30 Skills to have by 30

Thirty is coming.
Not for another couple years for me, but it's still lingering out there. 
I've made the decision to embrace it, and am choosing to use the milestone as a source of inspiration. 
And while I'm excited to learn and grow, I realized that there's quite a few things we should know before hitting the big 3-0. 

So I compiled a little list.  

(Let me tell you right now I've only got about half [maybe] of these down.) 

1. How to Sew a Button
Guys.
First off, buttons are incredibly easy to sew - trust me. Secondly, they will ALWAYS fall off at inconvenient times, and you might not always have mom/girlfriend/butler around in the moment to help you. Do yourself a favor and learn how to sew your own buttons. 

2. How to Open a Bottle of Champagne 
Under my mother's roof, this is a skill learned before it was legal for me to even drink it. PLUS, you can impress all your friends when you are the gal or guy who always shows up with a bottle of bubbles and opens it cooly (and safely - ALWAYS point away from people!) Watch a tutorial HERE. 

3. How to Cook 2 great dishes for every meal. 
French Toast, BLT's and Spaghetti and Meatballs are all some of mine. 
Impressive, I know. 

4. How to Say No
I don't know about you guys, but I have a real tendency to immediately accept every task/event/favor I'm asked about, and then find myself over-booked and lamenting it. 
I also have a compulsion to please people around me and get scared to say no, or put my foot down. I try to avoid confrontation at all times. 
But sometimes you need to be ok buckling down and knowing when and how to turn people  down. 

5. Teach Yourself A Skill Using Youtube
In 2014, we can teach ourselves how to do basically anything. If you can dream it, you can YouTube it. 

6. How to Properly hold a Baby
If you're getting close to 30, it's happening: Your friends are starting to have babies. 
I know, it sounds crazy to me too, but it's for real and that train is NOT stopping for a while. Know how to take a little one off your friends' hands for a while so they can enjoy a conversation (or cocktail) for 5 sacred minutes. Trust me, they'll love you forever.
Plus - holding babies is good for the soul. 

7. How to make your favorite Cocktail(s) 
Impress your guests, and treat yourself when you want to be fancy (and drunk.) 
Bonus points for knowing how to pick decent wine. 

8. When to bite your tongue 
As important as it is to know when and how to say the right thing, it's often even more important to know when to shut the fuck up.
I struggle with this on a daily hourly basis. 

9. How to Tie a Tie (Men) or Apply Liquid Liner (Women)
Guys and gals - be classy and prepared by knowing how to do these staples. 
Bonus points for girls who can do both. And walk in heels. 

10. How to Parallel Park 
While we all have our Austin Powers moments in sticky parking situations, parallel parking is an invaluable skill to have, especially in bigger cities. 

11. The Ability to Run a Mile
Even if it's just in case of emergency. (Jabberjays, Fire Wall, Chasing after George Clooney... or pizza...)

12. How to Prepare for a Job Interview
1. Be confident and properly dressed.
2. Present a properly formatted resume. 
3. Un-Tag all Facebook pictures from Spring Break 2009.
4. DO NOT ask a question about the kid in the picture on the interviewer's desk. (Hint - their son is actually a daughter.)

13. Have a Go-To Karaoke Song
I almost never do Karaoke, and when I do it's after an ungodly amount of tequila shots, so I may not be the best person to address this. 
BUT - when I DO take the mic, I know that I will be singing either Tom Jones, Neil Diamond or Britney Spears. 
Find your song so that when the Cuervo is fogging up your head you don't have to waste valuable brain power on picking a song in that giant book. 

