Coffee and a Conversation
As Told Over Brunch is a home for intelligent discourse from the twenty-something perspective - so the stuff you gossip about over mimosas on Sunday morning or over takeout on your friend's couch when happy hour ends too early. We love chatting about our lives, whether it be the relationships we’re building (or destroying), lessons we've learned at work, struggles at school, growing pains we've felt, or even the food we’re talking over.
As I'm wrapping up another year of life, I can't help but reflect on how much of a growth year 23 was for me. I was measurably more mature than I was at 21, past the indecision of age 22, yet not as settled into myself as I perceive I will be at 24.
Here are the 24 things I learned from the monumental year of 23.
Read MoreOn a recent Saturday, my friend invited me to bikram yoga. I knew what bikram was - your regular poetic yoga poses in a sauna - and had been wanting to try it. My friend told me to bring a towel, and that's it.
Five minutes before the class, my friend goes, "I forgot to tell you to bring water."
Read MoreWe're a badass state for lots of reasons. First off, we were kind of a big deal in the whole formation of this country. Lot's of important historical figures lived and died here. And while I don't flaunt this as a positive, it's the old capital of the Confederacy, which means we're overflowing with intense amounts of historical landmarks.
Read MoreOne of the first places I ever brunched in Richmond was 3 Monkeys. We selected it for brunch only because we had drank there the night before. We gathered ourselves, neighbors and friends to try out the brunch scene.
When we went that first time, we ordered 4 different mimosa pitchers for the entire table in various flavors. Turned out, only me and a few people were planning on drinking. Before you knew it, we were all a pitcher in, and then I offered to dog sit and decided to take the dog home with me. Then I passed out for most of the day. It was a good day.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, Cazey confessed that he doesn't know the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner." No one believed him since everyone grows up hearing the National Anthem.
He then proved, true to his word, he really does not know the words (or tempo) to our National Anthem.
Read MoreMy manager sent around this gem about modern dating, which was all about the new trend in relationships: fading out. It gave a few reasons as to why it’s popular: when dating seems to be getting serious, it's a prime time to bail out. Pair that with our natural inclination to use social media to constantly monitor the outside world for better options, and you've got the recipe for a quick fade out.
When I was in college, this trend slayed me. I mean – really – how hard is it to meet with me and tell me face to face why you’re not feeling it all of a sudden? I always wanted closure and rarely ever got it. The compounding factor was that I’d be friends with these guys on Facebook or follow them on Twitter and could see what they’re up to (or more importantly who they’re with), which would just throw a bit more coal on my burning fire of desire for closure.
Read MoreAs of late, I've been become preoccupied with when and how much to tip. This might have something to do with living in Richmond, VA where a significant portion of the population is the starving artist type who lives off tips. I've also read several posts by service industry workers expressing that if I don't dole out after out I order a muffin at the counter, then they can't afford to live in their 10' x 10' studio that they share with a roommate and a cat over a storefront.
There seems to be an expectation to tip everywhere. No one wants to be seen as cheap. (My mom criticizes that I always calculate my tip so that the total sums to the nearest whole dollar. She argues that my tip should be in whole dollars lest I look stingy. I bristle because oftentimes the server is getting above 20 percent with my computation; I do study math.)
Read MoreDue to various experiences in the last week, we decided to review McDonald’s iced coffee today.
Cazey lives for iced coffee. For fun, he Googles iced coffee beverages at various franchises and compares their caffeine, calories, and price. It’s the only thing he orders at Starbucks unless he gets an iced Americano, which is basically the same thing. Just seeing iced coffee gets him going. For example, while writing this post, he decided to buy a McDonald’s iced coffee after staring at several pornographic images of mahogany ambrosia over crystal cubes in a plastic cup. He did it for research.
Read MoreUp until this year, I essentially only went on vacation to a suburb in South Carolina twice a year. I had only been on a plane a handful of times: once to California, once to Hawaii and once to Florida. While the Hawaii trip sounds legit, it's relevant to note that I was in second grade. I remember the 12 hour plane ride more than the actual trip.
However, in this year alone, I have been afforded the opportunity to travel to San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Punta Cana, Indianapolis, plus a quick plane ride for personal reasons back up to Connecticut and then a long drive down to Charleston. Some have been work trips and some have been personal trips, but they've all been wonderful in their own way.
Two months ago I went on a quasi-date with "Jeanine." I never thought it a date until she referenced it as such, and so then I went with it. Later, we hung out, and the date came up.
"But you know we're just friends, right?" she said. "That's all I'm looking for."
I had deduced even before our date that Jeanine was a conglomerate of clinginess and hypochondria, so this was fine with me. I had to stop myself from nodding too fast to being "just friends" and mentioning she was too manic for me.
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