If Idris Elba Were Your Boyfriend

Previously in this series: If Michelle Obama Were Your Girlfriend.

If Idris Elba were your boyfriend, your guilty pleasure Mumford and Sons air-banjo jam sessions would no longer be furtive or suspect.

If Idris Elba were your boyfriend, he would accompany you to the comic book store every Wednesday to pick up your new issues. Your Comic Book Guy would know you both by name, but you’d be delighted when he occasionally slipped up and called you “Misty and Luke.”

If Idris Elba were your boyfriend, the game of golf would never be watched, mentioned, or played by either of you. There would be no discussion of this; it would simply be a mutual understanding.

If Idris Elba were your boyfriend, he would accept that your definition of “working out” is watching him work out and then posting pictures of his deadlifts on Instagram while eating jellybeans by the handful.

...Read More

Things I Believe To Be True With Perfect Trust And Perfect Faith About Yesterday’s “Modern Love” Column

N.B. I am perfectly aware that “Modern Love” articles are carefully calibrated to create outrage in people such as myself. Personally, I think I do an admirable job ignoring them, as a general rule. I am, however, MERELY A HUMAN WOMAN, and you can only ask so much restraint of me. 

When I checked the home answering machine after my ferry commute across San Francisco Bay, there was a proposal of marriage from my old friend John Basso, who was now living in Florida.

...Read More

If Michelle Obama Were Your Girlfriend

Jasmine Guillory’s work for The Toast can be found here.

Previously in this series: If John Cho Were Your Boyfriend.

If Michelle Obama were your girlfriend, she would make you get up and go to the gym with her at 5:30 in the morning every day, but she would stand next to you and lovingly cheer you on the whole time, cheering loudest when you finally managed to do one whole push-up.

If Michelle Obama were your girlfriend, you would automatically get four inches taller.

If Michelle Obama were your girlfriend, Center Stage would come back to Netflix streaming, and the two of you would watch it together at least once a month. Michelle would always make popcorn (on the stovetop) and you would open a bottle of wine.

If Michelle Obama was your girlfriend, she would go shopping with you on a rushed trip to find a dress to wear to a wedding. She would reach into the racks and pull out the perfect flirty little patterned dress. It would fit like it was made for you, and it would be on sale.

You know how you feel when you walk down the street with your headphones on listening to Run This Town? That’s how you would feel all the time if Michelle Obama were your girlfriend.

...Read More

If John Cho Were Your Boyfriend

Previously in this series: If Hayley Atwell Were Your Girlfriend.

If John Cho were your boyfriend, he would be thoughtful enough to warn you several hours before he cut that amazing hair of his, so you could maybe call in sick to work and make those hours count.

If John Cho were your boyfriend, the cat you rescued back in college would desert you to sleep on his side of the bed, and you wouldn’t even blame her. She knows that John Cho is a furnace. A smoking hot furnace.

If John Cho were your boyfriend, your grade-school bully would apologize to you, give you a first-place Spelling Bee ribbon to replace the one he stole all those years ago, and confess, “Actually, I was just jealous of your brilliance and your impressive vocabulary.”

If John Cho were your boyfriend, you would finally stop feeling insecure about the shape of your ears. “I think they’re one of the cutest things about you,” John Cho would tell you. “They remind me of little seashells.”

If John Cho were your boyfriend, he’d crack your mom up with a pitch-perfect, hilarious, yet respectful impression of her. Whenever she tried to get him on her side – “Don’t you think she should really slow down and take more time for herself?” – John Cho would smile at her and say, “I’m just glad your daughter is happy doing what she loves.”

If John Cho were your boyfriend, your dad would not be able to help himself; he would insist on inviting the two of you over for an all-day classic Star Trek movie marathon. John Cho would be a good sport about it, even when your dad stubbornly refused to have mercy on you both and skip the odd-numbered films. About halfway through The Wrath of Khan your dad would start on his usual rant about the new Star Trek movies, and how they are certainly entertaining but they aren’t really Star Trek, you know, so much as Star Trek for people who don’t know anything about Star Trek, and John Cho would just nod respectfully and think about how lucky he is to be part of your life.

