The 10 People From High School You Will Definitely Run Into At A Bar

The funny part about college is that amidst all of the tomfoolery, you do actually find yourself. You discover who you are, how to carry yourself, and you no longer become blinded by the mirror image your mind alters because of society's ego building or ego crushing contributions. The definitions of the people below may be positive or negative, but if you discover yourself in the right way- neither of them matter. You should be working so hard to better yourself, that you laugh in the face of anyone who thinks they can still affect your confidence. You should be so confident in who you are or what you're doing, that they become exhausted trying to bring you down. But you know what? The best part about losing the immaturity factor is that you now realize you are so far above them that they couldn't pull you down to their level even if they tried. There are some people who "peaked in highschool", but that's only because they stopped caring and settled to let high school be their glory days. Screw that- EVERYDAY is my glory day... including last Saturday when I ran into every single one of these people at once. 

1. The one who got away- This of course is the guy you always knew you needed, but probably weren't mature enough to handle a relationship with of that emotional caliber during your high school days. He still looks hot. He still has a smile that can outshine the sun. And you'll probably see him right when you walk in the bar giving you this message with his eyes: "Damn! You're still just as attractive as you are when I left you and I need you to come over and pretend to be my girlfriend for the night, like we did every time we were together in high school." And you probably will tbh. 

2. The girl with a stick up her butt- She might be pretty, but you'd honestly never notice once you realize her sour puss attitude has amplified so much that you're surprised they haven't named a new warheads flavor after her.  Avoid eye contact. The most interaction you'll have with this girl is a half smirk. As for me, I went with the 1/4 smirk, because this girl is not even worth the half. 

3. The fakest fake girl- She'll hug you when you walk in, she may even ask how things are going, but this temporary beautiful reunion comes to an end when she realizes "stick up her butt" girl is giving her a glare that could burn a hole through Satan. She'll soon act like you're not even there. Petty and ridiculous, but some people care WAY too much about what people think and let that affect who they talk to. To those people I say- go back to middle school. You're late for 4th period. 

4. The ex who can't get over you- The only thing that makes this worse is that this guy cannot only not get over you, but he can't get over himself either. He will put moves on you and act like a hot shot. My escape plan for this is the classic "if I'm going to survive this night I need to go take a shot of tequila" and power-walking away so quickly he thinks I was a mirage. 

   *Bonus! He likely comes with a miniature Tasmanian devil of a girlfriend who you know has seen your prom pictures on Facebook. She'll drink too much in order to work up the nerve to come curse you out and will then be escorted out by security (or maybe this only happens to me).

5. The one who learned the error of his ways- This is the typical "I screwed up not pursuing you harder. I'm sorry my head was up my booty hole so high I was only attracted to poop girls, but now I see the light. In this light is the angelic figure of you. Let me take you out." Run.

6. The girl you fell out of touch with- We all have that friend we lost touch with for various reasons out of our control. Maybe she entered her party girl phase faster than you, while the only party phase you experienced was reading about hooker adventures in The Catcher In The Rye, but you know you guys were meant to be. You'll probably run into this girl in the bar bathroom, let out a blood curdling scream, and then go take shots together. It will be like old times and you'll probably spend the rest of your night with this girl driving others insane with the amount of fun you're having. 

7. The horndog- You know who he is and if you're not looking to be his horndog bun, then run far far away. 

8. The mistake- Because I'm all about taking life lessons from every situation (good or bad), I would probably never actually refer to someone I was friends with as "a mistake", but there are people who come pretty close. This person came into your life, screwed things up and left leaving you like a cow who gets sucked up by a tornado. You land safely, but the ride was DEFINITELY not an enjoyable one. I would say hi to this person, but after that I would find someone else to distract me. 

9. The reformed party girl- She now thinks she is high and mighty because she got all of her drinking out in high school. Now she is a junior+ in college and sticks her nose up to the bar scene with judgmental eyes- as if she wasn't puking behind the bleachers 3 years ago at a high school football game. If you talk to her- be sure to slip this into conversation. Don't hold back, because she'll probably be gone by 11 anyway. 

