33 Things About Me

I just celebrated becoming another year older yesterday and while I don’t believe birthdays need to come with a bunch of fanfare, it’s always fun to make the day feel a little bit special. It’s year number 33 for me and I’m personally feeling in a really great spot. I’ve loved my thirties enough that I don’t miss my twenties (save for the nostalgia that hits just every once in awhile) so I’m happily embracing diving a year deeper into this decade. So just for fun, 33 probably kind of random things about me…

1. I willingly (and actually requested) to spend my birthday doing kid focused things like going to the aquarium and swim lessons, but mostly because I knew I have a vacation day coming that I intend to spend completely by myself doing whatever sounds fun, which means probably shopping and probably in the form of checking out the Ikea store that just opened in our city – I’ve never been to one!

2. ISFP is my Myers Briggs type and I have so much interest in this assessment, but can never seem to memorize the differences between the types. I just know that this description pretty much hits the nail on the head for me, especially being inspired by connections with people and ideas, sensitive to others’ feelings, values harmony, and the more challenging characteristics of having a hard time facing criticism, planning for the future, and developing and maintaining new habits.

3. I love all things lemon flavored, but it’s a flavor I was completely indifferent too until I craved it constantly when I was pregnant. The craving never left and even now I would really have to think hard to choose between a lemon dessert and a dessert full of chocolate.

4. On the outside I think I come off as a very patient person and can be a lot of situations, but inside I am pretty quick to become inpatient so there’s a good chance I’m struggling to keep it together!

5. I really really love rap music, I just can’t help it.

6. The only time I ever cook dinner is to make pizza on Friday nights and because of this I swear I’ve forgotten how to do even some of the simplest things. I’ll gladly take that and the eternal clean up duty in favor or my husband taking on the responsibility of being the family cook.

7. If I had my way, and most of the time I do on this, I would have fresh flowers from Trader Joe’s permanently in my house.

8. I think I love fresh cut flowers so much because I can’t for the life of me keep planted flowers alive for long. Most of the time our pots are full of plants struggling to make it, but I just can’t give it up this year!

9. I curse, kind of a lot although I’ve reigned it in a whole lot now that we have a very impressionable toddler always in our company.

10. Super cozy gray or black sweaters are something that I can never ever say no to if I find them for $30 or less. They’re just something I firmly believe you can’t have too many of, ranking right up there with plain black tees!

11. I also can’t say no to a cute journal and have quite the collection stockpiled to prove it. It’s bad enough that I’ve just banned myself from that aisle of Target until I use all the ones I currently own.

12. Cheese is probably my favorite food ever, but yet I managed to be dairy free for maybe almost a year back when I was still nursing my son and my doctor (correctly) suspected he had a dairy allergy.

13. I’m almost always in a rush for one of two reasons:  either I’m running late or just feeling like I need to hurry up and move onto the next task asap. Both reasons are equally annoying to me and I wish I could just chill the heck out. 🙂

14. Forced change I do pretty well with, voluntary change I find myself seriously avoiding.

15. I really like for my husband and I to go to bed at the same time, calling quits on the day together just feels good. It’s weird, I know. But on the very rare occasion that my husband goes to bed before me I’m like a kid and end up staying up past my typically bedtime, usually doing something incredibly unproductive like playing on my phone or watching tv.

16. When I find something I like at a restaurant then it’s pretty likely I’ll never order anything different from there ever again. For example, I couldn’t tell you the last time I ordered anything other than the Fuji apple chicken salad, no onions or tomatoes, with extra dressing at Panera.

17. I could care less about the type of car I have (as long as it’s not a complete junker) and my little Toyota Corolla is just fine for me, but if I could drive anything it would be a pick up truck from the 1960s.

18. I really like Bobby Flay, not that I’m attracted to him, but I just really want to hang out with him and have him cook me brunch and make me sangria. 🙂

19. But I do have a thing for Jason Statham, even though he’s 17 years older than me. The man has just aged well, what can I say?

20. Even though it didn’t become a bucket list item for me until about two months before training kicked in and my husband said he wanted to run our city’s marathon, I  did it and checked it right off that list. Even though it’s been almost 5 years since that race I’m still pretty proud that I did it!

21. I think I’ve also done maybe 4 half marathons over the years before and after that? My first one was the San Francisco race in 2008 and coming from training in very flat Ohio it was so tough and my cousin twenty years older than me kicked my ass but you couldn’t beat the beautiful scenery of that race.

22. And now it’s more likely that my workout is dancing around the bathroom to Beyoncé Pandora radio station while my kid takes a bath…

23. Getting to sit down with the group of Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Glennon Doyle would be an absolute dream come true. I find these women so incredibly smart, talented, and inspiring!

24. Summer is probably my least favorite season (although ask me in January and I might be singing a different tune) because the heat just makes me cranky. My birthday happening right smack in the middle of it is it’s only saving grace. How my mom handled being 9 months pregnant with me in the dead of summer while living in a house with no ac is beyond me. Superwoman!

25. I never remember how movies end. Ever.

26. I am a worrier to the core. Like to the point where I have my parents text me when they get home after a visit (they live about two hours away) and I always look at the clock and note the time when my husband leaves for a run or a long bike ride so I’ll know when to start getting worried if he hasn’t shown back up at home.

27. I am weirdly good at music related trivia, but only if it’s pop or maybe some hip hop from about 1995 and on because that’s what I remember – anything else and I’m awful! But the other day I correctly guessed 1997 when asked what year I thought Fly by Sugar Ray came out and I was pretty damn proud. 🙂

28. If we’re home and I’m sitting or laying down there’s a very strong chance I have a toddler sitting or laying on top of me. Like now, as I write this one I’m laying down and Jacob is treating my chest like a chair.

29. Even though I love all things lemon and that especially goes for dessert, I could never ever say no to a brownie or a chocolate chip cookie.

30. I’m not a creating big ideas type of person, my head is always too down in the details. I used think that was a weakness to not be able to get my mind to think that way, but now I view it as a strength. You bring an idea too me and I can definitely help you predict some of the potential downstream effects it could have when you implement it!

31. My favorite color has been teal for years, to the point where I even talked my husband into painting our living room and kitchen different shades of the color. I still love it, but I’m definitely loving the whole minimal all white look lately but I am far too lazy and uninterested in home decor to change that up.

32. I’m a super sensitive person who will pretty much always default to taking things too personally, but I’m at least aware of it and working on it as best I can!

33. While I forget movies two seconds after watching them, when it comes to people related things I have a really good memory which thankfully serves me well in my job as an Academic Advisor. There’s times I draw a complete blank or needs my notes to help me remember someone, but once I do I’ll probably anything they’ve ever shared with me in past conversations.

Whew! If you stuck around that long I’m impressed and feel like I owe you a big thank you for sticking around this long. 😉 You’re the best!