14. How to Give A Good Toast
Your late 20's is the dawn of the weddings, people. Trust me, I have 6 this year alone. It's the time in your life to be prepared to give toasts and speeches. 
(Also incredibly important to know how to: Recycle a Bridesmaids Dress, Do the Cupid Shuffle, Find Cool Cheap Gifts on Etsy, Find a Way to get Airline Miles, Talk to Elder Relatives, and Make Friends with the Bartender & Person in charge of Cake)

15. How to Change a Tire
Take it to Pep Boys

16. How to Do Your Taxes
Take them to H&R Block

17. How to Jump Start a Car
Or at least always have jumper cables in your trunk and know how to ask for help.

18. How to Fight Right
Relationships of every kind have ups and downs, and it's important to know how to fight with your significant other/Friend/Parents/Landlord/Barista while remaining constructive and not hurtful. 
(To Max at Starbucks, if you're reading this, I'm sorry.)

19. How to tip 20%
I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you can't afford to tip 20%, you can't afford to go out.
Period.
Be kind to your server/bartender/hairstylist/sherpa while also improving your karma, and tip the appropriate amount. 


20. How to Treat a Hangover
1) One Part Gatorade, Two Parts Water. 
2) 3 IB Profen. 
3) Repeat Step 1. 
4) French Fries.
5) Pint of Beer. 
6) Repeat Step 5. 
7) Repeat Step 6.
8) Repeat Step 7.
9) Do all over again the next day. 


21. How to Have your Fridge Properly Stocked
Milk and Eggs are great and all, but it's important to know how to have a fridge stocked  correctly. 
That way there's always something in case of emergency (frozen pizza), company (a bottle of bubbles), cravings (sharp cheddar), mornings (half & half), hydration (Brita pitcher), and necessity (beer). 

22. Make a Craigslist Deal
Meet in a public place, know the appropriate price of what you're buying/selling, know how to haggle, use a bunch of keywords in your post, Avoid creepers. 

23. How Do something out of your comfort zone
Whether it's bunjee jumping or wearing shorts, we all need to be forever challenging ourselves. 

24. Feel Comfortable Asking for What you Want & Deserve (In all areas)
From the board room to the bed room, if you don't ask, the answer is no. 

25. When and How to Write a Thank You Note
The art of the Thank You note is rapidly fading away in our society, and it's an invaluable skill to have and implement. 

26. How to Take Care of your Skin
1. Moisturize
2. Wash Face
3. Moisturize some more

27. How to Make Lemonade
Metaphorical lemonade, that is. 
By 30 we should be able to find the silver linings, see the glass half full, and, in general, suck it up and make the best of things. 

28. Start a Roth IRA

29. Know what a Roth IRA is 

30. And When All Else Fails - Just Ask WWOD
What Would Oprah Do?

PS - I'd like to personally thank WikiHow for helping get me through this post and a lot of life in general.  

Tetanus Shots & Weepy Baths - Some Days Just Suck

10 PM Last Night:
After a crummy day beginning with a flat tire on my car and ending with an hour of Jake and I fixing the drain in our shower so I can take a hot bath, I step barefoot onto the drain stopper laying on the floor, and two rusted metal prongs plunge into the ball of my foot. 

Fast Forward to Noon today:
I am sitting in Urgent Care, spending money I don't really have on a co-pay, waiting to get a Td shot so I don't get Tetanus and lockjaw and die.

Rewind to 10:01 PM Last Night: 
After hearing me scream bloody murder, Jake runs in to save me (Pulling the thing out of my foot, applying pressure, drenching it in hydrogen peroxide). 

12:45pm Today:
The flirtatious male nurse leads me (hobbling) to a scale where I beg him not to weigh me. 
He says he has to. 
I instruct him not tell me my weight. 
One self-produced catastrophe at a time.

10:20pm Last Night:
After going through all of this, I say I AM TAKING MY DAMN BATH.

1:05pm Today:
Sitting alone in the exam room, I start trying to remember whether or not Tetanus is the shot that has to be given in the butt. 
Panic attack ensues. 

10:22pm Last Night:
I precede to soak in the tub and cry. 

1:10pm Today:
A female nurse comes in with a giant needle. 
Panic Attack Increases. 

10:45pm Last Night:
Still Crying in the now luke-warm tub.

