How to Find Out if You Like Someone

I think Halloween is the best holiday for figuring out if someone is likeable or not. This may be controversial, but it’s the way that I feel, so for all of you Halloween haters out there, these words are not going to please those eyes of yours. 

Halloween is the time of year for dressing up however you want. You can become a different person, a different species, something that only exists in your imagination – WHATEVER YOU WANT! To some people, this is a daunting task, something to drag your feet through with minimal enthusiasm. To others, this is one of the most exciting times of the year. This is the group I identify with. Halloween costumes are a discussion topic all throughout the year, and it’s a conversation that never gets tiresome. 

The reason I think a person’s attitude about Halloween is so telling is because this is a time to get creative, and to get excited about something that is out of the norm. When I see someone with an amazing costume on I immediately like them more. Maybe we have never met, maybe we’ve known each other for years, but if you’ve got a great costume on that you put some thought and care into, you have earned some respect from me. 

On the other hand, if you don’t like trying on Halloween, if you wear normal clothes and try to pass it off as dressing as your friend I feel a wave of disappointment. This was your chance to get outside of the box! Why are you squandering this chance anti Halloween people?? 

In any case, Halloween comes around once a year, so there is always a chance to break out of your shell and be the Halloween champion of my dreams. Get to thinking now and don’t forget to write down all of your great ideas in a little notebook that you keep on the living room coffee table. Everyone has one of those right?

Please enjoy these images from Halloween 2015, and remember, that could be you wearing a wonderful wig and false eyelashes.    
    
 

Million Day Weekend

Happy Labor Day y’all! I hope everyone spent time doing fun outdoor activities, eating lots of good food, and hanging out with people they love.

I spent a lot of time on my couch, staying hydrated, and watching movies. That’s right guys, I found out I have mono. Not the best news on a Labor Day weekend, but on the bright side it’s also not the worst. Luckily, I still had people come visit with me at home and puzzles to put together, so all in all not a terrible time.

Sometimes it is nice to just decompress and not make any plans, but often times the fear of missing out is too strong that you just push yourself out of the house. Mono is a great way to land yourself at home with your Netflix and your HBO go. Nobody can judge you for lying around all day because that is exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Finally watched The Truman Show, what a sad movie, am I right?? Also, The Newsroom rules, definitely recommend. You can probably skip Johnny Depp’s Transcendence and feel fine.

Of course there have been times this weekend that I thought I was going to lose my mind from boredom, but I preserved, so I think mono has also given me strength of character.

Really trying to spin a positive out of this one guys.

Anyway, enjoy what’s left of your Labor Day, I know I’ll be having a fine time here on the couch.

Don’t worry, I’m going to be TOTALLY fine.

 

Actually got into the sunshine today, vitamin d

 

The sun never sets on a mono sufferer.

 

25, So Far

By now I am sure you are all sick with worry, checking this site every week and fretting about the lack of an update. Y’all are so sweet, and I appreciate the anxiety. Turns out being 25 is a very busy time in life. I’ve done a lot as a 25-year-old so far, and with getting older comes forgetting things, and I am using that as an excuse.

3 Mondays ago I turned 25, and obviously had to go out and celebrate that! I had a beautiful pizza dinner with people who I love. So lovely, feels good to be loved. I also was able to throw a nice little house party which was full of wigs and costumes and laughs. My Charleston family (and brother) makes my heart glow.

The Polaroids were a really great addition to the festivities. Noni, you are the absolute best.

The people I grew up with, the people I’ll grow old with.

Blondes totally have more fun.

The very next day I got to go see NICKI MINAJ with my crew and it was bonkers out of control awesome and I loved every minute of it. Nicki, you were incredible and an all-star performer.

We love you Nicki!!! So many emotions.

After the event that was Nicki, the Jones family was whisked away to the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia is a city I have never visited before, and I was very pleased with what I saw. We had gorgeous weather, a lot of good walking, visited the Liberty Bell, some aquatic life, and some incredible art. We also ate very well. The eating was a pinnacle of the weekend.

We travel together a lot. That was for you Dad.

I’m telling you, really good eats.

A beautiful mosaic neighborhood, it was amazing.

Austin eats.

Happy, like the hippo.

High School Musical style at Independence Hall.

Every family likes to take a picture with a security guard right?

After dream vacation, it was back to Chucktown and I’ve been running around ever since.

I hope that satisfies your craving for updates on me, if not, sorry bros, you’ll have to come back next week.

