Hi Nga.  Love you :)

the art of being too lazy to use full sentences

Life on Earth is beautiful. And short. Too beautiful to be so short, but it was never my call. Try to be the best you. Hold onto the acknowledgement that perfection = the journey, not the end result. It's never too late, and it's never too early.





I want a sandwich.

the art of Draw Something

This. is. SERIOUS. It's final's week (good luck to all of you!), so naturally I've been losing sleep over the etiquette of the latest trendy game: Draw Something.

I want to be both cool and good at this game so, like, I have a few questions:

1. Quality of drawing. I feel this is a double edged sword. Do you spend little time on it to make it seem as if you have a life? Or do you spend a lot of time on an impressive drawing?

2. Words. Can you use them or not? Am I automatically thrown into the 2nd class category for labeling those squiggles as "toilet" or, worse, am I deemed a straight up cheater?

3. Quantity of games. What if you wake up realizing you have way too many games going. Is it offensive to end one?? Or do you just let them go to the wayside?

4. Offensiveness. Is it okay if I want to draw something that isn't PC? Or should I strive to create a welcoming platform in the Draw Something world?

I'm just really stressed out about this all.

Play me.

the art of running a 10k!

I ran my first real 10k on Saturday. In fact, I ran my first race PERIOD on Saturday. Let me tell you, with the adrenaline rush and the universal excitement of every participant- these things are FUN!

I spent a good three minutes trying to decide how to humbly brag about my time, but I ultimately decided there's no way to do it: I ran 6.2 miles in under 50 minutes (my goal was an hour), and I somehow got second place in my age group (I mean..there were only 7 of us). My roommate, Kate, got first! In fact, everyone in my running group placed for their age group. So proud of them. :)

Now that I'm a running extraordinaire, here's what I learned:

1. Ride the adrenaline. Even if you don't feel like you can run that distance or run at that speed, trust that the adrenaline will take you the rest of the way because it will! But all the same..

2. A 15:00 mile or a 5:00 mile, it's still a mile! Pace yourself. I ran the first two miles at a 7:40-50 pace in an attempt to keep up with the males in my group. If I had let my pride get the best of me, I would have been crawling across the finish line, if I ever made it. I still ran faster than my training speed, a la #1.

3. Pants. Not going to plug a brand here, but...running tights are amazing. Specifically running tights from a very large local company...

Nike. I couldn't help it. But any running tights/leggings will do. :)

4. Shuffle mode on playlists. My iPod was tucked into a tiny pocket in the back of my pants. I forgot to turn my iPod to shuffle. In my refusal to stop and lose time changing it, I had the pleasure of listening to the ENTIRE. JUSTIN. BIEBER. ALBUM. for the entire run.

I love JB as much as the next 13 year old (this is no joke), but I think he may have just helped me finish the race a little faster.

5. Sprint the final stretch to the finish line. My awesome marathon-runner roommate sprinted the final stretch while I slowed DOWN and almost vomited on the congratulatory people. They were cheering me on, and I seriously think I looked at them and gagged as I crossed the finish line.

Suffice it to say, Kate looked cooler.

Ultimately, I learned that it's more fun to just have fun! In the very small light of competition, just make it a personal competition. I obviously couldn't run at the speed of the males in my group, and I was 100% okay with that, but I could run against myself.

I can't wait to run my first real 5k with my girlfriends next weekend.

The Art Of Updating Y'all!

I'll be honest, I'm only updating because I have a midterm tomorrow that I desperately need to study for. Counterintuitive, right? I feel like the only people who check this out also happen to be the people I don't get to talk with often, AKA Sweet, my beautiful cousin EMILY!!!, and any of you subtle creepers I don't know about ;) (it's okay, I'm in the same boat).

I'm going to go ahead and numerically list out 10 random and current "going-on's" in the hopes that it'll trick you into believing that there's any sort of rhyme or reason

to my life (in no particular order):

1. I'm running my first half marathon on April 15th! No, I'm not up to 13 miles yet...but at least I have cute running tights.

(As legally close as you'll ever be to going out in public without pants, but you sure do FLY).

