Blondes vs Brunettes

I stumbled upon this nuggest of pseudo-wisdom while I was in NYC, and am just now putting it to "paper".

Blondes are chain restaurants. They are well publicized and popular. They have good food(otherwise they wouldn't be successful), and you pretty much know what to expect from them before you go in. They are everywhere, so they're not hard to find. There is absolutely nothing wrong with chain restaurants. They are what they are.

Brunettes are local restaurants. They're quirky and interesting each in their own way. You have no idea what is on the menu the first time you go in, and sometimes it takes an adventurous spirit to choose a local restaurant over the tried-and-true chain joint. They are off the beaten path and do things their own way, and often result in extremely rewarding dining experiences.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is this....eat local.

Losing another epic struggle with Father Time...

Today I turned 29. I tried extremely hard not to do so, but in the end I was unable to prevent growing another year older. I did however, take time to reflect on the previous year of my life. I have decided that I have just experienced the single greatest year of my life(thus far). I have done so many amazing things and had so many great experiences, but more importantly, every goal I have set for myself has been met.

I have gotten straight A's 3 semesters in a row. I have gotten accepted to a nursing program. I discovered a motivation in myself that I never knew existed, and discovered what it means to have goals in life. I was never a good student, and I worried that it was a matter of aptitude, as opposed to a matter of applying myself fully. My worries were laid to rest fully when I realized that all I have ever been missing was the proper inspiration to succeed. My brother summed it up quite nicely when, upon hearing of my 4.0 last fall, he asked me, "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?" Charming, right? Being able to witness such a drastic change in myself over such a short period of time has been nothing short of mind-blowing.

I set a half marathon PR in April, discovered triathlons, completed a half distance ironman and a marathon(meeting my target times for both), committed myself to doing a full ironman next summer and met my fundraising goal for this year's MS Ride. To make all of these things possible, in February I began training regularly, and keeping track of my mileage. Since February I have run about 370 miles, on pace to surpass 500 for the year. I have cycled almost 900 miles, on pace to pass 1000 for the year. I have also swam almost 25 miles. Indeed, I am older than I've ever been, and yet I'm in the best shape of my life physically and mentally.

I have maintained most of my close friendships, and even begun cultivating friendships with some new amazing people. I have gone out of my way to be there for the people who needed help, and reached out to those same people when I myself needed help(more on this later). This year I continued and expanded upon an idea I began last year, the reverse birthday. Instead of expecting my friends to make my birthday fun for me and shower me with attention and gifts, I decided to switch it up. I gave presents to the friends who have meant the most to me and been the biggest parts of my life over the past year. This was so utterly satisfying to me, I'm pretty sure I'm going to continue to do this for the rest of my life.

In general, I am happier than I've ever been, and I'm living my life the way I feel like I should be living it. I try to enjoy every experience for what it is, rather than focusing on the negative aspects, even down to the tiniest details of human existence.

I have traveled more in the last year than I have recently, visiting two of the greatest cities in this country. In March I traveled to New York City for the first time, spending a week there and gaining an amazing perspective during my stay. In July I traveled to San Francisco to complete my first marathon and spent a week with my brother. Additionally, in May I spent a long weekend in Boulder, Colorado where I cycled, ran a 10k, and even went climbing(though we got rained off of a Flatiron and nearly got struck by lightning).

In general, I don't do regrets very often. I usually feel like every choice I have made in the past, for better or worse, has made me the person I am now, and I like who I am now. On the other hand, something very "great" happened to me this year. Before I say what it was, I'm going to clarify that I use the word "great" to mean something large, life-changing, and incredibly impactful, but not necessarily "good". This great thing that happened to be was incredibly bad, but it is one of those experiences that is a quintessential part of being human and every single person has to deal with it at some point. I experienced true and utter heartbreak for the first time in my life. First of all, I am lucky in that it took this long for it to happen, as many people experience heartbreak much earlier in their lives. Regardless, my first true heartbreak happened this year when I let the woman of my dreams, who I had foolishly been keeping at arms length for some time, slip away. I selfishly kept waiting for the so called "right time", for my life's circumstances to be such that letting her back in would be convenient to me. I believed that she would just be there when I was ready, yet in the back of my mind I feared what might happen if I waited too long. Needless to say, I found out and it was the single most devastating thing I have yet to experience, watching the girl I wanted to marry give up on me and move on with her life.

Maybe someday, with enough time and perspective, I will no longer regret that this happened. Maybe it will lead me to find happiness elsewhere, or at the very least I hope that I end up learning something from this whole mess. Either way, I cannot leave this off of my list of "great" things that have happened to me this year.

Without a doubt, this year surpassed expectations on so many levels. I finally found purpose and direction in life, I whipped my ass into shape and found a love of fitness that I'm not sure I could lose even if I wanted to, I kept my friends close, and got a clear vision of what the rest of my life may have in store for me, career-wise and personally. Now all I have to do is try and make next year even better. It'll be tough, but I believe it can be done.

