Hi Y'all,

I had such an exciting day I wanted to share it with you while it's fresh in my mind. I JUST finished taping an hour with BEYONCE! It was BEYOND amazing. The whole show is questions that no one has ever asked her before. Seriously, you see her laugh, get embarrassed, reveal herself and there are even tears! All that AND she sings IF I WERE A BOY, plus SINGLE LADIES! Honestly, I have never seen anyone dance like she does. I am in total awe. This Beyonce show is airing next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving ... so don't miss it. I'm still singing 'oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh' and shaking my hand!

Beyonce told me about how it is a tradition in her family (and with her man, Kelly and Michelle!) that when one of them has a new CD come out, they personally go into the store and buy 20 copies. She said today she just went out and bought copies of HER OWN CD! I think that's great. In fact, I think I may go out right now and do the same thing. I have a new DVD that just hit stores. It's a movie that I Executive Produced, based on the super popular books, THE CLIQUE!

I know The Clique books are for tweens, but seriously, my 34-year-old butt got hooked reading them. I think maybe it's because these cliques that I experienced when I was younger still exist with women my age. Now back in the day, I was a MEAN girl. I was the leader of the mean clique. I would look you up and down and say, "You can't hang with us!" I thought I was so cool and tough. One time I got into a fight with a girl at school. I mean an actual fist fight. The girl hit me upside the head. I was 10 years old and really got rumble and tumble. I'd like to say that I won, but I think it was a tie. Looking back, I deserved the beat down because I was mean.

When I switched schools, I went through a crazy growth spurt ... I grew 3 inches and lost 40lbs. It was a really awkward phase and suddenly I was on the OTHER side of the mean girl clique. Girls were now hating on me -- and it felt awful.

Making the book into a movie was amazing. My favorite part of producing was finding the actors to play all the characters. We did a massive search and I looked at tons of auditions to make sure we got it exactly right. (It reminded me of casting for top model -- only no Mr. or Miss Jay to help!) I really wanted to stay close to the books because I hate when they turn a book into a movie and no one in it looks at all like what you had in your head. So for all you Clique readers I think you'll agree that the actors we found are perfect. And all the girls in our on-screen clique have become friends in real life. I love that!

We shot the movie in Rhode Island in the middle of February. (I know the books take place in fall -- but there was ICE outside, so I had to get a little creative.) Even though it was freezing, I had a blast being on set. Between takes, the girls and I became obsessed with caramel apples. There were two different kinds all melted and ready for dipping -- and we'd fight over which was better. (Don't worry, I didn't double dip or flip and dip!) When we weren't shooting, I toured around Newport, Rhode Island and checked out the incredible houses that were built over a hundred years ago.

It's crazy how many people it takes to make a movie and it was so much fun being behind the scenes for a change. I also loved working with our costume designer, Mandi Line. The clothes in the movie are seriously amazing. I wanted everything she picked out. These outfits give "Gossip Girl" a run for their money.

As I'm typing, I keep singing "If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it" -- it is STUCK in my head. And I keep thinking about my new THE CLIQUE DVD being released! I'm actually going to do something a little Beyonce-ish right now and go personally buy a copy of THE CLIQUE. I'd pick up Beyonce's CD too, but I already downloaded it all on iTunes!

I know money is tight right now, but if you can go get a copy of THE CLIQUE DVD, I really think you'll love it. It's a great holiday gift for any age -- not just for the young girls. Also, check out the cast of THE CLIQUE on the Tyra Show next Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). I've got the hot guys from TWILIGHT on the same show, so don't miss it.

I'm off to buy my DVD.

Love,