As I’ve mentioned before, I’m completely in love with A Spinster’s Guide to Dating, and the two lovely women behind it, Gertrude and Charlotte. (To be honest, I’m not even sure if those are their real names because they’ve got this whole “You’ve Got Mail” / secret squirrel business going on. But I really hope those are their names because they’re amazing.)

Anyway, the ladies were kind enough to sit down with me–virtually that is–and answer some of my deeply personal and journalistic questions. I was ecstatic to learn that we have a mutual love for Taylor Swift and fruit roll ups.

You can read all about their awesomeness below. And Gertrude and Charlotte, if I ever run into you both out there in the real world, I want you to know that I may shower you with hugs. And cookies. (Because hugging a stranger seems less creepy when you bring cookies)

There we were. Five Spinsters. Blog stalking and eating fruit roll-ups. We were having an un-planned girls night one night (aka no boys called us so we decided to call it a “girls night out”) in one of our bestie Spinster’s basements. Our friend, Storm, lamented that her favorite blogger was no longer posting. Then she turned to the two of us and said, “You guys should write a blog!”

We looked at each other and knew something ridiculous was about to be born.

But what could we blog about?

We couldn’t make animal cupcakes, didn’t have engagement rings or pregnant bellies to take pictures of, neither one of us had iPhones so we couldn’t mask our typical college lives with instagram…but we were really good at doing one thing.

Talking about boys.

One time we were at a party and some girls found out we wrote the Spinsters blog. We were immediately surrounded by attack hugs, screaming, and one girl even asked for our autograph. We felt like the Beatles but without the billions of dollars and good singing voices.

But most the time our moms just read the blog.

And never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.

Charlotte: 5:30 AM. Hiking. With stomach flu. With my date’s mom handing me toilet paper over a bush as I answered Nature’s call THREE different times and ultimately having to be fireman carried down the mountain by my date.

Gertrude: Was told I had to “dress up nice” but was taken on a wild goose chase of activities including writing thank you notes, coloring with side-walk chalk (in a pencil skirt. And heels.) not fed till 11 p.m. and was asked why I was not married yet. Awesome.

Charlotte: Taylor Swift. She says it how it is.

Gertrude: Jane Austen. A girl can dream right?

We would just quote from our first post:

Like it or not at one point in time all of us feel like we will end up being spinsters but that doesn’t mean we should pout. In fact, we should treasure it.

If you’ve ever been disoriented by the dating scene or never understood why we must perform acrobatics to survive college life, then meet here and we’ll do lunch.

This blog may frustrate you but it will also liberate you.

9) I love the “Ask a Spinster.” What’s the best question you’ve ever gotten from a reader?

 We got a casting call for some TV spotlight about girls who had their whole wedding planned and were more or less, on the prowl for a husband but were not having a lot of luck. Weren’t quite sure if we should be offended or complimented.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve got a major blog crush on Cupcakes and Cashmere. I especially loved today’s post, The Rules of Summer. Each summer Emily makes a list of thing she wants to do before Labor Day. In fact, I loved it so much, I had to copy it.

1. Visit Lakewood’s farmer’s market.

2. Host a rooftop dinner party.

3. Attend Bunbury Music Festival.

4. Go on a bike ride with Sam.

5. Read the 38 unread books on my bookshelf.

6. Book a trip to New York City.

7. Have a tourist day in Cleveland.

8. Try hot yoga again.

9. Make an apple pie.

10. Go jet skiing.*

*This last one was my friend Kelsey’s idea. She seems to think I look like a person who does outdoorsy things like jet ski.

What’s on your list?

And if I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman
My mother once told me she would have named me Laura
I’d grow up to be strong and beautiful like her.
-The Ocean, Against Me!

Last night Rolling Stone broke the news that Tom Gabel, lead singer of punk rock band Against Me!, had come out as transgender and plans to begin living as a  woman. Most people who read the article probably thought, “Tom who? Against what?” I started listening to Against Me! four years ago after seeing them perform at the 2008 Warped Tour in Cleveland. I immediately fell in love with their music and developed a major crush on Gabel and his habit of taking off his shirt while performing.

Needless to say, the news that Tom is becoming Laura was a total shock. But after taking several steps that I made up a long the way, it finally started to sink in.

1. Read the headline on RollingStone.com: “Tom Gabel of Against Me! Comes Out as Transgender.” Reread it. Read it again. Then read it three more times.

2. Stare at your computer screen while sputtering out, “What? What?”

3. Proceed to laugh awkwardly for a couple of minutes. (You’re not laughing at transgender people. You’re laughing because you have no other way to comprehend this.)

