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.
Today I got asked for my number. As in, I think was hit on. I think.
I was at the museum trying to renew my membership when I had to explain why I deserved the student rate. She asked what I studied. I said epidemiology. (I don’t study epidemiology, but that sounds more interesting than what I do study.)
She asked if that meant I studied skin diseases.
Read MoreA couple of years ago, I participated in a Secret Santa. We filled out a questionnaire on our interests and wants, including our favorite candy and superhero. I almost wrote, "You better not get me anything superhero-related." We had a $25 price cap. I wanted to further write, "Buy me my favorite DVD or get me a Starbucks gift card and call it a day."
One of my best friends ended up drawing my name. At the Secret Santa, she handed me a gift basket of Three Musketeers and microwave popcorn.
What.
Read MoreI am not a huge fan of gift giving. I don't mind grabbing gifts for myself, of course, but buying gifts for friends and family on a time crunch is difficult. It's a struggle between what you've gotten them before, your budget, and straight creativity. Like, what can I give them that's not baked, made, and doesn't break the bank?
To help people in a similar conundrum, I brainstormed a list of gift ideas for twenty-somethings like myself. Below is what you can give the millennial in your life:
Read MoreFor the last several months, I lived my life looking forward to one thing: going to Qatar. I found out I would have the opportunity to venture to the Middle East in late April, and ever since then that was the focal point of my calendar. Sure, I had other things planned – a trip to Amsterdam, a trip to Key West, another trip to Chicago, a marathon to run, a half-marathon before that, a dissertation to propose, several friends’ weddings, and friend reunions. But Qatar was the thing I was desperate to see and do and enthrall myself in.
And then I went. And it was awesome (and it has taken me over five weeks since returning to sit down and write about the experience, but I promise, it’s coming). But I got back, thought about my wonderful time there, and then continued lying in bed.
I think it is natural, if not always healthy, to live life living milestone to milestone. We anticipate upcoming big events like the ones listed above. But eventually, you realize you can’t sustain yourself that way. Or at least you probably shouldn’t.
Read MoreRenting is a waste of money because you're building no equity, you're investing in nothing and you will never recoup that money. You're just throwing money away, which is exactly what I thought about buying a new car when you have an old car that still runs.
It was this realization that caused my next, even more adult-like decision: I am going to buy a house. I very casually started looking online at houses and then started to play with mortgage calculators, and had the light bulb moment where I realized that, not only can I actually afford to buy a house, but that it would be a really good idea.
Read MoreSeveral weekends ago, Sallie hosted a pregame. Natalie showed up with her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friend, Nate. Everyone drank a lot. We eventually make it to a bar. I want food so I join my friends in a booth and steal cheese fries. Meanwhile, they discuss how Nate has had eyes for Sallie all night.
Me: "Really? I hadn't noticed that. Are you going to eat that last fry?"
Read MoreWhen you're getting your PhD, people constantly ask, "So, what do you want to do with that?" They usually mean where would I like to work. I struggle to answer, because before I even got into grad school, I decided I would live abroad after grad school, which is not the typical next step after you've spent four-plus years slaving over a data set.
(When I say "live abroad," I generally specify that I will apply to the Peace Corps or some nonprofit in the public health sector. I don't plan to Apparate into Portugal and find work as a taxi driver; I do want to use my degree.)
Read MoreToday I went to buy concert tickets. The concert is tomorrow, but I only discovered the band on Spotify last week (In the Valley Below if you know them, you indie you).
I walked over to the box office at the inauspicious time of 3 PM. With tickets at $5, I did not expect a crowd. Most people should be nodding off over their keyboards at work, right? However, what I found was a venue besieged by queues of teen girls and a handful of soccer moms and doting dads. Like, we are talking a hundred females mid-puberty on a sidewalk on an 85 degree day.
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