Struggle

Struggle.
It's a word we all know and some of us know very well. There are so many things we struggle with daily. Things that maybe no one knows about and things that only your best friends and family know about. 
I struggle. With a lot of things. And since I'm a list maker, I figured I would list them for you.
1. Biting my nails. I've done it since I was little. I just can't help it. They grow out, look pretty, and then my nail polish chips and I can't repaint them right away. Game over.
2. My weight. I've struggled with it my entire life. I've always been the bigger kid. I always thought I was SO big in high school and I look back now and wish I could be that size, funny how those things work out right? I will literally search a room full of people for someone I think its heavier than me. Somehow that makes me feel less fat? And if I can't find one, anxiety kicks in.
3. Dieting. See above. I'm overweight for a reason. I love food. I'm a fried and sweets lover. And a salad and vegetable hater. And picky doesn't even begin to describe my taste buds. Therefore, I have a really hard time dieting. I've tried em all. I will feel SO motivated for about a week to 10 days. Then I give in and eat something bad for me and it's all over.
4. Guys. I've always been the girl who felt like having a boyfriend was a sign of how not fat I was. I've always matched having a boyfriend with not being as overweight as I thought. I mean surely I can't be THAT big if some guy is willing to date me?
5. Relationships. With boys. I jump. From one to the next. Even if I have a long term relationship and we break up, I want another one right away. I use guys to feel that void. 

6. Caring too much. Now I know that one sounds crazy. But I do. I'm the person that will tell you sorry, even if it's your fault, just so things are kosher. I've always been that way and unfortunately, I've had people who I thought cared about me, take advantage of that. I'm also notorious for being a double texter. This happens a lot with guys. If I don't get a text back, I will text something else again. And iPhone can kiss my ass for inventing read receipt...
7. Being messy. Does my house look like a pig sty? No. But I will leave dirty dishes in the sink and dirty clothes on the floor for a few days. I missed the OCD gene that my mother and brother so graciously received. Do I dislike that? Yes. I wish I could be the person who has a home that is always neat and presentable. I doubt it will ever happen. So call before you come over?
8. Knowing what I TRULY want to do in life. I'm 25. I'm still in school. And I work at a job I hate more and more as the days go by. I've been here almost 6 years. I used to love it. But now. I dread coming to work and I watch the clock for 5PM like it's my job...literally. My dream has always been to be a teacher. An elementary teacher at that. But then I second guess myself. I say "Allie. You're 25. GET REAL. Being a teacher just isn't in the cards for you"
9. Worrying I'll never get married. Or have babies. The never getting married part can be included in #4 & #5. But the never having babies part. My momma says it right when she says her dream was always to hear someone call her momma. I get that from her. I worry that with my weight and the infertility that is in my family, that I won't ever be able to have a baby of my own. (cue the tears)
10. I can't sing. I had to end this on a lighter note. I sound like a dying cat. But thankfully I have friends who will listen to me scream Can't Hold Us at the top of my lungs. Or actually open my snapchat video where I'm singing When I Was Your Man and not scratch out their ear drums. But hey, if you wanna listen to my tunes, I can make that happen for you.

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To lighten things up a bit, I would like to introduce you to....
Becca from Becoming Adorrable

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bloglovin Now... A little more about Becca
I'm 26 years old and getting married in August. My blog is about adjusting to living with my significant other, getting married, beauty, and occasionally crafty things.

I Said Yes

Saying yes to the biggest question of her life

Last Christmas

One traumatic Christmas

Sock Monkey Love

All about Becca's love of sock monkeys

AND - I uploaded some jewelry to Instagram last night that I am wanting to sale. There are still a few pieces left! Find me @amt327 and check it out!

That One Time...

Well hello there pretty ladies! It's Wednesday and I couldn't be happier that the week is halfway over. We're over the hump and closer to Friday, than to Monday and that makes me smile big time!
Today, one of my favorites, the sweet, gorgeous, funny Meighan is hosting a one time link-up. She always comes up with the best ideas and this is no exception. 

