Y’all. I’m officially a grown-up. Why now, you ask? I had to sign up for my own health insurance. I turn 26 this Sunday, and in honor of my birthday, I’m sharing 26 things you might not know about me!
1 . I’m named after my great grandmother.
2 . I actually hated my name as a kid because all my best friends had the most typical American girl names (Caroline, Katie, Elizabeth and Mary…) and I could never find a keychain with my name on it! #firstworldpains. I love having a unique name now.
3 . I have a younger brother and sister. I am a typical oldest child!
4 . I went to the University of Alabama, roll tide!
5 . But I’m actually still a big UK football fan. I grew up going to every home football game.
6 . I’ve been to 17 countries and three continents and counting.
7 . I’d like to make it to six out of the seven continents before I die. Antartica would be a bonus, but I’m not counting on that one.
8 . I also have the goal of going to one new place a year. It doesn’t have to be a different country, just somewhere I’ve never been before.
9 . My obsession with food started because of Emeril Lagasse. My family used to watch Emeril Live and then we started going to his restaurants when we traveled and it kind of morphed from there. My dad equates this to when my mom stopped buying thousand island salad dressing out of the bottle and Kraft Parmesan cheese and started making homemade salad dressing and buying the real Parmesan cheese. I still refuse to eat the fake kind 😉
10 . I worked at a local cheese shop in high school and college (The Mousetrap in Lexington) which furthered my food obsession.
11 . I had never thought about trying to work in the food industry until a conversation over creme brûlée in Paris. I was backpacking and having dinner with a family friend who lives in Paris. He asked what I wanted to do when I graduated from college and I answered something about marketing. He said, “But what are you passionate about?” My obvious answer was food. It sounds silly to say now, but I had never considered that I could make a career out of my passion!
12 . I go to First Presbyterian Church in downtown Lexington and volunteer with our youth program.
13 . I’m a bit of a thrill seeker. I’d love to go sky diving one day!
14 . But I’m also kind of afraid of heights.. I just don’t like being on the edge of anything really high. It’s almost like I get vertigo and feel like I’m going to fall over. I also hate stairs without the backs!
15 . I hate getting blood drawn and even talking about it can make me feel feint. I swear it’s genetic, because logically I know it does not hurt. I’ve been in the hospital four times and had IVs etc. every time and I still pass out.
16 . I was in the hospital because I have a defective pancreas and have had pancreatitis a few times. It’s not fun, but could be much worse.
17 . Because of that I don’t drink much anymore. I try and limit myself to beer and wine only on special occasions. To be honest, it’s really hard to not be able to socially drink as a young person.
18 . This is my go to for the two truths and a lie game: I was James Franco’s intern. I interned at the Cannes Film Festival in France with him. I also worked for Jerry Lewis and Kerry Bishe.
19 . I studied abroad at Oxford in England one summer in college.
20 . I’m a huge Harry Potter and Star Wars fan.
21 . I’m not a big movie person though. I rarely go to the theater (except for Harry Potter and Star Wars). I’d rather watch on my own couch!
22 . That’s partially because I’m really weird about communal seating. As in movie theatre chairs gross me out. Same with hotel beds, cabs etc. I had to get used to it riding the subway in New York.
23 . I’m dating my high school boyfriend (so small town, I know). There was a big break in between!
24 . Don’t judge me for this one please.. I love amenities. Fancy toiletries at a hotel. The mini ketchup bottles served with a burger. Tea served with milk and sugar after dinner. I will splurge on a spa treatment every now and then while traveling.
25 . But I’m also very frugal! I compare prices on everything at the grocery store and will pull up Amazon while shopping to make sure I’m getting the best deal. If I realize I made a bad purchase or should have ordered something a different way to save money it will eat at me all day, even over a few dollars! I think I’m like this because my mom was very frugal when I was growing up.
26 . Eeek, I don’t know what to choose for the last one! I feel like this really needs to make an impression… I bought my house at 24, I traveled solo to Thailand for 25 and to be honest, I’m not sure what I hope 26 will hold! I’ve got lots of ideas for what I’d like to see happen this year, but I am probably more happy with where I am today than I ever have been before. Here’s to a new year! Thanks for following along on this journey of mine 🙂
Biscuits & blessings,
Leels
I love this idea! I’ll be 26 this year too, and man I wish I had traveled as much as you! Did you do most of your traveling in college or have you found ways to travel cheap-ish as an adult?
A bit of both! I studied abroad two summers in college, but traveled to Asia and Europe as an adult as well. There are such cheap places to stay, if you can get a good flight deal then you can do it quite cheap!
LOVE this post! You’ve accomplished a lot in 26 years. 🙂 One of my coworkers brings in pimento cheese from the Mousetrap for special occasions and OMG. It’s amazing! I’m also scared of heights! Hope you had a great birthday.
Yay, this is such a fun post! Happy birthday girl. You have done a lot in 26 years. Keep it up!!!
I also hated my name as a kid! I love the going one new place a year goal 🙂
Happy Birthday!! I hated my name when I was a kid. I still kind of wished my name wasn’t Whitney, but it’s a little too late in life to change it now lol
Ha, maybe so! I think you make a great Whitney though 🙂
Aww I love this post! Happy birthday, girl!
Loved getting to know more about you Leela! Hope you had a great birthday 💙
Thanks Nicole 🙂
Some seriously great tidbits on this list. FWIW, I think your name is lovely! Go Cats and Roll Tide! (My only tie to Bama is just that I really, really love Nick Saban!)
And I love that you love him!