview witnesses, and find a suspect, all while smirking a bit and talking unlike any police detective you might actually know. If we're lucky, a suspect will run so Logan has to chase him and we get a little extra drama. Then the district attorneys (Order) have another 22 minutes to criticize police work, question witnesses, deal with slimy (mostly) defense attorneys, and have perfect hair. I'm sold especially if it involves a young Chris Noth (pre-Mr. Big), Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, and S. Epatha Merkerson.

If you move away from the highly structured universe of the Law & Order shows, procedural dramas are still structured in a way that most scripted television is not: bad guy/girl commits a crime, detectives/CSI/NCIS/FBI agents follow the clues, lawyers do lawyer-y things, and the case is solved. There can be completely shocking and awful and gruesome moments on these shows but even those moments fit within the very defined structure of the universe of whichever show you're watching. Key characters die (I'm looking at you, Lenny Briscoe), serial killers get away (the Miniature Killer on CSI is one of my favorite continuous plots), but there's nothing compared to many of the fantasy/sci-fi shows that are so popular now. No dragon swoops in and carries off Gil Grissom in any episode of CSI. No zombies chase the Criminal Minds agents through Mardi Gras while they track a killer. (Seriously, they tracked a killer in New Orleans once and it looked like it was Mardi Gras the entire episode and there was a New Orleans-y cop who really had more of a Cajun accent. I don't understand either.) Procedural dramas are completely grounded in reality regardless of the fact that a crime is solved (usually) in 44 minutes or less (an hour long tv show is actually only 44-45 minutes in length because of commercial breaks).

That's probably the other joy of a procedural drama: crime solving is super easy on these shows. We all know there is no way that any crime is going to be solved in 44 minutes or less UNLESS the criminal wrote a big "I did it" note for us to find. In theory, the episode is taking place over the course of a few days but it's always a little hard to tell since no one ever seems to go home and they all keep extra clothes in their lockers so how would you know the actual passage of time? On all of these shows, the very attractive cast finds the clues, uses really advanced technology and science, and occasionally they even have to do experiments to recreate conditions for things like decomposition or something else involving a fetal pig. It's almost always perfect; there's usually one episode a season where evidence is compromised and science is questioned but it always works out in the end. Grissom always figures something out to prove he's the best. I've never been able to figure out the wardrobe and styling on these shows; the women always look somewhere in the middle of casual Friday and business casual and the men are either completely suited up or look like they're heading to a club later. And everyone has perfect hair. Even when they're waist deep in a dumpster looking for clues, their hair is perfect and shiny.

I stopped watching procedural dramas in 2006 and it's all Tim Curry's fault. He started a two episode story arc on Criminal Minds at the end of the 2005 season. He played a serial killer who used a blackout to sneak into the homes of his victims and then kill them. Eventually, he would kidnap the daughter of one of the agents but it's in his first crimes that I completely could not deal with these shows anymore. He waited for his victims to do something like leave a window open a little bit or leave the front door open to go back to get something from the car to sneak into their home to kill them. He also hid in the shower in one part of the show. It was so simple: everyone closes their shower curtain when they leave the house. You wouldn't notice anything amiss because you closed the curtain. It creeped me out so much that I now leave the shower curtain open whenever I leave the house. This was the man who brought the most terrifying clown ever, Pennywise, to life. Now he's playing a serial killer who sneaks into someone's shower? I cannot do this anymore.

I didn't need procedural dramas. I had Gilmore Girls and RuPaul's Drag Race and Project Runway and Face/Off. Eventually I would start hate-watching Girls and Vinyl. Then Westworld would enter my life. And God bless Ryan Murphy and American Horror Story (except seasons 2 and 6). The only exception to this rule is NCIS reruns. My dad is a big fan so I tend to watch it with him when I'm over and I can't help but watch a marathon every now and then on USA. It's not the same level of creepy that the other shows fall into and who doesn't love Mark Harmon? I replaced procedurals with fast dialogue, pop culture references, and drag queens. If television watching is a game, I believe I'm winning.