Inches of Information

In exactly one week your girl will be 25. That’s right, 25! I’ve made it this far, who would have guessed?

Probably everyone because I’m not exactly a huge risk-taker if we are being totally honest. BUT I did just get six inches of hair cut off, so that is a little bit of a thrill.

Taking a before and after selfie means not smiling with your teeth.

So for every inch of hair that I lost, I will share a piece of wisdom I have gained over my almost 25 years on this here earth.

1. Read books! Books are awesome and they help you improve your vocabulary. They can help you expand your worldview, and take you to places you have never been before. Books are your friends always, so indulge yourself friendos!
2. Smile a lot. People like it and it will make you feel good. Even when you are crying, try to smile because it will make you feel really dumb trying to both at the same time and then you will probably start to laugh will continuing to cry and you’ll feel even sillier and then maybe you will stop crying all together. Also, if your parents paid for your braces, the best way to repay them is to show off what they spent that cash on.
3. Go on walks. Walking is a nice way to see the city or town or farm you live on. It’s also a way to relieve stress and move that body of yours in a way that won’t hurt it. Plus, if you walk with another person they will usually talk with you, you know walking and talking, and maybe you can hear secrets or something.
4. Talk about the things that you want out of life. Talk about your goals, dreams, and aspirations. If they are out in the air, out of your head and into the world they will be easier to remember and achieve. If they are just stuffed deep down in some hidden pocket of your brain and heart they can suffocate and die. You don’t want that! Nobody wants that. Speak your truth y’all!
5. Go places. If you have the means to travel I highly encourage it, because it is so cool to explore places you’ve never seen before. It’s great to learn about different cultures and see how other people live, and see if there is a different place that you would like to live. If you can’t afford to travel somewhere far away, travel outside the limits of the place you live. Go to a different part of town, try a new restaurant, check out a new local spot. Shake up your routine and get out of your comfort zone, you’ll be better for it.
6. Wear sunscreen. Wear sunscreen that is not expired because if you do you will be extremely splotchy and have terrible peely skin. Also you will be the culprit for your friend’s horrific sunburn that she is still suffering the repercussions of weeks later. I’m sorry! Protect the skin you are in!

So there you go. Six inches of wisdom at your disposal. Use it well my darlings.

Countdown to 25 begins now!!!!

Get Outta the Pool and Back on the Coaster

Life is full of ups and downs. We all know that, we talk about it, sing about it, watch these roller coasters on our TV screens, and relate. It is easy to understand the extreme happiness of a new love or a crippling sadness of a lost job, or anything else that is an extreme change in your life. These things are extremely relatable, and they are experiences that bring us together as a human population.

But what about the plateaus of life? The periods where you just feel stuck? Where are the songs about that? Where are the TV shows and movies that portray a perfectly ordinary character that has nothing extraordinary happens to them? Are you trying to tell me that there isn’t a book about a person that wakes up, goes to the same stable job each weekday, goes to the grocery store and watches TV, maybe works out, and goes to sleep, repeat? Oh yeah, things are not interesting without a climax. Apparently, it is not fun to sing along with lyrics all about a mundane routine. It is not exactly thrilling to read a book late into the night about a person that does the same thing every day.

So what do you do when you feel like you are stuck in a rut? How do you shake up your life, how do you get excited about a life that you feel is perfectly ordinary?

As a person that gets a little stir crazy when things seem to have lost their zip, I have to remind myself of all the positive aspects of the situation. This is not always easy, and it can be very easy to sink into a pool of self-pity. People, the pool of self-pity is not where you want to be. It does not have a diving boards and you better believe there is no water slide. It doesn’t even have lap lanes. There is nothing in that pool but your own tears, and it is a big salty mess that will make your skin puffy. NOT A GOOD LOOK, TRUST ME.

Instead of being a puffy pruney mess, think about all the things in your life that make it more sunshiney. For me, I am so excited and grateful to be living where I live. I am so happy to know the people who I know. I am thankful that I am an able-bodied individual and I can get to the places that I need to go.

Overall, life is really great, and there are so many things to be happy for and to look forward to. In that sense, is any part of our life truly a plateau? There is always something new right around the corner if we take the time to seek out these opportunities. The more connected and present you are in your own life, the happier you will be. If any of you are feeling bored or down on the life that is yours at this time, it may help to think about all the good things that you have going on. It might be time to try something new, and reach out to people for help and advice. If anything, nothing lasts forever.

