Posts filed under ‘life’
25
I turned 25 this past Friday. Craziness. This is the first birthday that I’ve had mixed emotions about. I’ve always been excited for my birthday….for this one, I also had the feeling of Dang, I’m on the downward slide. I really can’t believe how fast my life is flying by. I know what my dad has been talking about when he says that he feels like he was in junior high last week. I feel like that too. I remember when I was 11, all I wanted was to be 25. I wanted to be done with college, working a cool job, living in a cool place, and have a cool boyfriend. Let’s take an inventory of where I am at, at the age of 25:
- I am done with my undergrad…but am about to launch into another 3 years of joy in the form of grad school (hear my sarcasm dripping)
- I do have a cool job (yes I just landed a job…more on that later)
- I do like my apartment, although I’m not thrilled with the class of people that have started to move into the building
- I have an incredible boyfriend. Check out the birthday flowers below, just as one piece of evidence of this fact.
Hmmm….not too shabby.
Add comment December 6, 2009
Making Lemons into Lemonade
It’s official. I’m all registered to take the GMAT on January 14th, 2010, with hopes of starting an MBA program in the fall. Should be a piece of cake, right?
I’m hoping to find an online program through an established brick-and-mortar university so that I can have the respectability while enjoying the freedom of going to class in my pajamas, or moving, if need be. Seeing as I need some prerequisites and I will be going part-time, it will probably take me 3 years to complete…and I really don’t know where I’ll be when I’m 28.
On related note, I signed a contract today with the owner of the design studio about 30 miles from here. I’ll be an independent contractor designing custom window coverings on a commission basis. The perks are that I get to work from home and get paid to sweet-talk people, which I do anyway. I’m still looking for full-time employment with benefits, but at least this will help and it will keep me busy. I’ll also be developing and maintaining a Facebook Fan Page for the business, once I figure out how much to charge.
Hey, I’m doing what I can.
Add comment December 1, 2009
I’m Not a Bar Girl
I spent the last week on vacation in the Los Angeles area with my best friend Ellie and her roommate. We went as a combination birthday celebration for all 3 of us, since Ellie turned 30 a couple of weeks ago, her roommate’s birthday was the next day, and my 25th birthday is in 2 weeks. Fortunately, we already had the hotel and flights booked before I lost my job, so I was still able to go. I’m just trying not to think about all the other unexpected expenses I had while I was out there. California is ridiculously expensive. I don’t know how anyone affords to live there.
While we were there, we tried out some night life. Thursday night we got into the Sky Bar, which is a very exclusive lounge on the Sunset Strip. Apparently it’s a celebrity hangout and very difficult to be granted entrance. We got in with no problem, and did see the comedian Eddie Griffin while we were there. I didn’t know who he was, but Ellie and her roommate did. I sipped my one $15 amaretto sour and people watched, because bars aren’t my thing. Drunk people make me uncomfortable, I don’t like getting hit on by strange men, and they are generally too loud to carry on a conversation, so what’s the point? I was actually bored after a while.
Saturday night we tried to get into MyHouse in Hollywood, which is an exclusive dance club. No such luck. We weren’t on “the list,” and even some people that were on “the list” didn’t get in. I’m sorry, but I have a real problem with businesses acting like I’m not good enough to give them my money, which is yet another reason I don’t like bars.
I had a great time on the trip otherwise. We went out on Santa Monica Beach, Venice Beach, saw a tour of the stars’ homes, went to Hollywood and saw the Walk of Fame, the wax museum and the Hollywood Museum, ate at Mel’s Drive-in (definitely NOT famous for their food though, let me tell ya!), toured Warner Brothers Studio, and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and saw Malibu. We even got on a taping of “The Price is Right.” Watch the episode airing January 21st and you will see the 3 of us wearing obnoxious hot pink t-shirts and screaming and clapping like idiots in the audience.
I’ve always been puzzled at the attraction of “going out.” Loud, smoky, drunkenness? Give me a quiet evening at home or tickets to the symphony any day. I think I was born in the wrong era.
Malibu
Add comment November 18, 2009
Better Days
Things are gradually breaking in the career department. Last week Southern Illinois University Medical School scheduled me to test for a couple of different positions. I took one exam today and the other is tomorrow. The HR lady that I talked to today told me that she hardly ever sees a score as high as mine, so I am pretty much guaranteed an interview. Yeah, I’m a rockstar. 
I’m tossing around the idea of going to grad school at night for an MBA in Human Resource Management if I end up in one of these non-design positions. I would be good at it, Robert Morris University has a decent program here, and let’s face it, the architecture and design industry doesn’t look very promising for the near future.
Additionally, last Friday I received a call from a design studio that I sent a blind resume to a couple of weeks ago. I will be interviewing with them on Thursday. I’m excited about it since it seems like a cool place and it’s only about 30 miles from where I live now. I wouldn’t want to live there since the town is pretty much the armpit of Illinois, but 30 miles is a doable commute, and then I wouldn’t have to move.
