23 Lessons Learned in 23 Years

Today marks the end of my birthday weekend, if you don't celebrate your birthday for at least three days you need to try it.  My actual birthday was on Saturday (Jan. 29) but I celebrated with friends on the 28th, my parents and good friend yesterday and again with my parents today (we had cake).  Anyhow, I turned 23 this year and I cannot say that I feel any different than I did at 22 or even at 21...except maybe not getting as excited to be able to buy wine if I want it.  I want to share the things I've learned over the past 23 years.

1. Regret is a wasted emotion, it is not possible to change what has happened nor to wish it away.  Why would you want to take back something that made you happy in the first place?
2. One should put less stock in what others are thinking of them; the labels, the rumors, the gossip and the cliques of life....they are all short lived and you should let yourself do what makes you happy.
3. Make sure your work means something to you, I for one always want to see my work helping others and working towards a cause.
4. People come and go in your life for multitudes of reasons, be grateful and don't ever let your friends forget you love them.
5. If you find someone in your life that you are in pain without make sure they know your feelings, one day someone else will have told them.
6. Do what you love, if that be working in a coffee shop or obtaining your doctorate, the world is really in your hands.
7. No matter what differences you had growing up, your younger siblings will be there for you when you need a shoulder to cry on.  My little brother is the best person in the world.
8. Sometimes revisiting your childhood is good for the soul.  If you loved barbies break them out, if you zoomed around with hotwheels zoom around the track again.
9. Your grandparents will not be around forever, take time to sit down and learn their stories.  You'd be surprised what you will hear.
10. People will surprise you everyday of your life, this can be good or bad.
11. Roll with the punches per say.
12. You'll have many heartbreaks in your life.  Learn something from each and everyone of those people.
13. Read the classics; nothing will ever replace a well written book.
14. Take a drive, get lost and learn how to get yourself back.
15. Dogs make the best companions, no matter what mood you're in they just want to sit on your lap.
16. Hate takes more out of the person holding it than the person it is directed towards.
17. You can spend your whole life either wishing to be somewhere else or to go back in time.  Learn to live more in the present.
18. Smile at every person you pass, you might just be the only person to have done so.
19. Dream big.
20. Write letters to people telling them all the things you wish you said, just to put it on paper, but don't send them.
21. Keep a journal.  Write any words that come to your mind.
22. Carry a camera with you always, you never know what you might come across.
23. Start a conversation with a stranger.

23rd Birthday!

And these my readers are some of the things I have learned over the course of my life.  I'm still young so I know these are bound to change and reshape themselves.  I also have no doubt I will add onto them.  Hope someone can take some of these and tweak them to make it their own.

It's Great to Have Friends

I've been in one of those funks where the idea of being around people was not remotely appealing.  And if you know me, this is really a very rare occurrence.  I would much rather be surrounded by a group of my friends at all times then be bored sitting around by myself.

But for reasons I cannot explain I had one of those weeks where I just wanted to cry a little bit and hit the ignore button quite frequently when anyone would call me.  After a particularly tough Friday, idk what it was but I came home in a shaky mood, got into a fight with my dad (which always just makes me sad), got in the car after a close friend convinced me to go out with him and cried because the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys song came on about New York, which is where my best friend lives.

Me and my NYC Bestie circa 2009 <3; being fools

I know...sob, sob, sob, sob, sob.  But, I promise there is a point to this.  My revelation is that after a full week of funky anti-social behavior it was my friends that brought me out of it.  From an hour long phone call with my bestie in NYC to a couple days over the weekend with glasses of wine and movies with a good guy friend, to coffee and games of 10 & 2's at the dirtiest but most frequented coffee shop in the Cle with my friends...I know that I have the best support group whenever I need it and that is something that makes me ecstatic. 

They'll listen to my cry about heartaches, complain about my parents, get angry over frenemies and just be upset when I want to be.  I hope all of my dear readers having people in their life like me, without friends life is pretty much sad and meaningless.  But remember you are allowed to have a week of anti-social behavior here and there :)

It's 2011!!

I know that I'm posting this almost 2 weeks after the fact, but I had another severe case of writers block.  Since the stroke of midnight I've had a lot on my plate, it was like the magical forces of my past had come out and decided to do really strange things to my head.  The one thing I haven't talked about much on my blog, and will probably mostly keep under wraps (unless it is something I have to gush about) is my love life.  However, for the purpose of this blog I will briefly go over it.  On NYE this year my one and only love, a person who I shouldn't love but have never been able to stop, apologized to me for all the junk he put me through.  Slam the breaks, whoa.  I was entirely flabbergasted about this new revelation but I took it in stride.  Now, when one thinks that is the only drama that could come out during a night of champagne and celebrating the new year, you have to be wrong.  Forward a bit past midnight and a former college flame comes out of the woodwork and tells me he wishes I was his NYE kiss, say what??  Then a few other former flames texted me saying they missed me.  I was really confused, but by the end of the night only one thing was chalked up in my mind, since I asked all these people why they never pursued anything further.  The answer?? "You weren't aggressive enough, we had no idea how you felt about us" So from the entire former flame apocalyptic event I learned that my ideas of being really open and flirty were basically undetected by the opposite sex...wow, what a revelation.  So here is where everyone starts talking about their New Years Resolutions!!!

Haha so I wanted to share mine:
1) Become more aggressive, and I mean if I think a guy is cute actually talk to him instead of smiling from the corner.
2) Save money, geeze I'm bad at that...but I want to be able to have a cushion of savings.
3) Move out, I don't enjoy living under the parentals after being away for 4 years
4) Smile everyday, cause smiling is awesome.

That's what I got folks.  What are some of your resolutions?  Do you think it's silly to create them?