Then I moved. Here's what happens when I move: I can't help myself with unpacking. I need to get as much done in the immediate 2-3 days after moving into a new place as I possibly can. I don't like boxes hanging around. I don't like not having my stuff where it belongs. I want to be settled in as quickly as possible. I used to listen to music while unpacking but with this move, for whatever reason, music wasn't helping with my unpacking. I didn't want to watch a new show in Netflix (of which I have many in my queue) and I've been slowly re-watching Gilmore Girls again but that's more of an after work "I need me time" kind of show. I happened to find a CSI marathon on the Esquire Network (yes, it's both a magazine and a tv network). The episodes were from the Grissom years (the only years that matter on this show) so I kept it on in the background as I unpacked my kitchen and my books and organized my closet. I remembered many of the episodes from when I originally watched the show and even some of the creepier ones didn't have the same effect on me now as they did when they originally aired. I didn't stop watching the mini-marathons on Esquire or WE Network (both show it during the week). Since moving into my new place, I come home from work and watch an episode or two while I make dinner and decompress from my day.

Then it dawned on me: I've been doing everything wrong when it comes to procedural dramas. The only way to watch them is to binge watch. On general principle, I don't binge watch television shows (Stranger Things and the Gilmore Girls revival being recent exceptions) because I like the idea of a show unfolding over time. That's the way I grew up watching tv shows since we didn't have DVRs or Netflix. I had to wait week after week to see what would happen next. Cliffhanger season finales were the best and worst thing to happen. Coming back to CSI and watching multiple episodes in one sitting has given me a new perspective on the procedural drama. I don't focus so much on the crimes occurring but the personalities and the interactions between the main cast. Sure, the crime they're investigating could be super gross (like the body soup in a bag in desert) or weird (the furry convention episode or the vampire/werewolf convention murder) or totally creepy (the Miniature Killer or the episode with the judge who might be planning to kill Grissom) or bizarre and a little funny (Lady Heather in the original few episodes she was in) but it all sort of blends together in one sitting.

I also know stuff about this show (like Sarah and Grissom are a thing or Warrick has a gambling problem that will eventually lead to his death) so I can watch for those plot lines in a way I didn't when I originally watched the show one episode at a time. Back then, it was about the grisly crime and the amped up science not so much about the characters. Now, I sit back and wait for a a joke about the case and some awkward interactions between at least two of the characters (because they're all so awkward) and I'm set. I count the number of times any of the women wear clothing that might be deemed inappropriate for the line of work they're in (mostly Catherine but it makes sense in the larger world of the show) and I wonder if poor Nick ever decided to get a dog because he always seemed so lonely. And the side characters? The police detectives and the lab techs; they're all so good. I still think there should be a Lady Heather/Gil Grissom spinoff show. I have no idea what it would be about but I'd watch it.

Thank you original CSI cast for your perfect hair, mildly inappropriate wardrobes, and awkward interactions. You've helped me see the error of my ways when it comes to procedural dramas. It's not about watching over time but watching in bulk. It's not really about the gruesome crime but the people solving said crime. Thank you for helping me to stop doing everything wrong.


Coming in February: Stuff I Love is coming back! This February, each weekend's post will focus on something I love in honor of the month of love.

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Grissom
Catherine Willows
Tim Curry meme 
CSI cast

Where you lead...

We all have a friend who we go long periods of time without speaking to for no reason except that life is happening. There wasn't a fight or falling out; you just don't talk as much as you used to. Growing up often has a lot to do with it; people move far away and it's harder to keep up with one another when you're not living a few minutes away. Life circumstances change as one or both of you start families or don't and your lives shift accordingly. What's great about this friend, though, is that when you do get together, it's as if that time away never really happened. Yes, you spend some time updating each other on work and significant others and family but the awkward "high school reunion" update feeling isn't there. You fall back into the rhythm of your friendship; inside jokes that are truly only funny to the two of you are the most hilarious thing ever and the dramas (because all friends have a drama) are there or dissected once again. When you introduce this friend to a new friend, that new friend will later say to you, "I get it now. You make a little more sense now. Your friend completes you." And then they're gone again, back to wherever they live now and those occasional tweets and texts about silly movies or rock stars or anniversaries of significant life events keep the connection going until the next time.

I have that friend and as I sat down to watch Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life yesterday, I wondered if she was sitting down to watch it too. Did she order pizza like we used to when we all got together to watch the show at one of our houses? I did not; I had a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich because I'm certain Amy Sherman-Palladino and Netflix planned the day after Thanksgiving drop of the show so we'd all have comfort food to eat while watching. Was any wine involved in her viewing? Did she get annoyed at the parts I thought might annoy her? What did she think about the last four words?