2. Because of this marathon, I've adopted a mega-healthy, kind of over-the-top diet. This means very little gluten, no milk, a lot of veggies, no steak, no salt, less sugar, no alcohol, and...no coffee. Do I still sound like a fun person?

4. I get to be a bridesmaid for the first time for my wonderful friends, Melissa and Michael.

Perfection. I hope I don't trip.

5. I'm a little happy. It may or may not be because of a certain member of the XY Chromosome Club.

Okay, it totally is. And he's a total QT, no?

6. I turned 23 last week.I suffer from Chronic Babyface Syndrome and should get carded without fail. I didn't get carded on my birthday night. Is it too young to start lying about my age?

7. Despite being the Type B of Type B's, I'm learning how to value organization. Sometimes it makes sense to have your life in order, I guess..maybe. Less laziness, more OCD-ness? I still lose my cell phone 3x a day (thank you: www.wheresmycellphone.com!) but I'm all about baby steps.

This is a huge step. Huge. Life changing. The best.

8. I'm graduating this Spring!!! You're all invited. In fact, I expect to see you there.

9. After venturing off on a 5 year adventure of self-discovery and growing up, I'm moving back in with my parents while I work. Home sweet home. I have a job so this is okay, right? I would like to consider it... "economical."

10. I would like to take a wood shop class.

Me + Saw = A Beautiful Disaster.

11. There was no # 3. 

"And I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep. And I'll feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe. And I keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are."

...OKAY, TAYLOR SWIFT. You're setting a bad example for all of the Stage 5's of the world. Is nobody else concerned by this enabling behavior?

the art of missing your brother

1. Talk to him as much as possible.

2. Keep missing him. But don't tell him this. Keep it cool; you're the big sister.

Funny how the little brother that you bullied your whole life ends up being braver and stronger than you in the end. :)

the art of secret hobbies

I'm a pretty private person when it comes to my hobbies... consequently, I feel like there's a lot that even my closest friends don't know about me as an entirety.

So, the art of secret hobbies is that..unless it's sketch/illegal (in which case, why are you doing it? hm?), don't keep them secrets! This one in particular is one that I've kept under wraps for...forever. But now it's time to be real about it.

Did you know that sometimes I play the guitar, sometimes I watch Country Strong, and sometimes I try to sing AND play guitar to songs from Country Strong for my friends, Ben and Zane? Bet you didn't.

the art of faking adulthood

I tend to equate becoming a "grown up" with being a volunteer search-and-rescue crew member in one of those high profile missing people cases. You want to help find the person, but you don't actually want to FIND the person, if you know what I'm saying.

If you're like me, you're stuck in this in-between where you want to become an adult, but you're still figuring it out. Here's how I've figured out how to fake it until you make it:


1. More coffee, less cream.

Nothing looks more grown up than filling your 3rd cup of the morning to the brim with black coffee because you are serious business and don't have time for children's games like "let's add some cream and make this actually enjoyable to drink".

+2 points if you try to refute the above statement by saying, "I actually PREFER my coffee black!"

2. Condescending baby voice. About EVERYTHING.

Normal you would've said: "I like your dog. It's cool."

Adult you will say: "Oh, let me meet this precious little guy! What's this sweetheart's name? Is your name Baldrick? IS IT? Oh, hi sweet Baldrick, oh you love kisses, you love kisses!"

3. 5:00 Happy Hour.

Pretend like it isn't a totally inconvenient time of day to interrupt your True Blood marathon, put on your "I just got off of work and need to decompress over some vague small talk and a beer!" face and get out there, soldier!

+ 2 Points if you show up at 5:25, look at the host/hostess and shake your head, "Everything just piled up on my desk today- couldn't get out of there on time. I SURE could use a drink, har har."

+3 Points if the host/hostess is still willing to fake-laugh as if he/she hasn't heard that from every customer before and will not be hearing it ever again.

4. Accidentally leave your work badge on when you're meeting with acquaintances at said Happy Hour.

"Oh! Wow, I always forget to take this darned thing off when leaving the office. Security is just so intense over there. Silly me."

