The news of my pregnancy got out when I was in the middle of my first trimester. I hadn't even had a chance to tell my friends. That alone was so ugly. It made me hyper-protective ... I feel uncomfortable with people reading too much about my pregnancy or my relationship. It grosses me out. It's too sweet to read about or dissect.

My world was a community ballet school, a marching band, my two sisters and my girlfriends. I played saxophone in the band and was a bit nerdy.

I mean, I didn't ever watch 'Gilligan's Island' and think, 'Those people are actors.' I lived in West Virginia. Hollywood just felt like this total other universe.

I do like having my ears pierced, because there's a lot more choice in pierced earrings than there is with clip-ons, and they're a lot more comfortable to wear - Sometimes I completely forget I've got them in and end up going to sleep wearing them.

I don't have this fantasy about marriage anymore. Everyone says it takes hard work. Well, it kind of does - and I'm much more pragmatic about romance than I used to be.

I am lucky to have had an attentive, curious and loving dad and heart-smart, down to earth, gifted mother. They changed the outlooks of their own lives and have never forgotten the people and organizations that helped them dream bigger than their circumstances should have allowed.

My parents started with very little and were the only ones in their families to graduate from college. As parents, they focused on education, but did not stop at academics - they made sure that we knew music, saw art and theatre and traveled - even though it meant budgeting like crazy.