Ever started a story with "That one time" (at band camp obvi)? Well if you have, today is your day! 
I racked my brain trying to come up with a great story to share with you. While I'm not always a fan of re-sharing things, but this is a good one and well a bunch of you are new, so why not.
That One Time I had a "blind" date if you will. If you've been here any amount of time, you know I'm a serial online dater. Wow, that sounds bad. But it's the truth. I've been on a handful of dates with real winners I've found online. I am a hopeless romantic to the core. And maybe, just maybe getting a two year long relationship from my first online dating date kinda ruined me.
The above mentioned relationship ended in February of 2011 and I thought for sure that finding another guy would fill a void, better known as the hole in my heart. Obviously I was wrong, VERY wrong. This "blind" date happened sometime in early March. We talked for a few weeks and decided on dinner at Oliver Garden. I've since decided that first dates at Olive Garden are off limits. It's just not worth the chance.
Since it was someone I was going to meet from online and I was scared to death he was a killer nervous, we decided to meet at the restaurant. If I remember correctly we decided on 8PM, which for me was way too late to eat dinner, so of course I was already moody from the fact that my stomach was trying to eat itself. He showed up 10 minutes late. LATE. And sorry, but late doesn't do well with me. STRIKE ONE
We have the awkward first encounter. The one where you're worried if his voice is going to sound girly, or if you're going to vomit all over his shoes from the nerves. A quick hello and an awkward side hug later and we were walking towards the door. My date doesn't walk ahead in an attempt to open the door, so I do it myself. STRIKE TWO
We sit at the table and have normal first date conversation. The server brings out the salad and being the picky eater I am, I declined on the salad. My date took this as a sign that he was free and clear to eat his salad out of the serving bowl. Let me repeat, he ate his salad out of the BIG salad bowl. STRIKE THREE AND YOU'RE OUT
At this point I don't remember much of the remainder. I wrote it off as a free meal and said my goodbyes.
Moral of the story: Don't eat salad. No that isn't it, it should probably be don't online date, but then you wouldn't get creepy online dating pictures and I know how much y'all love those.
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Now... another story.  That One Time you get to meet  Betsy from Musings from a Museum Fanatic

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Now... A little about Betsy
I am a museum and culture loving, sometimes recipe cooking, fly by the seat of my pants DIYer, always rocking out and just living life kind of blog.  Come join in on the sometimes crazy and usually unorganized but always fun times!

No Sh*** Given - Pinterest Style

Pins Galore - No Sh*** Style

The Field Museum

All about Betsy's visit

I Mustache Loving Lately

Mustache Love

Online Dating Exposed

Hello ladies! We've made it to Tuesday and I couldn't be happier. Monday was a day from hell and I'm so glad it's over. It ended with my dropping a plate of freshly baked cookies on to a floor that I need to sweep and mop. What a funny sense of humor that man upstairs has.
Sweet, sweet Meighan is hosting a one day link up tomorrow and I just have to participate, so you will be getting your weekly dose of outrageously bad dating pictures a day early.

Speaking of, if you have some pictures to share - send them to talesofatwentysomethingblogger@gmail.com - I'd be glad to share them! 
First up today is the gentleman that I'd like to call: Date Photobomber

In a world full of selfie takers, Date Photobomber had to be aware of the sweet couple behind him taking a stroll in the park. My question, why didn't he wait until they exited the picture OR crop them out? One word: creepy
This next guy is extra special. He will be a double feature this week. So we shall call him: double feature

Exhibit A: Double feature likes to wear camo, drink out of red solo cups and party. Just like every other drunk person at a party, he also likes to take pictures... with really really really drunk girls. And use it as his profile picture on a dating website. I smell a winner.

Exhibit B: Not only does he get drunk and take pictures with other really drunk girls, but he drinks and poses very intimately with girls. See a pattern here?

Following Double Feature will be hard, but I hope that a guy (and his "friend) that I'd like to call Thing 1 & Thing 2

I can't help but be reminded of Whitney & Erin's awesome t-shirts from their NYC extravaganza, but this is awkward. I can't remember the last time my brother and I matched for an event... oh wait, we haven't. I think it's safe to say that these two are a little more than family or friends.