10. The girl with the unstoppable ego- To be honest, this girl may be me, but I don't even see a problem with it. There is a fine line between cocky and confident which some days just has to be crossed. Self-validation is the only real social validation I need, which gives me the ability to stroll past all of the previously mentioned parties with a bourbon ginger in my left hand and a "please never talk to me" look on my face. This may be my ego talking, but these are the kind of women who rule the world. 

Whether you're still in college or now graduated, you're probably going to run into all of these people. Hopefully it won't be all in the same night at the exact same place like I experienced, but if it is- keep your head high, nose parallel to the ground, and escape plans in the back of your head ready to pull out at any moment. 

Xoxo,

RockingMyTiara

Blog For A Cause: Bullying by Guest Writer Caroline Ambros

I am sorry for such the delayed posting of the next blog post for my Blog For A Cause series. As with many people, life took over and distractions began to tear me away from my hobbies.

Nonetheless, I am happy to reintroduce the series with this post by Caroline Ambros on bullying. Read her incite on how bullying really feels:

           "From what I can tell, everyone has their own bullying story, and ultimately they all boil down to a similar tale. One of the more manipulative kids started picking on you. Initially, it wasn’t a big deal, so you did nothing. But it got worse, and worse. Still, you said nothing because no kid wants to be a snitch. Eventually, though, it got so bad that you told your parents, who in turn strong-armed you into telling the teacher. Mrs. Smith was sympathetic, of course, and she said that she would do whatever she could to stop it.

Your bully was usually not stupid. He or she knew you’d spoken to Mrs. Smith, so the bully was extra careful. They never did anything within her eyesight. That way, no matter how much Mrs. Smith wanted to help you, she couldn’t. You can’t punish a child for something you can’t prove they did. So nothing was done.

In most stories I’ve heard, the bully eventually gets bored. They either move on to new victims, or reform themselves into better people as they become less insecure. That’s not how my bully story ends, though. No matter what I did, she never seemed to grow tired of me, and she never seemed to change.

After years of struggling with how to make it stop, she eventually did disappear from my life. While those years were at times very hard, I believe that I’m stronger for having experienced them. No child should have to go through what I went through, but personally I don’t have very much confidence that schools will ever truly figure out how to stop bullying before it starts.

Therefore, I am going to pass along the secret to my survival, a revelation that I did not have until well into my experience being bullied. The names you are being called are not a reflection on you at all, but a reflection on the bully. In these situations, it is not the victim that is the weak one. Keep that in mind, and hold your head high."

Begin the fight to end bullying TODAY. Every day people of all ages are physically, mentally, and emotionally put down. When is enough, enough? 

Blog For A Cause: Infidelity (Guest Blogger: @The_Classy_Gay)

I am super excited to kick off this guest blog series with a blog written by one of my favorite twitter accounts- @The_Classy_Gay. For those of you interested in composing your own blog please see this original post for details. Help me Blog For A Cause!

Zach has written a beautiful post explaining the detrimental effects of cheating. I love him for sharing his story and I truly hope his words influence a change of heart in those who choose to cheat or maybe offer hope to others who have been recently cheated on. Here is his story:

Infidelity

By Zach S

         It's one of the worst revelations you can experience. You may have had a sinking suspicion for some time, or maybe it's something you never thought would happen - could happen - to you. The sad truth of the matter is, you've been cheated on, and now you have to accept it. Anonymous surveys and studies have estimated that anywhere from 6 to 50 percent of people in a relationship - yes, you heard that right, 50% - are unfaithful, and that the rate is slowly climbing over time [1]. As someone who had been cheated on twice, harassed by an ex, and told that I should "forgive and forget", here's how I see infidelity. 

