Even if we’ve blocked out selective memories of our childhood (the dentist…I shudder at the thought), we all remember elementary school recess. Now that I’m through with my public school education, I’ve been taking the time to reminisce about my favorite memories from those days. Man, did I love that half hour of pegging younger kids in the head with kickballs (which they totally deserved, by the way, just for being there).

At the risk of sounding like a creeper with a window-less van parked 100 yards from a playground, here are some of my favorite games from recess that I wish were appropriate for eighteen year-olds to play. Note: I like the games…not the kids. Read More »

So far this summer, I’ve been having the constant desire to re-live childhood summer times, a.k.a hopping in my DeLorean and gunning it to 1999.  The days when I was 9 years old and the world was mine.  The days when the only thing I had to worry about trying not to hurt myself when I was Skippin’ It outside all day.  The days when I was bumpin’ “If You Steal My Sunshine” and getting a perfect tan from swimming all day at camp. Those last moments of childhood where you could run around naked without feeling an ounce of self-consciousnes (knowing next summer you might be gettin’ some new curves).

10 years later, there are so many questions.  What will my major be?  Do I have enough hours at work?  Do I need to take summer classes? Where da party at? When’s the next sunny day for tanning? Does he want a relationship or a hook-up? Did I text too much this month? Should I get that new iPod?  It obviously doesn’t get easier.

Preeeeeetttyyy sure I wasn’t asking myself those questions when I was a kid.  So I say, what the hell? Let’s worry less and bring more pre-pubescent nostalgia back into our summer lives with some fun old-school pastimes: Read More »

My mom does a lot of really annoying things.

She calls me really early in the morning, or really late at night. To talk about reality TV shows.
Whenever I’m on the phone with her, she hangs up abruptly to get another call…without saying goodbye.
She pees with the door open in the powder room on the main floor of our house.
She backed into my car when it was parked on her driveway…

But no matter how much I want to shake her and scream, “MOM IT’S 8AM ON A SUNDAY AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF RAMONA!” the woman has given me so much and I can’t forget that.

My mom is one of the most generous people I know, always giving her time and services to other people. She will do anything for me, including moving me and all my stuff from dorm to sorority house to house to apartment to apartment. She’s always in the mood for a trip to the mall and sometimes even throws her credit card down at the register. She’s an awesome cook, she’s pretty good at Scrabble and she did apologize when she backed into my car…

But the thing I’m most grateful for when it comes to my mom is the confidence and self esteem she has instilled in me.

I was a fat kid growing up. And not just baby fat. Fat fat. I was tall and big and had a perm – needless to say, I stuck out. But I never knew it. In fact, I didn’t realize quite how big I was until I looked at pictures from my childhood long after those years were over. At the time, thanks to my mom, I thought I was just like everyone else. You see, she was a plus sized woman, but I never realized there was anything wrong with that. I don’t remember my mom ever talking about her weight. I don’t remember her ever hiding herself or her body out of shame. Read More »

I know I’m lucky. Five of my best friends from childhood live within 5 minutes of me in the city. Most of us have been friends for 17 years (wow, that number scares me). I’m not going to lie and say it’s been easy for all of us to remain friends.

We all split up for 4 years of college, sometimes had sporadic contact, and occasionally went months without talking to each other.

Even now, living so close, sometimes a month or two will go by and we’ll realize we haven’t hung out. We’ve all grown into much different people than we were as kids, and if we met today, we wouldn’t necessarily all be the best of friends. But we grew up together and have enough in common that we’ve chosen to remain friends.

Key phrase: We grew up together.

In addition to my close childhood friends, I’ve collected friends from college and from post-college as well. These people didn’t know me as I was learning my multiplication tables, but they got to know me as a person much more like the one I am today. They chose to be friends with me, and not the childhood version of me.

