Dear Mindy (I hope it is okay that I am so informal…if not, well maybe we can’t be friends…)

We should be friends. Yea, I know you’re famous, so everyone thinks they should be your friend. But seriously, I am not just saying this because I am a fan girl (I am but that is beside the point). I think you would benefit from our friendship too.

First, we are both 36 year old women. We were not just born in the same year, we were born in the same MONTH. I am only a mere 18 days older than you. So while we are the same age, I have 18 more days of wisdom that I could share with you. And you could tell people I was your MUCH older friend. I don’t care, as long as people say “Wow, she doesn’t look that old.” We could also talk about pop culture from when we were in high school and college and not have to figure out how old we each were, we’d know.

Second, I live in LA like you. So we could totally grab coffee together randomly. I even go to some of the same places you go…like the Grove. Okay, I know  every upper middle class person in Los Angeles goes to the Grove. But I am willing to go with YOU. I mean if it isn’t at a super busy time, like after November 1st. Let’s not go to the Grove then, if we can help it e because it is kinda nuts with Christmas rush and I tend to want to hip check people when it is super crowded. But we could go early on a Friday and get breakfast at DuPar’s. Or not, whatever. On the flip side I am a hard working lady like yourself and have a kid so I am not going to be a needy friend that is trying to suck up all your free time. I am low maintenance. We could just grab lunch once every few months and you can send me texts when you see something funny that reminds you of some inside joke we have together and I will be happy.

Third, I am an attorney. I know initially that sounds boring as heck. But I have some crazy stories about my work that make you realize legal work is not all like Law and Order. Plus though no one ever wants to need a lawyer, everyone loves free advice from lawyers . PLUS if you decide you want to settle down, I know some older single attorneys that I could introduce you to.

Fourth, I have an amazing sense of humor. Yes, I am confident you would think so. Okay, maybe not totally confident but all my friends and family say I am funny. I think we must have similar senses of humor because I have found your books and show hilarious. So I think you would enjoy hanging out with me because I don’t take myself too seriously.

I am going to be honest though, I never really watched The Office. My husband loved the British version. I HATED it. Like wouldn’t be in the room when he watched it hated it so much. I watched a few episodes of the American version but the Michael Scott character made me so uncomfortable in that “oh God he isn’t going to do that is he?!” cringing kind of way, I couldn’t deal with it (I had/have similar feelings about George on Seinfeld). I have watched clips of your character on the Office because I am a fan girl.

So if you happen to have a google alert that finds this posting (I assume all famous people have google alerts for their name is mentioned online) feel free to shoot me a comment saying we could meet up.

On the other hand if you are like, this chick is obsessed with me, I better get a restraining order, don’t worry. I don’t have the energy or time to stalk anyone. I follow you on Instagram and that is about as stalky as I can muster. Plus having lived in LA for 14 years, I know the unspoken rule of all Angelenos that if you see a celebrity in public, no matter how much you like them you act like you don’t even see them. I might whisper to my husband as quietly as possible “There is Mindy Kaling.” and he would say “What?! I can’t hear you! Dude, why are you whispering in my ear like that?” And then I would say “Never mind! I’ll tell you when we get in the car! Ugh!” But that would be the extent of it.

Signed,

Ms. Read

Post script: My husband read this and basically said I copied your style in writing this essay.  That is probably because I have done nothing the last 2 days but watch old episodes of The Mindy Project & read your new book because I have the flu. I am not trying to be a copy cat.

Today was my last day of posting on twitter for #100happydays. In case you have missed or ignored the social media trend of #100happydays, you can go to the website. The gist is, every day post something that made you happy for 100 days. Technically, you are supposed to post a picture of what made you happy, which I did not comply with because either I forgot to get a picture of the thing that made me happy or the thing that made me happy defied picture taking (like my son doing some crazy thing).