Last, but certainly not least I have a great one for you. You know how I feel about multiple guys in a picture, but add a few girls and the picture is just completely wrong. Let's just call this one: group date

I'm just going to hope (for the sake of daters out there) that the gentleman in this picture that is actually ON the dating website, is the guy on the left. Otherwise, your date may end up being a little grabby - if you get my drift.

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And just so you aren't scared for the rest of the day, I want to introduce you to a blogger who is UH-MAY-ZING!

Meet Shannon from Gin & Bare It

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bloglovin  Now a little about Shannon
this is awkward.  because i feel like my blog is awkward and possibly the very definition of "self-deprecating."  but things are weird in my life.  my dogs are weird, my fiance is weird, there are things that happen to me that are weird.  and then i blog about them.  so i guess if it's possible for a blog to be about everything and nothing all at the same time then you've basically hit the motherload with mine.

take me out to the ballpark and make me a drink responsibly

Drink and baseball, a match made in heaven.

Candy Crush is the New Meth

A girl after my own heart.

I Like Your Horn

String & Rhinos

Happy Tuesday lovelies!

The Weekend to Top All Weekends

WOW! Where do I even begin? As you all know, I was in Charlotte, NC this weekend for Bloggy Boot Camp. Obviously I want to tell you ALL about that experience, or at least the parts I can remember and decipher from my notes, but I need some time to prepare that post! So, I'll tell you about the social part of my weekend. The part where I got to road trip with Allison and FINALLY meet some of my favorite blogging ladies, plus many more!

Friday morning I picked Allison up from her house and we packed our stuff in the car. After a few attempts we got everything in the back seat. We started the morning with Bojangles, just like any good road trip. After a quick trip to Target, we then stopped for mani/pedi's. Allison recommended a nail salon with a full bar. Any time mimosas are offered, I'm game. We finally got on the road and in no time we stopped for lunch. We stopped at a local restaurant named Ham's. They have the best cheese fries ever... and I mean ever!

We made it to Charlotte around four. We were totally the girls screaming from excitement in the hotel lobby when we all met! Just for the record - Ricci, Jenn and Rebekah were as pretty and as fun in person as they seem on their blogs. After checking in, we headed to our rooms (which ended up being across the hall from each other). We took another quick trip to Target and got the essentials, but only after Siri told us to park our car and WALK to our location. We were in a neighborhood... and I wish I was kidding. We had to hurry and get ready for the Collective Bias cocktail party, which was a blast!

If you've been around these parts for any amount of time, you know of my special kind of love for Ricci and Jenn. To finally get to meet them was the highlight of my weekend. We hit it off immediately and knew we were meant to be friends. The Collective Bias cocktail party offered drinks, hor d'oeuvres and good company. Including Tiff and Fran the owners of Sits Girls and Cyn who works with them. All were hilarious and a really great time!

We were all beyond hungry by the end of the cocktail party. Let's be honest, cheese and crackers don't do it for us girls. We decided on Harper's, a local restaurant to Charlotte. I quickly decided on the pepperoni pizza and I wasn't disappointed! As bloggers, we document everything, so obviously Jenn riding in the trunk needed to be documented right? Right.

We got to bed relatively early because we had a Bojangles date the next morning. Again, y'all know my love of Bojangles and I was SO excited to finally share that with the girls. Bloggy Boot Camp started at 9AM and I found myself sending funny pictures to the girls since we were assigned different seats.

We learned quite a bit of information during the morning sessions and enjoyed some great tea, coffee or lemonade from Brew Over Ice. Lunch was located in one of the garden courtyards and luckily enough Allison, Ricci and I were assigned to the same table. After lunch we had an afternoon snack provided by Salsaritas.

