UnAdult.

When are you considered an adult? It's a logical question and yet one I've found impossible to answer. So naturally, I decided to look at my oh so trusty source dictionary.com to see if that could help me find the answer. 

But wait, so when am I fully grown? I remember learning in science classes (which I was not usually enthusiastic about) that females finish growing before males to. I remember that specifically because I was about 2 feet taller than all the boys and prayed that they were going to catch up with me soon (which most did). I believe it was about age 20, at least for females, but it all depended on puberty and that was just growing physically. 

The government says that we are adults when we are 18 years old. We are allowed to vote, get married, and get convicted as an adult. Most of us are also still in high school at this age. I don't know about you, but when i was 18 I was nowhere near an adult. Maybe it's 21, when you can legally drink, but then again, do adults still puke when they go drinking?

I use to think grown ups were the ones married with babies, but now having friends married with babies or with just babies, I've realized, while they grow up a lot, I still don't see them as an adult. Then sometimes I think of adults with "careers," but with this economy, even adults can be still searching for those "careers." 

I've been freaking out a  little, realizing that I'm 23 and the young Carolyn had planned for me to have everything together by age 25, and two years seems a little too close for comfort. Of course my plan at 25 was going to be an actress dating Orlando Bloom, so I guess I can't be too critical. I guess some of us are adults a lot earlier than others and maybe even those that I see as a grown up, haven't really stopped growing up  yet.......

UnAmerican: London.

Before my trip to London, I spent time plotting to have either Prince Harry or Harry Potter fall in love with me while I was there. Although neither of these happened (or at least that's what I have to tell the public), London was incredible. It took me awhile to write about it because my flight was cancelled on Sunday. No big deal, we just turned around in the air and went back to London. I took it either as a sign to never leave London or never to fly again. London was nice because we spoke the language and I had family there. It was my first time meeting my cousin Felix and Katharine! I don't get to see Jamie and Aunt Ruth much either, so I really enjoyed the time I had with them, although I would always love more. 

London had this adorable style. It's the cute mismatch vintage style that you find on pinterest. Every pub was decorated perfectly and more amazing was that the pubs we went to served really good, fancy food. It was definently not our bar food in America. The sites were beautiful and even though Big Ben wasn't that big (thankfully Katharine warned me ahead of time) it was still grand. It really makes you think about how young America is compared to other countries. It was blowing my mind to see building or go shopping at antique stores and realize how old everything was. It was also crazy how busy it was! My cousin lives in Brixton and almost all day there were crowds on the street. This was definently not a tourist spot. I've been to Chicago on St. Patty's Day, so I know crowded, but London felt crowded everywhere you go. When you think of how small the UK is though, I guess it makes since how squished everyone is. 

The high points of this trip was going to see Billy Elliot, a British classic, which had Julia and I obsessed by the end of it. Of course seeing all the tourist sights was a high point because it knocks off a lot of bucket list sights (although I painted London Bridge a little different in my head thanks to the childhood song and the two people creation). Another high point was at night. I genuily enjoyed sitting in my cousin's flat and discussing homelessness in both countries and comparing norms in London and the US. I think I was really lucky in that way, because I had my sister, who had been exploring London for the last two months and my cousin who lived their his whole life. I felt that I got a little more authentic taste of London. Oh and Julia and I also became obsessed with a show called Father Ted. Look it up and watch it because it was MENTAL (by the way I'm bringing mental to the US so start using it now...thanks)!

My trip to London was so great, even with the rocky ending. I really want to go back and explore it even more! I had such a great time traveling with my sister and was sad to say goodbye. I also was a little jealous of this new exciting life she has. I feel like I have the travel fever now, but unfortunately it will not be fed for a long time because of the reality of having no money...:)

UnAmerican: Paris.

I've had a wonderful opportunity to travel to Paris and London! Our trip started out with a weekend in Paris. I was expecting beauty, fashion, and stuck up people. Julia and I had rehearsed saying that we were fromCanada, hoping that they would like us a little more, but we never once had to lie! Everyone was helpful and kind to us. We were of course obviously tourist and were in more tourist spots, but I was still pleasantly surprised. We of course would have loved to be with someone who spoke French, but we managed. I'm not going to give you every detail of the trip, because I doubt you want to read that, but I'll give you some highlights. 

Everything in Paris is so grand and beautiful. I took a picture of almost every building I saw, telling Julia, "that looks important." I was also very surprised how big Paris is. Everything is pretty spread out and there's not a specific "downtown" like we expect from cities in America. We saw almost all of the major iconic images, but everything felt so surreal, especially the Eiffel Tower. I just couldn't believe I was standing in front of it. Julia and I also enjoyed the lifestyle. Most businesses closed from 3:30pm-7pm, so owners could enjoy a break. The cafés were usually opened all day though and we enjoyed drinking expresso, cappuccinos, and lots of wine #partnersinwine. The food was delicious. Fresh bread, cheese, and dessert do beautifully crafted, I didn't want to eat it. We treated ourselves to a three course meal at a local restaurant near our hostel. I had a baked egg with cream, steak (medium well =rare) with a cheese sauce and roasted potatoes, and a red berry tiramisu. I thought I was going to explode, but it was delicious. We spent almost 3 hours at the restaurant, which is what they expect you to do in France. 

