Culture

Let’s Talk About the Elephant in the Blog

I started this blog on April 1, 2014. It was just a little over a month after my 28th birthday. I was working a dead end job. A job that I did love because I worked with some amazing people but it was going nowhere. I had absolutely no benefits and was barely living paycheck to paycheck. I was also living in a basement. (Yep, I was the cliche creep literally blogging from her basement when I started this blog.) Additionally, I was incredibly single. Probably the most single I’ve ever been since I went on my first date ever.

In those past two years, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. But that was kind of the whole point of this blog. It was me struggling with still being a fumbling twenty-something and having no idea what I want to do with my life. I was always hoping that when I hit that 30 milestone things would start to look up.

Well, it turns out that the big 3-0 is almost here. I have a lot of friends that jokingly ask me what I’ll call my blog after my birthday next month. (It’s February 25th for anyone who wants to send me presents!) “I Am 30 Now” doesn’t really have the right ring to it. I’m not feeling “I’m Not 20 Anymore” either. So for anyone wondering what’s going to happen to this blog’s name after my birthday, nothing will be happening. This will still be “Am I Thirty?” You all can rest easy now. You’re welcome.

I am a pessimist at heart and sometimes feel that if I get too excited about something, I’ll only be let down. But if I’m being honest with myself, things are really looking up for me at the moment. I may be heading into my thirties with not as much dread as I thought I would. I officially graduated from grad school and have my MLS degree. I was just rereading my About Me page and this is what I wrote: I am in grad school for Library and Information Science. I hope to be done the fall of this year. I eventually want to work with children or young adults in a public library. Well I earned that degree this fall and starting Monday I will be working as a Young Adult Librarian for the Brooklyn Public Library. (I still can’t really believe that I got the exact job I wanted right after graduating.) I am also finally able to move back out of my dad’s apartment. I had to move back home when I started school but now with my new fancy job, I am looking for places so I can live on my own again. I am still a single gal but I feel like this past year has taught me a lot about dating. I’ve finally started to figure out the things I’m doing wrong and what I do want in a relationship. There is a boy in the picture. A really nice boy who’s tall and makes me laugh. We’ve only gone on two dates so I wouldn’t call it anything at the moment. But I do know that I am going to give him a proper chance, not obsess over every little thing, and not run away the second I find one little thing about him I don’t like.

I named this blog “Am I Thirty?” on a whim. It was more to joke about the theory that once you’re in your thirties you have it all figured out. Being less than two months from thirty, I can already tell you that theory is bull. We will never have it all figured out no matter how old we are or how perfect our lives seem on social media.

I have no expectations that things are going to be perfect this next year. My job is going to be difficult and it’s going to take a lot of time and energy to get used to this brand new position. I live in NYC so even with a real job, I will not be able to afford some amazing apartment. And yes, most of my furniture will still be coming from IKEA. Also, who knows where things will end up with nice, tall boy who makes me laugh.

The name and the major themes of this blog are not going to change just because I’ll no longer be in my twenties. Sure, I feel like I’m moving towards the right direction and for once have a grasp on what I want to do with my life. I’m also a lot more confident in myself than I’ve ever been before. But I don’t have that “picture perfect, shit all together” life so many think they’ll have by the time they’re thirty.

So don’t worry about this blog going away or changing it’s tune just cause I’ll be thirty soon. Maybe, if I’m going to make any change, I should change the blog name to “Am I Sure I’m Thirty?”

What New Year’s Resolutions Actually Look Like

Happy New Year’s bitches! (I’m a few days late but go with it! I never post on here when I actually want to.) I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s. I had a party at my sister’s house and passed out on the couch after one too many shots of Jameson. Translation: I had an awesome New Year’s!

New Year’s is that annoying time when people won’t shut the fuck about all that “New Year, New Me” nonsense. You’re not going to change into some better version of yourself once the clock strikes midnight. You’d think by now people would realize that New Year’s resolutions are a joke. You’re just lying to yourself. But nope! Come January first, a membership to the gym becomes the hottest ticket in town and you realize that people are still buying into the idea of New Year’s resolutions.

I am all for people making goals in the New Year. I don’t want to spend all 365 days sitting on my ass watching Netflix. (Plenty of those days will be spent doing that but not all 365.) I’d like to accomplish a few things before December 31, 2016. And so should you! Goals are good to have but let’s all stop with the resolutions. It’s unrealistic to think that you’re going to completely change who you are as a person simply because the calendar year now ends with a six instead of a five.

And the real kicker is that most people make the same set of resolutions. Resolutions that they usually proceed to fail within the first month or so of the New Year. Let’s take a look at how your resolutions are really going to turn out.

“I am going to eat more healthy food!”
This is one that too many people make. You wind up eating like shit from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Eve, realize that you don’t fit into any of your pants anymore, and decide that a change needs to be made. This is the year you’re going to finally say goodbye to fried foods and start eating a ton of green shit.