Another beacon of hope is that I interviewed today for a part-time job that would be easy to do while I look for full-time work. I would be earning just under the threshold for losing some of my unemployment, which means that I would get to have the extra income on top of unemployment. It still wouldn’t be as much as I was making as a designer, but it would help.
It also doesn’t hurt to have an incredibly sweet and supportive boyfriend through all of this. Timing is a very interesting thing.
Add comment October 27, 2009
Observations of the Unemployed
1. These last two weeks have gone by really fast.
2. I enjoyed not having to go into work for about 10 days or so. Now, I’ve got to admit that I’m starting to crave that continuous human interaction.
3. My home uniform of track pants and a hoodie is starting to make me feel kind of “blah.” Now I at least put on a pair of jeans to go to the grocery store.
4. The gym is blissfully quiet about 9 AM. No one bothering me, and I can get on any piece of equipment I like.
5. My body’s natural sleep time is around 1 AM to 9 AM, which explains why I don’t talk much before then if I do have to be awake.
6. I am incapable of “vegging out.” I always have to be DOING something.
7. Friends are very sympathetic and invite me to hang out, but rarely offer to pay. Um….I don’t have a job, remember?
8. To say that the job market is tight is the understatement of the week. I’ve applied to probably 30 places already and haven’t received so much as a phone call, and this is someone with a bachelor’s degree and 9 years of work experience.
9. The internet is the most wonderful invention ever for a job seeker. It makes searching and applying as painless as possible. I was also able to apply for unemployment online, which saved me the embarrassment of having to go to an office.
10. Some employers ask the most inane questions. For example, the State of Illinois government asked me to write down how many college credit hours I had in each topic. Not sure why they care that I had 5 credit hours in genetic biology, 4 in textiles, and 3 in film appreciation, but whatever floats their boat I guess.
11. When people ask me how my day was, I’m kind of starting to sound like a retired person: “Well, I had breakfast…then I exercised…then I took a shower and got dressed…then I went to the grocery store….then I checked my e-mail…then I had lunch…then I made some butternut squash soup for dinner later…..”
It’s only temporary. I know. I’ll find something soon. I know. God has a plan. It’s just a really weird situation for someone who has never been without a job since the age of 16 to be in.
Add comment October 15, 2009
Life to the fullest
The other day I was discussing with a friend how much we have both had the opportunity to do in our lives so far. As they are happening, they don’t seem like much, but when I put the list together I’m happy to see that I really do try to live my life to the fullest. It’s a fairly nice list for someone my age, I like to think. As time goes by, I realize more and more how short our lives are and that every second and every opportunity counts. One of my favorite quotes is “This is not a dress rehearsal. This is your LIFE.”
A list of some experiences I’ve had, in no particular order:
1. Earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude
2. Moved to a new city all by myself
3. Landed an awesome job in the field I had wanted since I was 14
4. Lived alone
5. Bought cars
6. Survived multiple car accidents
7. Gone skydiving
8. Been to Ireland & Northern Ireland
9. Took a boat tour in Budapest
10. Ran vacation Bible school and painted an orphanage in a Roma (gypsy) village in Romania
11. Came to know Christ
12. Gutted houses in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
13. Traveled to New York City, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, and Orlando
14. Drove through the Smoky Mountains
15. Attended many concerts
16. Took Irish Step Dance for 5 years and won competitions
17. Swam in the Atlantic Ocean
18. Learned to play the piano and the flute
19. Acted and sang in multiple amateur live performances
20. Saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway
21. Saw Wicked in Chicago
22. Took a Lake Michigan lunch cruise
23. Watched the fireworks at Navy Pier
24. Worked retail
25. Worked in an insurance call center and earned my property & casualty licenses in 36 U.S. states and Canadian provinces
There are still so many more things that I want to experience. Can’t wait.
Add comment September 3, 2009
Culinary Arts
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here before, but I really enjoy the culinary arts. I was actually planning on being a chef first, and looked into chef schools. When I was 16 I was talked out of it by my oral surgeon (I only had my wisdom teeth removed….don’t get any funny ideas!), who had dabbled with being a chef himself. I decided that I didn’t want to work every night, weekend, and holiday for the rest of my life, so I went to my second love of interior design and got my coveted 8-5 schedule.
Now that my career is figured out, I’ve decided to go back and take classes for fun. I’m registering for an Italian cooking class at the local community college. It meets 4 times this fall. Italian is my favorite, and I do a decent job at it, but I know that there’s a lot more to Italian cooking than I know. Funny story about this class though…..my favorite boss (I have 4 of them!) told me that he had been wanting to take the class too for a while….so it turns out that we’ll be taking the class together. Not exactly what I had planned, but it should still be fun. Hey, at least I’ll know someone there.