1:20pm Today:
The female nurse assures me that A) The shot can be administered in the arm, and B) It's not the needle that hurts, but the thick medicine forcing itself through my body and the bruising & weakness of the arm that follows. 
I take no comfort in this. (Except the arm part. That's a pro.)

11:00pm Last Night:
It's hard at this point to tell what is bath water and what is tears. The puncture wound in my foot has opened the gateway to every insecurity, depression and anxiety in my life, and is being released through my tear ducts. 
I am in full blown melt-down mode.

1:22pm Today:
The shot has been administered and I remain in the exam room alone with a fucked up foot and a now throbbing arm. 
Bored and wanting documentation, I take a Selfie. 

11:06pm Last Night:
I start to realize I might be mentally unstable.
Also my entire body is now a prune.

1:22:34pm Today:
The doctor walks in on me taking my selfie.
As if this day could get any more embarrassing.
Then he tells me the antibiotic he's prescribing has a tendency to cause diarrhea. 
Winning.

11:07pm Last Night: 
I drag myself out of the tub, suck it up, and turn my attentions to a pint of Cherry Garcia.
Things are looking up. 

1:43pm Today:
I leave urgent care deciding to shake off the pain and embarrassment I'm feeling and close the door on this pity party.
I decide instead to think about how grateful I am. 

I'm grateful to Jake for rescuing me, grateful for my health insurance, and for my parents who pay for my health insurance even though I am clearly an adult (albeit kind of a shitty one.)
I'm grateful for the drive-through coffee shop on my way to fill my prescription, for Ben & Jerry's frozen yogurt, and I'm grateful for hot baths. Even when I cry in them.
And I'm very grateful that the antibiotics did not have the aforementioned side effects. 

Some days just suck. 
Being a grownup is hard. 
Puncture Wounds and Anxiety Attacks blow. 
BUT - it's important to remember that no matter how shitty your day is, it's better than getting tetanus. 

The Millennial Manifesto

We live in an age of limitless options. 
We are growing up in a time of expansion, technology, excitement and confusion.
We are bombarded with images, information and ideas at an unprecedented speed. 

We are Millennials. 

Generation Y. 

We are unlike any generation before us. 
Just like the children of the printing press were unlike any generation before them. 
Or the generations after Edison, Jefferson, the Industrial revolution. 

The thing is, people weren't called selfish because they wanted electricity, or to drive a car.
Generations before us weren't accused of narcissism when they sat for months to have their portraits painted.
(OK Maybe they were, but it feels a little more targeted these days.)
We take advantage of the unfathomable technology at our fingertips and are chastised for being obsessed. 
We are crippled by boundless options, and look at lives with no clear path, questioning everything. 
We reel from the economic deficit that's been dealt to us, while competing in an antagonistic job market. 
And then we are called lazy. 


According to some, we are "not interested in developing a meaningful philosophy of life."

I disagree.
We are very interested in developing a meaningful philosophy of life. We are just redefining what that means. 

We are discovering uncharted terrain. 
And sometimes you have to get a little lost. 

We are EXPLORERS. 
We are pioneers. 
We are pirates. 

We are movie makers for the masses. 
We are professional phoneographers. 
We are authors with fewer words. 

We are brave.
We are engaged.
We are terrified. 

We are impatient. 
We are greedy. 
We are ravenous. 

We are uninsured.
We are unmarried.
We are unemployed. 

We live at home because no one will pay us for jobs that ten years ago would never have been considered to be done for free. 
We rent because we've seen what happens with ownership.
We date because we've experienced what happens to marriage. 
We're afraid of commitment, but we thrust our every thought on to the internet for people to see. 

We are a paradox. 

We are the most educated generation to date. 
We are addicted to Candy Crush. 
We defend women's rights and same-sex marriage. 
We drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and grow ironic facial hair.
We are dealing with the effects of a massive economic recession and are recovering from multiple wars.
We smoke pot - sometimes even legally.
We are "trophy kids" spawned from "helicopter parents."
We express ourselves with emojis. 
We are being left with a global climate crisis. 
We spend hours of our lives online.  
We live in a stagnant job market. 
We take selfies. We take Gap Years. We take things for granted. 

