What I've learned in 32 years....

by Brittany Geragotelis

On the day of my 32nd birthday, I'm taking some time to reflect on some of the things I've learned over the years. Here are my top-10 life lessons:

1. Life gets better. High school was hell for me. Today, so many kids in high school are bullied or judged for being gay or just simply being different and end up taking their own lives. I wish I could tell them all that things get better. The rest of life isn't like high school. If you can make it through those four years of hell, some really amazing times are waiting for you.
2. Good things really are worth the wait. I didn't have a relationship that lasted longer than four months until over three years ago, but growing up I thought I'd never find someone I'd click with. I actually thought that I would be the one person who would be alone forever. It only took me about 27 years, but I'm in an amazing relationship today. I fully believe that everything happens for a reason...even if you can't see what that reason is at the time.
3. Good relationships don't have to be hard. I have managed to be in a few relationships in the past, however there were reasons why none of those relationships worked out. I won't go into the gory details, but the bottom line was that they were all really hard. Sort of like trying to stick a square peg into a round hole. With my boyfriend now, things have always been pretty easy. Now, we're a normal couple who occasionally butts heads, but when it really comes down to it, the relationship is just—easy. In my experience, when it's right, it's right and you don't have to try and make a relationship work...it either does or it doesn't.
4. Do what you love, love what you do. My parents taught each of us girls to go after a job that we loved to do; that it was more important to have a job that didn't feel like work, but felt more like a passion, than one that made us gobs of money, but that didn't fulfill us. Even though there have been ups and downs and I don't always love all aspects of my job, I can come home at the end of the day and say I'm proud of the product we put out and that I love to write. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still choose the same career path.
5. You can find inspiration anywhere. If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of Buffy. Sounds silly, I know, but there are things about this fictional character who's a regular teen by day, vampire slayer by night, that inspire me. Buffy is a strong female role model who cares more about those around her than herself; she's fearless, strong-willed and fierce; she has gifts and isn't afraid to use them; she's an outsider but doesn't let it stop her from doing the right thing; and lastly, at the end of the day, she knows that she's impacted the world in a big way. So yes, I know she's a made up character, but I also know what a hero looks like because of her.
6. It's better to be happy than right. This could also be described as not sweating the small stuff. There's so much that stress can affect in us: our moods, physical health, our personal lives, etc., why allow yourself to get worked up over something small and suffer the consequences than just letting it go? Now this isn't something that changes overnight—it takes time—but I'm trying to work toward this mindset instead of holding onto all the stress and anger. What will you choose?
7. If something's not working for you, switch it, change it, rearrange it. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If some aspect of your life is no longer working, that means it's time to change what you're doing in order to get a different outcome. I wonder how many more people would be walking around happy with their quality of life if they were just willing to change.
8. Develop an attitude of gratitude. I don't know about you, but I don't always wake up on the rosy side of the bed in the morning. For the last four years I've been doing a gratitude list with a group of friends. We start our day with lists of what we're grateful for. From the small things (like a great cup of coffee) to the big things (keeping a friend safe during a surgery), doing this one small act a day helps me to stay on the positive side of life.
9. I don't have it all figured out...and that's okay. Life's all about mystery. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the next day or even next year, but I'm okay with it, because I know that whatever does happen, I'll either be given the strength to deal with it or the piece of mind to accept it.
10. No one loves you more—or makes you more crazy—like family. I've done some pretty stupid stuff over the years and my family has stuck by me through it all. And although they can drive me nuts (AKA, wedding questions, baby questions), everything they do and say is out of love. And no one has loved me as unconditionally as them.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!!!!

5x5,
B.

Birthday weekend and 20 chapters...

by Brittany Geragotelis

My totally awesome boyfriend took me away to Ocean City this past weekend to celebrate my upcoming 32nd birthday. I know...32 years old, crazy huh? Sometimes I forget that I'm that old. But still, no stress this year about getting older, because life's pretty good. Living with a guy who's really super, job's going pretty well, I've had more than 1.8 million reads of Life's a Witch so far and have decided to publish it myself in the next couple of months. So as far as where I am at this point in my life....well, I'm pretty darn happy.

And speaking of Life's a Witch...be sure to check out my latest chapter! Things are really heating up in Hadley's life. You won't believe what's going to happen next!

5x5,
B.

DELETE—Look who's getting old

by Brittany Geragotelis

Once a week, my guest blogger (who shall remain nameless...okay, not nameless...let's call her Ms. Sassy Pants. Sassy for short) stops by to share all the things in her life that deserve a big, fat DELETE. Anyhoo, her majesty is back and this week she's sick of getting older. Check out what she had to say and then come up with a few DELETES of your own.

