In the real-life nightmare that is the year 2018, there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t wish Barack and Michelle were still living in the White House. I mean, saying goodbye to Obama was hard enough, but losing the best First Lady of all time was literally painful. Michelle Obama is hands down the betchiest First Lady ever (Sorry, Jackie) and she was prob one of the only First Ladies that didn’t actually hate her husband. Aside from the fact that she has the best arms and somehow looks good with bangs, Michelle moved into the White House, immediately got a puppy, and started one of the most iconic eras in FLOTUS history. It’s Michelle’s birthday today, so we’re rounding up our fave Michelle moments to celebrate this woman. I mean, let’s not forget she was literally Barack’s supervisor before they started dating. Case closed. Let’s get started.
1. Her Carpool Karaoke
Michelle’s Carpool Karaoke segment with James Corden is one of our all-time favorites, and it’s really not because Missy Elliot decided to crash half-way through. First of all, the fact that Michelle is in this video at all is huge. Like, do you think Laura Bush would have ever made a cameo on a Carpool Karaoke video? The answer is no. Also, let’s just acknowledge the fact that Michelle sings every word to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” Like, are we just gonna ignore the fact that she probably has both of their numbers on her phone? She’s so modest. She even slips in an endorsement for her Let Girls Learn initiative to educate girls in third-world countries. Insane.
2. Her Push-Ups On ‘Ellen’
The fact that the First Lady was on Ellen at all was basically unheard of before the Obama era, but now that we’ve established how cool they are, we’re not surprised Michelle killed it on one of her appearances on Ellen in 2012. She talks about her 5:30am wake-up to work out for an hour and a half every morning. Every. Morning. Are you kidding? I do one SoulCycle class on a Sunday at noon and need *at least* a week to recover. Ellen and Michelle start doing push-ups, and Michelle flawlessly does like, 10 more reps than Ellen. The best part is that when the audience counts 25 push-ups, she goes “I just stopped” like she could’ve gone all day.
3. Her Photo Shoot with Meryl Streep
There are really only a few women in the history of mankind that should be remembered as badass role models for future generations. Susan B Anthony…. Gloria Steinem…. Olivia Pope… Maybe even Blair Waldorf in the early seasons. The point is, Michelle and Meryl Streep are literally at the top of that list, and the fact that they did a photo shoot together in Vanity Fair is life-changing. I mean, they actually went to Africa together to work on their joint education initiative, so I guess you can say they had a more productive Christmas break than you ever will.
4. Her Advice at Glamour’s Event
A couple years ago, Michelle attended Glamour magazine’s The Power of an Educated Girl event in NYC, where she sat on stage next to Charlize Theron and literally gave the best advice on education I’ve ever heard, and I like, went to college. She told all the girls in the room that “there is no boy at this age that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education.” I’d like that written on my tombstone.
5. Her Hangouts With The Miami Heat
One of Michelle’s most iconic moments obviously had to be when she invited to the Miami Heat team to the White House. She first filmed a video with them to promote her healthy eating initiative where she literally dunks on LeBron James, and then they filmed an even better mannequin challenge video that kind of made the whole trend okay to partake in. Not to compare the two, but I’m pretty sure the only guys Melania has brought into the White House so far have been her makeup artist and whoever installed her Christmas decorations. Just saying.
6. Her Lack of Sympathy for Melania Trump
Speaking of Melania, Michelle appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert before the 2016 election and told him she has no sympathy for Melania for having to stand next to the president. She told him, “If I didn’t agree with what Barack was saying, I would not support his run, so I stand there proudly and I hope they are too … so no sympathy!” The thing about Michelle is that she’s so composed and modest that she’s not even rude about Melania. Like, Colbert literally brings up the time when Melania plagiarized Michelle’s speech and asks if she’s sympathetic toward what has happened to her, and she just sarcastically replies, “Yeah…. That was tough.” Well played, Michelle. Well played.
7. Her ‘Parks & Rec’ Appearance
How can we forget about the time Michelle made an appearance on the Parks & Recreation finale? Michelle has made TV appearances on a few different shows over the years, but seeing her on Parks & Rec was epic, mostly because we don’t care about any of the other shows. Her appearance was only like 30 seconds and all she did was say a couple lines and high-five Amy Poehler, but it was epic to see her on the show and she killed it, as per usual.
Michelle, we miss you.
