bye bye house, hello apartment

I thought I might feel like a grown up when I graduated college.  Or when I started my first job. Or started paying bills.  It never happened.

And now that I have my own apartment with [real] real bills, I still don't feel like one.

So now I'm thinking it might happen when I get married. Or have a baby.  Or when my baby has a baby? Or maybe I'll never really believe I'm a grown up.

While I do not exactly feel more mature, it does feel very different walking into my own apartment, as opposed to my parents house.

And, while I absolutely love the feeling, I also must say that for the last year I had the best roommates I could have asked for.  I had so much fun living with my parents and walked away feeling closer to them than ever before (I also walked away more interested in Dancing With the Stars and The Biggest Loser than I care to admit).  This time around, they really were more like my friends, and I am so grateful for our time together.

Now I just can't wait for them to visit, so I can show them to same hospitality they showed me.  Maybe THEN I'll feel like a grown up.

Me and Katie

My parents are real sticklers when it comes to grammar. Although my mom is the teacher, I'd wager that my dad takes the matter more seriously.

Growing up*, if we were telling a story and we used improper grammar, he'd stop us and say, "Me and Katie?" And you weren't allowed to finish the story until you fixed it. "Katie and I."

As much as it derails your train of thought and oftentimes ruins the story, lately I've become more grateful for his devotion to grammar.

I've come across quite a few people recently that love: "Me and her" and "It went good". And let me tell you, whether it be a Starbucks employee, customer service rep, or random person on the street, it takes everything I have not to correct them.

I suddenly understand why my dad couldn't sit back and let those mistakes slide by.

You've got to know how to say it right.

Saying it right doesn't just mean when you speak, either. It's the writing, emailing and now, even wine bottling. With the new Toast-Its, you never have to stop expressing yourself.

The bottles are adorable and fun; the perfect hostess gift. But if you were to walk in with the "Better With Age" bottle, and instead of "Just like good wine, good friends get better with age" it said, "Just like well wine, well friends get gooder with age", it just wouldn't be quite the same.
*Note: I use the past reference to growing up loosely, meaning I was still growing up when this happened last week.