Here’s how things really go: That first week is awesome. You pack salad for lunch and eat nothing but grilled chicken for days. Then someone decides to bring donuts to the office and all hell breaks loose. You consume five donuts in a matter of minutes and you’ve officially lost your way. 2016 will just be another year where you spend Sundays eating everything in your house because “I’m totally going to start my diet tomorrow.”

“I am going to start working out more!”
I wasn’t kidding when I said a gym membership becomes the hottest ticket in town. The eating healthy and working out tend to go together. You’re not going to throw down Big Macs and then run on the treadmill. You’re going to eat your sad salad and work out for forty minutes. So you buy that gym membership and vow that the money won’t go to waste because you’ll use the gym ALL THE TIME!

Here’s how things really go: You waste your hard earned money on a gym membership every month yet you never actually go to the gym. You go the first week and convince yourself that you’re really getting into a routine. Then it starts to get colder and colder. Then a really big snow storm hits. No one wants to work all day and then go to the gym when it’s zero degrees outside. So that routine is out the window. You spend the next few months hibernating. Then the weather gets warmer and you think, “Now I can get that bikini body.” So once again you go to the gym for about a week before you realize all the other shit you’d rather be doing than working out.

“I am going to start saving money.”
Saving money is smart. It’s always good to have that rainy day stash. So you figure that this will finally be the year that you really put aside that 10% of your check every time you get paid. You can do this. Ten percent is nothing! Building a nice savings account will be easy.

Here’s how things really go: Saving money is really hard! You have some really great intentions of putting money aside every week but then life gets in the way. People have birthdays, you just have to have that new dress, you gotta eat a lot of fattening food on Sunday before you start your diet the next day, some asshole hits your car while it’s parked and you have to shell out $300 to get it fixed (this actually happened to me in 2015). You wanna save money but shit just keeps getting in the way!

“I’m going to start going out more and enjoying life.”
People usually fall into two categories: the saving money group or the going out more group. It’s hard to do both. You can either save your money or go out and live your life. Usually those who had a particularly boring year tend to enter the latter group. They decide they’re going to go on more vacations, go to more parties, become more of a “Yes Man.”

Help me, I'm poor Here’s how things really go: You start to look up some vacation packages just to see where you can go. Then you realize that shit is crazy expensive. Being a “Yes Man” is great in theory until you start realizing that shots and a trip to the Bahamas aren’t quite as important as paying your rent every month.

“I am going to start dating more and really giving people a chance.”
You know what else is a hot ticket in January besides a gym membership? A membership to an online dating site. You’ve spent the holidays alone with no one to kiss under the mistletoe or when the clock strikes at midnight. You vow that by next year you’ll have someone to cuddle up with when the temperature drops. So you find your best selfies and join a dating site. You’re ready to start giving people a chance and be more open with dating.

Here’s how things really go: Turns out that online dating is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. You go on a few dates and each one starts and ends with you just wanting to get home so you can finish binge watching your show. Turns out that most people suck and dating really brings out the worst in people.

Resolutions are for chumps! Just don’t even do them. Instead make some goals. Work towards something you’ve wanted to achieve for awhile now.

This Is My Grown-Up Christmas List

I love Christmas songs. The second it hits November 1st, I start blasting the Christmas songs. And I will play Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Chistmas” all year round. Anyone who has a problem with this can fight me. Christmas music is the shit!

However, I will fully admit that some Christmas songs are ridiculous. “My Grown-Up Christmas List” is number one on the ridiculous list for me. I love all things cheesy but even this is a little too cheesy for me. What you really want for Christmas is for no more wars to start and for love to never end?

Well aren’t you just a special snowflake? News Flash: most people do want these things for Christmas. If someone said to me, “Listen you can either get yet ANOTHER gift set of lotions from Bath & Body Works or guarantee that no child would ever go to bed hungry again. Which one do you want?” I’m not a heathen. I’ll buy the lotions myself. Let the poor children eat.

But let’s be serious here. Wars ain’t ending and my shitty paycheck ain’t feeding all those hungry kids. I can barely feed myself. I can sing my little hear out about all the ways I’d like to see this world get its shit together, but it’s not going to help. In the end of the day, people are still going to be hungry, people are still going to be dying, and idiots are still going to be convinced that Donald Trump would actually make a good president. You can’t fix the world with a Christmas List.

So I’m going to be grumpy, materialistic, and shallow, and mention all the things that I really want on my Grown-Up Christmas List:

1. I would like to be able to drink without feeling like I need 27 Gatorades, 55 cheeseburgers, and 200 hours of sleep to recover the next day.

2. Please stop Demi Lovato from ever making music again. Nothing against her as a person. I’m sure she’s lovely but her music is atrocious. And this is coming from someone who has loved every single song Justin Bieber has ever released.

