Never Neverland

It occurred to me last night as Chris and I were dancing like two idiots at the
Of Monsters and Men concert that him and I are really becoming more like the Lost Boys every day.
The Lost Boys of Never Neverland, that is.
I think we are literally refusing to grow up.

We don't seem to be doing the "normal things" most people our age should be doing.
i.e. getting married, buying a house, saving for the future...
We just keep having way too much fun enjoying everything Chicago has to offer.
We went from acting like we were 40 year olds just three years ago living in a small town,
with stable jobs, doing responsible things adults should do...
To living in Chicago chasing our dreams and staying out too late.

(For all of you Of Monsters and Men fans, it was a great concert!)

But I've basically realized living in a city encourages the Neverland syndrome, there seems to be a lot of people here that don't want to grow up.
Just go to a bar at any time of the day and you will find them.
That is one thing about Chicago that never ceases to amaze me, whenever you walk into a bar or restaurant on any given day of the week you will not be alone.
Sunday afternoon, Monday night, Wednesday morning, it doesn't matter.
People are always out and about, ready to have a good time.



The only thing that occasionally interrupts my joy of living in Never Neverland is social media.
I often wonder how people felt bad about their lives pre Facebook & Instagram.
I mean don't you think it would have bothered Peter if he could have kept tabs on Wendy via Twitter?
A "just got a huge raise at work #blessed!" tweet would have annoyed him for sure considering he can't even afford to eat real food most of the time...
Rufio! Rufio! Rufio!
Or at the very least it would have pissed of Tink, she was always a jealous little fairy.

I guess May must be a let's get engaged/married/pregnant/buyahouse kinda month.
It's fine. I get it.
I was telling Chris about one of the girl's I like to stalk on social media,
 (only in a nice way because I'm a little envious of her life and can admit that)
and described her to him as, "you know that one girl who I'm obsessed with because she lives in that great house with her cute husband who buys her whatever she wants."
And I am just now realizing how pathetic that sounds having typed it all out... anyway though...
Chris responded, "Tay, that was going to be our life if we hadn't move to Chicago."
That's Chris for ya, always the logical one. But he's right.
Had we stayed in Kansas we'd both have our cushy jobs (his was cushy, mine was corny)
we'd probably own a nice house, with a garage to boot,  and maybe we'd even be (GASP) married.

But instead we chose Never Neverland.
And even though I sometimes longingly look at other people's lives with their big homes,
and their big backyards, I wouldn't trade what we have for a minute.
Well maybe a minute, just to remember what it's like to have a garage that goes right into the house...
But no more than a minute.

Sure the grass may always look greener on the other side,
but this is Chicago, nobody has grass.

I Think I've Been Discovered

I haven't been checking my traffic lately just because I've been pretty busy,
and I've been a little bit out of the blogging mode for the past few days.
So you can imagine my surprise last night when I just happened to click on that lovely
"stats" button and noticed I was getting significantly more hits than usual.
When I read the name of the site that was bringing me all of these hits, www.smosh.com,
my first thought was, oh now this doesn't sound good.
And then when I clicked on the site and read the title of the article-
21 Horrible Prom Dresses
I realized I was wrong, it was really really good.
Feast your eyes on photo #9 from the list.

This might come as a surprise to you, but those aren't three prom dress models you see,
it's actually myself and my two pals Sarah and Jordan in high school.
And no, we are not professional models.
We've just been chosen to be featured on this elite list.
And I am honored.
Speechless really.

First of all, I'd just like to thank Center Stage Spa in Lincoln, Nebraska
 for giving me that lovely orange tan.
Although I've since heard that spa has closed down, which really comes as a shocker to me considering the way they had perfected the beautiful Oompa Loompa glow, not to mention that fine looking up-do.
I think that hair-do can only be described as a grancy:
 greasy slick down in the front, fancy up-do in the back.

Where did that dress/bikini top come from you ask?
Well it's not from Christina Aguilera's Genie in a Bottle video as you might have thought.
It's actually a look inspired from one of the greatest actresses of our time,
Alex Mack. And the secret world of.
When she wore this dress as Bianca in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You,
I knew I had to have it.

