Spice Girls and Diet Coke (These are a Few of My Favorite Things)

Spiceworld Plus: There has been a lot of good news to report of late. Without further ado, here are some highlights:
1) The addition of Diet Coke Plus to the Coca-Cola family. Although I gave it up when I was pregnant, I was a faithful Diet Coke drinker for many years. I'd start each morning off with a 32-ounce serving from the convenience store (and, while I am confessing, a Tootsie Roll). I'd have a 20-ounce bottle for a nightcap. My husband referred to Diet Coke as the "Devil's Juice," and my healthier-than-thou father-in-law would routinely throw it away if I happened to leave it on the counter at his house.
Coca-Cola must have wised up to the barrage of criticism that Diet Coke is, like, bad for you because Diet Coke Plus features cola enriched with zinc, magnesium, niacin and Vitamins B-6 and B-12. It's like my favorite snack and a multivitamin rolled into one. I'm not totally ready to embrace Diet Coke again (I'm too old and the caffeine keeps me up past my bedtime), but if I ever do, I'll count it with eyebrow waxing and watching aerobics programs on TV on the list of health-conscious things I'm doing for my body.
2) The Spice Girls Reunion Tour. Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Mel Chisholm, Mel Brown and Victoria Beckham (or, as I like to call them, Ginger, Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh) have announced plans for a globe-crossing reunion tour in late 2007 and early 2008. Lest you think I was a Bristol preteen in the 1990s when the Spice Girls were big, I wasn't -- I was finishing up college right here in Utah County. But one of my great strengths as an entertainment journalist, I think, has always been my ability to keep my taste in movies, music and books right in sync with 11-year-old girls everywhere.
Need a great book? I'd recommend the young adult vampire-love story "Twilight." Great movie? How about the epic cheerleading drama "Bring it On"? Never mind the kid, the mortgage, the passably grown-up career, if anyone is going to be on the front row singing "Wannabe" in a rhinestone Union Jack dress when the British pop stars take the stage, it will be me. Now, that's girl power.
-- Elyssa Andrus

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1 July 25, 2007.