{...a breezy life} at briemarisa.com

21 Things on My Sixteenth 21st Birthday
do you see what I did there?

1. Eva Taylor is the WINNER of the paperback copy of Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Melton! Eva blogs over at EvaMarieTaylor.com, and her site is truly a thing of beauty. Eva is so lovely and creative and I am very, very exited to send her a copy of Carry On, Warrior.

2. I decided to draw a second place winner to receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card to help celebrate my birthday, and that winner is Christine Polkovitch! Hooray!!! Christine is a fantastic person and I am so happy that Rafflecopter plucked her out!

3. And yes, May 3rd was my birthday! I am 37. The day was a mellow one- after a crazy week, we needed a day to just relax and rest. PJ was sick with strep throat and a nasty upper-respiratory bug and is not yet 100%, so it was nice to just chill, get things done around the apartment, and spend some time with my best dude.

4. May 3rd was also Willie Geist's birthday! I have a huge crush on him. I actually have a thing for a number of the Men of NBC- Willie Geist, Lester Holt, Jimmy Fallon, and my super-special-honey Brian Williams. Love 'em all.

5. My beloved Flyers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the New York Rangers. Annoying to say the least, but not surprising. Still, even without my Flyers, playoff hockey is my favorite!

6. The oldest/bestest ran in the Broad Street Run on Sunday! It was Randi's second time running and she clocked a fantastic time! I have fallen off the wagon, mostly due to time, and her run today reminded me that I need to not waste all of the work I did getting ready for the 5k we ran together. I'm very proud of her and want to continue to be inspired by her!

7. I watched the show Playing House on USA and was disturbingly reminded of the relationship that Marla and I have when I saw this scene:



8. You can find me in the May 2014 issue of South Jersey Mom Magazine talking about finding household tips on Pinterest. This is an article that, perhaps, I should try to live up to in my own house instead if using Pinterest to look up funny quotes from Golden Girls. Either way, you can find my piece this month!

9. Oh, speaking of Marla, have you guys seen her blog makeover? Tia from Hands On, Pants Off did an amazing job and the site looks absolutely perfect. You can also stop by to catch up a little on what's been going on with Marla the past two weeks. I can't speak about it yet, but I can ask you to cross your fingers, talk to your God, or even pray to Jobu. All of this bullshit health garbage needs to knock it the fuck off.

10. People who also have the same birthday as me: Flyers great Rom Hextall, Cheryl Burke from Dancing With the Stars, the AMAZING Dule Hill, Bing Crosby, and, you guys. I also have the same birthday as Levi Johnson, also known as Bristol Palin's baby-daddy. Yessssssssssssss.

11. I am watching Louis C.K Chewed Up as I write this. Have I ever told you about my crush on Louis C.K? I have one. It's kind of confounding, but there's something wildly attractive about him. I can only assume it's because he's so funny, but, either way. I have a crush.

12. The top sheet had been missing from our bed for a while. I am pretty sure that it got mixed up in the laundry one night after PJ barfed in our bed. I just found it clean and folded under a pile of laundry on the chair in our room. This is a chaos we live in, folks. I really need to come up with a better system.

13. Here are five fast facts: My favorite season is Fall, my favorite article of clothing is my "Wicked" sweatshirt I bought in 2006 (or so), I drink anywhere from 3-6 cups of coffee per day, my favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King, and I hate shopping for clothes for myself.

14. Thanks to Jimmy Fallon and his latest lip sync off, I am obsessed with this song:



15. Music used to be a huge part of my life. It still is, of course, but I haven't performed in nearly 10 years. I was an ugly, skinny, acne-riddled kid with low self-esteem and a strange personality, and music kept me tethered to the ground. I saw a bit of that in PJ the very first time he performed with his cheer team. His teammates lifted him into a stunt and the audience roared for him and I saw in his face that he knew it. It was better than any applause I ever heard, and I am so happy that there's that little bit of me in him.

16. I was a thumb-sucker as a young child and it jacked up my teeth something awful. I had to wear external headgear (a metal brace that clipped into slots on my back teeth, then sprouted out of my mouth and attached to a band around the back of my head) to correct a wicked overbite before the orthodontist could even think of tackling my crooked teeth. It remains, to this day, the single endeavor funded by my parents that I am the most thankful for!

17. The other day, I was driving in the rain. I rubbed my eye absently and ended up crumpling up my contact lens in my eye. I pulled over to take it out and fix it, but it was a chilly day and I had the heat on. When I took the lens out, it blew off of my finger! I was panicking, trying to figure out what the hell I would do if I couldn't find it because I am blind enough that one contact just won't do it. Thankfully, I found it next to me and popped it back in! It was a little dry around the edges, but I could see well enough to drive home!

18. Women I Have a Girl Crush on: Tina Fey, Mila Kunis, Tamron Hall, Indina Menzel, and Reece Witherspoon.

Women Who Annoy Me: Gwyneth Paltrow, Taylor Swift

19. HGTV is like porn to me, and nothing makes me happier on a Saturday morning then switching on Property Brothers or Rehab Addict. I dream of doing a home renovation! I am one of the few people who love the lots-of-small-rooms layout of an older house vs the open floor plan. I went to an open house, and just off the front door was a small "reading room". Swoon.

20. I am finishing up this blog post watching Kathie Lee and Hoda and the dude that plays Tom on The Blacklist is co-hosting. This guy is adorable. {crushing}

21. I won't lie- this post was kind of a struggle to get out. I came up with a few much better ideas for posts, but felt like I needed to see this one through since 1. I needed to pick some winners for the contest and 2. It took me like, 4 days to write. Maybe it's my OLD BRAIN, but, more likely, it's the fact that I have been in a writing funk. If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!