5 Things I’ve Learned In My Late 20s

February is right around the corner, which means in about a month I'll be taking another step even closer to my dirty thirty.  So what have my late 20s taught me?  Plenty!

Buzzfeed just released their list of 29 amazing things you learn from being in your late 20s and I just had to add to the list/echo what they picked.

1) Having big kid appliances, wall decor and furniture is more gratifying than anything in the world.

People thought I was joking when I said I wanted a coffee table for Christmas.  You have to understand when I moved here I didn't have any furniture and it took me at least two years to buy any real wall decor.  The day the Keurig my mom surprised me with arrived was possibly the happiest day of my adult life...and last week, I finally got a gently used coffee table from a co-worker.  That afternoon, I went home, kicked up my feet on the table (my apartment, my rules) looked around at my nice affordably priced Gordman's wall decor, mismatched furniture and kitchen full of appliances and thought to myself "this finally feels like home."   Furniture, appliances, wall decor = the three things that make an apartment feel like more than a giant dorm room.

2) Hangovers now last a day or you know...longer, but now you know how to treat them.

I thought my dad was lying to me when he told me my hangovers would get worse as I got older.  I was wrong.  Very wrong.  I used to be able to throw back a few pints of beer at dinner before even getting to the bar where shots flowed like the Nile and still feel human the next morning.  Now?  Eh, not so much.  I've had to distance myself from how much I love whiskey, opt for lighter beers and stick to Malibu and Coke as my mixed drink.  Yeah, it tastes like sunscreen but I know it's not going to wreck my chances of getting out of bed and being productive the next day.  And in the event, it is like the "good old days" I do everything I can to ward off the impending hell that will ensue the next day.  Excedrin, Gatorade, pizza, repeat.  If I don't, I will feel like I got hit by a bus and want to cry/utter the words "I'm never drinking again."

3) You find out who your real friends are and who you need to cut loose.

This is a tough realization, especially when you're someone like me who initially assumes good will in everyone.  As you get older, you come to realize there's no room in your life for hangers-on or people who drag you down.  You're going to learn the hard way there are people who call themselves your "friends" but will gossip about you behind your back, drag you into situations that you had no reason to be part or are too consumed in themselves to be bothered being supportive of you.  Cut those people loose whether they're frienemies or exes.  You deserve so much more than that.  If it's not honoring you, it doesn't deserve a seat at your table.

4) You're not an old maid if you're not married or childless at 25.

I struggle fighting that perception of myself on a daily basis.  90% of my friends are married or are parents.  That means they either are going home every day to the love of their life or created this little person who's going to love them unconditionally for years to come.  Me?  I'm going home to an overweight feline who I'm fairly sure only loves me unconditionally because I make sure he gets fed.  You can get really down on yourself by thinking that way, so you gotta flip the script and see it a different way.  For one, you've got way less responsibilities.  As long as you've got a job that's paying the rent, clothes on your back and food on your table, you're not doing so bad.  Plus, not having to be held accountable for a significant other or child gives you opportunities to be spontaneous.  If someone says "let's go out tonight" even though I was planning on sitting around watching Castle re-runs on TNT while half napping, I can jump at the chance to get pretty and go out.  I don't have to worry about finding a sitter or a SO getting mad at me for going somewhere at the last second.  Your life doesn't have to be a girl meets boy, get married, has 2.5 kids and a dog in the white picket fenced yard fairytale.  It can be sloppy, include a couple plot twists and be just as beautiful of a story.  If you're on a path that looks a little less than the American Dream, it's ok! Live it, love it!

5) Nap.

I hated napping as a kid.  I would stay up and talk to the Disney decals on my wall instead of nap.  But as someone in my late 20s?  Napping is life.  I wake up in the morning, wondering when I can squeeze a nap in.  I napped yesterday, got up for an hour and went to sleep for the night.  It was amazing.

That's my two cents.  Buzzfeed has a much longer list! Check it out and see if you agree!