3. Could I please have Tom Hiddleston eye-fuck me the way he’s eye-fucking Kat Dennings in this gif? And when he’s done can he dick-fuck me?

4. Can my family just erase any memory of reading that above sentence about me being asked to be dick-fucked? Thanks!

5. Since there is no way I am ever going to diet, can I please just be able to eat whatever I want and maintain my weight? That’s not even asking that much. I’m not asking to be a size zero. I’ll deal with this muffin top if I knew it won’t get any bigger no matter how many cupcakes I devour.

6. I want a boy who I will actually like. A boy who understands the difference between their and they’re, doesn’t send dick pics, and will watch ridiculously cheesy horror movies form Netflix with me. And because I already said I’d be shallow, if he could be taller than me when I wear heels, that’d be fantastic!

7. I want to be able to eat whatever I’m craving at any moment but my bank account to never suffer from my insatiable appetite.

8. Whenever I pin any article of clothing to my “Fashion I’ll Never Actually Own” board, I want it to immediately be transported to my closet.

9. A job that doesn’t make me want to murder myself every Monday morning and pays me enough to live with a roof over my head and still be able to enjoy the occasional happy hour.

10. Speaking of Happy Hour…whenever I go out, can drinks always be at happy hour prices and appetizers be half-off?

11. I would like to be able to go a whole month without having a random panic attack where I feel like my heart is going to explode out of my chest for no good reason.

12. I would love for my hair to dry naturally looking like I just stepped out of a Pantene commercial.

13. And I guess when you’re done finding me a man, a job, and making me look good, you can make sure we stop killing each other! Thanks Santa, you’re the best!

*So what would be on your Christmas list? Feel free to be as unrealistic as possible!

TBT: Don’t Ever Give Me a Pet Hamster

Source

This may come as a shock to some of you but there are times when I have no idea what in the world to write about on this blog. Considering how OFTEN I post on here, I’m sure this is incredibly shocking news. With the frequency of my posts, you’d think the ideas are flowing out of me day and night.

Since all of that was clearly sarcasm and I never post frequently on this blog, I’ve decided to change things up a bit by bringing you a new segment I like to call: Throwback Thursday.

I never actually participate in Throwback Thursday on social media. (#TBT for all you cool kids!) I went through an awkward stage from ages 5 to 25. No one wants to see pics of me when I was younger. But stories of a ridiculous childhood can be hilarious and make for fantastic blog posts. That’s why I bring to you the first in my Throwback Thursday series: My disastrous history with pet hamsters. emma watson pet hamster

Oh Emma Watson, I have never related to you so much before. I have had three pet hamsters in my lifetime and they have all died tragic deaths. One was murdered and the other two committed suicide.

I’m a horrible person and cannot actually remember the names of my pet hamsters. Maybe that’s why they killed themselves. They’d rather be dead than have me as their owner. Hamster #1 was the first one to kill himself.

I was good to Hamster #1. I played with him after school every day. He had a nice big cage with a wheel which was perfect for when he wanted to have fun and lose a little weight. He even got one of those clear plastic balls he could roll around the house in. This bastard had everything a little hamster could want but it just wasn’t good enough.

Hamster #1 loved his little hamster wheel. He would play it in at all hours. At least, I always thought he played on it cause he loved it. In reality, he was planning his escape. His escape from this world and the overzealous love of an eight-year-old enjoying their first pet. I woke up one morning to find Hamster #1 lying next to the hamster wheel with a broken neck. Over twenty years later and I still remember the look of fear on his dead face. I live with that image to this day.

My precious parents tried to convince me that he must have fallen off the hamster wheel while it was still turning and got stuck. But I knew better. This bastard was preparing for this all along. He trained on that hamster wheel we lovingly placed in his cage to see how fast he could go. Once he hit maximum speed, he dove head first into that metal hamster wheel of doom! No one will ever be able to convince me it happened any other way.

You’d think that after seeing one hamster murder itself, I’d be done. You’d think wrong. In fact, after that debacle, I got two more hamsters. I thought if only Hamster #1 had a friend maybe he wouldn’t have killed himself.

Enter Hamster #2 and Hamster #3. (I’m still an evil bastard who cannot remember their names.) And it was a horrible disaster from the very beginning. This was no match made in heaven. They absolutely hated one another. Apparently they thought their clear glass cage was a steel cage set for no-holds-barred fights. Several times we caught them in a bloody mess after fighting.

A normal family would have bought a second cage and called it day. Easy solution! I don’t have a normal family. Our solution? Take a giant textbook and place it in the middle of the cage to separate these wannabe MMA hamsters.

The textbook divider worked for a little bit, until it didn’t anymore. One night I was at my friend’s house getting ready to enjoy a sleepover when I got a devastating call from my father. Apparently someone, in their haste to separate the dueling monsters, smashed Hamster #2 with the book. I wish I were kidding. Someone in my family, someone that I trusted, murdered Hamster #2 in cold blood. To this day no one in my family has ever come clean but I think I know who it is. I bet it was my older sister. She’s my favorite person in the world now but when we were younger, she was pure evil. (Maybe I’ll tell you some horror stories of having an older sister in the next edition of TBT.)

