According to Amanda: Five Signs that You're Officially a Grown-up

I just found out that I will be traveling for work in a few weeks to Minnesota. While I'm far from a jet-setting businesswoman, I can't help but feel a little bit more grown-up and adult-like. I mean, I've never even flown by myself for crying out loud. I'm kind of nervous. Of course this got me thinking - dangerous, I know. How else can we tell that we've truly entered the real world, besides the obvious bills, bills, bills (I'm looking at you Destiny's Child)? Leave it to me to create a hopefully humorous list of ways that I personally think solidify your status as an adult.

1. You get excited about having your own washer and dryer in your apartment. I'm not talking about the crappy coin-operated ones that everyone can use in your building. No. I mean you legit have your own inside your apartment so that you can wash clothes at 3 AM if your heart desires. Even better, this also means you don't have to lug your laundry basket home to wash your clothes at your parents' house. It's the little things that mean the most.

2. You give yourself enough time in the morning to have a cup of coffee and maybe even watch the news. That's right, gone are the days of college when you barely rolled out of bed with enough time to put on a bra and real pants. Now you actually set an alarm early enough to make yourself look halfway decent

and

see what's going on in the world. Major props if you do a full makeup routine too (yes, that's so me).

3. No matter what time you go to bed, your biological clock wakes you up at 7:00 AM. Even on the weekends, when you would finally have a chance to sleep in. You toss and turn, trying to go back to sleep but to no avail. By 9 you just decide to get up and make the most of your day. And as an even worse slap in the face, during the week when you have to be up that early, you feel as though you could sleep in forever. Oh the irony.

4. You receive small appliances and other various household goods as gifts for your birthday and Christmas, which may or may not go unused. Unless it's an indoor grill that doubles as a panini press. That eases the reality of no more toys and fun presents anymore. Thanks Mom and Dad.

5. You rationalize purchases in your head before committing and actually swiping your card. As someone who used to be the biggest impulse shopper around, I can really attest to this one. Seeing half of my closet have things with the tags still attached is what probably opened my eyes to this the most. Now I can talk myself out of buying anything more often than not. It's partially from being frugal, and partially from having anxiety when my bank account dips below a certain level.

I had to throw in this hilarious e-card too!