Tag: summer

Buon Compleanno A Me!

My 23rd birthday is finally when I feel like an adult. I’ve been a working, bill-paying, independent-living “adult” for a few years now. Even when I got married, I didn’t feel much like a grown-up. I was still in school and my dad was paying for part of my car.

Well now, at 23, I feel like a grown-up…. I’m done with classes. All the bills are on me. I found *several* gray hairs yesterday (no lie!!). I’m spending my birthday cleaning (to impress the family with my house-wifing skills when they visit this weekend).

I think this transition into adulthood makes me feel especially Golden. According to the UW-Madison Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, the term “Golden Birthday” originated in Wisconsin. They define it as, “the day on which your age in years matches the day of the month on which you were born, ie turning 21 on the 21st day of one’s birth month.”

As highly regarded as this university may be, I think they lacked in their research quite a bit. My entire Italy-born family knew what a Golden Birthday was before they immigrated to Milwaukee. Despite being a big fan of Milwaukee (and Italy) I don’t think either can take credit for the term. Sorry, UW-Madison CSUMC- you failed.

For birthday celebrations, today I’m buying pre-sale tickets to my favorite musical group of all time: Hanson! And then tomorrow, my husband is taking me to my favorite restaurant: The Melting Pot. More gushing about the both of those in another post.

As a side note, I do have to say the Wisconsin Englishes project is quite fascinating for anyone interested in regional dialects.

Goooooooooooal!

I have decided to make some summer goals**.  Normally, I like to just take summer day-by-day and see what happens. I might read some books or workout when I feel like it. Summer has been my relaxing break between vigorous semesters of college and now that college is ending, I think the grown-up thing to do is have some goals.

In addition to the constant goal of finding a new job/career path, I want this summer to be about new things. Not necessarily trying something new every day (although that could be an interesting experiment and fun FRIENDS reference) but trying new things in the activities I already enjoy but never branch out of.

Example: reading. I love to read so that’s not new. But I typically read the same things. I either like historical fiction, fantasy, or trashy fluff girl books. I want to read some new things this summer. My most artistic friend swears that comics are an ingenious form of art and literature, so I’m curious to see if I agree. I also want to read a biography because I haven’t since it was a requirement in high school. *Suggestions for this are welcomed.*

I also love cooking and need to branch out of my regular dishes for the sake of my own interest (not to mention for my husband’s!). I received a gigantic Bible of Italian cooking so I think one of my goals will be to master that.

A short story has been in a works for a while because I keep scrapping it. The last goal is to finish a short story (or more!) by August. I even have a pretty link on the blog that’s sad and empty. This must change!

**I reserve the right to remove, add or alter these goals at any time during the summer of 2009.