Life Lessons I Learned from Amy Poehler

I just finished Yes Please, Amy Poehler's biography. Let me start off by saying that I'm really bad at reading for fun. I started the book at some point over the summer and only within the last few weeks did I really commit to it. But I finished it, and I'm trying to get more into the habit of reading when I'm bored instead of napping.

Anyway, I started the book a while ago and only finished it today, so the end of the book is a lot fresher in my mind. (I also ate a bag of buttery kettle corn while I read and stained all the last chapters. This is an apology to my roommate who will have to deal with that mess when she reads it. Sorry, Ollie.) Throughout reading the book, though, a lot of little things stuck with me. This post might be a bit of a spoiler for people who haven't read it, but mostly it's an Amy Poehler appreciation and reflection post.

1. Good for her, not for me.

Amy (we're on a first name basis now that I know her deep, biographical thoughts) uses this quote a lot in her book. I actually recognized this concept in my own thinking once I started college, so it was cool to see her talk about it. Basically, it's a quote that appreciates what some people do while being comfortable enough to say that you wouldn't want to do it yourself. I think the female pronoun is important here because there's this terrible concept of girl-hate circling social media as well as everyday life. Women are constantly putting each other down for no valid reason. I feel like high school was a big arena for thoughts like "Ew, what is she wearing?" and "Ugh, why is she dating him?" In college I listen to the girl next to me in class tell me about her biology major and I think, "Good for you, not for me." It's not an insult - it's an easy, encouraging and humbling mantra. I'm glad Amy put it in words.

2. Your parents are people, too.

There were several chapters that Amy dove into the details of her parent's lives, even before she was born. I think it's a general rule that you tend to think that your parent's lives didn't start until you graced them with your presence, but Amy asked her parents a bunch of questions that she put together in a narrative. She detailed their lives, personalities and little things like the most exciting moment of their life. It helped me to remember that my parents have strange memories that don't have anything to do with me. A weird, but eye-opening concept.

3. Don't take everything so seriously.

She never articulates this point, but Amy is a comedian after all. In her writing you can definitely tell that she just has something in her that loves to laugh. One story that sticks out in my head is her talking about her terrible New York apartment and the one time she opened the curtains to see a man masturbating outside her window. She loved it. I definitely would have cried and called the police, but sometimes a situation can just be laughed at.

4. Famous people aren't as great as your friends.

She name drops, like, a lot. Why wouldn't she? She's met everyone I can think of (most importantly Chris Pratt), but her best stories and life lessons come from her memories with friends and loved ones. When it comes down to it, the people in your life are the ones that are going to make it really great or really terrible. Maybe you're lucky and Tina Fey is both famous and your friend, but usually you just get the joy of the people who complain and laugh with you on a day-to-day basis instead of on a tv set. Chris Pratt doesn't know my sense of humor. He doesn't know what's going on in my life. What would he even be good for? (If Chris Pratt is reading this - this is all a lie. You're much better than all my friends. Hit me up.)

5. Kids are really great.

I'm only 20 so I'm not going to pretend like I'm ready for kids in any capacity, but people talk about having kids more than I think we realize. Tv shows and movies and friends talk about giving birth and raising small humans all the time. I think lately I've been watching stuff that highlights the bad - the sleeplessness, the responsibility, the loss of selfishness. I actually just read a paper about postpartum depression. Jeez. But Amy talks about her kids in a way that I think I've always secretly thought it would be like. She cuddles them and loves them and makes fun of them and watches them fight. The love I have for my mom is ridiculous, and the protective instinct I have for my little brother is also overwhelming sometimes. I can only imagine that having tiny humans that are half your DNA spike up those intense feelings even more. Who doesn't want that kind of unconditional love in their life?

6. Just do it.

A quote I'm thinking of right now is one that she mentions in passing, "remember, doing the thing is what's important, not the talking about the thing." There are so many apps and websites and self-help books that talk about all the things you can be doing. Here's a book on writing an amazing screenplay! An article on how to nail an interview! A website to track your book reading (I joined Goodreads today)! But nothing is going to happen unless you sit down and write a screenplay, schedule an interview, or sit down with a book. I think college is filled with a lot of people talking about doing the thing and only a small amount are really doing it. Just do the thing so you have something real to talk about.

7. I wish Amy Poehler was my mom.

My second mom. I love my mom, so if she was into women and were to marry one, I would just really want it to be Amy. She's full of so much vitality and humility. She doesn't let anyone boss her around or give her any shit. She figures people out and then takes a liking to them. She is open to a world of hard work, friendships and laughter. She's very similar to one of my biggest fictional role models, Leslie Knope; both of which have taught me so much about female friendships, taking care of yourself, and most of all just putting yourself out there and letting the world make opinions of you that you don't really care about. If it isn't obvious, I highly recommend Yes Please. Maybe you'll learn something from it.

Decorating Your First Apartment - 25 Cents at a Time

Last month I moved into my first apartment and it's been a long month of sweating without any AC, building up trash in the kitchen corner because the dumpsters are four flights of stairs away, and obsessively turning off lights and anything else that isn't in immediate use to try and shrink our electricity bill. There's a lot to learn when you're on your own with your two other complete clueless roommates, but making your apartment your own can be a fun process.

This weekend was really the first weekend my roommates and I finally got to have fun with some of the details of decorating. We had a while to rearrange furniture and find spots for the essentials, but all that isn't particularly exciting. On Friday night, we hit all the home good stores and we've spruced up our home a little bit.

If I'm being honest, it wasn't until very recently that I began to fully appreciate thrift stores. This is probably because I'm anticipating a lot of student loan debt, and I can't find good reasons to pay for brand new items when the used ones are so amazingly cheap. There's a resale shop a few blocks from my apartment that donates all the proceeds to a Woman's Hospital, so my shopping was for a good cause.

The thing about resale shops is that you have to be ready to really hunt for what you want. I knew I wanted a small table for my apartment's entryway and I had seen a nice one in the store's window. By the time I actually went shopping for it, however, it was gone. I was a little discouraged, but I scoured the store in hopes of finding a better one. In the very back, I found a nice table that hadn't even been priced yet. It was light enough for me to carry home and up all those stairs, so I fell in love. And at only 15 dollars, I was ecstatic.

So, I had a table for the entryway but I needed stuff to put on the table. I'm a firm believer that holidays feel more real the more you decorate for them, so I found a bunch of pumpkin decorations for less than 50 cents each. The resale shop was ridden with baskets, so I picked up one of those for our keys. After ringing up all of that, a DVD and a Ralph Lauren sweater, I had spent less than 30 dollars.

Another aspect of the entryway I think is essential is putting something above your small table, like a mirror or even some framed art. I was on the hunt for a mirror, but I couldn't find any that I liked that were also in my tiny budget. After searching TJ Maxx, we found a little chalk board that I pictured fitting perfectly over our little table.

Here's our table now - we haven't hung the chalk board up yet, and we're also lacking some chalk, but this alone has given our apartment a little more character than before.

Also pictured is a rug I bought from Marshall's that stretches along our narrow hallway. I've learned to never underestimate the power of a rug to change the way a room feels.

Our apartment is no where near the level of decorated I'd like it to be, but it really just takes one step at a time. Especially when we have college student budgets instead of Ikea Interior Designer budgets, it can be difficult to turn your apartment into showcase level material overnight.

We've got Chicago signs, Batman paraphernalia, comfy blankets and little pumpkins in our apartment now. My Pinterest board for apartment inspirations is up and running, so you can expect to see more decoration posts soon. Personally, I don't think it'll be complete until I have a tiny dog running around it, but I still have to convince my mom I'm ready for that.