I started this at the beginning of October when I had some personal issues that were getting me down. I felt like I was focusing so much on the negative that I was missing the positive. So I literally did some sort of Internet search about happiness. I don’t recall what I searched for, if it was “how can I be happier?” or something else but I came upon 100happydays.com. Once I read the website I realized I had seen other people doing it on social media, posting pictures with the hashtag #100happydays but had not understood what was going on. The website claimed that people felt happier and more fulfilled after doing the project.

So I thought “why not.” I set a reminder on my phone to post and then I did it. Some days I posted the next day, so I wouldn’t say I was super diligent. I also, as I mentioned earlier, did not usually post pictures. I am not a big picture taker and usually I didn’t post until the end of the day after whatever I was posting about had happened etc.

Somedays it was HARD to think of something that made me happy. If the day had been particularly bad, the badness would so overshadow I would be struggling to think of what to post. But I learned from those days that even if the day over all felt like I came out behind something always happened that had made me a little happy, even if it was making myself coffee that tasted particularly good.

And sometimes I felt like I was being repetitive. But I think from that I also learned about myself, the things that day after day make me happy: my crazy family, my awesome friends, good food and coffee. (I almost put coffee first, only because I need coffee first thing everyday.)

Overall, I thought the project was a success for me. It made me think about my day and focus on the positives rather than dwell on something negative. I am actually thinking now that I did #100happydays, I may do some sort of personal journal to write my happy thoughts in.

I doubt I would be half as diligent without a particular challenge. But I think just knowing that over the course of 100 days I was ALWAYS able to think of at least one thing that had made me smile, has taught me that my life is good, I should appreciate and no day is all bad.

I HIGHLY recommend everyone give it a try, even if it is 100 secret happy days you just write in your diary. Realizing that good things happen to you everyday that make you smile, laugh or feel good goes a long way to realizing the bad is always followed by good. Always.

Eat: Giant Lima Bean Soup with Bacon – I know, bacon is overdone. I was more interested in the giant lima beans. I love lima beans though I know they are quite unpopular. This looks amazing.

Want: Hand Made Iron Frying Pans – These are are beautiful pans that would stand up well to whatever you throw at them.

Think: Man With Alzheimer’s Proves the Heart Remembers – Okay, seriously. Think about this and your heart

Look: Pictures of Baby Hippo at the Berlin Zoo – So much cute that you may faint a little.

Laugh: 25 Desserts That Are Actually Punishment – Buzzfeed is such an easy place to go for laughs. But this list is one that made me laugh more than usual.

In the past 3 months I have probably listened to Kill Your Heros about a million times. It all started when I had to deal with some annoying things at work. I would go into the details but they are boring. What it meant was I really needed some fast hard hitting rock and roll.

I started with listening to This Kid’s Not All Right by AWOLnation. Also a song I have listened to a million times. And then I branched out. While I liked some of AWOLnations other songs, these 2 really stuck it for me. This Kid’s Not All Right is dark and mean. It is angry to be sure. I loved it when I was dealing with an annoying things at work. Especially because it throws in a small amount of curse words which you can mouth to yourself while bouncing along to your work.

Kill Your Heros has a similar sound to This Kid’s Not Alright but is lighter and happier rather than dark and angry. You can definitely feel the difference in energy. I love the lyrics so much for Kill Your Heros. I liked one so much I made it my mantra for 2014. “Never let your fears decide your fate.” As I listened I thought about all the times I turned down opportunities or flat our avoided them because I was scared to death. Scared I would fail or scared something bad would happen. And yet many times when I had done something even though I was scared it turned out wonderfully (Prime example: Move to strange city where I don’t know anyone…Los Angeles. Where I have known lived for over 12 years!)

Even if you don’t need encouragement to take risks because you are like Richard Branson, this song is amazing and bouncy. I don’t know how many times in the past few months I have gotten caught by a coworker bouncing in my chair in my office while listening to this song.

Kill Your Hero’s Official Video