When you're in a relationship with someone and you find out that they cheated on you, it's like the world is caving in around you. If you suspected it for a while, the shock of actually finding it out is more of a dull heartache - you were right, in the worst way possible. When you haven't suspected it, and you've really started to develop feelings for someone, it feels like you can't trust anyone. You have a wave of overwhelming despair wash over you; you feel a pit in your stomach. When one of my exes cheated on me, I had suspected it for about a month, but I was afraid to confront him about it. We broke up that day, and I couldn't stop crying every time I was alone for the next week. The one time I hadn't suspected anything, I was devastated. I didn't eat for three days, and I pretended to be sick so that nobody would bother me. I'm pretty sure that Netflix stopped asking me if I wanted to continue the next episode of New Girl as I sat cross-legged in bed watching it and crying over a box of Snackwells chocolate cookies. I cried while watching Dirty Dancing. I cried my way through Disney movies. Nothing made me feel any better.

         Both of these times, I eventually came to the realization that crying and moping about wasn't going to help at all. I began obsessively exercising, determined to get a six-pack before my ex had a new boyfriend. One of the times I actually starved myself for a month in an effort to have that "I'm better off without you" body Cosmo is always talking about. In the end, however, I realized that it wasn't anything I had done that made him cheat, and nothing I did would make me feel better until I got over him. This took a while to accept, and even longer to internalize once I realized it. 

         The worst types of cheaters are those who make it hard for you to accept that you are not at fault. One of my exes, once I dumped him, tried to convince all of our mutual friends that he was sorry and I should "take him back". People told me how bad he felt, and I got apologetic texts from him every day for a few weeks. The hard truth of the matter is once a cheater, always a cheater. The same applies to homewrecking - yes, he (or she) may have left his/her partner for you, but what's to say that they won't leave you for the next person they meet? I learned the hard way that you shouldn't expect fidelity from someone who hasn't been faithful up until now. This is just a recipe for heartbreak and disappointment. 

         The ultimate lesson that I've taken from my brushes with infidelity is that if the person you're with isn't satisfied with you and breaks your trust, they never deserved your affection to begin with. It may be hard, but accepting this as truth is, in my experience, the best way to move on after being cheated on.

[1] http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/03/22/how-common-is-cheating-infidelity-really/

Blog For A Cause!

As I mentioned previously, I have begun my Blog For A Cause blog series. For those of you who are a little late to the party, Blog For A Cause is my new blog series centered around weekly public service announcements that you feel passionate about. Whether you have a story to go along with it, have done volunteer work to expedite awareness of the cause, or you just know the importance of the issue- I want to hear from you!  The first post can be found here. I am going to start accepting blog posts from guest bloggers immediately via email at rockingmytiara@yahoo.com.

The posts do not have a length requirement. There are no restrictions except I want you to share your experiences while making the world a more positive place. Let us change the world together, one blog post at a time! If you have a cause you feel passionate about and you want it shared with hundreds to thousands of receptive people, please email me your blog draft! I will read over it for spelling errors and will be posting one each week.

PLEASE include your twitter name in the email so I can give credit where it's due! If you would rather remain anonymous due to the contents of the post, I can certainly do that for you too. Just let me know.

Thank you all for your support of my blog and twitter thus far! It means more than you can imagine.

Blog For A Cause: The G story

As many of you know, last week I lost one of my good friends that I have known since middle school. In his honor I have decided to start a blog series called "Blog For A Cause". In this series I want to use blog posts written by my followers to serve as public service announcements for causes you feel passionate about. All blog posts can be sent to rockingmytiara@yahoo.com! I hope to have one a week to post and to help use my account for something truly positive. I have decided to begin the series with a PSA of my own: The G Story.

Last week my dear friend passed away from a car accident. Authorities have no evidence of this crash being a hit and run or anything of that nature. It appears that my friend veered off of the road and was tormented by a series of trees, then later flew through the windshield of his vehicle.

