Last Saturday night, after a long day of baking cupcakes and pouring wine at Oreana Winery, I came home and wanted to do nothing else but curl up with a cup of tea and a marathon of New Girl episodes on Hulu. I LOVE New Girl. So well written, clever, and Zooey Deschanel is simply adorable. Or, adorkable, as she’s more commonly known as. I love New Girl because I relate to “Jess”, played by Zooey Deschanel. She’s a schoolteacher who loves to bake, wear ribbons, and rock a lot of polka dots. She has her flaws; she’s bad at directions, not the best driver, and sometimes is a just little too innocent and gullible. Yeah, I can relate to just about all of that. I bake cupcakes, hate maps, and I’ve been known to “rock a lot of bows”. I have my gullible moments; when I was hired at Oreana Winery, our winemaker convinced me that the wine bottle labeler was actually an old fashioned popcorn machine. I proceeded to tell customers that for at least a week.

One episode of New Girl in particular really resonated with me. Jess is fighting a traffic ticket she received when she braked for an injured bird in the middle of an intersection. Julia is a high-powered attorney helping Jess get out of the ticket. Check out this clip below for the background behind the story. Jess offers Julia some cupcakes and blanket, and Julia does nothing but condescendingly insult Jess and make fun of her wide eyes, which she says remind her of  ”a scared baby”. I suppose I can particularly relate to this part because I have received some pretty messed up comments about my uncommonly large eyes; from being referred to as a “Disney character” to being asked if I could see farther than the average person. Really? Next time I’ll just pull a Jess and say, “well yeah, my peripheral vision is almost TOO good.”

There was one point in the episode that really struck me. Check it out below. Julia is mocking Jess for losing the court case, and Jess replies with,

“I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. I spend my entire day talking to children. And I find it fundamentally strange that you’re not a dessert person. That’s just weird, and it freaks me out. I’m sorry that I don’t talk like Murphy Brown. And I hate your pantsuit. I wish it had ribbons on it or something just to make it just slightly cuter, but that doesn’t mean I’m not smart and tough and strong!”

Although, I think they left out the best line…. “Now I’m about to go pay my $800 ticket, and my checks have baby farm animals on them, bitch!”

You go girl. Oh, did I mention I own nothing but Hello Kitty checks?

I love that Jess is breaking the rules of what it means to be smart, tough, and strong. The average person may look at her and see nothing but ribbons and polka dots and make an assumption that she’s ditzy and frivolous. I relate to Jess because she thinks in a different way. She thinks to offer people cupcakes and a blanket when they come to visit. She risks a huge traffic ticket for the sake of an injured bird.  And she doesn’t need to prove she’s smart and tough by “acting” smart and tough. If I had to guess, I bet she scored crazy high on her SATs, reads because she loves to, and whatever she sets her mind to she achieves. I think that’s what makes a Sunday Sparkle girl; whatever you love, you let it shine and sparkle, and you ignore anyone trying to judge you or tear you down.

But truly, when I hear someone say they’re “not a dessert person”, what I really hear is “I don’t enjoy life”. I’m with you Jess, it freaks me out!