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After a seven-year hiatus from music, Hilary Duff is back and bubblier than ever. She released her single and music video for “Chasing the Sun” on July 28, featuring easy-on-the-ears vocals and adorable awkwardness a la Lizze McGuire. 

The actress/singer is expected to release her new single, “All About You” on August 12, a preview from her long-awaited album to be released this fall. 

Though many Disney actors have grown up to lead questionable lives, Hilary Duff, the bona fide businesswoman, films producer, designer, author, and philanthropist, is arguably the most down-to-earth and well rounded of the bunch. 

Coming from a girl who watched every single episode of Lizzie McGuire, danced a routine to “What Dreams Are Made Of”, sung every one of her songs by heart as "Metamorphosis" or "Most Wanted" spun through my pink CD player and glued my eyes to the screen during her cameo appearances on Gossip Girl, I am, no doubt, a huge Hilary Duff fan. Here are seven reasons why you should be, too: 

1. Hilary Duff as Lizzie McGuire perfectly captures the thrills, discomforts, crushes and embarrassments that are middle school.

Lizzie (Duff) wades through adolescent waters, trying to figure out what is “socially acceptable” and what she needs to leave behind in “kid world”. Her best friends Miranda (LaLaine) and Gordo (Adam Lamberg) are there through thick and thin during Lizzie’s tween crises, namely the nuisance that is her brother, Matt (Jake Thomas), uncomfortable tension between her and middle school hottie Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder), and bullying from mean girl Kate Sanders (Ashlie Brillault). Complete with cartoon Lizzie asides and comical sound effects throughout, Lizzie McGuire made everyone’s middle school experience just a little more doable. 

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2. "A Cinderella Story"

There is a list of certain rom-com movies that you can watch over and over again, and "A Cinderella Story" arguably holds the number one spot. In this beloved pastiche with a twist, Hilary Duff plays the resilient Angeleno Sam Montgomery, who is forced to fend off her evil stepsisters and stepmother, the popular crowd, and late assignments in order to fulfill her life’s dream of attending Princeton University. Meanwhile, she and football quarterback Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray) are falling for each other, although, to Austin, Sam is a mysterious PrincetonGirl instant messaging user, who conceals her identity out of fear that he won’t accept her. After Cinderella is finally revealed to her Prince Charming, differences in high school social status get in the way until, like magic, rain falls despite a Los Angeles drought and washes away the barriers to their love. This Hilary Duff classic perfectly captures every girl’s high school dream of good grades, great friends, and the best romance. 

3. Her stunning role in "Raise Your Voice"

Raise Your Voice demonstrates Hilary Duff’s more poignant acting side for the first time in her career, tugging at heartstrings in her role as Terri Fletcher. After the tragedy of losing her brother and best friend, Paul (Jason Ritter), in a car accident, Terri decides to spend the summer grieving at a summer music academy. The summer progresses and Terri, despite setbacks of reliving her recent trauma, grows thicker skin and an even greater love for singing, pouring her heart out into the melodies and gaining inspiration from her instructors. Finally, Duff gives it her all in the music summer camp and movie finale, singing “Someone’s Watching Over Me” on stage, and giving perpetual goose bumps to everyone who hears it. Hilary’s performance guarantees many tears shed, leaving viewers with a dearer appreciation for their loved ones and music alike. 

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4. Her stint on "Gossip Girl"

On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, Hilary Duff plays movie star Olivia Burke in the hit show "Gossip Girl," leaving lust, controversy, and comedy in her wake. Of the many guest stars throughout the show’s six seasons, Hilary Duff’s role is, by far, the most memorable. Fans of the show revel over Dan Humphrey’s (Penn Badgley) obsession with and Vanessa Abram’s (Jessica Szohr) jealousy of Olivia, wondering what will happen next in the scandalous love triangle. Fans and characters alike are equally sad when Olivia has to leave for Los Angeles, but she does go out with a sensuous bang. Though Olivia as a character only extended over the period of six episodes, the role is refreshing for Duff, as a girl with absolute finesse and self-confidence. 

5. Hilary’s songs contain everything that’s good about 2000-decade music.

From feather-light, bouncy tunes like “Wake Up” and “Why Not” to deeper, more personal songs like “Fly” and “Underneath This Smile”, listeners follow Duff on her emotional journeys of vulnerability, success, industry turmoil, and unbridled jubilance. And, of course, no one can hear “Come Clean” without thinking of Kristin Cavallari and Lauren Conrad from their Laguna Beach days. True Hilary Duff fans can’t help but bop their heads and sing along when listening to her songs, “so eight years ago” be damned.

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6. Hilary Duff is a jack-of-all-trades.

Even with her busy singing and acting career, she has made a name for herself in the fashion and literary worlds. Duff launched two clothing lines, Stuff by Hilary Duff and Femme for DKNY, both of which carried mild success. Her first clothing line included furniture, fragrances, and jewelry for the teen and preteen age groups, and the second is for women her age. Hilary also earned the title of author, writing a trilogy of books, Elixir, Devoted, and True, the first becoming a New York Times best seller. And, on top of everything, she works as a full-time mother to two-year-old, Luca Cruz Comrie, often posting photos and videos of him on Instagram with adorable captions like, “Dreaming about wrapping [Luca] up in my arms…. Two more nights”. 

7. Hilary is one the nicest and most genuine celebrities today.

Duff donated $250,000 and over 2.5 million meals to help Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005, traveling to a New Orleans elementary school to help distribute the food herself. She is also a member of Kids with a Cause, has served on the Advisory Board of the Audrey Hepburn Child Benefit Fund and the Celebrity Council of Kids with a Cause, and starred in the public service announcement for the Think Before You Speak Campaign to prevent youth from using discriminatory phrases like “That’s so gay.” More recently, she became involved in the Johnson’s Baby Cares and Stomp Out Bullying campaigns and teamed up with Duracell to power lifesaving medical devices and thousands of toys for children in hospitals, delivering some of the toys herself at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 

And, in addition to her charity work, she is wonderful to her fans. I know this personally, having met her a few times while my dad worked with her on "Raise Your Voice." The crew actually prohibited children on the set while filming, knowing that Hilary would get distracted, wanting to reach out to her fans and make their day. When the producer asked me if I wanted to meet Hilary before filming started, my heart began pounding with excitement. We went out to her trailer, and there she was, speaking on her cellphone. I couldn’t believe I was seeing my favorite celebrity in the flesh, though I figured, since she was in the middle of something, I’d have to wait to meet her another time. On the fortuitous contrary, the moment she saw me, she asked the person on the other end of the line to hold on, walked right up to me to introduce herself and let me take a photo with her. You can even see her cellphone in hand while we show off our pearly-whites in the photo. 

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That moment, which I can still picture perfectly in my head ten years later, only solidifies my admiration for Hilary. Not only is she a go-getter, but she also takes the time to thank the ones who provide her with success. I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors and can’t wait to sing along to her next album. 

Contact reporter Sarah Collins here. Follow her on Twitter here.