Had I started this blog last year. I could have written quite the piece about my mother-in-law. But this year, after 10 years of not getting along, we seem to finally be okay. Of course, I have fallen for this before so there could be something to write at some point this year. You just never know with her. One day, I'll have to post my infamous email I sent her. For those of you that have issues with MILs, I am certain you will enjoy it. For those of you who don't, you'll probably think I'm an evil bitch. You win some, you lose some. But that's for another day.
One interesting thing that I did over the last couple weeks was I wrote a letter to my 16-year-old self. A friend in New Jersey has a daughter that is turning 16 tomorrow. While searching for a gift for her, I came across a book, Dear Me: A Letter to My 16-Year-Old Self. I bought it for her and flipped through it a little. It's a really great read. A bunch of celebrities (some I know and others I didn't) wrote letters to themselves at that age. Some were funny. Others were serious. But either way, I think they had a lot to say about what 16-year-olds think are so tragically important and how much these things really aren't in the grand scheme of things. So I decided to write my letter and stick it in the book for her. I hope I had some wise words of wisdom, or at least made her smile a little. Here it is:
Dear 16-year-old Me,
A few of things:
1. You’re currently obsessed with Mariah Carey and have been for nearly 10 years.
2. You live & breathe for the NY Giants.
3. You’ve “recently” (about 2 years ago) become obsessed with Matchbox Twenty & Rob Thomas.
4. Your favorite shows are Friends & Seinfeld.
5. You have a huge crush on Leonardo DiCaprio.
6. Your close friends include R***, C**, K***, P****, N****, J**, and J***.
These things don’t really change much in the next 12 years. I’m glad you had such good taste at 16.
Some advice I would give you:
1. Start thinking about college. You’re guidance counselor at school stinks and won’t be very helpful, and your parents just don’t know much about it because they didn’t do it. I know you don’t have the internet at home but take a walk over to the library and do some research on your own. Or at least take some time at Daddy’s this weekend and look it up on his computer. Next year (junior year), you should start looking at colleges. No decisions need to be made yet but this will help you make the decision when it’s time.
2. That guy you started dating last November, well, he’ll make you cry a lot over the next couple of years. It’s okay though. It helps make you the person you become. I don’t want to ruin the surprise or anything, but in a little over a year you’ll meet the man you’ll marry.
3. Don’t worry about making mistakes. You’re a bit of a perfectionist mostly because you don’t want to let your parents down. It’s okay to make some mistakes. Not big ones—like ones that will land you a Lifetime Original or an NBC Monday Night movie. But some are okay. You put too much pressure on yourself.
4. You do this already, but I’d like to stress this. Have a lot of fun. You’re 16. Act like it. The memories you’re creating with your friends will last a lifetime. Enjoy every second of living so close to them. It won’t be long before many of you are in different parts of the country.
Spoiler alert: No matter how much you love NJ, you’re one of the ones that leave. It’s okay but take full advantage of everything NJ has to offer—even being just a train ride away from the greatest city in the world. One day you will meet a lot of people who have never been to NYC but “always wanted to go.”
5. Save some money. You’re spoiled and for birthdays, Christmas, and graduations, you get a lot of money. Don’t blow it all. At the very least, take half and put it in a savings account. Don’t touch it. You may need it while in college or even further down the road.
6. And most importantly, know that you’re beautiful. You’re about to embark on a rather awkward stage. You’ll come out the other end, a bit of a knockout FYI. But without me telling you this, you won’t know it. You’re self image isn’t terrible but it isn’t as good as it should be. Stop comparing yourself to others around you and stop letting boys’ “disinterest” in you dictate how you feel about yourself. Even just 12 short years from now, you’ll work pretty hard to try to get that teenage body back. Appreciate it while you have it.
Now you know what I know.
xoxo,
28-year-old Me
I won’t sign my current last name so that I don’t give anything away
PS. Apple Computers and Google. Invest some of that saved money in these. Seriously.
I encourage you to do the same and write a letter. It was fun. I even sent it to the website and it's posted on there. They titled it "Obsessed with Rob Thomas" which is funny because if you know me, my title is more "Obsessed with Mariah Carey". But since Rob Thomas did write a letter in the book, who knows, maybe he'll somehow read the entry.
Other updates:
I've become obsessed with Revenge (the show, not the act).
We saw the Music Box Theater's Christmas show, Fruitcakes! and it was fabulous! This is the second show we've seen of theirs and they did not disappoint. If you're in Houston and haven't seen them, I highly recommend going to a show.
My in-laws came and went for Christmas and my dad is here now.
The Houston Texans are in the playoffs--which is very exciting for the city and their fans as it is their first time in franchise history.
And most importantly, the NY Giants won the division when everyone picked them to be at the bottom. GO BIG BLUE! Rooting for a run like in '07 :)
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and here's to a great 2012!
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