diary of a 20 something

After over an hour on 71 South, I had finally arrived. My weekend bag was stuffed full, and I had a Giant Eagle tote slung over my shoulder that said, “You’re One in A Melon” beside a cartoon watermelon slice.

My mocktail supplies (San Pellegrino, Ghia, and a Stasher bag full of citrus) clinked as I made my way up to Melanie’s apartment.

Noelle and Gia arrived shortly after, and we all greeted each other with excited squeals.

For dinner, we chose a place just over the bridge from Cincinnati called The Gruff. I got a fried chicken sandwich and we shared pickle fries (except for Melanie who recently went gluten-free).

On the way home, we stopped at Kroger to get some brownie mix for dessert. Gia also grabbed a jar of cream cheese icing and a box of Cheez-Its (a strangely delicious combination).

When we got back to the apartment, we immediately traded our jeans for sweatpants and mixed some mocktails.

We played Stir the Pot which is basically the card version of a game a lot of us played in middle school. You ask the person next to you a question about the group, they point to who they think it applies to, and then that person flips a coin to decide whether the secret is told.

We giggled stupidly, guessing who would look best in a straw fedora (literally no one ever). After the game, we took a dance break while Melanie popped the brownies in.

With the brownie timer ticking, we settled in for a game of We’re Not Really Strangers (WNRS). The game is centered around continuing to build connection and maintain relationships with people you love.

Throughout the three levels of cards, we told each other what our superpowers were as friends and things we were still processing in life. We laughed to tears and made a point to dig deeper with each question.

Before I knew it, it was past midnight. To end the night, we watched an episode of Naked Attraction.

All of this sounds like a normal girl’s night and yes, it is. But it has me thinking of how things change and how they stay the same.

Rewind to 3 years ago, our last semester of college together.

Swap the trendy restaurant for a 30-min drive from campus to Chick-fil-A. The mocktails for cans of Truly and White Claw. Swap WNRS with Buzzed or For the Girls. Naked Attraction for Love Island.

Same vibe, different era.

I’m proud of us and the things we are pursuing professionally and personally. The dedication to being authentic, always. To loving ourselves from self care to tough love. To being vulnerable with each other and cultivating genuine friendships beyond our alma mater.

We’ve grown a lot and there’s still more to come, but the gray sweatpants will never change.