So the murder of Hamster #2 goes down as one of the country’s greatest unsolved mysteries and it left me with just Hamster #3. You’d think that after witnessing her arch-nemesis being murdered, she’d be happy. You’d think she’d be dancing around like the munchkins singing “Ding Dong the witch is dead.” Apparently she wasn’t happy. Maybe she was angry that she wasn’t the one who got to do the killing.

So Hamster #3 becomes the second hamster I own to murder itself. I come home from school so excited to play with my one hamster that hasn’t tragically died yet, only to see her sound asleep in the corner of her cage. Being the nice pet owner that I am, I let her sleep. Several hours pass and I think either my hamster has turned into Rip Van Winkle or something is up.

I tap the glass and nothing happens. In my heart, I knew she was dead. That’s the fate of the hamsters in my world. But I wasn’t brave enough to find it out for myself. I call my dad over to investigate. He turns poor little Hamster #3 over and we find a wood chip buried deep inside her stomach. The wood chips I lovingly laid on the bottom of the cage so she’d have a comfy place to sleep were used as a weapon to kill. Once again my parents tried to convince me that this was all an accident. She was just trying to get comfortable when one of those killer wood chips plowed into her. Freak accident. But I knew better. One freak accident, maybe. But after three dead hamsters, I was done.

I didn’t get another hamster after that. I couldn’t do it. It was pretty obvious that I was cursed to live out the rest of my days hamster-less. Future children (if I ever have you) please never ask for a hamster. The answer is no cause I shudder to think what new ways these hamsters would find to commit suicide.

I’m My Own Worst Enemy When It Comes to Dating

I wish I could say that this post comes with some sort of advice or lesson learned. It doesn’t. This is a way for me to try to work out a problem I’ve always had. A problem that I cannot even begin to explain. Maybe some of you lovely readers will have some answers. If nothing else, maybe I’ll be able to find some fellow weirdos who can relate.

It all started at a very young age. Probably in the third grade with the first boy who had a crush on me. He was so sweet. When I was out sick for a week right before the holidays and my dad came to school to pick up my homework, this boy gave him a present for me. It was a stuffed animal with a note hoping that I’ll feel better soon. That was incredibly sweet and showed bravery. An 8-year-old went up to my father to give him a present for the daughter that he has a crush on. This crush went nowhere. I didn’t even hold his hand (the equivalent of getting to third base when you’re eight). I immediately friend-zoned this poor guy.

Maybe I just didn’t like this little Romeo. I’ve already went over how just being “the nice guy” isn’t enough. But I have a history of turning away the boys I’ve liked as well. My first date was in the fifth grade to see Liar, Liar with a boy I really liked. Halfway through the movie, with my date constantly trying to put his arm around me, I came to the realization that maybe I don’t like this guy after all. Needless to say, this was our first and last date. Then for my sixth grade prom, the boy I had the biggest crush on actually asked me to be his prom date! I was ecstatic for a day before I started to question whether I actually really did like him. Turns out I didn’t so I had a friend tell him that I couldn’t go to the prom with him. (I am fully aware that I am coming off as Regina George-levels of mean and maybe I was when it came to these poor boys. But I really didn’t do it intentionally.)

This cycle of being a weirdo followed me into high school. I was a loser in high school. Braces, glasses, and a back brace will do that. I didn’t stand a chance. But there were a few boys who actually showed me attention. What did I do? I bet you’ll never guess. I ran away! One boy, who was tall, cute, and played football, inexplicably showed interest in me when I was a freshman in high school. I immediately closed up whenever I saw him and would go out of my way to avoid talking to him on the bus or in the hallway. A big part of this could be attributed to confusion. I just went over what I was packing in high school. I thought that this dude was playing some kind of cruel trick by being nice to me.

I wish I could say that after I left my teenage years, things got better. They haven’t. In fact, they have just gotten worse. There have been boys that I have genuinely liked. Truly cared about. But it’s always been at a distance. I never truly let them in. The second I feel as though things may be starting to get serious, I find some excuse to bail. No person in this world is perfect so if you try hard enough you’ll always be able to come up with an excuse to leave them. There’s always something that you’re not going to like. When I find that something, I convince myself that it’s a deal breaker.

There was one boy in my life that I let get to me. One boy that I actually cried over. It was a boy I met in college. He was really into me and always tried hanging out with me but surprise, surprise I kept putting it off. This happened for two semesters. Then finally he reveals to me that he got a GF so we stopped talking. Fast forward a little over three years and he calls me out of the blue. We start dating even though he was only 3-months out of a long-term relationship with the very girl that caused us to stop talking so many years ago. This guy was a walking red flag but I didn’t care. I went along with it anyway cause I actually liked him. A boy I actually liked and wanted to spend time with! I couldn’t pass it up.