The other thing that happened as I watched the last of the four episodes (mini-movies? expanded episodes?), I came to the realization that Gilmore Girls is also that friend, the one that's in my life for years and then goes away only to come back when she's really needed. I written about this before; I re-watch seasons of Gilmore Girls when my own life is less than stellar. Something about the characters and what they're going through helps put my own life into perspective. Yes, I'm aware that it's a television show and not a therapist but it still helps for whatever reason. Also, it's cheaper than a therapist so there's that.

What can I tell you about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life that won't spoil it for you? It's not perfect but it's exactly what I wanted it to be. Several story lines are wrapped up for us finally, Richard Gilmore is memorialized in the best way possible (first time I cried and I cried a few more times throughout the four episodes), and we see lots of familiar faces throughout the year. Both Lorelai and Rory are dealing with things as they always are and handling them in the ways that we have all come to expect from them: not well to okay to not well to avoidance to getting their shit together finally. They both look great; although I don't care for Rory's lucky red dress outfit (Lorelai was right; she looks washed out in it) their fashion is wonderfully modern and a little crazy like both of them. Rory in her 30s is still having a pretty easy life (my biggest complaint about her on the original series) so when it does stressful for her, I don't feel as bad for her as I should but I do feel for her because I know how it feels to be in your 30s and wonder "What am I doing with my life?"

What about everyone else? Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) is even better in the revival than she was on the original series. Her grief and her decisions about how to move on with this new stage of her life is wonderfully done and captures everything we all love and hate about Emily. Luke is Luke but an older, slightly softer Luke except when it comes to giving out a wifi password (which is hilarious). Lane and Zack will always be my favorite Stars Hollow couple and I will fight anyone who wants to fight about it. I wish we had more of them. I don't believe this show is actually over so I'm hopeful there is more Lane and Zack to come. Paris is intense and Doyle likes to use adjectives. Kirk has a pet pig. Taylor wrote a musical (that sequence is a little long but it's during the second musical section that I might have cried very ugly tears for reasons). Michel is still rude and Miss Patty and Babette are still flirty and wonderful. While I enjoyed Sookie's appearance, I felt it was the least believable of all of the characters but I'm still glad she was there.

And what about the loves of Rory Gilmore? Nothing I can tell you without spoiling things so I'll just say this: I will always be #TeamLogan so no amount of any new developments will change my mind on that. However, Jess was my favorite of the three in the revival for no other reason except that he was still so completely Jess but without the angst-y teenager side of the character and he didn't let Rory participate in the pity party that she likes to go to when her life isn't perfect. I like that about him.

All in all, just like catching up with my actual friend when it happens, it was nice to spend some time with my favorite television show. There were some surreal moments including but not limited to the musical, the appearance of the Life and Death Brigade (which is not a spoiler since gilmorenews.com was talking about them back in March and apparently, gilmorenews.com is a real thing), and every sequence at the Stars Hollow pool. I laughed out loud a lot, cried a lot (more than I expected but I know I needed it), and loved every little inside joke and cameo. I particularly love the number of cast members from Bunheads who made appearances; another show taken away from us too soon.

I won't spoil the last four words for you since I promised not to so instead I will leave you with my own four words:

Amy, more episodes please.

I wore my Hep Alien shirt yesterday - I would have liked 50% more Hep Alien in the revival but I'll take what I can get.

Hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey, monkey, underpants

 

I re-watch the television show Gilmore Girls when my life is less than settled. I'm not sure why but it's typically my thing. Something stressful happens and I pop in season four and watch The Dragonfly Inn come to life while Rory is making questionable life choices by sleeping with a married man and Lorelai is hiding her boyfriend from her parents like she's the teenager and not the mom. Or maybe it's more of a season six kind of binge, all "I'm leaving Yale and living in the pool house and joining the DAR" and "June 3rd is the perfect day for a wedding until it's not" and "Luke hides a daughter for almost an entire season for no apparent reason." Better yet, what about season two where we meet Jess, the Puffs, and Sookie gets married?

I could literally spend all day talking about my favorite episodes (four Thanksgivings, the opening of the Dragonfly Inn, Rory graduating from high school, the Life & Death Brigade, Lane's baby shower, Michel's dog funeral), the best characters who are not the main characters (Miss Patty, Babette, Kirk, Lane, Zack, Tom, and Lane's little cousin who yells at Zack during a super formal Korean dinner), and who are the worst (Taylor but with affection, April, Dean, Francie, Sherry, and Jackson's weird cousin). I took an informal poll on Facebook (source of all great news and facts; just ask John Oliver) and no one could name just one favorite episode or even one favorite season. To me, that gets to the heart of what was truly magical about this show - everything. It wasn't one character, one event, one location that made it special. It was each detail, each character, each moment.

