1) I love the Golden Girls. I think most girls like this show. But I watch it all the time and have for years. Something about it is comforting. It's very funny and well written. Sometimes it is a little bit risque, as are most things on TV. I don't think Baby G. will be watching any TV for awhile, except maybe Sesame Street/Dora, etc.
2) I love elephants. A lot. Always have, always will. When I was little I think I learned that Elizabeth started with an E, which is the first letter of the word Elephant, and that was when I first started to like them (I was like, 2). Then, I watched Dumbo (the movie) and Dumbo's Circus (the awesome television show that nobody else remembers except me, my parents, and Corey 
3) I love to do ridiculous dances. In my home. At friends or family members' homes. I don't typically walk around the grocery store dancing, but I have been known to bust some sweet moves in my car. In my opinion, you don't have to be good, no techique necessary, you just need to be smiling and having a good time. A lot of my dancing involves bouncing up and down (I'm trying to slow my roll on that now that I'm "with child"). Lots of wild arm movements (think Thriller) are involved. But mostly it's just about moving my hips and head side to side. Life is just better if you dance through it.
4) I don't care what anyone says. Nothing is more calming and silmultaneously exciting than a trip to Hobby Lobby. Ironically, I always find myself wanting to go there on Sundays (the day they are closed). I don't always have to buy something (although I usually do). I'm not even a particularly crafty person-most of my friends are much more craft-worthy than I am. But I love holiday decor more than anyone I know (other than my mother-in-law and maybe my sister). And Hobby Lobby always has great deals on adorable things. I love this store. 
5) I love to sing in the car. I'm pretty flexible on the song and/or artist, although you will never find me singing along to AC/DC (I detest AC/DC). Some of my favorite songs to sing along to are (in no particular order):
- Anything by Journey/Steve Perry. Surely this needs no explanation. And I've been listening to a lot of Journey lately, so I'm pretty sure Baby G's going to come out of the womb singing "Who's Crying Now" (and then crying). I know it's kind of cliche to like Journey but sometimes things are cliche because they are absolutely factual. It is a fact of life that Journey is awesome and Steve Perry's voice is better than everyone else's.
- Adele. I listen to a lot of Adele. And I sing along at full blast. Sometimes Corey looks over at me and just says "it's not good". Did I mention I do this with other people in the car? Poor Corey. It's not that I think I sound 1/10th as good as Adele, it's just that I like to sing and I honestly feel like I sound better by the end of the song.
- "Where the Streets have No Name", "With or Without You", "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2. These are three songs that make me feel powerful when I sing them. I love to sing them, sometimes I shed a tear while singing them, they make me feel better after singing them. Bono knows what he's doing. And if I'm alone in my car, I'm totally not above playing air guitar with any of these songs (don't judge).
- Anything by Laura Marling. This is my favorite indie/folk singer, and I love her. I love to pretend I can sing like her. I love to make silly moony faces while singing like her. Yes, I'm aware I'm a total nerd.
- 80's/early 90's country music. I don't really discriminate in this category, although I do prefer a song by The Judds, Keith Whitley, Lorrie Morgan, Tanya Tucker, Reba McEntire or George Strait. I especially enjoy ballads like "Something in Red" "The Last to Know" "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane" and "Love can Build a Bridge". They may be corny and silly, but they are the most fun to sing in the car other than...
- Katy Perry. I like singing along with most songs by her, but my favorites are "Teenage Dream" "Waking up in Vegas" and "Firework". These songs are just so damn catchy. I love them.
- Last but not least, of course when "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen comes on, you have to belt it out. Head banging is most likely involved.
I know that there are people who look at me in my car, belting it out, and think "what an idiot." But it's fun and it gets me through my drive home from work everyday. At least I'm not putting on mascara, right?
6) I also love making up parodies. I'm no Weird Al. In fact I'm pretty terrible. I did make up an awesome parody of "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole called "The Breakfast Song" when I was like 13 (the beginning of my parody writing career, I guess). It starts out "Bacon roasting on an open fire, pancakes nipping at your nose." (TM Elizabeth Granstrand, 1997) As you can tell, a total winner.
Also, Corey and I call each other Bunny all the time. It sounds really cutesy, but there is actually a long story behind it (I really wanted a Bunny as a pet for a long time). For a long time, one of the ways we've tried to make each other laugh is by singing current songs and replacing a lot of words with bunny-related things (i.e., carrots, hopping, cottontails). We are giant dorks, but it's fun and it always makes us laugh. Our kid will probably disown us for this.
7) Even more embarassing? I like to impersonate certain singers. Almost all of them are male. Which is pretty funny when you take into account that I have a very high girly voice. My most famous impersonation? Michael McDonald. My friend Meredith and I are famous for this. I'm not even sure how or when it started. But it is one of our specialties. To this day, every birthday, we call and sing Happy Birthday to each other in Michael McDonald styles. It's amazing!
My new favorite impersonation is Randy Newman. He has such an easily mockable voice, and I especially like singing Short People. Corey gets a kick out of it.
All of these things, collectively, make me who I am. They are part of what makes me happy. I hope that I won't completely embarass my child. But I also hope I don't stifle who I truly am in an effort to be the "cool mom". Nothing is more uncool (TM Jennifer Aniston, 2009) than trying to be the "cool mom". And honestly, I've never been cool in my life. Things I've been called: a good friend, funny, weird, interesting and entertaining. Never cool. And I've always been okay with that. But I don't want to be a total nerd either.
I also don't want to be a mom who constantly feels the need to perform around her child and their friends. My goal is to try and be quiet about these things around my child while we are in public and then annoy the hell out of my kid around the house/in my car by being wonderfully weird me. And I'm totally going to make them go to Hobby Lobby with me.
Happy Friday!
Elizabeth
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