4. Pause “The Colbert Report” so this breaking news has your full attention.

5. Proceed to Google Tom Gabel and read every news story you can until the facts are ingrained in your head.

6. Also Google gender dysphoria so you don’t feel like an ignorant fool.

7. Turn on iTunes and listen to Against Me!’s song, “The Ocean.” Think about that voice: scratchy, punk rock, masculine.

8. Selfishly wonder how Against Me! will ever sound the same when Tom’s voice becomes Laura’s voice.

9. Call yourself a selfish twat for being more concerned with your favorite band than  your favorite singer.

10. Come to the conclusion you’ve known all along: Everyone deserves to be his or herself, to be comfortable in their own skin. Realize that what Laura’s doing is pretty amazing and inspiring. And totally punk rock.

When the band took an “indefinite hiatus” in 2007 I assumed, like any smart music fan, that one of my favorite bands just broke up. You can call it whatever you want–indefinite hiatus/ taking time off/ working on our side projects means, “We’re breaking up.”  I was crushed, but I will give The Early November major credit for going out with a bang. They released an ambitious triple disc record called  ”The Mother, the Mechanic, and the Path.” It was ambitious and it could have gone either horribly wrong or amazingly awesome. Fortunately, it went the latter, and it’s still one of my favorite albums. Their final tour with Melee and The Rocket Summer was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Then again, it might have been due to the fact that I knew they were breaking up. (And I had backstage passes.)

But after the tour ended, the band moved on. Ace Enders started a solo career. Joe Marro joined Hellogoodbye. But in 2009 there were a few hints that the band was at least thinking of the idea of getting back together. They played a show at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia last  September. Then they played another show at the Starland Ballroom on the day after in November. And then they played three more in December. And then they decided why not go into the studio and start recording again? And then I happened to be browsing the Internet and noticed that all this had led to a new tour and a new record.

I was wrong. Sometimes an indefinite hiatus is just that.

Thank goodness for the Internet. At around 9 p.m., when we all start to feel completely fried, someone passes on a funny story from Buzzfeed or a cute animal picture, and it makes earnings seems a whole lot less stressful. Here are a few of my favorite Internet goodies that are getting me through this quarter.

How to Know If You’re Having the Same Wedding as Everyone Else on Pinterest

It’s good to know I’m not the only one who finds the THOUSANDS of Pinterest boards devoted to weddings completely ridiculous. My favorite one is #3: Are there Mason jars involved?

63 Reasons Why Bradley Cooper Definitely Isn’t The Sexiest Man Alive
Ryan Gosling is the reason.
Ryan Gosling is always the reason.
I especially like #18, and 25, and 43, and…..

45 Ridiculous Pictures of Boy Bands
This literally had everyone in the office laughing. And by everyone I mean all the girls who grew up in the 90s and know all the words to LFO’s “Summer Girls.” Oh memories.

Interspecies Cuddling

This Pinterest board will make you smile, whether you’re conquering an earnings release or just love furry cute animals. (P.S. Thomas–the creative genius behind this Pinterest board–works for PR Newswire. You might ask yourself, ‘Does everyone at PR Newswire love cute animal pictures?’ To which I would reply, ‘Umm don’t you wish you worked in an office that was this cool?’)

A Spinster’s Guide to Dating

I stumbled across this blog a couple of weeks ago, and it didn’t take me long to fall in love with its creators, Gertrude and Charlotte. I want to be their best friend and drink cocktails with them. But for now I’ll settle for stalking their blog.

I graduated college two years ago this May, and Kent’s already gone through so many changes. Downtown is growing and Acorn Alley is even more popular. It’s wonderful to see my old college town expanding and taking on new projects. Plus it gives me another reason to visit more often.

Tree City Coffee, Kent's newest coffee shop.

It had been WAY too long since I treated myself to a steak burrito from Taco Tanto's. Starting this summer, I won't have to drive to Kent to quell my craving. Taco Tanto's is opening a location in Lakewood, where I live. I do believe it's a sign from the burrito gods telling me to eat more burritos.

Craft #1: As soon as I saw this idea on Pinterest I knew I had to do it. This is a much better display for all my concert tickets than the envelope I kept them in.

Craft #2: Really happy with the way this turned out. I covered the letter in pages from past issues of Vogue. It now hangs on my growing gallery wall.

When I went home for Easter last weekend, I decided to bring my childhood books back to Cleveland with me. They were sitting in boxes in my old bedroom (now my dad’s man cave) along with a few other keepsakes that refuse to fit in my one bedroom apartment. Fortunately, I’ve got organizing skills that are beyond this world so I was able to clear two precious shelves to showcase my collection of children’s books.

When I opened the boxes, I was overwhelmed with memories: Little Golden Books, dozens of American Girl and Baby-Sitters Club books, and a book of nursery hand rhymes my parents must have read to my brother and I a hundred times. They were all there.

