So we said our good-byes to a Hollywood legend yesterday, Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away at 79 from congestive heart failure.

In reading some of her life story it appeared to me that she was extremely high maintenance. Now the reason I’m interested in this is because before Nick and I married, my mother pulled him aside (without my knowledge) and told him and I quote, “Be prepared. She’s very high maintenance.” I have no idea what she was referring to – to this day.

With that being said I will gladly share 7 reasons why I’m glad I’m not Elizabeth Taylor:

• She was known to have a 19″ waist (Okay, not in her latter years but this had to have meant she never ate)
• She was always dressed to the “T” and you would never see her in jeans and a T-shirt (I could never do this….love my jeans)
• She was not the smartest thing on the planet (Have you seen her interviews?)
• She was married eight times (Enough said?)
• She made sure all her men knew she liked expensive gifts and expected them (Totally self-absorbed if you ask me…..I guess because I’m lucky to get a card on special occasions)
• She had this bizarre relationship with Michael Jackson (Okay don’t hate me for this one. I loved his music but he was very strange and you know it! Maybe they were two peas in a pod)
• She’s now deceased (I know, not very nice of me)

Putting all kidding aside she was also known to be one of the greatest contributors to HIV/AIDS research.

When it came to her work with HIV/AIDS-related charities, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research, better known as amfAR, and her own Elizabeth Taylor HIV/AIDS Foundation, the actress was an unstoppable force committed to doing all she could to see the public educated about the realities of the disease.

After her good friend Rock Hudson died from complications from AIDS, Taylor, alongside Dr. Michael S. Gottlieb, created the National AIDS Research Foundation in Los Angeles, which merged with the New York-based AIDS Medical Foundation in September 1985 to become amfAR, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to evidence-based AIDS-related public policy, securing and raising funds for HIV/AIDS research, expanding access to care and treatment for all AIDS patients and protecting the civil rights of those living with the disease.

At the time of its creation, Taylor was named Founding National Chairman of amfAR. The organization continues to be one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to fighting the AIDS epidemic, and has raised nearly $325 million to fund its multifaceted mission. Taylor herself is said to have raised over $50 million in funds for the cause and for that, my hat goes off to her.