Before I go into more detail about his accident, let me share what a hardworking and dedicated person my good friend was. My friend (we'll refer to him as G) was a college graduate who completed two majors. In an effort to repay his college loans in a timely manner, G was working as a county deputy. He worked overtime weekly while living at home to knock huge amounts off of his debt. He aspired to go to law school after he completed paying off a majority of his loans. G was going to do great things with his life and he will truly be missed by my entire community. After a long 88 hour work week, G was driving home in a completely exhausted state. While consumed with exhaustion G did not put on his seatbelt. I know what you're thinking: "he's a deputy and he doesn't wear his seatbelt?", but nobody is perfect. He spent his long days making my community safe with his service. G was always one to put other's before himself, but this was a time he should have been a little more aware of his own safety.

The message I want to publicize with this blog is PLEASE don't drive drowsy. Driving drowsy can be just as dangerous as driving while under the influence and it's not fair to yourself, the people who love you or others commuting around you for such a small thing to cause so much disastrous commotion. If you are truly in need, finding another way home is never impossible. Another thing I want to get across is please, please, PLEASE wear your seatbelt. Wearing a seatbelt could have saved my beloved friend's life that day. In the event something unexpected happens you don't want the lack of a seatbelt to be the one small thing that could have made a huge difference. Too many good people are lost in ways that could have been prevented.

Thank you for reading my blog post and I hope that it has a positive influence on you, especially on the young drivers who still have so much road to travel. I look forward to reading and posting the blogs from my followers in an attempt to spread awareness of other topics that could save lives or at least make your life a little easier. Help me Blog For A Cause.

A Very Very Un-fairy Tale: Part One- Setting The Stage

No matter how perfect anything or anyone seems at any given time, you MUST remember that you never see the whole story. People (just like icebergs) leave so much under the surface for no one to see unless someone is willing to dive deep enough and figure out what is hidden underneath the seemingly beautiful waves. I have spent the day thinking about just how much I have hidden underneath my surface waves. There is SO much that people don't know about me and honestly, I hate it. With every experience comes a gain of knowledge. I have this knowledge, but why do I find it necessary to hide it from the world? Knowledge can be shared. I'm okay with the world becoming a little more intelligent in dealing with the stormy waters they must endure. So here it is. Here is my life story.

I feel the need to begin this story with a few things I have accomplished in my life. I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA, I was a varsity captain, I was being recruited for college sports, I was involved in every club that ever existed, I had a great friend group, I did not drink or have sex until I was 18, and I was never a rebel child who tried to run away from home (except that one time I hopped onto my bike at age 11 with a backpack containing one huge bag of chips, rode to the end of the driveway and then turned around because I chickened out). All-in-all I was a textbook perfect child, but my life was FAR from perfect.

I was quite the surprise for my 19-year old unmarried parents. In fact, my mother refers to me as the best mistake she ever made, if this gives you any indication of how the rest of this story is going to go. My parents eventually got married after my birth and decided to have two more children despite the suffering marriage they were now a part of. I love my baby sisters. They are my world, but I do not think my parents were thinking clearly when they decided to create them. My dad worked the night shift and spent a lot of time traveling for job training, sometimes he spent over a year in foreign countries. This was difficult for my mother which I completely understand. Not everyone is built for the "married, but rarely see my husband" life. It takes a special kind of person to be able to handle that. I can't blame her for having difficulty dealing with this situation, but what I do blame her for is what happens next.

My mother cheated on my father with one of the guys she met out at bars while she left my 8-year old self in charge for one for the many overnight babysittings of my little sisters. Who would have known this male mistress would work his way into my life in the form of an evil stepfather. I remember bawling my eyes out when my mom told me that he and she were getting married. I was laying on the bathroom floor disgustingly covering my face with the bathroom carpet, because no matter how gross that rug was, it did not compare to how gross I felt at that moment. That was the moment my young life shattered. My world wasn't my world any more. There was no chance of my mom and dad getting back together and you can't expect any 9 1/2 year old to be okay with that. The one redeeming quality about my soon to be stepdad that my mother had to offer at this time of my despair was, "but he takes you to Chuck-E-Cheese". HE TAKES ME TO FUCKING CHUCK-E-CHEESE. Whoop-dee-doo-da-day! I guess everything is okay in the world because he takes me to a playground of gross sweaty kids playing in a pile of balls and shoving pizza down their throats. The worst part about this is that she knew Chuck-E-Cheese was sacred to me. That was my one escape from the problems in my little girl world. I think the time my mom knew shit was going to hit the fan was when I responded to her mention of the ever so redeeming quality of my future stepdad with, "I SPIT on Chuck-E-Cheese". She proceeded with the marriage despite my effort to make her realize the error of her ways. My sister's and I lives were about to get a LOT different. This was the very beginning of the point in my life where I was forced to grow up too quickly. I am the older sister, I had to take charge of the situation! I was the voice of the little people in my family. Something had to be done and it had to be done quickly.

