Things I Need To Tell You About, Vol. 2

[obligatory introduction sentence on how not-awesome 2016 has been]

Not everything about 2016 was awful.

The highlights… A new job. Being in a friend’s wedding and attending another. Deepening and rekindling friendships near and far. Going to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest. Falling in love with Philly more and more. Building my blogging tribe and improving my content (at least I like to think I did!). As for cool things that are on deck in 2017…

I’m moving!

I’m going to get this out of the way: one of the lowlights this year has been the end of a long-term relationship. These things happen, and I have a lot of fond memories, but that doesn’t make moving on any easier — it might even make it more difficult. (This is also why I’ve had so much trouble recapping my West Coast adventures — it’s a textbook example of bittersweet.) Anyway! I buried the lede here, because the best thing to come out of this is that I am moving into my very own place this January. I’m so excited. I’ve never lived by myself before (I don’t think we can count the dogs as roommates), but I am happy with how things are coming together with the new place. I’m also going to be closer to Center City and be able to walk to work and basically this is my moving mood:

*don’t misinterpret this — it’s a happy gif*

I’m going to get a library card!

I mean it this time. My success rate with my 2016 resolutions is all over the place, but by far the thing I am most disappointed by is not getting a library card and not reading more! My plan is to see how long I can do without cable at my new apartment. Hopefully I can just focus on books and podcasts and earn my hipster credit.

I’ll be going to Florida soon!

Some sweet friends from high school got engaged this summer, and I am so excited to go to their wedding this spring. I’ll get to see people I haven’t seen in years, and I’ve already ordered two potential dresses. This trip will also mark the longest Florida drought for me (it’ll be about 14 months!). I couldn’t appreciate my time at home more.

Every year has some change in it, because duh, but it’s a little different when you know that going into it. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2017! Thank you for reading, as always, and keep fighting the good fight.

~ Sarah

On Heroes

I don’t write about sports nearly as much as I used to when I started blogging here (over 6 years ago!), but the truth is, I have a whole section of my closet devoted to sports jerseys. Soccer jerseys, football jerseys, baseball jerseys — even a hockey jersey sneaked in there! Sports has been one of my “things” since I can remember. I couldn’t even pinpoint why — it’s part of who I am, and part of my family. I love sports because of my competitive nature, my love of tradition and history, my hometown, my loyalty. I love the stories and its heroes.

Sometimes, we lose our heroes. That part hurts.

We lose our heroes in different ways. Sometimes it’s a breakup, a mutual one at that. One you know is the best decision for everyone’s future — the franchise and the star athlete. That hardly makes it any easier. I was 12 when the Miami Heat drafted Dwyane Wade, nearly 26 when he left for his own hometown team. 13 years, 3 championships. It was magic, and I thought it was going to last forever. It’s so rare and so special to see you favorite player spend their entire career with your team, and I thought it was in the cards for us. Regardless, Miami will welcome Wade because he represented the city with fire.

Sometimes we lose our heroes, and it’s a damn tragedy. That’s what Miami is going through last week after we lost Jose Fernandez, a “100 mph human.” His story is now legend, an origin story fit for a superhero. Here was a young man who found freedom through the sea — but the sea took that freedom away. After three unsuccessful attempts to flee Cuba, he was jailed — as just a teenager. On his fourth, and ultimately successful, trip to the U.S., he saved his own mother from drowning. Once he became a starting pitcher for the Miami Marlins, his grandmother — still on the island — would climb her roof to catch a radio signal of his games.

At this point, much has been written about Jose — his journey, and what he meant to the Cuban community. As for me? I just had fun watching him play for my hometown team. I saw Jose pitch in Philadelphia last summer, and I watched him warmup in the bullpen. He ended up tossing me his baseball, and I was practically giddy.

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After countless baseball games, I had never caught a foul ball or home run ball, so this was a cool moment. When I went to another Marlins-Phillies game this summer, the starting pitcher did not throw anyone a baseball. It made me appreciate Jose even more. He had a big heart, played baseball with the joy of a Little Leaguer, and shared that energy. That’s awesome, and so rare these days. I definitely regret not getting my baseball signed that summer night.

I’ll treasure that brief moment I had with a superstar. I felt like a little kid again! The reality is, though, I’m growing up — it’s only a matter of time before my favorite athletes will be younger than me. And part of growing up is also letting go of your heroes. People move on and you realize that even the brightest stars are human and flawed. That doesn’t mean you can’t cry about it. There is crying in baseball, and that’s okay.

What I’m trying to say is, thanks, Jose for being a hero to kids everywhere, and being the reason we love sports.

Link Love

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Happy Friday! I haven’t done a roundup in literal months, so it’s definitely time. I’ve been trying to take it easy this month, but my friends surprised me with a birthday dinner at Cuba Libre, so that was a highlight! Anyway, onto the links…

I love this post from Revelist on how many makeup products it takes to get that #Iwokeuplikethis look.

This breakdown of different young women’s incomes and lifestyles is really fascinating, but also stressed me out.

I’m not redecorating or anything, but I still liked these easy home updates.

This sounds a lot like me: how to know you’re an outgoing introvert. (Or am I a quiet extrovert?)

Quick tip to corporations: women don’t need kids to buy all the things.

As far as natural lipsticks go, I’m familiar with Burt’s Bees, but these natural lipsticks are so pretty.

Anything fun on the internet I should know about?

~ Sarah