We are NEW. 
We are FIGURING. SHIT. OUT.

However. Despite any arguments we may have against our adversaries, there are some definite things that need to be examined.

Our state of affairs invites a few reflections.

1. We will Put the Screens Away
Less Facebook, Less Facetime, More Face to Face.
No more vines of twerking, no more real housewives. 
We have the right to explore the cyber world we've been given, but we will also try to focus on the here and now in front of us. Even if it means taking a picture of it on our phones.

2. We will Stop Questioning Every Move
From what frozen pizza to buy, to what grad school to attend, to how to function in our relationship, we will trust ourselves and lessen our avalanche of anxiety. 
We will learn that there really is no right right except the one that makes us happy. 

3. We will Respect Each Other
No more name calling. 
No more "fat." No more "ugly." 
No more slut-shaming, no more twitter-wars, no more anonymous hateful trolling.
NO more bullying. 
No more unnecessary judgement. We will defend the underdog.
And we will permit equal rights to all men and women. 

4. We will Take Responsibility 
We will acknowledge the power of words. 
We will share thoughts and information in a positive way. 
We will give constructive criticism and receive it with grace. 
We will own up to mistakes and THINK before posting, before acting, before making a move. 
We will not misappropriate cultural property. 
We will use less airbrush.
We will take ownership of our ideas, bodies, lives, safety, consumerism, relationships and futures. 
We will not deflect blame.

5. We Will Use Our Powers For Good
Despite frustration with our critics, we DO need to step up for the good of the planet. We need to help the people, the climate, the country.
We could spend a little less time focusing on uptown problems, and more energy on what really matters. 
We will be optimistic, we will contribute, we will engage, we will be team players on a global level. 

6. We Will Look to the Future
We will provide generation Z with proper role models, a sense of confidence and security, and a decent and kind world to live in. 


And maybe someone could invent a calorie-free pizza...
Teleportation would be pretty cool too. 

My Guide to Being Broke

I've gotta be honest, it's not often I find myself broke.
I'm very lucky to have a great steady job that pays me enough to live the lifestyle I've grown accustomed to.
HOWEVER - 
Every now and then I slip up and live a little outside my means *cough*cough* those-3-bottles-of-expensive-wine-our-last-night-of-vacation*cough*cough* and find myself, well, less than flush. 

And it's in these times that I pull up my (Frye) bootstraps, carpé the diem, make (spiked) lemonade, and find resourcefulness in myself.
Here's my brief (And questionable) guide to being broke:

Step 1: Buy Some Two-Buck Chuck
- If you're gonna be broke, you might as well be drunk, right? Enter Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon from my beloved Trader Joes. 
At $2.99 a bottle, it's still enjoyable in taste, and can be appreciated by those deepest in hoodrat status. 
And it goes great with Ramen. 

Step 2: Get Crafty
- Why is it that seemingly when you're in your deepest financial crevice, all of a sudden it becomes EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY?!?! 
Now, I'm a firm believer that A) Birthdays are ridiculously important and B) Homemade presents are the bomb anyway, so being broke gives me the opportunity to stretch my creative wings. It's really a win-win. 
Four Christmases ago I was flat broke and I made my mom a box of 75 note cards each saying something different I love about her. It cost me 3 dollars, and she hasn't stopped crying since. 

Step 3: Turn Your Apartment into a Resort
- The thing that really sucks about being broke is you can't go out. And for someone who could eat every single meal of her life at a restaurant, this becomes a problem. 
SO, the thing to do is, to turn your home into a place filled with opportunities of rad stuff to do. 
"Sorry guys, can't go out tonight, I've got an in-home mani/pedi waiting for me." 
"Oooh man, I'd love to go to that concert, but I'm expected at an intimate private screening of the illegally downloaded final episodes of Breaking Bad. Have fun though!"  
See? You got this. 

