Before you're a mom you don't know what gear is going to be relevant.

It was the first time, in the West Wing, I had ever read anyone write a Southerner properly. Because Southern women, in my opinion, are complicated and are equally feminine and driven. That's kind of an unusual combination and people usually tend to get it wrong.

When I was 8, my favorite toy was a stapler. My brother was afraid of me.

The only important thing in this life is to figure out how to use the experiences that you have to make the world a better place.

As comfortable as I was with my adoption, the nature-versus-nurture question has been a big one for me. I adore my parents, but I always wondered if I would feel a different kind of love-not more or less, just different-for someone who was biologically related.

I always felt my emancipation into truly being a grown-up was when I had to figure out how to fold up a king-size fitted bottom sheet on my own.

It's amazing what sleep does for your looks.