Now they’re displayed proudly on my bedroom shelves. Their brightly colored spines greet me every day. They remind me where my love of reading came from. And to think, it all started with a couple of Berenstain Bears, a quick-witted detective named Nancy, and a bunny that liked to say goodnight to the moon.

My mom gave me my first Nancy Drew mystery. (For some reason she gave me the third one first, "The Bungalow Mystery.") Although I only own two, I've read dozens of books from the series.

Another book passed to me from my mother. The Little House series were the first books I remember being completely enamored with. Laura was always my favorite, although I imagine I'm more like Mary.

A few of my favorites. These were bedtime staples in the Moseley household.

In my book, "The Berenstain Bears" are some of the best children's books out there. This year marks their 50th anniversary.

I picked up the Baby-Sitters Club in third grade. Some girls read Judy Blume, I read Ann M. Martin.

Oh, American Girl. Anyone who knows me knows I was a DEVOUT follower of the entire franchise. I have all the books and nine of the dolls. (Yeah, I know, I should just stop talking before I sound even geekier.)

What are your favorite books from your childhood?

Naomi Davis, author of the blog Rockstar Diaries, shows off her 27 week baby bump while her daughter Eleanor waves for the camera.

Last week my friend sent me a link to an article on Salon.com titled: Why I can’t stop reading Mormon housewife blogs. The article is actually more than a year old, but it made both my friend and I laugh when we read it. If you’re familiar with any of the blogs listed under my “Blog Crushes” you know that The Rockstar Diaries is one of these so-called “Mormon housewife blogs.” I read the blog regularly. In fact, I’m a bit enamored with it. Although I don’t read any other blogs by Mormon women, I do know they exist. I just had no idea there were other women like me who can’t stop reading them.

If I was still a college student working toward a women studies minor, I would have written a 12-page paper about the Mormon mommy blog phenomenon and what it says about feminism, religion, marriage & family, and why Mormons seem to love hot chocolate more than most people.

However, I served my collegiate time and have traded term papers for blog posts, so I’ll keep this short. The reason young, single, educated, liberal women who work full-time and never go to church read these blogs is simple. It’s not real life, at least not for us. It’s a fantasy filled with sparkles and giggles and swing sets. We don’t dream of a life where we become stay-at-home moms by age 26. We don’t want that, but we’re enamored by it because as Emily Matchar, the author of the Salon article pointed out, “Their lives seem adorable and old-fashioned and comforting.” They seem so…simple. And wouldn’t we all like that for just a day?

It’s the dirty little Internet secret shared by thousands of women who were reared on the struggles of the second wave of feminism and who grew up with working moms who told them they could be whatever they wanted.  We’re drawn in by cute puppies, cute babies and even cuter husbands. We read because we can’t look away. We read because we all need an escape.

I don’t plan to stop reading. Although my views and life goals are pretty different from Naomi’s, and even though her blog can make me roll my eyes, more often than not, The Rockstar Diaries makes me smile. Simple? Sure. But sometimes that’s all you need.

My sixth tattoo, and surprisingly my first book-oriented one. One day I’ll get around to posting pictures of my other tattoos. I apologize for the shadows and such. Trying to photograph your own arm is kind of awkward. Many thanks to Eric at Voodoo Monkey Tattoo in Ohio City!

This week I got my tax return. Exciting, right? It is if you’re a 24-year-old with her first full-time job. I got a REAL tax return. I’m talking more than $20 here people! Throughout college my tax returns were only good for a round at the bar,  and a very cheap round. Not anymore. Holding my hefty tax return was one of those tiny wonderful adult moments. 99 percent of the time I’m juggling work, freelancing, and bills, all while trying to hold on my social life. But sometimes being an adult can be kind of wonderful. Which of course got me thinking about some other little “adult” blessings.

1. 10pm happy hours with my coworkers. Working 1-10pm can be a little rough, especially when your friends are out you know, having fun.  Luckily I’ve got some stellar co-workers who have no problem moving happy hour from 5pm to 10pm.

2. Late night grocery shopping. Most people hate this chore, but I kind of love it. Especially when it’s 10:30pm and I’m the only one at Giant Eagle. Not only do I have the store to myself, but I can shop all for myself. Which means my dad can’t judge me for buying four boxes of cereal and a $12 Wilton pastry sifter.

3. Paid vacation > Gap discount. No matter how stressful work gets, my job is a million times better than Cracker Barrel, Target, Gap, Panera and my stint with Kent State’s Dining Services combined.

4. It’s my money and I’ll spend it if I want to. If I want to use my big girl tax return to buy new clothes and get a new tattoo, I can. Because it’s mine.

5. I’m not alone. Even when I feel like I’m totally fucking up this whole process of growing up, it’s nice to know my friends are right there with me.