5. Resist the urge to chase the gulls and the geese.



I actually don't want to hear that you can walk along the shoreline, notice the flock of seagulls to your left, and continue on your way. If you still don't feel the slightest urge to drop your phone, shoes, and boyfriend to set off at a dead sprint for the birds (while waving your arms and yelling various profanities), you are officially an adult- read no further.

Anyways, don't do this.

6. Claim that you need to check your planner/schedule/calendar before making any decision.

"Christmas dinner when? the 25th of...oh, December? Yeah, let me pull out my blackberry real quick and make sure I'm not about to double up!"

If you DO pull out your smartphone to do this, take this opportunity to make a discreet play on Words With Friends.

7. Business casual, ESPECIALLY when going to a casual event.

Make it look like you may or may not have just flown in on the corporate jet juuuust in time to catch a cab over to your girlfriend's place for that Jersey Shore marathon.

Never mind that a) you actually spent the day in your sweats watching Titanic on E! for the 3rd time b) you live in suburbia where the use of a cab is totally impractical and c) you would never, EVER pay for a cab..even if you could afford it.

8. Don't watch Jersey Shore.

In theory. Don't actually stop watching it. Ever.

9. Feign indifference to things in which you are interested, feign interest in things to which you are indifferent.

Normal you would've said: "OMGOMGOMG the last Harry Potter came out and I cried and how great was the Ron and Hermione kiss?"

Adult you will say: "Your little niece dressed up for that one magic movie? How adorable! But, wait, what's this about the new plastic bag ban at Winco?? This is America!"

10. Definitely do NOT make it seem like you have any time for blogging.

On second thought...

If you're like me, anywhere from none to nadda% of these sounded appealing at all. Maybe I'll just stick to being me, and I'll let adulthood make its way to into my life gradually. No faking it.

+2 points if you agree.

The Art of Parallel Lives

I find it kind of funny how, right as you are transitioning into a phase in your life, someone else you could have shared it with is transitioning RIGHT out of it. The timing is impeccable. When your door closes, their door opens and vice versa. There are always those people you are destined to be on opposite sides of the fence with... always crossing over at the same time, never sharing a second in the same moment.

Not a bad thing at all. Just the way it is.

Kind of like how right as I'm getting into my most difficult year of school...ALL OF MY FRIENDS ARE GRADUATING!! So excited for them, so proud. I still can't see the light at the end of that tunnel (#5thyearwoes), but for now I'll live vicariously through them. Way to go, guys. :)

The Art Of Being Lost

"The art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."

I was able to convince myself for some time that I was the type of person who was always in control of her emotions, her destiny, her everything. Then...I met this year. Everything is upside down and inside out, and I've come to realize that I seriously have no idea what I am doing. With anything. Ever. Does anyone, really?

For someone who finds stability in being in constant control, I've been left feeling like I just drank three long islands and proceeded to go on a tilt-a-whirl. Bad life decisions, I tell you...but that's a whole other entry in itself. How do you fix this? You don't. You drank the long islands, you went on that stupid ride, and now you're stumbling around like a fool. The only solution, besides more cowbell, is to stumble in style:

1. Own it. As Abe Lincoln once said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt" (which is a rip-off of Proverbs 17:28, by the way). Personally, I prefer to speak out and remove all doubt that I'm not a fool. What of it?

2. Stay optimistic. What's so bad about not having all of the answers? Nothing is as black and white as we would like it to be sometimes, and that's the beauty in the process. Think of it as a challenge rather than a stumbling block.

3. Play fair. Relationships and friendships can be tumultuous and confusing. They can be the reason you were compelled to down those long islands in the first place. It's important to be be fair to yourself and be honest with what you need, but it's equally as paramount to bestow that same honesty and respect onto all of the involved parties. I've been struggling to learn the difference between pleasing people vs. respecting people.

4. Hold your head high and treat yourself as if you are the coolest person you have ever met. Nobody else will be able to tell that you feel otherwise.

Some friends and I were leaving a restaurant today, and I marched off towards the car, leading the way. I was on a mission. "Tiffany, where are you GOING?" I heard my friends laughing as I turned around to see that I had not only passed our car, but I was walking in the entirely wrong direction.

"See, guys, this is why I said to NEVER follow Tiffany."