I sometimes think about those friends from my past that I didn’t keep in touch with. Those girls I once referred to as my best friends. One in particular, I was best friends with from kindergarten all the way to 10th grade, when we slowly started drifting apart. We had sporadic contact in college, as in, “Oh my God, we so totally need to hang out!!” but of course we never did. Sometimes I get seriously sad thinking that someone who once knew me better than anyone else has no idea about what I’m like now. Sometimes I wonder why we let our friendship go when we had so much history together. Read More »

It’s time for the Summer Games. For a select few, that means it’s time to put years of hard work and determination to good use to try to win a medal for their home country. For most of us, however, it means it’s time to sit back and watch people far more athletic then ourselves participate in activities that we haven’t done since childhood — when our parents desperately tried to force us into different sports to see if we had any real ‘physical acumen.’ Pro-tip : We did not.

Here is a list of Olympic Sports most uncomfortable for small children: Read More »

When I was little, I wasn’t really a Barbie girl. Even as a young child, I was vaguely aware of the fact that Barbie was proportioned funny and had tatas that just couldn’t‘t be real. I hearted My Little Ponies instead, and had just about every single one (including the Flutter Pony with bug wings, bitch!), giving my time to fantastical creatures rather than mass-produced patriarchal dolls.

BUT. Had this Barbie been around when I was little, I’m sure I would have begged my mom for it until she eventually gave in. I mean, how could you not covet a doll with her own pooper scooper?!?

ps: not only do you get a pooper scooper, you get poop too! Little, plastic, miniature poops!

While I was growing up, I had a hell of a lot of fun. My very early years were spent going to the local sports complex with my dad and my little brother, playing backyard baseball/soccer/tag with a gaggle of kids from the neighborhood, having fashion shows with gear from my massive dress-up box for my mom. Then, as I got older, my friends and I started throwing boy-girl parties involving air hockey tournaments and games of spin the bottle, and would have sleepovers where we dyed our hair and cleaned the house on Saturday afternoons so my mom would give us movie money.

In my early teen years I’d hang out at the skatepark and take trips out of town with as many people as we could pack in a van to watch bands play; later, at the end of my high school career, weeknights were spent driving around, listening to jams and making pointless stops at WalMart, and weekends were spent partaking in outlandish late-night drinking shenanigans accompanied by board games.

Then I went to college. And while some of my best friends did attend the same school as me, and while I did meet a handful of fantastic new people, for the most part, I was pretty miserable. I went from a small town where I had known everyone for 5+ years to a giant school filled with rich kids from suburbia who wouldn’t know real fun if it kicked them in the teeth. Read More »

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t love funfetti. Whether it’s in cake form or cupcake form, there’s just something about the colorful cake and frosting that’s enough to bring anyone back to their childhood. But now that we’re a bit older, maybe it’s time for us to set aside the box and start making baked goods from scratch. Right?

When I found a recipe for funfetti cupcakes, I was extremely excited and made them immediately.

What you’ll need for funfetti cupcakes:

1/2 cup milk

3 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour Read More »

It’s summer time! While I’d rather be sipping on bottomless pitchers of daiquiris and taking naps by the lake, I’ll spend most of my time working and taking a summer class. While summers aren’t as carefree as the ones of our youth, the next three months can still be fun as the glory days of summers past. Here are a few ideas for a thrill-a-minute summer you won’t soon forget.

1. Go On A Roadtrip

Three guys just earned a spot in the Guiness Book of Records for driving through the 48 contiguous states in just over 106 hours. Seeing the country while hopped up on Red Bull may not be your thing, but road trips are a cheap way to vacation and see some of America’s great wonders and roadside oddities.

2.Learn Something New

You don’t have to take a summer class to keep your brain sharp. Whether it’s making a t-shirt quilt, finally tackling Sudoku or picking up some conversational Italian, find something you’re interested in and give it a shot. After 12 weeks of practice your new hobby may turn into a passion! Nervous? You don’t have to go it alone. Wrangle up some friends to join in on the fun. Read More »

Every now and then, I get moments where I sit outside, watch kids run around and play, and really miss my childhood. Life was so much easier back then, filled with juice boxes and random presents from Grandma and books that had pictures in them. But best of all, I got to play.

Now, between school, family, and some semblance of a personal life, I really don’t have the time to play. And even if I did, wouldn’t it look kind of silly for a 20-year-old woman to be squealing “weee!” as she tumbles down the slide in the park?

Not if it’s a Newmindspace PlayDay, I won’t! Read More »