Elizabeth was the good twin with the hot but slightly snoozy boyfriend. But thanks for dragging up that memory. ;-)

Was the boyfriend's name Todd? Now I have to look this up...

I loved Frances, Ramona, Harriet, and Jessica, too, but I wanted to be Harriet.

I made up a spying route and made my friend (whose name was Cory) go around spying on people with me. On our first day out, we were crouching under a window watching our friend Amy's family eat dinner and Cory rapped on the window and ran away. I didn't have a chance to run before Amy's mother pulled up the blinds and I was caught. She opened the window and said, what are you doing? I said, uh, can Amy play? She said, well, if you'd come to the door, like a normal person, maybe. But she's eating dinner anyway. End of career as spy.

I think I wanted to be every character in every book. I always wanted to be a twin... it didn't matter who. Probably my biggest longing was to be Samantha on Who's The Boss?

And yes, her boyfriend's name was Todd. Jessica flitted around from boy to boy, but Elizabeth & Todd were strong from the get-go. And her best friend was Enid. They both worked at the school newspaper. Actually, maybe Todd did as well.

He might have moved away at some point, but that part is sort of blurry to me. It could have been Enid's boyfriend who moved.

I had an obsession with Judy Garland growing up (it still lingers, there was a PBS special on her over the weekend and I was two inches from the TV). I had posters from her movies in my room when most kids in my class had NKOTB posters. I just loved her movies though- as for wanting to grow up to be like her? Well, I don't think I knew what barbituates were yet.
My four year old niece now has an obsession with Julie Andrews, which I think if much healthier.

Matilda, because she could move things with her eyes and because she got to live with Miss Honey.

Loved your list! I don't remember anyone specific, and yet I remember wanting to be like everyone, because it seemed like they were all cooler, smarter, prettier than I.

I completely relate to Harriet the Spy. I idolized her and thought that riding in a dumbwaiter would be the coolest thing ever.

I wanted to be Velvet Brown, from National Velvet. I had my father draw horses for me, and I colored them in and cut up little pieces of cloth to polish them shiny with--just like Velvet. I also had a family of plastic horses, and my mother sewed me saddle blankets for them (I had good parents, didn't I?). Of course, I didn't actually get on a horse till I was 33, and by then I was too scared of falling and breaking something, so I only made it through about six riding lessons.

Harriet the Spy was the coolest. I tried starting a spy club with my best friend, but in the end I just went around spying on people on my own, mostly my little brother. And whenever I think of dumbwaiters I think of Harriet. I clicked on the link you provided and I was transported back in time. Us bookish people, kind of geeks I think!
I also probably wanted to be one of the babysitters from the Babysitters' Club - probably Claudia or Dawn because she was from New York or Mary-Anne because she had a boyfriend! Ah, Logan! You're so dreamy, you 13-year old babysitter, you!

Pippi Longstocking -- for the adventures! (And the wicked outfits.)

Also, Kim Richard's character Tia Malone, who with her twin Tony were in the "Escape to Witch Mountain" series from the books by Alexander Key -- for being orphans with extraordinary powers!

Oooh! I forgot about Escape to Witch Mountain! I'll have to go find and reread those...

harriet the spy. she got to keep a notebook, eat tomato sandwiches and spy. that's my i named my cat harriet. she's a spy.

Oh, yeah, Nancy Drew ;-) I really liked Frances too, we used to have the storybooks with accompanying 45 vinyl records (to this day my mom still sings about underwear "down in the dryer").

I wanted to be Tabitha from Bewitch..
just twinkle the nose......

Hope everything's ok with the now unnumb boob.

Indeed, the now unnumb and bruised boob is cancer free :)

Yay for the cancer free boob! That's great news.

Hmmm... Nancy Drew, because she had red (titian) hair like me, and got to go to neat places and do cool things, even if she did occasionally wind up trapped by the bad guys. She always came out alright. Those were the first "Chapter books" I read, and the first one was "The Clue in the Old Attic". My sweet hubby bought me all 56 of the original hardbacks a few years ago- what a man!

Totally wanted to be Jessica Wakefield, who was so much cooler than Elizabeth (or her rich friend Lila), DJ Tanner on Full House (lord knows why, what a dork! remember when she had that super-dorky Disney-esque boyfriend Steve?), the rich girl Jenny Lewis played in Troop Beverly Hills, anyone with good hair from Kids, Incorporated.

Yea for cancer-free! Very good news.

I was also obsessed with the idea of being a scrappy orphan. Also with the idea of being British. My friend and I had an ongoing game that was sort of a reenactment of The Parent Trap.

Aside from Ramona Quimby and Laura Ingalls, I adored Sheila Tubman from "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great." (I think she also showed up in a couple of the Fudge books... she was Peter's tomboy friend.)

Apparently your male readership had a less vivid fantasy life or are just remaining quiet.

I wanted to be Indiana Jones.

I still want to be Indiana Jones.

Ramona was my best friend growing up, and I continue to introduce her to my students.

Laura Ingalls. Or Jo March. Or Anne Shirley.

My fondness for Frances and Harriet developed much later in life.

And it's Klickitat St. Us Portlanders must keep those things straight.

Could you please call me Cordelia?