If you're reading this, you can rest assured that you are an important part of my life and that I am thankful to be friends with you or related to you, as the case may be. There is also an outside chance that you stumbled across my blog completely randomly and you have no idea who I am. In that case, thanks for reading, and I hope you gained something from reading this rambling mess, be it entertainment or insight.

But anyways, to those this was intended for, thank you so much for everything you are and everything you do. All of the amazing things that have happened this year, you made them possible and I am incredibly grateful to have you around to share in my triumphs(as well as my sorrows).

Also: I grew a moustache this year. Cool, huh?

Dear bar customer...

I'm glad it's your birthday. That's great, have some fun.

I'm glad that on your birthday you expect people to treat you well, though you may not necessarily return the favor.

I'm glad that you "don't go out to bars much" and this night means a lot to you.

I'm glad that your friends are too cheap to buy drinks for you.

I'm glad that, in stark contrast to accepted bar etiquette, you chose to ask me(the bartender) for a free drink.

I'm glad that you believe that because it is your birthday, you are entitled to a free drink.

I'm glad that you at least pretended to be apologetic when I took the time to explain a few key points about bar etiquette(i.e. The fastest way to be denied a free drink is to ASK for one. Even more so for DEMANDING one.)

I'm glad that you seemed genuine enough that I did go ahead and buy you a shot on your birthday.

I'm glad that 5 minutes later, you asked me for another free drink.

I'm glad that you also felt that you were entitled to this free drink, again because it is your birthday.

I'm glad you started to get upset when I told you I would not buy you another drink, but still decided to go with puppy dog eyes for the next few minutes, hoping I would succumb to them.

I'm glad you eventually got annoyed at me(the bartender who 5 minutes previously had given you a free drink and said "Happy Birthday, Christina").

I'm glad you then called me an "asshole" and vowed to never return to my bar, where we had treated you SO POORLY(Got you on the bar for the Hurricane, served you with a smile despite your demanding and entitled tone, gave you a free, albeit undeserved shot).

I'm glad that you think the fact that it's your birthday somehow makes you special. It doesn't. What is your birthday actually celebrating? Is it the day you cured cancer? The day you helped build a house for charity? Or was it the day your mother spent hours suffering and struggling to bring you into this world, crying and screaming? That must've been a great accomplishment for you on this day 23 years ago. I can see why you feel so special. Not to mention every year since then on this day, you did such great things as receive gifts, attention, and adoration from your family and friends.

I am such an asshole for ONLY giving you ONE free shot, on this day, the day of your birth, the day you did great things that are deserving of praise.

Fuck you. Seriously. I feel sorry for your mother. She probably tried so hard to raise you to be respectful and polite. She must feel awful for having raised such a spoiled, whiny, demanding, and self-absorbed cunt as yourself.

If I ever meet her, I'll buy your mom a shot for having to put up with your shit her entire life.

Sincerely,

The Bartender

P.S. I really hope you stick to your word. Don't ever come back to my bar.

Beer vs Crackers

Today, I was trying to explain to somebody why it is totally lame that they drink(and love) Bud-Light. And finally the words I have been searching for for years came to me. Imagine somebody who only eats saltine crackers(ignore nutritional implications for the sake of the metaphor). They LOVE saltine crackers and say that its their favorite food and refuse to try any other bolder, scarier flavors(i.e. Indian food, Thai food, rich gourmet type stuff). When I tried to tell her that BETTER beer has more flavor, she insisted that she LIKED the flavor of Bud-Light. And that's when i dropped the Saltine Metaphor bomb on her. Suddenly it was like light was pouring through an opening in the clouds and she finally understood fully what I was getting at. Nobody hates Saltine crackers. There is barely any flavor to hate. Therefore it is a very safe food to eat if you are overwhelmingly afraid of ever eating anything that you wouldn't like(god forbid). However, there is respect to be gained by being adventurous, open-minded, and willing to risk disappointment enough to venture forth and shovel a forkfull of curry into your mouth, at the very least. Best case scenario, you might just find out that there are more delicious things to be eaten than Saltine crackers.

So throw away your inhibitions and your fear of making the bitter beer face, and the next time you belly up to the bar, order yourself a Guiness, Sam Adams Boston Lager, I.P.A., or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Your taste buds may thank you someday.

Rejection is a wonderful thing.

So to catch all of my non-existent readers up, I applied for nursing school last October and found out last night that I was not accepted. It was really disappointing for about 2 hours, until I realized that I now have many more options to choose from. The first go-around, I only had enough prerequisites to apply to one school. Now I can take a few more classes, expand the range of schools I can apply to, and really decide where I want to take my life. For a long time, I've only considered schools in this area, but why not go somewhere out of state? I could go to school in Colorado or Arizona...or somewhere on the East or West coast if I'm feeling ballsy. My brother lives in S.F.....hmmm.

I have more thoughts on this...but they'll have to wait.