Step 4: Expand Your Mind
- You know what's free? Reading. 
Don't view being broke to mean that you're unable to go out and do anything, view it as your chance to finally finish Anna Karenina! (Or the finally read the Harry Potter series... You know, whatever.)

Step 5: Go Shopping in Your Closet
- I am a completely and totally confirmed Shopaholic. It's difficult for me to let a full week go by without purchasing something new. So being broke kind of blows. 
BUT - I actually find that when I'm hard up I come up with some of my most innovative sartorial creations! Give yourself an extra 15 minutes when you're getting dressed and just go nuts. Spend some time on the internet finding looks you love and then try and create them from things you already own! 
(Disclaimer: This can sometimes backfire. Your brilliantly imagined Annie Hall look can take a turn for the worse into Rosie O'Donnell territory.... You've been warned.)

Step 6: Change Your Attitude, Change Your Life
- The thing about being broke is, just like everything else in life, it's completely and totally about your outlook. 
So you can't go to dinner and the movies on your normal date night, so what? You CAN make a fun night of it in the kitchen, rent a $1 Redbox, and do something else together I can think of that's totally free... if you catch my drift...

See??? Looking at this list, being broke actually doesn't look so bad!
The other things that are really important are to listen to a lot of music, catch up on projects that have been nagging at you, and to have a sense of humor. 
If you do all of this, especially number 6 (never forget - mindset is everything!), I can almost guarantee you you'll be fine.  
And when in doubt, just drink more Charles Shaw. PBR is also acceptable. 
Good Luck!

Tarreyn Land on QLC!

Hey Readers!
I'm super excited to announce an that today an article of mine was published on the website Quarter Life Conversations! 

I started following this site a couple months ago, and they always have a lot of fun stuff to say to quarter-lifers! They cover everything from dating to deadlines, music to meltdowns, and today my voice has entered the conversation! 

Check it out:

Adult Ennui

Hope you're having a great week!

Pink Empowerment

Do you ever do something that just completely rejuvenates your sense of self?

A decision that somehow, for whatever reason, makes you really feel confident that you're on the path towards who you want to be?

Something that's utterly gratifying, even though it can be simple as finding out what your favorite drink is, or buying the perfect pair of boots?

For me, that moment was dying part of my hair pink.

Having wanted to do this forever, and finally taking the plunge, this seemingly small act has jumpstarted my confidence & motivation, and given me a clear line of what direction I want to be headed in. 

I want to play Morrissey on the ukulele, and write a screenplay, and day drink.
... And not be as pretentious as that just sounded...
I want to visit flea markets instead of museums when I'm on vacation, and eat breakfast for dinner and to say fuck off to criticism.
I dunno. I'm rambling.
This whole thing just has me feeling pretty empowered.

I'm ready to let my freak flag fly.

I don't want to second-guess my instagrams about whether they're cool enough.

I did enough second guessing in middle school, & all it did was make me miserable enough to drown my sorrows in cafeteria pizza... No. Bueno.

I'm done with it.
I need to accept that some people may like me & some may not, that's what makes the world go round. I'm a weirdo, hear me roar. 

I think we all need a little pink empowerment in our lives.
Do exactly what makes you happy (unless its heroin. or zip lining. Not worth it.)
Follow your inner compass. Spend 150$ on a massage from a shaman, get that tattoo, wear shorts in public. 

I feel like in life, and specifically in our twenties, it's hard not to second guess & scrutinize every decision we make. Maybe it's not just in our twenties, but since I'm not older than that I couldn't say for sure.

Although, I do think our generation in particular finds itself crippled with options, & we need to focus on turning that into a positive instead of like a terrifying fate.

Things are not as permanent as they seem, and very few decisions can't be undone.
We just need to take the plunge.
Dye the hair pink.