As we near the premiere of A Year in the Life on Netflix this coming Friday, I thought I'd spend less time reflecting on the seven seasons we've had and focus on what I hope we get in the revival. I haven't read much about the revival; fan theories and potential spoilers are not my thing. I want to go into the new episodes armed with nothing more than the love of this show and maybe some coffee and a pop tart. Here's what I hope we get in these four episodes:

• Team Rory: I'm will forever be #TeamLogan (and I'm not going to spend any time here defending my choice) but I really don't care which guy she ends up with if she ends up with any of the original three boyfriends. Show creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, doesn't care either. One of the great things about this show was Rory as an independent young woman. She can have a dude in her life but let's not care about it so much. 
• Are Kirk and Lulu still together? They are one of my favorite couples from the show so I hope they are still together and being their weird selves.
• We get to see older versions of all the kids that were babies or toddlers in the last few seasons. Sookie's kids, Steve and Kwan, Gigi - what will they all be like? Are they cool? I hope they're all cool.
• Can we please meet Mr. Kim?
• Is Emily really wearing jeans and concert t-shirt? I saw it in the preview but I don't believe it. I feel like this is actually the equivalent of seeing Emily Gilmore naked. It could supplant that episode where Emily is basically drunk the whole time as the greatest un-Emily episode of the entire series. Apparently, that's Kelly Bishop's favorite episode so there's that. 
• An ugly cry tribute to Richard Gilmore. Let's face it, it's going to happen and we all need to prepare. 
• Sookie's kitchen and her ability to break something or catch stoves on fire. Sookie is one of my favorite characters and I'm glad that Melissa McCarthy was able to be part of the revival. I hope we get to see her in her kitchen but maybe not injured or destroying expensive kitchen equipment.
• Babette and Miss Patty singing. 
• Town Hall meetings! I have missed Town Hall meetings so much. Is Taylor still being insufferable (yes)? How often does Babette interrupt things with an inappropriate story about her and Maury (frequently)? Is Gypsy going to be sassy (yes)? I can't wait!
• Is there a new town troubadour? The regular troubadour came back but did he stay?
• More Hep Alien. I hope that Hep Alien went on to be a famous-ish band. Zack has always been one of my favorite characters and Gil and Brian were awesome. Seriously, getting Sebastian Bach on this show was genius. They did get back together without Bach back in 2015 so it would be great to that the band was successful. Todd Lowe will always be my dream dude (after Chief Hopper from Stranger Things).
• Paris and Doyle's wedding and/or the knowledge that they're engaged. Obviously they make sense together and will eventually take over the world. 
• Quotable moments like this: Mrs. Kim: Boys don't like funny girls.
  Lorelai: I took a bite, and I thought nothing had ever tasted so good. I thought it tasted like freedom. It tasted like I was my own person. The pop-tart tasted like freedom and rebellion and independence.
• Christopher messing up something. It's inevitable that Christopher will be here somewhere messing up something. I'm hoping it's his own life and not Lorelai's. It didn't work twice so let's move on.
• Michel! I've missed Michel so much. His rudeness, his random acts of kindness, his dogs. Do you think he adopted another dog? Will his flawless mother make another appearance? 
• A town festival. Stars Hollow is a town of festivals. It seemed like no matter how out there one festival was (living art for example), the town (and Taylor) would come up with another idea. The Firelight Festival has always been my favorite. 
• More dialogue like this:
  Lorelai: Because my brain is a wild jungle full of scary gibberish…I’m writing a letter…I can’t write a letter…why can’t I write a letter?…I’m wearing a green dress…I wish I was wearing my blue dress…my blue dress is at the cleaners…the Germans wore grey…you wore blue…Casablanca, Casablanca…such a good movie…Casablanca…the White House…Bush…why don’t I drive a hybrid car? I should really drive a hybrid car…I should really take my bicycle to work…bicycle, unicycle, unitard…hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey, monkey, underpants.
  Rory: Hockey puck, rattle snake, monkey, monkey, underpants?
  Lorelai: Exactly! That’s what I’m saying. Its a big bag of weird in there.

No matter what happens, it'll be great to spend a few hours back in the magical world of Gilmore Girls. We all deserve a little something to look forward to these days. 

PS - Team Dean will never win. Dean is the worst. He needs to take his floppy hair and tallness and get the hell out of Rory's life. #sorrynotsorry

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