I found myself with some summer squash and spinach that I needed to use up before it went bad, so I made my own pasta dish tonight for dinner. I just sauteed some chicken, squash, and spinach in olive oil and seasoned with garlic salt. Then I boiled whole wheat rotini and tossed it all together with parmesan cheese and olive oil. It was amazing, if I do say so myself. 
I also made banana chocolate chip scones (also whole wheat….I’m a bit of a health nut) since it was my turn to host Bible study and I had some old bananas to use. It’s one of my favorites, so I’m including the recipe below.
Whole-wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Scones
Whole-wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Scones
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1 egg
2 tablespoons buttermilk (you can make “buttermilk” by adding a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and cut into the mixture with a pastry blender. In a small bowl, combine the banana, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. Shape the dough into a 9-inch circle on the prepared baking sheet. With a serrated knife, score (cut) just the top of the dough into 8 wedges. Bake for 19-21 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer the scones to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Add comment August 12, 2009
The Fairy Tale
I’m just going to be real here. I don’t believe in the fairy tale anymore. I first said those words over a year ago. I’ve had wonderful moments where I thought again that it might be possible, but at this point I don’t believe in it. Life’s not a fairy tale. There’s no such thing a knight on a white horse that will come and whisk me away. I really did used to think that in my youthful optimism and naivete. My mother is a hopeless romantic and always perpetuated the fairy tale. I’ve had to discover on my own that life’s not quite like how my mother pretends that it is. My friend Ellie is still on plentyoffish.com and told me about an e-mail that she received from one guy about being her knight on a white horse. I laughed out loud.
I watched Cinderella and The Little Mermaid a few nights ago. I hadn’t seen them in probably 15-20 years, but noticed that a friend had them so I borrowed them. I even remember going to to see The Little Mermaid in the theater when it first came out in 1989. They took me back to my childhood, when I literally dressed up in my mother’s old prom dresses and high heels and dreamed of the day that I would be a beautiful lady. Now that I AM grown up, I watched them thinking, “Wow. No wonder I thought that out there was a handsome prince who was going to sweep me off my feet. What a load of crap.” I ended up calling my sister and crying on the phone to her. I don’t think Disney had ever brought on tears for me before. She told me, “Movies have ruined us. They have us believing that the guy will wake up, realize that he was an idiot, jump on a plane and show up out of the blue when we least expect it.” I concur.
I’ve come to a conclusion about the whole “soulmate” issue: I no longer believe that there’s just one person out there for you. What are the odds that you’ll actually come across the one special person that you’re magically supposed to end up with? And even if you do meet him or her, what’s to say that one of you won’t screw it up, or be with someone else, or live 1000 miles away? If the Tara of even just 2 years ago could read this now, she would be horrified. I guess I’ve just gotten more life experience. Sometimes I wish that I didn’t. You know how they say that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so strong.
3 comments August 5, 2009
Are women becoming more beautiful?
I read this article that suggests that women are evolving to become more beautiful as a whole, based on the research that beautiful women are likely to have more children but fewer sons (meaning more daughters). My mom is beautiful….must be why she had 3 daughters and no sons!
I can see their reasoning but I always hate to jump to a conclusion based on statistical research.
1 comment July 27, 2009
Fiddler on the Roof
I love cultural events in general. Art exhibits, musicals, concerts, festivals—you name it, I’m there. I attended a live outdoor performance of Fiddler on the Roof last night. It had been quite a few years since I had seen it, so I looked at it from different perspective. First off, the performance was very good for local volunteer talent. The sets and costumes were well done, and the performers and orchestra captured the essence of the story. I observed how one of the running jokes is that the townspeople are so caught up in obeying God, that they’ve forgotten what their Bible even says about law. I had to laugh at the “no dancing” part, because I was raised Baptist and dancing was a no-no there also. If dancing is a sin, then good thing I’m forgiven because I’ve done a lot of dancing—and with boys, too! Oh, the horror!
The part of the story that should be obvious to anyone is the whole arranged marriage idea, and the view that a woman’s only goal in life is to find a husband. As the matchmaker said, “Even a bad husband is better than no husband at all.” That made me laugh. Please. I’ll take my dog over a bad husband any day.
I also found the “Do you love me?” scene between the main character and his wife sad. The song goes on with him asking his wife if she loves him. After much lamenting about everything that she has done for him for 25 years, she says that she supposes that she loves him. He says that he supposes he loves her too. After 25 years, they “suppose” that they love each other? I know that the scene is meant to be endearing, but I just found it sad. Marital love should be far more than that.
I know that this is a fictitious story, but the events were very real. It really made thankful to live in this day and age, in this country, and to have the choices that I have.
Add comment July 24, 2009
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