"Party of ...one, please"

I-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t do you know what that mean?

She got her own house

She got her own car

Two jobs, work hard, you a bad broad.

Hey. Remember that person you thought you couldn't live without? The one that held your soul, your hopes, your dreams in their delicate fingertips. You fell pretty damn hard for them, didn't you? You saw more than just next week's future... you saw NEXT MONTH'S. But woaaah, they bailed. OUT OF THE BLUE. Never saw it coming.

**author side note: Dermot Mulroney in The Wedding Date is correct, like it or not, when he said, "First of all, there's no such thing as 'out of the blue'."

So what do you do now? You are twentysomething. Despite people getting married later and later in age, you didn't dare think that applied to you. HELLO, being married by 24 is like so totally perfect. Except now, you've  lost the one person you couldn't bare to live without. But before you throw in the towel on life, please take a second and look in the mirror...at the BREATHING human in the reflection. What do ya know? You're still living and shit!! 

"I cannot live without you" is a trending cliché for the high school crowd because at 16 you're not thinking about anything other than how awesome it is make out behind the bleachers. Who can blame them? Relationships (and scandalous make out sessions) at that age are intense and in-the-moment. But the frightening part is that this cliché isn't reserved for teen girls chasing their heartthrobs anymore ... nope, us college ladies are victims too. Seriously. It's sad and lame and really doing a dirty number on our credibility as a gender. Come on gurlz... Don't let those Lil Boosie lyrics go to waste. It's time to snap out it and starting standing strong as the sasha-fierce, independent women that we are.

Trust me, I know it's hard. But even Cher believes in life after love. The thing is that we go to the same colleges, get the same degrees, and have the same opportunities to be successful. None of this matters, however, unless you are willing to step out on the ledge and take the giant leap to your destination. Do not wait for another person to come along and secure your place in the world. Sure, you need a ticket as validation for paid parking, but you DO NOT need another human's praise and "luuuvvv" as validation of your worth.
Be the risk taker. Be the heart breaker. Do the world on your own terms.
It is only when you allow others to make your choices for you that you really lose ...or in some pathetic cases "live". Don't be a statistic and more than ever, don't be a coward. The RIGHT person, the peanut butter to your jelly, the ying to your yang, won't say "No baby, stay in Texas and do my laundry after you graduate. Paris will always be there and I promise we can travel the world when I retire." That person is an asshole and you deserve better. If you want to pack a bag and run away to Russia, do it. If you want to take on the fashion scene professionally in NYC, do it. If you want to flip burgers at the Hardee's in Gunshot, Tennessee, do it. Nobody really cares what you do as long as you OWN IT.

To say I am excited to be a young, professional twentysomething woman taking on the "grown up" world is an understatement. My ecstatic outlook is not because I'm itching to get out of college (no way, this place rocks because both beer and rent are cheap). It is because the next chapter of my life is all on my terms. I make the decisions for me and myself only. Good, bad, stupid, or brilliant-they're all mine and I nevah, evah want to take that ability for granted.

If an effort to further inspire you broads, check out my new tab at the top: ICYMI:Ladies Edition. You'll thank me later!
And if you're single and still feeling not-so-empowered, CLICK HERE RIGHT MEOW