Naturally things started to go south rather quickly. The texts got less frequent, something always came up when we were supposed to hang out. Eventually things ended cause he was still hung up on his GF (they even went to dinner one night while me and him were supposedly dating). I knew he was hung up on his GF, I knew he was emotionally unavailable, but I went along with it anyway. Nonsense with this boy went on and off for a little over a year before it ended for good. I know you guys are shaking your end at me for thinking getting into a relationship with a guy right out a long-term relationship was a good idea. Trust me, I’m shaking my head at myself. Maybe the allure of him being emotionally unavailable is what pulled me in.

Things still haven’t gotten better. This February, I met a boy. A tall boy with GREAT hair, who had his own place and made me laugh. He made an effort to take me out on real, proper dates. He cooked me dinner. The first time he did, I went to his place and the table was all set and everything. He also made me feel really pretty. He was incredibly complimentary, and not in an annoying, “just saying you look nice cause I should” way. He was so genuine in his compliments. Any normal girl, after coming across a guy like this would be elated. Unfortunately, we’ve already established that I’m not a normal girl. I literally found everything to discredit this guy. “He’s really clingy.” “He texts a lot.” “He wants to hang out all the time.”

(You are completely justified in judging me while reading this and please feel free to be mean to me in the comments section. I need it.)

Fast forward a few months later, I’ve found a way to sabotage things with the boy from February and I’m getting ready to be set up with my brother-in-law’s friend. Things are good for about a week before they start to go south. Regular readers will be familiar with this one. He’s the infamous almost relationship boy. This boy has been trouble since day one yet I keep coming back. (Yep, he is still in the picture.) It’s as though him being emotionally unavailable and a dick to me, is the way to my heart.

I’ve expressed my concerns about my dating habits to the people closest to me. I fear that I’m not actually capable of falling in love. There has to be something wrong with me that I can’t find anyone I truly like. I fear that I may have met the one for me but in my own stupidity I let him get away. (I still think about the boy from February a lot and genuinely miss him.)

They all tell me the things you’re supposed to say to someone when they are single and complaining: “You just haven’t met that special someone yet. He’s out there.” I get the sentiment and it’s the right thing to say, but it’s not always true. Not everyone finds their special someone. We all know at least a few people in their forties who never settled down. And if I’m being completely honest with myself and letting my guard down, that’s one of my biggest fears. I like being single. However, I don’t want to be alone forever. It’d be nice to find that person I could share life’s ups and downs with. But sometimes I feel as though I’m not capable of it.

I am not big on New Year’s resolutions. They are stupid and usually never actually work out. But if I had to commit to one thing in the upcoming year, I’d like to be less of an idiot when it comes to dating. I’m FAR from perfect and I need to remember that so is the person I’m dating. If they treat me right and make me laugh, then I shouldn’t be going out of my way to find things to dislike about them.

A Public Service Announcement to Myself

I try to keep things lighthearted here and keep the personal stuff to a minimum. But today I need to talk about a serious issue. This is something that I am putting out there for the whole world to know so I don’t continue making the same mistake.

This is something that I do all the time despite cries from family and friends that I’ll regret it. They tell me that I won’t be happy with my decision. I remind them that it’s my life and I can do what I want. I know what’s best for me. (Spoiler: I don’t know what’s best for me.)

Ignoring the protestations from loved ones, I do the thing anyway believing that it will make me happy. And it does make me happy. But it doesn’t last long. I spend weeks, sometimes even months, regretting my decision. I vow to never make the same mistake again. Next time around, I won’t be stupid. I’ll remember what I’m feeling now and won’t make the same mistake again.

However, a few months pass and I find myself in the same situation. Once again my loved ones remind me of all the terrible choices that I’ve made in the past. How it’s never made me happy no matter how much I’ve convinced myself that it has. But I’m stupid and don’t listen. I’ve seen other people do it and they seem so happy. It’s worked out for them. Why can’t it be the same for me?

So I take a chance and make the same mistake I’ve made 57 million times before. I think that somehow this time it will be different. This time I’ll finally get it right and be happy with my decision. But I’m never happy. I always regret my decision and cannot wait for it to pass!

Of course, I am talking about getting bangs! Every single time I go to get my hair cut I tell the stylist that I definitely want bangs. I love bangs. I love the way they look on me. Please cut some stupid bangs on my hair!

Why? Why do I do this to myself? I like the bangs for maybe two days after the haircut then I spend the next month or two just waiting for the bangs to grow out. Then I go in for another haircut and get bangs all over again.

It’s a vicious cycle and it needs to stop now. I am putting this out there for all the world to see. So I can be held accountable for the next time I make the dumb mistake, convinced that this time I’ll love my bangs and won’t regret my decision.

