25 Things Grown-ups Do

I've been at being a grown-up for about four months now and I've learned a thing a two. Here are 25 Things that Grown-ups Do and my two-cents about each one.

I would be really interested to see anything else you think grown-ups "do", so leave a comment if you feel inspired!

1. Grow plants.

Three things you didn't know about growing plants: a) Some are better suited to shade or light and heavy or light watering,
b) Water has to be able to drain out of the bottom of your planter,
c) Most plants only need to be watered about once every two weeks.

2. Take weekend trips.

When you work 8 am to 5 pm everyday, your weekends are precious. So, you want to go places and do things that you can't do any ol' day. 

3. Drink wine.

Hard liquor is out, because you can't handle the hangover, beer makes you heavy and sleepy, but with wine, you can just take the edge of the evening...

4. Invest in furniture.

You start thinking: Huh, I guess I'll probably be living in a residence for the rest of my life...and I'll probably need furniture to fill that residence...so maybe I could buy something that I didn't get at IKEA? (That would work better if we HAD an IKEA, use Target as a substitute if you can't relate.)

5. Have a bed time.

Like I said, work from 8 am to 5 pm. The end.

6. Not go out on weekdays.

Ditto. Plus, grown-ups can't handle hangovers like they used to.

7. Make dinner and have at least one go-to meal.

Eating out is sooooo college, and expensive. It's kind of fun to plan meals and go grocery shopping and cook dinner. My go-to meals: sausage spaghetti (Aaron's favorite), Taco Tuesday, stir fry.

8. Use monthly planners.

Because of that whole sitting-in-an-office-all-day thing, you don't really have a lot of things to schedule...it's all pretty routine. College weekly planners are replaced with monthly planners.

9. Go to weddings.

People are gettin' hitched and your obligated to go watch them do it, so that someday they'll watch you, and then they'll let you play with their babies...it's the circle of life.

10. Write “thank you” cards.

Abbie inspired this one. In college, people just kind of expect you to be lazy and selfish. But not when you're a grown-up...now, people expect to be appreciated.

11. Watch TV shows weekly on TV.

No more staying up till 3 am with your laptop in bed to finish the series finale of Gossip Girl. You have a DVR now and a lot of free time to Breaking Bad once a week like everyone else.

12. Know what you need to wear.

I work in an office and I don't need more tempo shorts or hoodies or tennis shoes. I buy dress clothes now and I know what pieces I need that suit me best: cardigans, high-waisted skirts, dresses, subtly-pointy heels, ballet flats. Basically, grown-ups build a more mature wardrobe in preparation for being professional day-in and day-out for all of eternity.

13. Care about the utilities bill.

$100 for August utilities?! I don't think so. Turn it off, turn everything off. Laundry, every other week. Windows open. No flushing. 10 minute showers. Brush your teeth with toilet water. Oh no...sorry...nevermind...we definitely don't do that.

14. Follow blogs and blog.

Life has slowed down significantly since college, but it's still important to give the impression you are cool...blog about it. Or maybe you live far away and people want to follow your life...blog about it.

15. Buy nice bags.

You make money now, lady. Treat yo'self.

16. Have luggage.

You make money and you travel on the weekends. Treat yo'self...to something totally practical.

17. Have hobbies you do sober.

Yeah, no more drunk omelets or drunk pool days or drunk poker nights...now, you cook around your paleo diet (<< generalization, NOT applicable to ME) and have game nights and blog and ride bikes and stay sober.

18. Play on a lifetime sport team.

Slow pitch softball, sand volleyball, shuffle board, darts, bowling. If it's easy and boring to watch...you probably play in league once a week.

19. Couple up.

You find a mate, you couple up, you hang out with other couples, you ride bicycles built for two, you make dinner together, you snuggle when you watch Breaking Bad, you know the drill. All your friends moved away and so you put all that time previous spent with a million people, into spending time with one person. It's nice.

20. Do game nights.

Hello. You're boring now. Monopoly it is.

21. Shave your legs regularly. It's that or wear your office pants. Skirts are so much more fun...

22. Complain about traffic.

When you're in the car at 7:50 am and 5:10 pm...you HATE traffic.

23. Complain about work.

Whether complaining about work at work to a co-worker or outside of work to a friend, work is the BEST thing to complain about. I mean, a) you spend most of your time there, and b) it's one of the few places anyone can tell you want to do.

24. Complain about anything.

If not work, then it's something else. I am of the opinion that complaining brings people together. It's in our nature.

25. Set goals.

Like I said in my first post of the summer, goodbye bucket lists, hello "goals." Most grown-ups are focused towards self-improvement, be that in your career or your personal life, we just want to be better versions of ourselves. So we set goals and hit targets and try to be better.