Okay, so I'm always lost. Maybe you shouldn't follow me. Maybe I'm on the wrong mission. As long as I'm headed somewhere, I'm fine with that. We all get lost, but it's all about wandering aimlessly in style until you eventually find your way back.

let's get real

I have grown to love many things, but nobody ever taught me how to show it.

At the end of it all, I've come to realize that being "strong" is not fearing love and emotional weakness. Without it, we're nothing but hard shells.

PS - I returned from a Chicago with a taste for red wine as I claimed I might.

PPS- How much does my layout remind you of Portlandia's "just put a bird on it"??

I fell in love again, all things go, drove to Chicago..

My brother has been boot camping it up in San Diego for the Marine Corps for about a month now. I decided that I was going to take a lot of pictures and blog via pictures of my life. Starting after this post. Maybe. I've always wanted to be one of those people who is really good about taking a camera everywhere, but I just can never get myself to.

Are there a lot of things/characteristics that you wish you had? Does it make sense to change who you really are to adopt these traits? I remember back in high school when I went through that phase (along with the rest of Southridge) of wanting to be a little 17 year old, coffee-drinking, clothes-never-matching hipster. See, there are some things that make you better, and then there are some things that you are glad you were never able to pick up.

I have also always wanted to write blogs that had a purpose so that it was actually, you know, worth your time to read. Never was able to figure that one out either.

I'm going to Chicago next week (during week 9...probably the worst week of the term to miss, but I don't care. I laugh in the face of bad timing). Maybe while I'm there I'll have a giant epiphany, and I'll come back with all the characteristics that I wish I had: I'll be fashionable, I'll have a taste for red wine, I'll be okay with leggings as pants... or I'll just be okay with being me :)

I'll let you know.

Tumblr?

I think Tumblr is such a cute, more right-brain oriented way of blogging (not that I'm particularly right-brained..)

So I'm messing around with it. Check it out, if you like :)

Hi again! 2010.

September's here...anddd with September always comes my desire to procrastinate, out of which springs my desire to blog. I always stick true to the cycle: blog, stop blogging, look back with embarrassment at past blogs, continue to blog. Welcome back. :)

I'm going to keep it short and sweet:

1. Does anybody know any good tips about staying organized?? I want to finally take control and be that person that can actually..function. This year is going to be the year. No, seriously. Stop rolling your eyes at me.

2. Feed my fish on your way out, eh?

I'm looking over all my posts while trying to physically restrain myself from deleting them because they're so embarrassing. So wrong that it's right?

Right now: I love Jane Austen. And running. The sun. And bonfires. Champagne! And biking (eh..just trying out reverse psychology).

I hope you're all having a great time, making lots of money, and saving to buy me a plane ticket to wherever you are.

Sometimes.

Life's too short to bring people down and to be brought down. Sometimes, it's best just to let go and begin again, as inconvenient as it is to stand on shaky ground.

I'm having a GREAT term, and I'm also doing some self-discovery and realizing who to hold close and dear. I'd like to think I can reach out and connect with everyone and that everyone plays their part in making me who I am...while it's probably true, sometimes you have to be proactive and make it happen for yourself. Sometimes you have to choose who and how you let people play their part.

I worked a 30 hour week last week, and it was a rewarding experience the whole way through. This whole job has been. The fun moments fully complement the moments when I'm stuck in a corner and starting to lose it.

I have a fun trip up my sleeve, but I can't say much about it yet because it's supposed to be a surprise (shhh). :)

If I could major in a) care basketry or b) sleep studies, I would be a passionate and successful college student!

Not gonna lie, I've been unabashedly a very superficial person. It's too easy to get caught up in everything around you, you know? But last night I realized that all I REALLY ask in life is that I live somewhere where I can see the stars.


Even though I still have a month left, I feel like summer's over, and it's been good to me. But I want to take a trip. I also want to be the person I was one year ago in certain aspects. I also want to take my cat to Corvallis so I can annoy her 24/7. I want to do a lot of things. I guess that's what this year will be for! I say that every year.

On a brighter (worse?) note:

My toothpaste tastes like a vanilla latte. What more is there to want in life?