21 Things Learned in 21 Years & My Birthday Bash

Welp, I’m officially 21! I’ve had a great round of birthdays and after this, I think it’s all downhill. My 18th was exciting because I legally became an adult, 19 was my golden birthday, 20 I kissed my teenage years good-bye, and 21 was fun for obvious reasons.

Here is an utterly random list of things I want to share about what I’ve learned in 21 years (pictures of my weekend at the end):

1. Laugh: The best feeling in the world is ab-crunching laughing. My roommate recently broke a chair and fell on her ass. She’s fine, but it was hysterical. Laugh at yourself, laugh with others but not at others.
2. Be a sponge: Absorb everything you possibly can. Recently, a sweet older man came in to speak to my fundraising class. He made casual mention of his time spent in the white house. After a quick Google search, it turns out he was a Naval Aide to a former president. You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn.
3. Shit happens: Sometimes, your apartment floods. What the hell do you do? Well, you grab a mop, have a good laugh, and learn how to move on.
4. Accept you’ll make mistakes: You will not attain “perfection” on your first go at things. Know that before hand and it’ll make things a lot easier.
5. Accept the mistakes you’ve made: Ok so now we made a mistake. Try to not regret it. Learn from it. I’ve made some huge mistakes and I’ve made some small ones. Accept that you’re human and that’s what happens.
6. Hydrate: Have your sober self leave a bottle of water by your bed for your drunk self so that your hungover self hates your drunk self a little less.
7. Give yourself a break: Cut yourself some slack. You try really hard to succeed and if things don’t work out, don’t beat yourself up.
8. Eat the cookie: “One salad won’t make you skinny just like one burger won’t make you fat.”
9. Spread the love: Ellen closes every show with “Be kind to one another.” Just smile, say thank you, or hold open a door.
10. Pick up the phone: Phone calls are scary. One time, I made a phone call to someone, heart pounding, because I needed to say something (it turned out to be a disaster). Texting only goes so far. There was once a use for a phone aside from Instagram.
11. Be professional: Speaking of technology, change your email. If you haven’t by now, it’s time to start. Get a gmail account with something other than soccerstar63. Oh, and change the greeting on your voicemail.
12. Apologize less: I know I said use your manners and I still stand by that. However, I think we as a culture, and often times women, are too apologetic. If you’re about to walk into a door at the same time as someone else, say “Excuse me” instead of “Oh, sorry!” I do this all the time. Why am I sorry?
13. Love: One of my favorite quotes is “fall in love with as many things as possible.” Be passionate about things. Learn what you love and who you love. Just because love is crazy doesn’t mean you should be afraid of it.
14. Take care of your skin: Boys and girls, please take care of your skin! My sister makes fun of me because I have had a skincare routine for a solid 3 years now. I use a cleanser, toner, serum/oil, moisturizer and eye cream. If you’re a minimalist, please at least get yourself a good cleanser and an oil-free moisturizer without SPF. There is no shame in caring about your face.
15. Ask questions: Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know an answer. That’s ok. What isn’t ok is ignorance because you failed to ask a question.
16. Do something that scares you: I was so afraid to start my blog. My roommates convinced me to face my fear and just do it. A year later, I have met and talked with so many incredible people that I otherwise wouldn’t have met.
17. Learn luck: The man I talked about up in #2 said, “Luck is preparation waiting for opportunity.” Prepare early so when an opportunity arises, you’re ready to seize it.
18. Document: Even if you just download TimeHop, document your life in some way that you can reflect back on it. I like to keep a journal and I also keep a memory box with old letters, tickets, trinkets, and other things.
19. Fight fair: And know what fights are worth fighting. Arguments arise, learn how to handle them.
20. Be lonely: Learn how to be alone. Go out to dinner by yourself. Go see a movie by yourself. Go shopping alone. Be comfortable just hanging out with you. You’re pretty cool, after all.
21. Surround yourself with good people: This may seem so obvious but I think it’s something people neglect. Sometimes it takes awhile before people show their true colors but once they do, get the negative energy out of your life.

If you made it through all of that, thanks for sticking around. Hope everyone had a great week xoxo