Ten Times Calories Don’t Count

Sorry I have been away for awhile, but I kind of knew that was going to happen. I am currently trying to put together my thesis and it’s slowly killing me. I am 23 pages in and not even close to done. Naturally, all of this stress has been making me eat, A LOT! Who has time to count calories when you’re stressed out? No one! I need this food in my life to keep myself sane when I’m up all night trying to find enough words to fit that ten-page minimum each chapter requires!

Food is my favorite thing in the world. If you want to instantly make me unhappy, force me to diet. Eating salads is depressing. I need carbs in my life in order to be happy. If a genie ever came to me with one wish, that wish would be that I could eat whatever I want without getting fat. Forget the perfect man, a mansion, student loans paid off. The ultimate dream is to eat whatever you want and still be able to fit in your clothes.

But sadly, life doesn’t work that way. You are more than welcome to eat a dozen donuts but just be prepared to pack on a dozen pounds as well. You can’t have it all; all the food and the nice body. But I am here with some good news for everyone. There are those times when calories do not count and you are welcome to eat as many cupcakes and french fries as your heart desires.

Here are the ten times you don’t have to worry about counting calories.

Holidays. This is an obvious one. Calories never count on holidays and yes, this does include Flag Day.
Your birthday. This is technically just another holiday anyway. You’re celebrating the day you entered this world. Calories are not a thing to worry about.
Chips and salsa or bread and butter at a restaurant before your meal comes. Going out to eat can be frustrating. Getting yourself and everyone together to leave, then driving to the restaurant, then waiting to be seated, then waiting for everyone to order, then waiting for your meal to finally come. It’s a process. And it feels even longer when you’re starving. So feel free to indulge in some bread and butter. It won’t hurt!
When you made the food. Making food is a job. No job should come with the punishment of extra inches to your waistline. If you make the food, you can eat it guilt free.
Samples. You wanna be able to eat a great lunch but not gain any weight? Go to Costco during your lunch break! Samples for days!
When you’re really upset. You’re already upset. There is no need for you to have to worry about calories or scales when you’re upset. Eat that tub of ice cream. Everything will be OK!
When you’re just trying someone else’s food. So you ordered the salad cause you wanted to be healthy but your friend ordered the mac and cheese with extra cheese and bacon. Bet your greens with dressing on the side seem pretty depressing at the moment, huh? Have no fear. Take a bite or two or ten of your friend’s mac and cheese. Those calories don’t add up!
When you’re really happy. Yay, you just got engaged! Yay, you just got that new job! Yay, after weeks of binge watching you’re all caught up with The Walking Dead! Whatever you’re celebrating, it should involve food. And no one celebrates a big event with an apple (unless it’s smothered in caramel and nuts!). Celebrate with that cupcake and worry about calories later.
When your day was just TOO long. After a long day of work and then having to come home to attempt to write some pages of my thesis, the last thing on my mind is what healthy dinner I’m going to eat. I want something fattening and delicious so I can get some ounce of joy in this God forsaken day!
When you’re eating your favorite food. If your favorite food is kale, then congratulations you have a healthy palate. But for most of us normal folk, our favorite food leans more towards the carby or sweet variety. So isn’t it great that calories don’t count when you eat your favorite food? So eat all the bacon you want without the fear of packing on the pounds!

*Please note that I am not actually a physician and none of these statements have been approved by an actual doctor. If you do get fat from eating all the samples at Costco, I cannot be held responsible.

Life is Really Hard Guys

Last night I watched the documentary Happy Valley (about Joe Paterno, Jerry Sandusky, and Penn State Football) and was reminded how self-centered and ridiculous human beings can be. A student, who’s a huge fan of Penn State Football, was being interviewed. This student was complaining how hard it’s been to be a Penn State fan since the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Now whenever he tells anyone that he’s a fan he has to go through the process of also stating that he feels bad for the victims. So many boys were sexually assaulted but this dude has to defend his fandom. Life is really hard guys.

That example may be a bit extreme when talking about people being self-centered. A less extreme, but just as ridiculous, example was me last night.

Coming home from work I realized that my phone kept turning off, restarting, and then turning off again after about a minute. It kept repeating this process. As soon as I got home I called customer service. We tried some basic troubleshooting but nothing worked. IT informed me that they’d have to reset my phone and I’d lose everything on it. Contacts, photos, everything! After groaning and trying to hold back my tears, I told them I’d call back in an hour. I spent the next hour trying to write down all my contacts. Keep in mind I had to do this while my phone kept turning off every minute. I did all this only to find out I’d need to buy a new phone and would be phone-less for the next three days. This news made me sit back and actually say the words, “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” No it’s not! Sure I was hungry and tired, but that’s not an excuse. Being phone-less isn’t even in the top ten worst things that could happen to me.

We have become a bunch of complainers, and about the most ridiculous things. Here are just a few things we need to stop bitching about.

