A Little Fun for Friday

Today, I’m doing something a little different here on the blog — it’s about to get personal. As I think about the route that I want this project to go (more on these changes next week), I’ve been wanting to let you in on more of the quiet, private ends to the trip and my work… but I realize that it’s difficult to do if we don’t know each other! 

Below, find 36 facts about me — a number chosen for the number of stops I’ve completed so far. Some are big, some are small, and (hopefully) most are interesting and/or fun. But since one-way conversations aren’t much fun, please drop by in the comments to share a few fun facts of your own. I want to get to know YOU too! 

1. Let’s start at the beginning, an awfully good place to start. I was born in the same hospital room as one of my cousins, just 16 hours apart. We’ve been close ever since. 

2. My first word was “out.” Apparently, I would stand in my crib, point out the window, and just say/holler it like a broken record.

3. I once cut half of my own hair because I wanted to add it to a picture I was making for my grandfather. I was 3. 

4. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a journalist. The kind of journalism changed (fashion, music, politics, etc), but the idea of telling stories was always there. 

5. I wrote the start of many, many books when I was growing up, and always started with the dedication — the most important place to start, obviously. (haha)

6. My favorite animal is the elephant, and it’s been that way for as long as I can remember. 

7. I’ve always been entrepreneurial, and roped my cousin into forming “The Helpers’ Club” (my spin on the Babysitters Club books by Ann Martin) when we were eight or so.

8. My parents’ attic and basement are seemingly filled with my old journals that always start with something along the lines of “I’ve never kept a journal successfully before, but this time it will be different!” and then nothing but emptiness no more than ten pages later. 

9. My favorite movies growing up were What a Girl Wants, Freaky Friday and the Prince & Me. 

10. Despite being awful at sports, I played both volleyball and basketball all through middle school. The first season of volleyball was particularly notable, as my coach tried to teach me that I must keep my eyes open when the ball was coming towards me — and in fact, that was an essential part of the sport. 

11. I have three siblings (one older, two younger) and far too many cousins (and “cousins”) to count. I loved growing up in a large, close family and am so grateful to know that they will always have my back. Plus — holidays are always a blast! 

12. I auditioned for Grease during freshman year and learned (the hard way) just how tone deaf I really was. 

13. I learned how to knit when I was six or so, but picked it up again during my freshman year of high school. By junior year, I had formed a knitting club, which I pressured all my friends into joining. I still knit today. 

14. I once made up a survey and concocted an entire backstory so I could talk to a cute boy who was mowing my best friend’s lawn. I was 15, and it’s still her mom’s favorite story to tell. (It should be no surprise that this gumption plays a large role in what I do today.) 

15. I spent my days in high school dreaming about moving to Ireland and having a column in the national paper called “An American in Dublin,” where I wrote about Irish culture from an outside point of view. Visiting Ireland for the first time a decade later cemented my dream of moving across the pond, and it’s still a notion I’m thinking about for “someday.”

16. My junior year English teacher completely upended the way I write and read — and I will always be grateful. (He also had a prime snack selection, which he sold in the hallway outside his classroom.) 

17. My favorite album during my freshman year of college was Jack’s Mannequin’s Everything in Transit. To this day, it always transports me right back to that first dorm room. 

18. I scored an internship as a photographer at Walt Disney World my freshman year of university through the Disney College Program, which turned out to be one of the most formative experiences in my career and confidence. I cried on Main Street during my last shift — I didn’t want to leave and always say it’ll be the first job I go after when I retire. 

19. Transferring to a state school closer to home was one of the best decisions I made as a teenager. What I lost in “the traditional college experience,” I made up for in internships, mentorship and lifelong connections. 

20. I dyed my hair bright pink and got two piercings (eyebrow and lip) during my first semester at a new school. Both whims were short-lived. 

21. The first time I stepped foot in a proper newsroom, I felt every synapse in my brain fire at once; I still chase that feeling of being so alive. I loved it so much, I relentlessly pitched in and offered help so I could spend as much time there as possible — and it worked out! I was hired part-time as a producer before I even graduated. 

22. I am obsessed with creating and maintaining arbitrary lists and rankings (some might call this neurotic, but I like to think it’s organized and charming.) There was a summer where I tried and ranked all of the chocolate chip cookie dough ice creams in the grocery store (best is Edy’s Light Slow Churned), and I even rank my favorite-to-least favorite holidays and other events. For example, my top 3 favorite birthdays are 20, 22 and 25. 

23. I got my passport in 2015 because I briefly considered trying to intern at the radio station in the Vatican. I didn’t use my passport for two years, when I went to Germany and the Czech Republic with my family over Easter. 

24. I dreamt up the original concept for We the Voters working late-night shifts in the production booth. I had too much time and wanderlust, but also too much ambition to take a gap year — and thus, We the Voters was born. 

25. Originally, We the Voters was supposed to be an interactive map and short photo-audio interview project (a la Humans of New York) where I talked to people about why they vote instead of who they were voting for. I had planned to do it in the five-or-so months leading up to the 2016 election, spending 3 days in each state. (Clearly, the project looks a little different these days, and I’m happy with how it’s evolved.) 

26. I moved to DC in 2016 because I thought, for a brief moment, that I wanted to work in government and politics. The dream was short-lived, and I knew it was not for me three weeks into a four-month internship. Live and learn, right?

27. During that same time, I also thought I wanted to be a lawyer, so I studied around the clock to take the LSAT. Midway through the exam, I was standing outside of the room on a break looking at all of my peers and was struck with the same pit in my gut — this was note for me. (I still finished the exam, though, mainly out of curiosity.) 

28. I ran a proper half marathon during my time in DC and later trained for a marathon, which I DNS’d (did not start) due to a stress fracture in my tibia. I’ve never fully recovered full range of activity due to that injury and compounding issues. 

29. My favorite part of working in PR was event planning and onsite coordination. I loved the minutia of making schedules, confirming arrangements, and making an event go off without a flaw. Looking back, I think it calls back to the deadline pressure of working in a newsroom, which requires fast thinking and precision at every turn.

30. I moved to Chicago in 2017 and lived with my aunt and uncle in the suburbs for the first four months. That summer was one of my most treasured — I learned so much about myself in making that move solo and had a blast being closer to my family. (There was plenty of wine and Blue Bloods consumed that summer.)

31. Before I turned 25, I had a list of 25 things I wanted to do before I was 25, which included finding my signature scent (Daisy by Marc Jacobs), going on my first solo trip (Boston!), and hosting an elaborate dinner party (11 courses; sorry again, Mike & Lia). 

32. I love writing (and sometimes performing) slam poetry/spoken word. One of my favorite events and recommendations in Chicago is the Uptown Poetry Slam, which is held on Sunday evenings at the historic jazz club, the Green Mill. 

33. I wear two pieces of jewelry every single day — a clear quartz necklace that I picked up on a trip to Sedona, Arizona before my 25th birthday and a silver Claddagh ring from my trip to Ireland last year. I feel naked if either are missing. 

34. I have one niece, who’s almost two and a half and lives with my sister in California. I try to FaceTime her at least once a week, and these days she’s into holding the phone to “show me things” — which mainly involves seeing her nostrils and the carpet. I love every minute. 

35. I’ve recently gotten into audiobooks as a way to introduce more reading into my life on the road. (And yes, I consider audiobooks “real reading.” I don’t know why we have to belittle the ways people seek and consume new information.) I just finished listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed, which I loved. Her books make me feel so seen. 

36. There’s nothing better than driving down a country road on a sunny day with the windows rolled down and the music blasting. I always feel so free.