We did both get pooped on by pigeons, the weather was a little cold and rainy, and I may or may not have got stuck in the doors of the metro and then separated from Julia....but we had a wonderful time in Paris and I'm so excited to explore London this week!

UnNorthern.

This winter has been awful, but as a Texan in Northern Illinois, I have learned a lot. Below are the 10 biggest lessons I've learned and hopefully it will help other Texans if heaven forbid, they move out of state.

1. No matter how pathetic you look trying to shovel 6 inches of snow with your noodle arms, your neighbors (aka the grown men with snow blowers) will not offer help. So do not try to look even more pathetic than you already are...it will waste energy you need to shovel.

2. If you alternate shoveling the driveway with your roommates, it will end up being your turn when it blizzards...so when there's an inch of snow, make sure you volunteer. 

3. People can live in negative degree weather.

4. Your snot however, will freeze in negative degree weather.

5. Layers are your friend, but make sure you can see and move, especially if you drive.

6. Cute boots you buy from target with no traction do not allow you to run through downtown Chicago in snow...the snow and the sidewalk will win.

7. Try to start your car at least 5 mins before you leave, so you can't see your breath as you drive.

8. You will skid on the snow...so accept it and let Jesus take the wheel.

9. Snow melting is almost worse than snow falling, so prepare for the floods

10. Don't ever let your guard down, because as soon as you do the weather will come back to defeat you. 

It's almost spring, right?

Unfriended.

Being away from my friends has made me appreciate friendship even more. I've been lucky enough to have some amazing girlfriends, both in high school and college. Even in times when we may not talk a lot or are bad with calling (aka I hibernate) I know when I'm with them, we will catch up in an instant. I seriously yearn for this friendship and realize how much I miss it every time I'm around them. I had a short visit in St. Louis this weekend to see AMy & Tom, and I was lucky enough to see one of my amazing friends Abby. That I night I dreamt of my Texas ladies, which made me miss them even more. I've realized how how hard it is to make friends in the "real world". I'm not in a friend environment anymore. All through my life I've had a school to meet knew friends. I was involved in sports and other organizations, where you bond and need friends to survive. I had an amazing church youth group, surrounded by people I trusted. Then I went to a tiny college where the word community was shoved down our throat. Now, after being out of there for almost 8 months, I realize I miss that community. It's a lot easier to find friends in communities meant for friendship. 

So how do you meet people in the real world? I am reading a book called "MWF Seeking BFF" by Rachel Bertsche. She address this question by going on new friend dates weekly. Now I definitely am not about to do that (mostly because I don't have money to be that social), but I did learn from her experience that it's important to be intentional. Now in the "real world" you have to go out of your way to meet new people. And now you're competing with the age of technology, where most people are too glued to their phone to look up and start a conversation. So although now I feel like I'm stalking people, I'm learning how to reach out to people to make those connections. Because sitting around having a pity party about how my friends living far away from me isn't going to make me new ones...

The Untold Truth.

Nobody talks about it. Or if they do, you don't believe them. Because you have to be the exception, right? When you graduate you'll have everything figured out. I saw my older friends graduate and they talked about how lonely they were or how much it sucks to be a grown up, but i didn't believe that would happen to me. I had it figured out. Move to a big city, land a great job, have an amazing social life...

Maybe that does happen to some, but for most of us college graduates life is currently not as expected, except I'm also not sure what I was expecting. Nobody talks about this. It's like we are the age group that is skipped. We're somewhere between crazy keggers and sophistication. I know I'm not alone in this because recent conversations have made me figure out that this is a normal thing. The problem is, nobody talks about it, so nobody thinks it's normal. You feel weird for not having anything figured out. Nobody tells you you're going to be broke and tired from working 9am-5pm. Nobody says you'll want to pick Netflix marathons over a night out at a bar because getting off the couch seems impossible.

That's why why I started blogging. Well I guess I have two reasons why. 1. I miss writing like crazy and although I told myself that I would continue writing, I have failed, so this is my chance at redemption 2. Although I do not expect this in anyway to reach beyond my parents, I think this age should be talked about more and although I'm not an expert on anything, maybe writing about it will help me figure it out. This isn't some profound blog, where I will answer life's questions. Let's be real, most of this is me ranting (isn't that what blogs were invented for?). But at least this will be one more person talking about this awkward in between years, even if it's just my dad reading it.