...Read More

If Hayley Atwell Were Your Girlfriend

Also by Victoria Baritz and Sulagna Misra: If Chris Evans Were Your Boyfriend.

If Hayley Atwell were your girlfriend, you would emerge from each make-out session like you’d been through a bloody war on account of all the lipstick. A sexy bloody war.

If Hayley Atwell were your girlfriend, you’d never get caught in another “listening to a man” nodding trap again. “Excuse me, she has someone more important to talk to,” she’d say as she whisked you away.

If Hayley Atwell were your girlfriend, the two of you would be the kind of carefree hostesses who wouldn’t mind if there were a little dust on the windowsills and some magazines left on the couch. The conversation would be so good, no one would even notice.

If Hayley Atwell were your girlfriend, she’d support you when you decide to boycott the wedding-industrial complex. “They’re registered at Williams-Sonoma!” you’d fume. “They know I have student loans!” “I’m sure you don’t have to get them something expensive,” Hayley would reassure you. “What if I just don’t go?” you’d ask, looking for her permission. But she would agree to go with you as your date and help you with a thoughtful homemade gift.

If Hayley Atwell were your girlfriend, you would tell her about your frustrating workplace politics and she’d go, “Well, they sound like a bunch of absolute fools.” And then she would tell you exactly how to enact some Matilda-like revenge and loan you her welding tools to mess with their office chairs.

...Read More

Things I Believe With Perfect Faith About Anna Wintour’s Weeklong Affair With Bob Marley

From the Old Loves tumblr:

“In 1975 while working as a junior fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar, Anna Wintour was introduced to a visiting Bob Marley by one of her boyfriend’s friends.

It’s a longstanding rumor that Wintour disappeared with Marley for a week, spending nearly all her time backstage at his shows or at his hotel.”

Things I Believe About Their Weeklong Affair

1. That Anna called him “Robert,” and continues to do so whenever she makes reference to him.

...Read More

If Chris Evans Were Your Boyfriend

Previously in this series: If Channing Tatum Were Your Boyfriend & If Kristen Stewart Were Your Girlfriend.

If Chris Evans were your boyfriend, you might become the kind of person who likes going to the gym. You’d take a stroll on the treadmill, enjoy a smoothie, and maybe take a nap in the sauna. Then you and Chris Evans would go out for brunch. You’d ask for extra whipped cream on your pancakes. After all, you and Chris Evans both know that you deserve it.

If Chris Evans were your boyfriend, the two of you would rescue a puppy together. You’d find him on your way home from brunch one Sunday. He’d look pretty shaky at first, but the vet would say he’d pull through, and you’d take turns feeding him with a bottle and teaching him how to walk downstairs. Chris Evans would name him Bucky.

If Chris Evans were your boyfriend, the two of you would eventually end up owning seven dogs in total, who may or may not be named after the Avengers. You’d always wake up to someone jumping on the bed with a bark of excitement, nuzzling your ear. Sometimes it would be the dogs. Mostly it would be Chris Evans.

...Read More

You’ve Got Someone Who Wants To Be More Than Just Friends In The Diamond Business

At Shane Co., you’ve got someone who wants to be more than just friends in the diamond business. At Shane Co., you’ve got someone who knows you. Someone who’s been watching you come into the diamond business for years with people who don’t deserve you.

Only the diamonds deserve you. None of the others have.

You’ve got someone in the diamond business who would hold you the way our unique pavé platinum setting holds our princess-cut stone, a steal at just $575. The others who came in here with you didn’t even deserve to lift the Round Diamond Tennis Bracelet in 14k Yellow Gold to your perfect wrist. It was an insult to beauty, that they were allowed to touch your hands or any of our multi-colored sapphires.

...Read More