Our lives are a roller coaster ride, so enjoy it while you can, because, as you know, it doesn’t last forever.

Too be honest, this particular ride did not have a lot of plateaus, but I rode it, so I felt the need to brag. I’m extremely brave.

The Break Dancer of Your Dreams

Have you ever thought about something that you really want to do, or seen someone doing something cool and thought “hey, maybe I would like to do that, but I NEVER could because I am me and they are them and how would that ever work, I just can’t!!” or any other sort of run-on sentence that involves you doubting your ability to try something? Trust me, I already know that the first sentence of this post is very confusing, so now that we both know, we can move on together in harmony, right? Great! Let’s break it down.

You are a person that has talent and hopes and dreams. You see people joining clubs or taking classes or break dancing on the streets and you are interested in these things.  Maybe you would like to try your hand(s) at break dancing. Maybe those moves would make your heart scream with joy. Maybe you would even find your soul mate break dancing alongside of you. But guess what? You chicken out. You try to forget your curiosity about break dancing because it is “too out of the box”. Your heart withers and dies a little every day because you refuse to push yourself out of your own self-made comfort zone (also known as heart jail).

This is not a fun or healthy thing you guys. Your heart needs to be pumping blood to fuel you through all of the activities that you are interested in. Your heart does NOT need to be withering and/or dying. Prevent this untimely death people! Stop looking wistfully at all those break dancers and club joiners and class takers. Become one of them! If these other people can make their own hearts sing with joy and life, why can’t you? There ain’t nobody stopping y’all. We have one life and if we are lucky, we get to be in charge of that one life. Make sure you fill it up with things that make you happy, even if those things are edgy and potentially weird or make you tingle with nerves. These tingles are a good thing. Sign up for everything that interests you and you may find yourself a full-fledged passion.

Like I’ve said before, people with passion are more interesting. Capitalize on being interesting!

Maybe you really like painting your face and sing-screaming towards the moon. If that’s case, I support you. We support you. Your heart is full of joy! Joy and passion are beautiful and so are YOU. 

One Love

Y’all it has been an exciting few days here in the States. We’ve finally gotten one thing right, and have finally, FINALLY gotten on board with marriage equality. We can all get married to the loves of our lives in all 50 states!

This is an issue that has been very important to me for as long as I can remember, and I regained a little faith in humanity on Friday. It is a great feeling to know that we can come together to celebrate all love and support marriage equality. It makes my heart happy to know that millions of people can finally be bound to the person that they love, that their union will be recognized, that there are no more marriage restrictions in any state. That is how it always should have been, and though this has been a long time coming, we can celebrate that the day is finally here. Love is love! Nobody should be able to dictate who you love and who you want to spend your life with, and now nobody can. It’s amazing.

To all of the people who have opposed marriage equality, I hope you can come to terms with this decision, and open your hearts up. There is no real reason to try to keep someone from marrying the person that they love, and the most kind, generous, and human thing to do would be to be supportive of all love.

Now we can come together and focus on the multitude of other human rights issues that the people of our nation and of the world are facing. This is a big step for our country, but there is still so much work to be done. All lives matter, all love matters, and it is up to us to ensure that equality is honored and made a priority.

All love birds matter!

Charleston Strong

This has been a really tough week for Charleston. 

That sentence does not even scratch the surface of the devastation in our city, and honestly it is intimidating to write about. It’s hard to examine something that horrific especially when it happened in your own little corner of the world. 

Someone came into our city and stole 9 innocent lives for reasons steeped in hatred and ignorance. This person was welcomed into a church, and instead of being shunned he was prayed for, he was forgiven. He took important members of our community for no other reason than the color of their skin. It’s disgusting and it is horrible and it is hard to think about. 

But we have to think about it. We have to talk about it. We have to work together to stop these kinds of things from happening. We have to talk about gun control. We have to talk about racism. Ignoring it has not helped any of us, and this is the time to turn that around. This is the time to make a real change. Nobody should feel unsafe in a school or a movie theater, and especially not in a church. 

This boy committed these acts in the name of starting a race war, but instead his actions spurred the complete opposite result. Our community came together. We held each other and stood in solidarity. We are taking care of each other. 

This historic city is even more amazing because of the people that live here. We will continue to work together to build a better, safer, equality based environment. 

Remember us in your own towns. Reach out to people and promote equality. Promote education. Promote love. 

Charleston strong.

