Wednesday, July 25, 2012

21 Secrets for Your 20's


A humorous yet honest take on our twenties. 
1. Never looking at your budget and never making a budget is the exact same thing.
2. The possibility for greatness and embarrassment both exist in the same space. If you’re not willing to be embarrassed, you’re probably not willing to be great.
3. Feel no shame in seeking help from a counselor or therapist. We all have crap we try to wrap and hide under the Christmas tree. Get rid of it before it smells up your entire holiday.
4. All job listings on Craigslist lead you to a warehouse in downtown LA “wearing something nice with shoes you can walk in.”
5.  Don’t ever, ever check Facebook when you’re:
A. Depressed
B.  Drinking.
C.  Depressed and Drinking.
D.  Unemployed.
E.  Anytime after 9:17 pm.
F.  Struggling with being blessed with singleness while all your friends seem to be blessed with 2.4 kids and that blazing white-picket-fence shining with the glory of Jesus Christ himself.
6. All those amazing college friends you swore you’d never lose contact with after college yeah, well, you might loose contact. Moving all over the country, getting married, having kids, all make that forty-five minute conversation with your sophomore roommate a little more complicated than it used to be over a game of Mario Kart. Making and keeping friends in our twenties takes intentionality.
7. Your twenties will produce more failures than you’ll choose to remember. The key is when you fail, don’t begin calling yourself a failure.
8. Every break up has two break ups. I’m no physicist, but this is a law of physics, of this I am certain. Yes you’ll have the first tearful “It’s over” sitting in the front seat of your Honda or on a park swing. Then 1-2 months later after there’s “been talk,” you’ll have the “real breakup” because you forget to call like you used to or he checks out the waitress like he’s a judge for Miss USA. And gird those loins because in the second breakup there will be a lot more breaking.
9. The Freshman-Fifteen is nothing compared to the Cubicle-Cincuenta. Don’t sit at your computer perched like a Roman gargoyle. Don’t let office birthday cake be forced on you like a cigarette behind your middle school. Bust out before your butt does.
10. And yes, cubicles don’t make sense to anybody other than upper-management. I would be willing to bet that only 3% of all “Cubicle Americans” actually have a positive outlook on life. And half of that 3% is stealing from their company.
11. If at some point between 22 – 27 you feel like you’re six years old again, lost at the San Diego Zoo (it’s a big-frickin-zoo), frantically searching for a familiar face – hold tight, you’re experiencing a bit of a Quarter-Life Crisis. Stay put. And in no time someone will call your name across the loud speaker to tell you where you can be found.
12. Reckless drinking and reckless flirting have a direct correlation. Friends don’t let friends drive, or flirt, drunk.
13. If you grew up going to church, at some point in your 20′s you’ll probably stop going to church. If you grew up with faith as a central part of your life, at some point in your twenties faith might move to the outskirts of town next to the trailer park and three-legged squirrel refuge. Your twenties are a process of making faith your own apart from your parents and childhood. Sometimes that means staggering away...and that’s ok.
14. Don’t ever begin dating someone you first met whilst in swimsuits. Doubly-don’t if you’re both in swimsuits whilst holding an alcoholic beverage.
15. Obsessive Comparision Disorder is the smallpox of our generation. 9 out of 10 doctor’s agree this disorder is the leading cause to eating a whole sleeve of Oreo’s while watching Real Housewives of OC. Say no to obsessive comparison disorder before it starts. Remember everyone’s too busy putting a PR spin on their Facebook profile to care much about yours.
16. Life will never feel like it’s “supposed to.” Being twentysomething can feel like death by unmet expectations. However, let me be so brash to say that you are right now, at this moment, exactly where you need to be. But you’ll only be able to see that five years and thirty-eight days from today.
17. You might have your first kid and realize what it’s like to be young, a parent, and have no freaking clue what you’re doing. And for the first time in your life, you also might actually understand your parents for the first time. (Scary!)
18. Marriage WILL NOT fix any of your problems. No, instead, marriage will put a magnifying glass on how many problems you really have. We grow up carrying bags with our insecurities, fears, bad relationships, problems with our parents — you name it. Begin to ditch these bags now. Newly married and living in a small apartment is no place to store a luggage set full of shiz.
19. An assortment of crappy jobs are a twentysomething rite of passage. Figure out what you need to learn there and learn it. If you don’t, an assortment of crappy jobs might be your thirty, forty and fiftysomething rite of passage as well.
20. Great ideas alone mean nothing. Your ability to persevere through 16 major setbacks, a lack of passion, forgetting why you started this great idea in the first place, and all the people who allude that your great idea is actually quite terrible — well, that means everything.
21. The grass is always greener on the other side, until you get there and realize it’s because of all the manure.
Find it here

Monday, July 23, 2012

That's Life.


Sure is.

xoxo,
Jessica

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Journey.

[FRANKUPDATES]

We're often used to people asking questions that force us to create patterns out of our lives.

"What kind of men do you date?"

I always felt that question was so peculiar.
If I were to answer that with a series of qualities I typically look for, what would that mean coming from a very single me?

Only that those qualities do not carry any significance or hold value in the longevity of a committed relationship.
So I answer:
"I don't know. It's different every time."
As it should be.

Because we only have these years to sample and seek after what it is our heart and mind's desire. 
If we had the magic formula, many of us would stop seeking.

But this isn't a post about love or relationships.
This is a thought that resonates in me about the way life is for me right now.
How will I ever know whether this is right for me unless I try to test the boundaries and then test them again and again.

The uncertainty kills me but drives me at the same time.
The unknown provides unending fear and excitement simultaneously.

So don't ask me what I'm doing or where I'm going.
I have no idea.
But I believe now more than ever, I wouldn't have it any other way...


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Today.


It's two weeks until my birthday.

It is unbelievable how fast time flies.

But if there's one thing I learned this year, is to endure.
Life will not cease to get any easier... 
But no matter what, it's important to find the strength within yourself (and only yourself) and persevere.


And one of the greatest blessings this year has been in finding the absolute joy and delight in continuously inspiring yourself through your own form of expression. 

It sounds so cheesy, I know.
But my goodness it has saved me. 


Today, my wish was I had enough time for a thoughtful breakfast without a time frame with you.
I miss our breakfasts. 


This week has undeniably taught me that growth is essential in every facet of your life.

The key to success is the ability to adapt to changes.
That, and as my dad, the man who fills my heart with love and inspiration, always says...


Because like they say...
Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor.

-Jessica-

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

Green.