Tavi Gevinson, I can't decide if I Hate you or just Want to BE you

Well, it's Friday morning and I just finished watching the love of my life Stephen Colbert interview the youngest guest who's ever been on The Colbert Report - Tavi Gevinson.
Of. Fucking. Course.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tavi, she is the most productive and accomplished 16 year old EVER. 
The blunt-banged pixie started earning national acclaim at AGE TWELVE for her fashion forward blogging on The Style Rookie, and by 14 was being personally invited to majorly major fashion events by people like KARL EFFING LAGERFELD. 

(Rocking it in her back yard at age 11)

Since being a world-renound fashion icon wasn't enough for a girl of 15, she founded the website Rookie Magazine, a haven for articulate teenage girls everywhere. The zine just published a book called "Rookie Yearbook One" and tours across the country doing everything cool I would ever want to do, as well as throwing parties with some of the hardest to score invites in the country. 
... When I was 16 I was preoccupied with drama club and busy lamenting the fact that I'd still never been kissed...
But I really do wonder what I potentially could have accomplished if I'd been a teenager in today's world of the internet. When I was Tavi's age, I barely had AOL Dial-Up. I expressed myself with messy collages and elaborately decorated pages of notebook paper. 
It's incredible and awesome and amazing what the world of blogging and internet can produce.

This pint-sized poet of everything that is cool accomplishes more before I get out of bed in the morning than I do in months. And by months I mean years.
Of course the easiest thing to do is hate and resent her.
But I can't.
She's just too fucking impressive. 
And how is it possible to hate someone who at 11 wrote something like this:
Today whenever someone said something I didn't care to hear I imagined all the leather in my outfit interrupting, it was for some reason very amusing!

"Tavi, if you keep drawing whiskers and ears on all your Q's you'll have to redo you-"
"LEATHUHHHHH"

It's not. It's not possible. 

I mean look at this kid!

Oh. Did I mention along with being RODARTE'S MUSE, a quick wit, author of a massively successful website, and full time student that she's also a musician? And photographer? And designer? WHAAAAAAAAAA?!

Ok, now I think I'm having a melt down about what a loser I am...

I gotta get it together. I can't resent, I need to embrace. Embrace the fact that along with the technology addiction and scariness the internet is producing, it's also helping to create and promote someone like this.
She's articulate, stylish, interesting and fucking adorable. 

I'm sorry Tavi - You're amazing. I wish I'd had someone like you when I was 16. You rock. For me to be this consistently inspired and motivated by someone 9 years my junior is incredible. 

You dress cooler to go to science lab than I do, well, ever basically. 

Despite the somewhat hostile title of this piece (my bad), this has pretty much just become an ode to Tavi Gevinson. Of which, I am positive, there are countless. 

She is my new muse for fashion, discipline and productivity.

Dammit, Tavi.

Thank you for reminding me to get shit done and let my freak flag fly.

(See the Colbert Interview Here & watch a great interview with Jimmy Fallon HERE.) 
(Then check out this NY Times profile HERE)

Christmas Trees and Commitment Issues

Today a glorious thing happened - we got our Christmas Tree! 
However, the experience wasn't exactly the romantic-1960s-musical-tree-lot-galavanting adventure I was hoping for...

I really like to take my time in tree lots. Look at every option, smell the trees, find the biggest and best Noble Fir that can squeeze into our apartment, then second guess it, look at 10 others, take pictures, and usually eventually come back to the first one we loved. It's my process. 
Today we had discovered a beautiful tree and were just beginning to browse, when a man named Alan, who, based on his demeanor and missing teeth can only lead me to assume he was a carni at one point in his career, started hustling us and rushing our tree buying experience!
Long story short, we ended up getting the first tree we had looked at. And it stressed my shit out.
EVEN THOUGH Alan told us that he could tell we were full of Christmas spirit and sold us the tree at a Douglas Fir price instead (come-up-city!), I was still totally panicked that we had chosen the wrong one!
Even once the tree was cut and paid for in and in the back of the truck ready to come home with us, I melted. down. 
I started FREAKING out that we had been hoodwinked and rushed into buying the wrong tree! What if there had been a more perfect tree? One that was fuller or fresher or smelled more pine-y?
There were SO many trees there and I didn't have time to completely and fully examine every one of them to make the absolute perfect decision!
That's when I realized - you NEVER know if you're making the perfect decision. There's no such thing.
My commitment issues with trees are a lot like my commitment issues in every day life. 
I have an extreme tendency to second guess everything and think that there might be something even more perfect, and it leads to a lot of burden and mental strain.

