November 5 10

If you were anywhere near twitter yesterday, I’m sure you came across a tweet or two thousand that were hashtagged with this: #tweetyour16yearoldself. Now I’m not usually one to jump on a trending twitter bandwagon, but hoo boy, I began to think of 16-year-old Ali and how much wisdom 32-year-old Ali could give her. I ended up only sharing one really, really important piece of advice on twitter

Oversized flannel and Doc Martens do not flatter ANYONE. #tweetyour16yearoldself

But there’s so much more I need to tell myself.

Like…

Your love of pop culture and writing is not useless. One day it’ll BE your career. #tweetyour16yearoldself

You will still love Kurt Cobain just as much as you do now. #tweetyour16yearoldself

One day you will love your body. Mostly. #tweetyour16yearoldself

One day you’ll be cool. And one day you’ll watch the movie where that line is from. And it’ll change your life. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Don’t offer to drive to that Cranberries concert. It won’t end well. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Bangs will not always be a bad idea. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Get the braces now so your mom will pay for them. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Just because bagels are FAT FREE doesn’t mean they are a wise lunch choice. #tweetyour16yearoldself

One day they will sell stirrup jeans at the Gap. And yes, it’s as awful as it sounds. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Friends is a really good show. Give it a chance. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Stop experimenting with home hair color. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Don’t overpluck. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Read The Grapes of Wrath, not just every other chapter. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Some people peak in high school. You are not one of them. #tweetyour16yearoldself

One day you will be so incredibly, ridiculously happy. #tweetyour16yearoldself

You will not believe what happens to those kids on The Mickey Mouse Club. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Call your parents more often. #tweetyour16yearoldself

You will still have dreams about Jordan Catalano. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Invest in Apple stock. And Starbucks. And Target. #tweetyour16yearoldself

No matter what you think, you have great boobs and a great ass. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Stop chasing after people who don’t know you’re alive. They aren’t worth it. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Stop brushing off the people who want to be with you. They might be worth it. #tweetyour16yearoldself

Don’t lose touch with your best friends. You will regret it forever. #tweetyour16yearoldself

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  1. Love the post Ali!

    Comment by Heather on November 5, 2010
  2. Your flannel was my overalls. I loved them. I took my first driver’s license picture in them. Seriously, and better yet, it was overalls and Doc Martens. Seriously.

    I totally did the same blog post last night. And then I found out a bunch of other people did it too. Apparently twitter is really inspiring.

    Comment by Overflowing Brain on November 5, 2010
  3. Everyone always wishes they could re-live their high school years. Fuck that noise. I do wish, however, that I could re-do them as my current self. Because my currents self is way stronger and way more confident than my high school self ever was. More ass kicking the second time around!

    Comment by MonsteRawr on November 5, 2010
  4. This? “Some people peak in high school. You are not one of them. #tweetyour16yearoldself”

    EXACTLY. SO TRUE! I didn’t hate high school per se, but I know that it wasn’t who I was. I have changed a lot since then, for the better, and am so glad that I didn’t peak in high school!

    Comment by Kristabella on November 5, 2010
  5. I would have to tell my 14 year old self that Skidz overalls are not flattering for anyone, don’t let anyone tell you differently and thank goodness you had the good sense to not let anyone take a photo of you in the said crazy overalls.

    Comment by DE Heather on November 5, 2010
  6. I did not know you could get wiser, but you just did! Such a wonderful daughter you have been and are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Doris on November 5, 2010
  7. You will still have dreams about Jordan Catalano.

    I could make a whole post about him.

    Comment by Angie [A Whole Lot of Nothing] on November 5, 2010
  8. I’m sad I was offline for most of yesterday, but glad that you wrote this.

    Love it, love it, love it.

    Comment by Angella on November 5, 2010
  9. “Invest in Apple stock. And Starbucks. And Target.”

    DAMMIT. I wish I would’ve

    Comment by pamela on November 5, 2010
  10. Absolutely love the Kurt Cobain comment. I am 31 and still love him! I am glad I am not the only one.

    Comment by Alicia on November 5, 2010
  11. Love it all, lady. And the thing about not peaking in high school? That is, like, the mantra my sister and I live by. True dat. And ain’t we lucky?!

    Comment by Grumble Girl on November 5, 2010
  12. This was a GREAT list! I have to love the fact that not only do I know who Jordan Catalano was, but that I’m now old enough to know what to do with him…you know, should I run into him while in some alternate universe where my husband doesn’t exist and he thinks I’m the hottest thing on earth.

    Comment by Colleen on November 5, 2010
  13. “Don’t overpluck. #tweetyour16yearoldself”

    I tweeted something very similar yesterday! 🙂

    Comment by Chibi Jeebs on November 5, 2010
  14. Love this… and totally agree on kurt cobain and jordan catalano.

    Comment by Taryn on November 6, 2010
  15. Ha! These were all awesome. I loved reading everyone’s tweets to their 16 year old self.

    Comment by Loukia on November 8, 2010
  16. Such a great tweet topic

    Comment by bananagrams on November 8, 2010
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