But because I bought my dress in a  (bridal)boutique in Sioux City, Iowa.
Naturally it looked a little more white trash/skanky.
And of course I have to give a big shout out to Claire's: Jewelry and shit Accessories
for that lovely dangling belly ring I am wearing, the dress just wouldn't have been complete without it.

Last but not least, a big thanks to my parents for letting me be myself and take that huge fashion risk.
Many of you might wonder why they did.
Well here's the thing, when you have a sixteen year old daughter who only prefers to wear
mens XL basketball shorts and Converse Weapons sneakers every other day of the year,
well I'm sure you wouldn't find much harm in letting her wear a dress like this either.

(Just for a visual here are the Weapons. Only mine had #22 written all over them.)

And would you look at who is #19 on the list.
Ellen!

I'll be on a list with her any day.
Maybe I'll Tweet her and see if she'll answer me back.
Better yet, maybe we should all tweet her this list and see if she'll answer any of us....
Yeah, that's what we should do. Do me a favor and give Ellen a tweet and I'll be forever grateful.

Anyway.... moral of the story of all of this:
"In a world where you can be anything, be yourself!"

Stand Up Part II

So I tried stand up again last night.
 I don't know why I continue to get myself involved in these weird activities, but I do.
I guess it's just a thrill for me. A very bizarre unnatural thrill.
It's not like I dream of someday having a career in stand-up. Or that I like the idea of spending night
after night attending open mics in seedy comedy clubs around the city of Chicago.
I was reminded of what a rookie I am yesterday when I got to the sign-up and all of the other comedians asked what other open mics I was doing for the night.
For the night!
Some of them attend up to five open mics just in one evening. And on a Monday no less!
Mondays are always my it's time to get your shit in gear day.
And that's why compared to these comics, I am such a square.
For starters I'm not a night owl, I don't smoke, I have blonde hair,
 and I don't like clothes that blatantly don't match.
So yeah, when it's my time to take the stage I pretty much look like the home-schooled girl who just escaped life in Nebraska.

So where am I going with this stand up stuff?
I have no idea. I just know it scares the absolute crap out of me so why the hell not.
And even though I say I don't like seedy comedy clubs. I kinda really do.
Like today for example, when I have afternoon class at IO and often find myself walking out of the beautiful sunshine and into a dark bar where I am instantly hit with a shit cloud of stale smoke and
old alcohol spills, it brings a weird smile to my face.

Now... after going back and forth about this I've decided to post a small clip from last night.
And I'm nervous about this Blogworld, for more reasons than one.
Like really nervous. Like might take it down before the night is over nervous.

# 1. Many of you have never heard my voice before.
And I don't want to let you down. It's the same reason why the masked characters at Disney World don't talk.
Because I know most of you are expecting a cute high voice to come from me when in reality
I have a deep voice with a hint of a lisp....
JK, I know nobody thought I had a cute voice.

And # 2. I'm nervous of the judgment.
But on this note I realize doing something like comedy is always going to bring the judgers and the people who want to say "oh she thinks she's like really funny"  because that's just how people are.
So I guess I gotta be ready for that.

Finally #3. I'm going to be annoyed if you willingly watch it,
and then bitch at me for being offensive.
So you've been warned.

And one more warning, I'm like really nervous about posting this.
So don't be a jerk. I'm not claiming I'm good.
And Chris filmed this all on his iphone, thanks again to him for supporting my creepy hobbies...

Weekend Stuff

You ever have one of those weekends you just know is going to take at least the next
five days to fully recover from?
Well I just had one.
I haven't stopped going since the moment my friends got into town last Thursday on my birthday,
then we proceeded to bachelorette it up all weekend,
until right now.
And today I am on the struggle bus.
I am literally chugging cups of coffee just to keep my eyes open at the moment.

So now I'm going to take the easy way out and fill this post with a lot of photos,
and not a lot of words.
Sorry for partying.

We kicked off the Bachelorette festivities Friday evening with drinks downtown.

Then the night led us to Paris Club for dinner.