After Bloggy Boot Camp wrapped up we had a wine tasting cocktail party hosted by Mirassou. I can't even begin to tell you how delicious the moscato was. If you can find this brand in your local store, buy it. After the cocktail party, we headed to Salsaritas for dinner and had amazing burritos, chips and queso. 
We finished up the night just spending time together, developing hundreds of inside jokes and wishing our trip wasn't over.
Sunday morning involved a trip to McDonald's, a two story McDonald's at that for some pancakes. We sad our very sad goodbyes and parted ways.
Ladies - I can't even tell you how great of a weekend I had and how much I already miss you all! Let's do this again soon please? Tiff, Fran and Cyn - y'all are invited too!

linking up with Sami love!

In My Absence, I leave the best

Hey Y'all! I'm not here today. Well I am, but I'm not.   You see right now, Allison and I are either: 1. Getting mimosa induced mani/pedi's 2. Road tripping it to Charlotte 3. or Shopping - cause that's always a possibility TODAY IS BBC!   And to celebrate - use code BBC Char (yes there is a space) for 25% off the in-post feature spot! I feel like it's taken forever to get here, but it's finally here! I can't wait to meet all the ladies attending! So in my absence, I got one of the prettiest, smartest, funniest girls around to fill in for me!  Ladies and Gentleman - Tyler or as I like to call her Ty-Ty Princess Face :)     Hello bunnybears!  I'm Tyler from Arkansassy, and while AllieCat is away playing in Bloglandia, I'm stopping by to tell you guys one of my very favorite ridiculous stories.

This is one of those stories that I wouldn’t believe unless I was there.  And honestly, it’s still hard for me to believe, even though I was there.  For those of you who don’t know, I lived in California in 2008.  I was in Santa Barbara for a little while, and then in West Hollywood for the rest of the time.  The very first night I was there set me up for thinking that every night was a bottle-poppin’ glitter night with legends.

(and it sort of was, but that’s beside the point)

When I flew into California, my friend Kelly picked me up at the airport and we headed into LA to go to her friend’s birthday party.  Seemingly innocuous enough.  I failed to understand that her friend was Richard Perry, a music producer who has worked with everyone from Rod Stewart to Ray Charles.  We get to dinner at a very nice restaurant, and we’re back in a private room without about ten other people.  I’m across the gargantuan table from Kelly, sipping dirty martinis and chatting with an incredibly charming older British fellow who introduced himself to me as Robby.  The man was perfect, and he loved music, and at that twenty-four year old point in my life, he could have read me the phone book in that Prince William voice and I would have swooned.  I also had quite the thing for the older gentlemen in my younger years.  

(sorry, Dad)

After about an hour, I get up to go to the restroom.  One of the other ladies from the table came with me.  We’re chatting at the mirror, reapplying lips, and she says something to the effect of, “I can’t believe you and Robby are getting along so well.  I didn't think someone your age would know who he was.”

And that’s when the panic hit.

Oh no.  I’m supposed to know who he is.

So that’s what I said.

Should I know who he is?

And then the lady kind of giggled and said, “Honey.  That’s Robert Plant.”

...........................

And then I died.  

I had been talking to a rock legend for over an hour in a very intimate setting and I didn’t even know.  What a clown.

And then the situation turned decidedly Clueless when I got back to the table and couldn’t keep my schtuff together anymore.  It was like Cher trying to talk to Josh after she realized she loved him.  So I just kept drinking and trying not to Wayne and Garth him.

Oh, and then Warren Beatty showed up and I died again.

And when we all went and afterpartied in Richard’s Hollywood Hills home - me, Robert Plant, Warren Beatty, and a last minute addition of Bill Maher - it was hard for me to not be a clown.  As I recall, Bill was a great bartender, Robert was a hoot, and Warren drunk dialed my mom at 4:00 a.m.  Oh, and then we all drunk dialed Carly Simon and giggled.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

(and a lot was edited to protect the not-so-innocent)

So that was my first night in Angel Town.

And probably the single coolest night of my entire life.

And nothing remotely as cool has happened to me since.

 

But if you want to read some of my boring lawyer stories, you can find me here.  Sometimes I reminisce stories like this so I still feel interesting :)