This tree experience lead me to a long-awaited epiphany:
Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and buy the tree.
And most of the time, you won't be disappointed.

The tree ended up being absolutely perfect. The best one we've had yet. 

Thanks Alan, wherever you are. I'm sorry I called you a carni.

Second Star To The Right

Aging is a funny thing because you don't notice it until it's snuck up behind you.

Now, as a wee lass of 25, I by no means think I'm old, but there are countless distinct and definite changes that have happened to me as I've evolved into my mid-twenties that I've begun to notice.
I'm not talking about the baby laugh lines or the beginnings of grey hairs (which I've definitely also noticed), I'm talking about silent little evolutions. An ever unfolding development of tastes and preferences. 

I mentioned recently that my palette has changed - I like dark strong coffee instead of mochas, and more bitter beers. I've traded cosmopolitans and mix drinks for straight whiskey, and I actually like ordering vegetarian sandwiches half the time. (Whaaa?) 
The mall stresses my shit out, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I need 8 hours of sleep. (And by 8 I might mean 9.) 
I'm learning that you need to communicate constantly (especially when you don't want to), that you teach people how to treat you, and that if you don't ask, the answer will always be no.
I'm losing patience with certain things and gaining patience with others, and immediately noticing the material and tailoring of clothing items.
Money doesn't slip through my fingers quite like it used to (save the occasional 60$ bar tabs) and I'm more interested in buying investment pieces than a cagillion sundresses from Forever 21.
I'm actually enjoying indulging in moderation, am exercising consistently for the first time in my entire life and I've come to accept that I like techno music. I know.

None of this is necessarily about better or worse, it's just been interesting to realize how you change and evolve.
I floss my teeth every night now! (Almost)
Now don't get me wrong - I am not saying that I've grown up. Trust me. I still throw tantrums, get too drunk, cut my own bangs, forget to pay the cable bill, and my cooking repertoire is still predominantly founded in Trader Joe's frozen food section.
I will go on a spending frenzy because I just HAVE to own something new, I fall down constantly, I buy booze instead of dinner, and I wear sock monkey slippers. 

It's just funny to see how we change.

Although... and I don't mean to brag - but I've officially kept a cactus alive for TWO years. Face.

You Know You're In Your Twenties When...

• You pour leftover wine back into the bottle with a funnel
• Your furniture is only purchased at Goodwill or via Craigslist
• Plastic Cups are appropriate party-ware 
• Nail Art is a priority
• You're still using your parents' Netflix and HBO accounts
• You still do laundry at your parents' house
• You're still on your parents' insurance 
• (If you're reading this, thanks again Mom & Dad)
• Cold pizza is an ideal breakfast
• Carrie Bradshaw is responsible for all formative adolescent ideas of fashion 
• There's a certain level of acceptance for drunk injuries
• You can do a full work day with no sleep
• You cling to the time you and pigtails have left together
• You have enough money for beer but not for food
• You consistently compare your life to Lena Dunham projects
• You stalk wedding pictures of all those people from high school on Facebook
• Last night's eyeliner still works for today
• Crashing on futons and couches is not only accepted, but expected
• You have an inner compass for open bars
• Half of your friends are in long-distance relationships
• In the short Groceries vs Takeout battle, takeout invariably wins
• You remember when SNL was consistently good
• You drive until the gas gauge is below the empty line
• You make questionable hair decisions
• Your "dresser" is a pile of clothes on a chair (and by chair I mean a laundry basket...) (And by laundry basket I mean the floor...)
• You communicate with people predominantly via text
• You make lists of traits that you chalk up to your age but are probably just your personality...