I have mixed feelings about this place.
It's basically everything I'm against- pretentious, glitzy, and a little too big for its britches.
But.... when you're with a big group of girls and all dressed up, it's kinda fun to go somewhere like this and pretend you're too big for your britches, as well.
But it just takes one bitchy waiter to piss on your experience.
What's with annoying waiters, anyway?
It's like, I get it you think you're really cool because you're working at a really cool place,
but guess what, we're the ones eating at a really cool place.
So stop being a princess and take our damn order.
From the moment we sat down our waiter had an attitude. It was as if he was pissed we were interrupting his night or something.
But we got over it and managed to have a fun time, anyway.
On the way out Sara (the MOH) and Codi (the Bride-to-be) found a street entertainer
and decided to jump in on his set.

The rest of the night consisted of us hopping around other pretentious bars like
Hub51, American Junkie, Hubbard Inn, with a final stop at my favorite, Snickers.
Sadly, I don't think the girls were too fond of my lovely Snickers because we left after just one drink...
I don't know why.
What's not to love about a bar that looks like this?

Saturday we started the day with bloodies and hot dogs watching the Cubs play from a rooftop
next to the stadium.

Saturday night was when the real bachelorette stuff began.
Codi popped champagne, opened a lot of lingerie, and we all drank just a little too much.
Or at least I did...

And now just recapping this is giving me a hangover all over again.
I'm never drinking again.
Except for tonight when I might go do stand-up at a bar and won't get on stage until probably 11 p.m...
Ugh, I don't think a career in comedy is going to be good for my sobriety.
Wish me luck. I'm already itching to bail.

Happy Monday.

My Breezy Room

Introducing Kala from My Breezy Room.



1. Describe your blog in three words.

Creative. Personal. Humorous.
(These words were given to me by my mom...so as you can imagine, she's biased.)

2. You have some amazing DIY projects on your blog, where do you get your inspiration?

One of my favorite places to go in KC for inspiration is First Fridays, which is like a city-wide event the first weekend of each month. Down in the bottoms of KC, there are tons of old industrial buildings that open up as little Shabby Chic shops for the entire weekend. There are probably hundreds of little shops that are full of unique things and are great for getting new ideas!
Plus, hanging out there makes me feel artsy! :)

I also stalk way too many blogs day and night for even more inspiration!

3. What is your favorite project that you have created?

A few weeks ago I painted up an old dresser and took out a couple of the drawers to make it into a TV stand. I LOVE how it turned out. AND I bought the dresser for just $4.99 at a local thrift shop, so that makes it even sweeter!

4. You're a pretty recent college grad, what would you say is your dream job?

Well, I'm in the process of trying to convince my boyfriend to let me be a
Stay at Home Girlfriend Blogger, but that one's not looking too promising. If that doesn't pan out,
I would love to get into the event planning of a nonprofit. I interned with a hospital in college and I loved being part of a collaborative effort to raise a ton of money for a cause that helps so many. I'm currently working in the Communications department of a nonprofit, so I've been fortunate to get pretty close to my dream job within a year of graduating!

5. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I feel like this is the most dreaded question of everyone in their early 20s! I suppose I would like to be living in a small town on the edge of KC. Hopefully I'll be done with apartment life and will own a home of my own, with a yard and everything! Other than that, I really don't know. I'm sure my life will be completely different by the time I'm 28 in ways I can't even imagine!
For now, I'm just taking it as it comes.

The Daily Tay's Best Week Ever

Yesterday was too much fun.
Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes, it was an awesome day.
Here's just a few photos of the shenanigans we got into...

(No one else was slow dancing. Just Chris and I.)

And now since it's Friday it's obviously time for
The Daily Tay's Best Week Ever.

Let's skip all the small talk, because you know who's having the best week ever?
 I am.
Because about five of my college besties are in town to celebrate the fact our lovely, Codi,
is getting married next month.

And now you're about to have the best week ever because one of my very very favorite bloggers
is taking over for the day.
Obviously I wouldn't just turn this over to just anyone on Friday (my favorite day of the week)
so fear not, I'm leaving you in the hands of someone good.
I'm talking about the very hilarious, clever, witty blogger by the name of Helene.
The girl who really needs no introduction so I'll let her take it away...

Hi Daily Tay readers.
I'm Helene and I am interrupting your daily dose of Taylor today.

You know how when you find a blog and you get kinda weirdly obsessed with it and wish that y'all were besties for the resties? 

