Letters to a Young Alpha Kitty

What would former Seventeen editor and CosmoGIRL! founding editor Atoosa Rubenstein tell her younger self if she had the chance? Many, many are the times we've asked ourselves just that question.

Thankfully, Ellyn Spragins, editor of the "What I Know Now" series offers us a chance to get inside an intimate Atoosa-to-Atoosa, time-warping tête-à-tête in her new book, If I'd Only Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves (Da Capo, $18.00).

In her letter, which begins "Oh Atoosa," Ms. Rubenstein tells her young self:

I know you don't believe me, just like you don't believe Mom when she tells you that you are beautiful. But I'll say it anyway: One day you will lead a very fancy life. Yes! A girl like you whose parents work multiple jobs and barely make ends meet can grow up to live in a beautiful corner apartment in Manhattan overlooking the water, have weekend houses in the Hamptons and Miami, attend fashion shows in Europe and be photographed for magazines.

And even though you'll be living the good life, future Atoosa, you won't be too cool to enjoy some delicious coconut shrimp at The Red Lobster.

Other letter writers include Vogue's Plum Sykes, Daily Candy founder Dany Levy, athlete and Matthew Barney muse Aimee Mullins, and an actress named Jessica Alba.