“My pizza is too hot to eat even though I told the guy at the counter to not leave it in the oven for too long.” Wah, I have hot food! This is soo difficult. Take several seats and wait the five minutes for the pizza to cool. Or eat it right away despite burning the roof of your mouth like the true fatty I know you are.

“I forgot to bring my phone with me to the bathroom.” Now you have to shit without scrolling through facebook. Oh the horror!

“I was trying to take a screenshot but instead I turned the screen off.” I know it’s really important for you to immediately screenshot this conversation so you and your friend can decipher the real meaning behind that “k” text.

“Ugh, I have to sit through this 6-hour flight to California.” Poor baby, you have to sit through two viewings of Titanic in order to get yourself all the way across the friggen country. Read a book and enjoy your flight!

“I am trying to finish writing out this text but I keep hitting all the green lights.” You are complaining about catching green lights. I am so done with you!

“There’s no more guacamole for them to put on my burrito bowl.” OK, this one is legit. As far as end-of-the-world events go, this one is right up there with global warming. Is there some sort of avocado shortage that I’m not aware of? Get your shit together Chipotle. You should never be out of guacamole!

Questions I Don’t Think There are Answers To

Ugh, I started school. Going through my coursework for each class I determined that by the end of this semester I will have written at least 200 pages, eaten 5,000 chocolate chips cookies, and drank no less than 100 bottles of wine. It’s going to be stress central.

I am going to try my hardest to keep up with this blog but I will not be making any promises. I can be lax with with my posts when I don’t have much going on. You add a job, four classes, writing a thesis, and job hunting to the mix and I don’t see myself posting more than two times before the semester is over. I apologize now. I know how sad and empty your lives will be without my gif-filled anecdotes about my crappy life.

But I’m here now before things get too crazy. And I have a lot of questions…questions that I don’t even think Einstein would be able to answer.

1. Why do men send dick pics? What do they expect to get out of it?

Seriously, what is going through a dude’s mind when he sends an unsolicited dick pic to a girl he’s talking to? What do you actually think is going to happen? Maybe you think the following will happen: A girl will see the pic and think, “Ya know, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this greasy dude from Tinder but now this pic of his half-hard dick in shitty lighting has made me swoon. I need him inside me right now!” Trust me when I say that this is never going to happen. Instead it looks a little more like this: The girl will see the pic and after throwing up the last thing she ate, she’ll immediately text her friends so they can all laugh at you.

2. How do some women wake up every morning and put on a full face of make-up? No disrespect. I admire you beautifully put together females! I want to know your secrets. I give myself enough time to throw on clothes and brush my teeth in the morning. That’s why I wind up looking like a boiled potato at work every day. I wish I had the energy and patience to actually put effort into my face and hair in the morning.

3. Why are the Kardashians famous? I am not even going to use this opportunity to bash the Kardashians and complain about them being everything that is wrong with society. I am actually going to give them props. They are richer than I will probably ever be in my entire life. I would gladly throw away all my integrity if it meant I can live in a huge mansion, go on spectacular vacations, and never work another day in my life. This question is directed towards the fans. What is it about Kim Kardashian or Kylie Jenner that makes you a fan? I am genuinely curious what makes people look up to these women and want to follow them on every social media site. You’re the reason they are rich and famous and I will never understand it.

4. Why do people care that gay marriage is legal? You want to think gay marriage is an abomination, go right ahead! You want to cry yourself to sleep at night because all the gays are gonna burn in hell for loving someone of the same gender, here are some tissues! You are free to think whatever the hell you want, but why do you care soooo much about the marriage of two consenting adults? Adam and Steve falling in love and getting married does not affect you in any way! Two guys or two girls getting married does not negate your precious “traditional same-sex marriage.” Marriage equality has absolutely no affect on your life whatsoever!

5. Why is turkey bacon a thing? turkey bacon is gross I am well known for my hatred of turkey bacon. The crazy Christians (Don’t get offended. If you’re a Christian that recognizes that not everyone follows the same faith as you, you’re not the crazy bunch I’m referring to) can have their disdain for gay marriage but I know what the real abomination is: Turkey Bacon. That shit is the devil’s food and it needs to be stopped. It does not deserve to have the word bacon in it. Bacon, REAL bacon, is a gift from God and should not be disrespected like this.

6. How come when you have a sore in your mouth you will bite that exact spot no less than 27 times during every meal? Maybe there is some answer to this. Maybe there’s some scientific reason that our brain wants to punish us and make us suffer every time we try to eat with a sore. Is it my brain telling me to stop eating like a fucking fatty?? Whatever the answer, it’s not very nice and it hurts. I’m not going to stop eating the taco no matter how bloody my mouth may get.