Well, that's what happened with Taylor.
(This is awkward because I don't think she knows this). 

I found her blog and I was like: Yes, this is it. This is my blog inspiration. My blispiration, if you will. (Which now looking at that word it sounds like a blister, but let's move on). 

Taylor may not know this, but we have a lot in common.
She's from Nebraska, I'm from Texas- who knew?!

So here's why:

The Daily Tay Helene (doesn't it have a nice ring to it?)

We both are slightly obsessed with our dogs. It's because of their expressive behavior that makes them the perfect instagram post.

We both made interesting clothing choices in college/highschool/life in general (and I still do now, if we're being honest).

We both are hilarious. Well, she is and I pretend to be.
We both have momagers that try and help us on our business ventures.

We both are with really great guys that are both good at things like having good ol' common names (Chris and Michael) and rooting for their favorite team.

We were both adorable children. With bright futures. And then there's that. What do I do now? I'd rather not say.

Don't be fooled by the blonde hair/blue eyed combo.  I was evil. Don't know about Taylor. But I was a crazy kid.

So you can see we have a lot in common. Which she might be scared to say since I'm very odd and she's...well.. the coolest.
And I think you've had plenty of your recommended about for your Daily Helene.
But if you want some more, you can stop by my blog.

****

Told you she was good.
Head over to her blog and then follow along all of my weekend shenanigans on Instagram @taylorgracewolfe.
Happy Friday!

25 Things I Learned As A 25 Year Old

1. Birthdays still excite me.
I love them. Always have, always will.

2. The Mayans can't predict the end of the world.

3. Only Lena Dunham can predict such things.

4. Getting laid-off does not discriminate, it doesn't just happen to the characters played out by
 Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper on The Company Men as I previously thought.

5. Likewise, getting laid-off at age twenty five is hard,
but I'm harder.

6. I learned this year that my sister is pregnant. Due in less than a month!

7. My mom's little Yorkie, Izzy, is pregnant too.
Due today!

(This is one of the pup's from her last litter. Izzy I mean, not my sister.)

8. The world just wasn't ready for a Mormon president in the year 2013.
Sorry Mittens.

9. But the world is slowly accepting gay marriage!

10. Doing stand up comedy is one of the biggest thrills I've experienced yet.
And I'm ready to do it again.

11. Purchasing 22 lottery tickets will not guarantee me a winner.

12. If you are a chubby over zealous pageant-attending child,
you can have your own show on TLC. And it will be a hit.

13. Don't leave your windows unlocked in Chicago,
your house will get broken into.

14. Birthdays spent in Chicago are much better than birthdays spent in Topeka.

15. Walking around with a permanent Instagram filter surrounding me would
give me a lot more self-confidence.

16. Sometimes doing the thing you dread most, turns out being the very best thing you could do.
(ie improv)
The day before my first class ten months ago I said to Chris,
Why am I even doing? I should just bail now.
Words can't describe how incredibly glad I am I didn't bail.

17. On that note, if we all just followed the rules of improv, the world would be a much better place.
(that post will come next week.)

18. Harlow is not out of his chewing stage.
He just ate my favorite heel last night :(

19. Don't leave candles burning in a bathroom near towels, a fire will start.
And you will end up climbing the wall.

20. I learned that other people besides just myself and Perez Hilton blog.

21. Thus I decided in my 25th year it was high time I kick my blog out there,
even though I was nervous some people might not appreciate my humor.

22. I was correct, some people don't. But I learned to care less.

23. The number 23 makes me think of the fact I learned this year that Derrick Rose is a little bitch baby.

24. Coming up with 25 things you learned on the morning of your bday while you're itching to do other things (like drink a bloody mary at lunch) is really hard.

So this just happened.

25. Growing older is a privilege.
And I am privileged. I have twenty six awesome years under my belt.
And I have this crazy feeling they're only getting better.

Thank you for taking the time to read my little space in blogworld today, I truly appreciate it.
And thank you for all of the amazing comments about my grandma Grace's story yesterday.
I'm realizing more and more how lucky I am to share this wonderful day with her.
On that note, I'm off to get my birthday on.
(AKA check Facebook.)