Simply put, I ain't getting any younger. And with the celebration of my (fill in the blank; a lady never ages and tells) birthday this past month, I began to realize just how OLD I'm getting. And that deserves a hefty DELETE.

So here are a few things to add to the "you know you're getting old when" list....

Songs you grew up to are now featured on the oldies station on Pandora radio. DELETE.

You start getting unsolicited issues of Prevention magazine. Uh, I'm still a Cosmo girl, thank you very much. DELETE.

You start to get spam emails from singles sites specializing in the 40 and over crowd...Newsflash Mr. Sensitivo, I'm not 40, so stop pushing it on me. DELETE.

People start calling you Ma'am. DELETE.

People at the beauty counter start offering you restorative as opposed to preventative creams...or just start offering you anti-wrinkle creams in general. DELETE.

People you went to high school with now have kids in college...now granted, where I come from, we start breeding in our teens so that isn't SUCH a stretch. DELETE.

Your body parts have fallen victim to gravity and now you need a sling for the girls...as a teen, we called it a bra, but now it's become a safety harness. DELETE.

Hair (the horror) and clothing styles (high-waisted jeans) from high school are making a comeback. DELETE.

You have to go to the salon to get a color "touch up" every four weeks in order to cover your natural "highlights"--a.k.a. gray hairs. DELETE.

Everything starts to crack when you get out of bed or stand up. DELETE.

You suddenly have to get up to pee more than once during the night. DELETE.

Forgetting people's names...but that can just be becuse I'm self absorbed. DELETE.

Whoever said age is just a number or a state of mind needs to be DELETED. We all know it's about what you look like on the outside that really counts. See you next week kiddies.

5x5,
B.

Line Dancing and Breakup Joints

by Brittany Geragotelis

You'd think that it would be easy to find a place in NYC that serves great BBQ and offers a night of line-dancing....I mean, it's New York City for God-sakes! The place that has something for everyone—and the weirder the better. So why was I practically pulling my hair out after starting my search for a venue for my friend Tammy's B-day party?

Anyway, as I was trolling the listings for southern BBQ places to see if they offered any kind of country dancing night, I was also perusing the comments from patrons for each place I looked at. Most were the standard, "This place sucks," or "My favorite restaurant in the city," but then I stumbled upon this gem for a joint called Rodeo Bar:

Perfect

by DLover

If you're looking to take someone to a crowded bar to get them drunk and then break up with them this place is perfect. Sip some beers and eat some free peanuts while you try and work things out, even though you know its over—If you're lucky, therell be some depressing country song playing in the background which can add to the overall experience.

• Pros: Free Nuts in your mouth
• Cons: Not enough napkins

Hmmm, maybe we'll check this place out after all....

5x5,
B.

Let's Get This Party Started!

by Brittany Geragotelis

Last night, I threw myself a birthday party for my 31st and I'm proud to say it was a raving success. Those who know me, know I'm famous for my Friday the 13th parties. So, since this one was along the same lines, I figured it'd be pretty easy. And compared to some of the past shindigs i've thrown, this one was relatively simple.

I got home from work and then dropped by the store to pick up gluten-free chicken strips, chips and soda. At home, I spent an hour or so cleaning my place, so it was suitable for guests. About 20 minutes until ETA, Matt arrived with gluten-free pizza in hand. In a sea of Pepperoni, veggie and sausage slices, I popped some cupcakes into the oven and let them bake as people began to arrive.

I had about 12 people total at the party and for the first hour or so, everyone just ate and mingled. Most of my guests knew each other, but I had a few new faces in the Pink Palace (my nickname for my apartment on account of the fact that it's two different shades of pink), which brought a new vibe to the mix.

After everyone gorged themselves on pizza, chicken fingers, chips and cupcakes, we turned on the Nintendo Wii game, Just Dance. The game's cool because it requires users to copy the dance moves of the avatar on the screen. It's so much fun...but it's a serious workout! After that, it was on to Karaoke for the Wii. This was fun, too, but the microphone doesn't really magnify your voice like a regular mic. It just registers your pitch and cadence. Both games were hilarious and fun.

Then, came movie time! Being the super-huge scary movie fan, we slipped in the original Halloween. We lost a few guests by this point, but at least a half dozen of us stayed until the end.

In the end, it was a great night!

5x5,
B.