7. Why do some people only take morning showers? There are so many things about morning shower people that I do not get. For starters, how do you have the time? Refer to the second question if you don’t understand. Who the hell has time to shower in the morning? I’m lucky I can wash my face. Additionally, what exactly are you washing off? The dirty dreams you had the night before? I take a shower at night, like a normal person. I wash off the dirt and grime from the day so I can put on clean pajamas and get into bed. Who feels comfortable getting into bed without showering? That’s just wrong. Your bed is a sanctuary and it deserves better than that.

8. How come when my alarm goes off during the week I feel like I can sleep for another 7 hours straight but on the weekends I’m up no later than 8 am? You will never, ever feel as comfortable in your bed as you do right after you hit the snooze button the first time. That feeling only competes with realizing you have to pee right after you’ve settled in and found the perfect position. I set my alarm a little earlier than I need to wake up because I know that I’m a lazy sloth and will never get up as soon as it goes off. I need that extra ~~five~~ 45 minutes. After I hit that snooze, I feel like Rip Van Winkle. I’d gladly sleep the next twenty years away. But then Saturday and Sunday come along and I’m up at the crack of dawn. I don’t get it.

9. Does Netflix and Chill really not mean Netflix and Chill?

When did this happen? When did Netflix and Chill become a euphemism for sex? I don’t know when this happened but I do not like it! If you invite me over for Netflix and Chill, you better put your penis away. I am expecting Netflix and Chill. I want pizza, wine, and at least 10 episodes of OITNB!

This Is the Funniest Comment Section I’ve Ever Come Across

I spent one of my last posts bitching about how horrendous the comments section on any online article can be. I still stand by that fact but I also will admit to constantly reading the comments on an article. I can’t help it. I want to look away, I know it’s going to be horrible and make me lose faith in humanity, but I feel myself getting sucked into it. I imagine this is how most viewers of Keeping Up with the Kardashians feel.

I recently read an article on Buzzfeed and the comments are a gold mine. Instead of making me cry, I was laughing hysterically. In case you weren’t convinced that people will get offended from everything these days, this comment section will prove that. The article just lists 33 facts about the class of 2019 that will make us folks in our twenties and thirties feel old. Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, it was a hilarious shit show in the comments section as children came out of the woodworks to comment about their superiority because they in fact do know what a flip phone is! Sure you know what a flip phone is but do you know what I mean when I say Zach Morris phone?

The article mostly listed the way things were when the class of 2019 was born. TV shows that came out, music that was popular, etc. Apparently that’s a SUPER offensive thing to do. How dare you tell a 13-year-old that they never had to deal with dial up? At first when I was reading the article, it made me feel super old. Seeing all these things from my childhood was too much nostalgia. Then when I read the comments, I remembered how dumb you are when you’re a teenager and I no longer felt so badly about being old. It’s the equivalent of me reading an article about how someone my age will never understand the hysteria of Beatlemania and then getting angry because I know so many Beatles’ songs. Knowing about something is not the same as living it.

Since I’m not much into cyber bullying, I’ll leave out the commenters names but here are some of the gems found in the comments section:

December 2001 for me. These things were my childhood, if that makes sense. I’d say maybe 30 out of 33 of these things are something that I do remember.

First off, you were born in December 2001. You are 13-years-old; you’re still in your childhood. Do we not teach the concept of memory in school anymore? You do not remember most of these things, you know about them. Britney Spears performed “I’m Slave for You” with a snake before you were even born! You do not REMEMBER the greatest pop culture couple: Britney and Justin. You only know about them through bittersweet pictures. And if you actually remember using MySpace then I want to ask your parents why they allowed their 4-year-old to create a social media account.

i was born in 2000 and i also find some of these things a bit inaccurate. My first phone was a Sony Ericsson feature phone.

Child, you need to take several seats. I got my first phone when I was about 15-16. You are 15 and reminiscing about what your FIRST phone was.

its not commentary between the diffrences between our generations because they are not vaild facts so therefore not valid diffrences and in 10 to 20 years i wont be in yall sad postion because i will be out flying on my hover jet talking to siri 17.0 that was installed in my brain

I also hope that 10-20 years from now you learn about punctuation and spelling.

buzzfeed- your future audience will be our generation so it’s time to stop picking on us and making “90’s Kids Will Remember” posts because we get the gist and every article is pretty much the same. i’m sick of these types of posts lol.

“We are not entitled brats with no sense of humor but if you do not start making every post about us, we will become incredibly offended and stop reading your stuff!” I don’t think logic starts developing in a person until they are at least 20.

I’m here to tell you that, no matter how old you feel, if you were a 90s kid, you’re not old. LOL For those of us who were born in the 60s, grew up in the 70s, partied like crazy in the 80s, and became professional adults in the 90s, your angst over feeling old makes us want to pat your head and smile, then shuffle off with our walkers chuckling to ourselves.

This was my favorite one because it put both the 90s and the 00s kids in their places for being the obnoxious brats that we are!

Am I Thirty Yet

Hopefully by the time I'm thirty I'll have this all figured out.