life Tag

Dear Mommy,   I’m sorry I don’t write more often, but it’s difficult to put a pen to paper or tap the keys on my laptop at times when I think of you. It’s almost Christmas and that was always your favorite holiday. You decorated the house the day after Halloween before disregarding Thanksgiving went mainstream. You were always ahead of the trends. This will be the third Christmas without you, but the first one that I’ll say out loud, “Mommy’s not coming back.”   I thought about you today.Read More

You know how sometimes you get text messages from friends that just kind of irritate you? Maybe it’s a hostile “K” or a passive aggressive “:)” or maybe it’s just a “hahah.” And you think, “Hahaha?” That’s not a response. Those aren’t words. Those are sounds. You sent me sounds. How am I supposed to respond to that? Right, so texting has become this enigma of conversation where we laugh, but aren’t actually laughing and send smiles when no smiles are actually occurring and that’s all fine and well becauseRead More

The holiday season is here, and, for many of us, that means going home to the places and the people that have been watching us grow up. Returning home means running into everyone I never wanted to see again at one of the five bars in my hometown and having to relearn how to drive a car after months of walking and taking the subway. It means getting to eat my mom’s bombass breakfasts and snuggle with my cat whenever he lets me. It means spending every second with myRead More

Remember when you placed second in that declamation contest back in sixth grade? That supporting role you played during a school event? Or that masterpiece you worked hard day and night for but wasn’t published? You know you won’t let yourself forget all those so-called mediocrities, so you just sulk in your nook and cringe your way through the day trying to convince yourself you’ll never be good enough for anything, for anyone. You get so shell-shocked with all that has been going inside your brain, thinking about every possibleRead More

You’ve seen it everywhere lately. Unless you’ve been hiding under an incredibly immense boulder, you’re aware what’s going on in Ferguson, Missouri. You’re aware what’s going on in New York City. You’re aware that widespread protests, riots, and general civil unrest are permeating the streets of American cities and towns from coast to coast. You know the material facts – that two unarmed black men are dead, killed by police officers. You know that there are two sides to the issue – one side defending the police officers’ actions asRead More

Sidenote: If somebody out there is handing out jobs or free cash, hook ya girl up 1. You browsed the Craigslist “ETC” category in desperation, and now are signed up for 6 “market research studies,” none of which you’re sure are legit. Oh well, I don’t need my Social Security Number anyway, you can have it. 2. “Broke with Expensive Taste” is your anthem. 3. “I can subsist off of nothing but pasta and lentils until the next time I get paid, right?” You don’t get paid for another twoRead More

When Tinder surfaced in my first year of university and quickly became the thing to be on, I was in a relationship. A serious, committed relationship, which I had no interest in endangering by downloading what I thought was the most ridiculous app to ever exist. Perhaps the reason I hated Tinder so was because my perfect, wonderfully committed boyfriend had Tinder. Or perhaps it was because I caught him, not once but twice using the app actively, texting other girls and agreeing to meet up with them without anyRead More

I never did grasp the entire concept of letting go. Timing the release of a perfect hug is difficult for me at times. Relinquishing control isn’t my problem, it’s the fear of not knowing that gets to me. According to the multiple self-help books and articles I’ve read, the minute we let go of the attachment to what we really want, it appears in our life. In order to better myself, I need to let go instead of searching to add something.   At the last wedding I attended, IRead More

Post-friendsgiving and pre-ginger-ale ordering at a bar because the fear of vomiting after the many mixes and matches of food and drinks was real, a friend inquired about my plans to go home for both holidays. “You’re going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas?” He asked, surprised at the repeated venture, requiring an airline flight or ten hour car ride a matter of weeks away from one another. I gushed to him about how significant the holidays were to me, my brother was extremely sick a couple years ago and the morbid fearRead More

Sometime after Halloween, when the radio started drowning in Christmas music and Starbucks reintroduced their eggnog latte, a ball of dread started to grow in my gut.  And it continues to grow as big as the mall Santa’s beer belly until I will be faced with the very event that inspires this trepidation: Thanksgiving dinner.  Where relatives abound and the most burning hunger is not for turkey, but for details of my personal life.  I am thankful for the wine that will help me survive their  predictable questions.  It mightRead More

I may not have you yet, and am not in a position to have you this year or even the next. But I do know that I will love you when I do.  I envision us during the holiday season, my son playing with action figures by the fireplace, my daughter playing with a new doll. And if it is my daughter playing with action figures, and my son cradling a new doll, I know I will be just as happy.  Although I can’t guarantee exactly how your lives willRead More

I’m the type of person that will avoid conflict, confrontation, and basically, any form of criticism at all costs. As a kid, I would write notes to my parents whenever I was asking for something. Not because they were mean people, but because they might say no and I would rather receive that information from a checked box than a verbal, “Not this time, sweetheart.” I quit a job via letter once. After my boss received it, she called me and left a voicemail. I was too nervous to listenRead More

We all have that one Aunt or Grandparent that asks too many questions about your life at Thanksgiving dinner, and frankly, you don’t have the energy or care to answer them. It is annoying; it is a waste of breath; and you are most likely just going to be yelled at for whatever answer you give them, even if you’re telling them something good. You’re never right and they’re never wrong. Here are the generic, irritating and useless questions I’m sure we all have received at least once:   1.Read More

Here is a short list of valuable things people do to become losers. Listen and learn…   5. Lack Any Curiosity – People who lack curiosity don’t want to explore new avenues. If you elect to sit at home and watch The CW all day, then your life is destined to stay that way.     4. Have an Inability to Comprehend Success – My mother always said, “if you can envision something, you can make it a reality.” But losers do not even know, or care, about success.  Read More

6 months ago I walked across the stage at Madison Square Garden, accepted my college diploma, and took a selfie. 6 months ago I said farewell to a place I had called home for the past four years. 6 months gone, and not a day goes by that I don’t miss the long nights turned into mornings spent with people I’ll never forget. Post-grads of the present warned us how much we’d miss college, how the real world was terrifying, boring, and all you would want to do was go back.Read More