I hated the idea of a high school sweetheart. Growing up oh my God it just made me sick. I wanted to have a range of cool boyfriends. I wanted to travel around and date these interesting men. Then it just happened. You fall in love.

Being a kid and growing up is such a cool part of life.

I never felt cool growing up. I was a bit of an outsider but I discovered theatre very early on which got me through.

Sometimes guys are so concerned with being cool and hanging out with their friends. They don't want to seem like the guy that 'has to call his girlfriend.' It's just boys growing up.

New York had a big influence on me growing up and I was really part of the club scene - the Mudd Club and Studio 54. When you're living in New York you are just bombarded with style trying to figure out how to be cool and how to feel relaxed at the same time.

I think it's really cool but Jimmy Eat World and Gin Blossoms did it better than anyone. People don't realize just how awesome the Arizona history is especially for alternative music. Growing up that's all I ever wanted to be was those two bands.

All this stuff is so mind-blowing to me that I get to do in my life. Throwing the first pitch out at the White Sox game on a random Wednesday? Like who am I? How did I get this life? I'm glad I'm not jaded and little kids are the least jaded people in the entire world so it's fun to be around people that still find wonder in how cool things are.

Growing up politics never trickled down to the areas we come from. But people from Obama's camp and Obama himself reached out to me and asked for my help on the campaign. We've sat and had dinner and we've spoken on the phone. He's a very sharp guy. Very charming. Very cool.

Cynicism is kind of like folding your arms and stepping back and commenting on things like the old guys in 'The Muppets ' just throwing out comments all the time whereas there are other people on the ground really trying to affect things and improve their lives and the lives of other people. I think it's noble and I think it's cool.

It was a very cool thing to be a smart girl as opposed to some other different kind. And I think that made a great deal of difference to me growing up and in my life afterward.