  

Travel in Style

Y’ALL I JUST HAD THE MOST BONKERS WEEKEND WITH PEOPLE THAT I LOVE! Seriously, it was truly fantastic. I got to be reunited with my dudes that have moved away from Chuck Town + our favorite Charleston visitor, and I got to do that in a really incredible city, Chicago!

On top of that, we stayed right downtown. On a boat. I know. Pretty great. What can I say, I’m living my best life.

Our dear Keighty graciously invited us out to stay on her parent’s boat and we made the most of it. It was a quick weekend getaway, but we did our best to see as much of the town as we could. We walked around all through the parks and took the trains to different neighborhoods in the city, very cosmopolitan. This may have permanently ruined Bailey’s ankle which was on the fritz already, but probably worth it, right?

Gracie Girl, our favorite girl in Chicago.

The weather was a bit dicey, but I’ve been told that that’s the Chicago way, so it seems as though it was a pretty authentic experience. We got to experience cold rain, warm rain, fog, and some beautiful hot sunshine. The sunshine was a fan favorite.

It was cold and rainy on Friday, which required a lot of layers and giant jackets. Forgive our fashion.

As we traipsed about town we were able to walk through a blues festival in the park which was awesome, there was a lot of free stuff there including pizza samples, energy drink samples, and photo booth pictures. I took advantage of them all, because free is my second favorite word.

That hot dog guy was desperate to be in this photo. It looks like he was playing it pretty cool, but I can assure you he was not. PS We didn’t even buy a dog. Whoops.

All the gals trying to impress, but then the dads come in…

I was also able to see another old friend from college, and it was a very fun night! Sorry I took a million pictures of you Linds. Actually no, it probably was very reminiscent of college parties, so you are welcome for the nostalgia.

Reunited and it feels so good! Let’s see each other in more cities please my HPU pal.

Saturday was sunny and beautiful, which was lucky because that was the day we were being taken out on the boat. It was a gorgeous day to explore the city from the water, and I am really thankful we were able to do that without having to pay for a riverboat tour. We are LUCKY!

Oh, no big deal, just the site of our accommodations. I recommend traveling in style, always.

EAGLE! Boating around the lake. What a city.

Gorgeous.

All in all, it was a memorable trip, and one that I am really happy I was able to take. It is so easy to talk about traveling, or fantasize about making plans, but it is entirely another to actually book something and follow through. I know it is hard with work, and money, and commitments, and life, but I think it is really important to take a leap and get out of your comfort zone. Life stuff will take care of itself, so make time for fun things.

Especially if your friend has a boat. Always take time to go on a boat.

Maybe Don’t Wish Upon that Star…Or Do?

This week I wish for patience. Patience with the pace of my life, and patience with where I am right now. Patience with who I am.

It is not unheard of for me to get frustrated with where I am and to wish that things were a little different from how they are. Sadly, all the wishing in the world does not change the circumstances of reality. Thanks for nothing fairy tales.

Despite the frustration and the doubt, I have to believe that these feelings are not forever. Growing pains are a part of life, and I imagine they will continue throughout every new stage. I think what makes being a twenty-something so exquisitely painful and completely different from other phases of life is the immeasurable amount of insecurity. This is an area of life that is overflowing with change – people are figuring out their career path, meeting their future spouses, creating new life – it is absolutely insane. It’s a lot to drink in, and it can feel like you are falling behind your peers, which is a less than comfortable feeling.

Being left behind, feeling alone in your quest to becoming yourself, trying hard to check off all the boxes you have created, these are all the painful realities of being in such a tumultuous time of your life. But guess what y’all. Not one single person here is alone. Not even one of us. Every single person on this earth has struggles, trials and tribulations in their lives. The person with the amazing LinkedIn profile does not have it all figured out. The newlyweds are terrified, which definitely does not even compare with the new moms and dads. Life is scary and challenging and exciting and wonderful and sad and hilarious and a million more things all rolled into one. That’s just the way that life works. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Patience is an important virtue that I personally need, and one that I wish for all of us. Patience to see our lives through without getting too down in the dumps. Patience to see a project or dream through. Patience for finding the right person. Patience for getting what you want. Patience is so incredibly important in life, and especially in the life of a twenty-something.

So, bringing it back to that wishing star, maybe instead of wishing for all the things that we need to be present in life and actually work for, maybe we should just wish for patience instead.  It is a useful tool, and it is a great way to not feel betrayed by Disney.

That’s right, we all know this is not a star. But as we all also know, when you shoot for the moon you land among the stars. That is an inspirational poster in every high school so it must be true.