Working out requires a plan?

It should come as no surprise that when I'm working out, I have no real plan. I don't have a written out calender of what workouts to do which day, I don't have a certain time of day I workout everyday.. it's basically just a big unorganized mess that seems to be working. So when asked, "What is your workout plan?" I really didn't have answer, so I decided to take a look back and determine the patterns in my workout madness. Here's what I found:

• I run 3-4 times a week. It doesn't matter which days of the week, but I prefer to mix it up a bit. 
• At least one day a week I push myself in regards to the length of time ran. I maintain a steady pace and focus on producing the absolute longest run possible for me on that day. I like to set personal goals and then I obviously like to break them and set new ones. One app I swear by to make my accomplishments trackable is the MapMyFitness app. This app tells you the length you ran, the time you ran it in, and your average mile per minute for your entire run. You can play your music that is on your phone through the app so there is no hopping back and forth between apps mid run. It also has routes that people in your area have run and how long they are! It also records different calorie loss amounts for running, biking, and a lot more activities.
• One day a week I focus on interval training. For those of you that don't know, intervals involved sprinting or running for a certain amount of time, then walking or jogging the other alternating time length. One app I found very useful for this is the C25k app. The couch to 5k app was designed to prepare someone for a 5k. Week one of the training involves a walk and jog interval exercise. It's 60 seconds of running to 90 seconds of walking for a 20 minute workout. I prefer using this workout in a more intense way with 60 seconds of sprinting and 90 seconds of jogging. You can play your music through this app and when an interval is up the music will pause and a voice will say "start running(or walking) now". I feel like a brand new woman when those workouts are over.
• Note: The C25k is great for it's actual purpose too! If you have trouble running I HIGHLY recommend using this app to build endurance.
• The other one or two days I take it easy, just doing a brisk jog usually lasting about 20-30 minutes. I do this mostly to loosen up my muscles and relieve soreness from other previous workouts.
• I workout abs, arms and legs at least 2 times a week. As you may know, I am easily bored but also very easily entertained. Because of this I like to mix up my ab, arm and leg workouts by using a variety of fitness outlets. I don't have a set ab, arm or leg routine, because I find those monotonous, especially after doing them for weeks, but here is what I do use:
• Blogilates! If you've never heard of blogilates, it really is worth a try. The beginner's calender is full of great workout videos for all areas of your body. If you want a killer ab workout, try the ABC ab workout video. Disclaimer: It will probably make you cry. There is also a blogilates app!
• @BeFitWorkouts on twitter! Their account tweets workouts for all areas of your body. A lot of them have picture diagrams for the more unique workout moves, which I find very helpful. The great things about the workouts they post, is that I always workout up a sweat and feel the burn. If you're a workout pro and they are ineffective, you can just up the sets to make your workout worth it.
• Belly Dancing <-- this bitch is insane, but it works. There are a lot of other belly dancing workouts on YouTube as well!
• Zumba! If you don't want to pay for a Zumba class, YouTube has numerous videos that target the areas you need help with. 
• The SworkIt app! SworkIt is full of routines for your target areas. The app times each workout and alerts you when to switch. It includes pictures. 
• I am ALWAYS looking for other ways of getting in shapes. If you have an suggestions, please comment below.

This sums out my "workout plan patterns". If you have other suggestions or questions please comment below!

Royally yours,

RockingMyTiara