The Girl in the Olive Costume

Here it is: my first blog entry. In all my dreaming about one day starting up a blog, I never imagined it would have the word “olive” associated with it. But, hey, if the shoe fits… or rather, if the costume fits, wear it loud and proud, right?

What exactly, you might ask, does an olive costume have to do with my life? Well, you’d be surprised! Like all good English major alums, I have a tendency to see life through metaphors. And this particular metaphor, albeit silly and strange, fits my view of life to a “T.”

My friends and I have a new “go-to” movie when we are in the need for a girly, sidesplitting laugh-fest. This gem of a film is entitled Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging. Yes, you read that right. (And if you haven’t seen this yet, please, go put it on your NetFlix queue immediately.) Angus is about a group of 15-year-old girls in England stumbling their way through the misadventures of growing up. This awkward age that we all remember so well is perfectly captured in this one of a kind film. And although my days of romping around declaring, “it’s boy stalking time,” are now over (for the most part, that is!), there is still a part of me, deep down, that truly resonates with Georgia, my 15-year-old on-screen heroin.

Let’s be honest, there will always be a part of us that feels what Georgia feels during her adventures: confused, love-struck, embarrassed, giddy, ridiculous. It’s this unashamed mixture of raw, untainted emotion displayed in the film that continues to resonate with me. Georgia feels so much and lives life to the fullest. Yes, she messes things up quite badly and quite often, but she learns from her mistakes and becomes a better, more mature person because of her blunders.

So, when the opening credits of the film begin (which, by the way, is counted in my top 5 favorite opening film sequences) and show Georgia arriving at a party dressed in a giant stuffed olive costume only to find that her 3 best friends decided to skip their assigned “orderve costumes” and stick to something more flattering, I can empathize. Georgia storms out of the party and races through the streets of her small town. The sight of that giant, round olive costume and her little legs trying to move as fast as they can through the streets never ceases to amaze me. Through my laughter I always have the same thought: that’s me!

I’ll admit I’ve never actually worn an olive costume. But sometimes… well, sometimes it sure does feel like I’m wearing one! Too often I find that I’m out of place and completely off base. But I’m learning that life would be so dull without these ridiculous olive costume moments! And that’s what this blog is for. Life is full of olive costume moments and I’m so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family around me to share my adventures (and misadventures) with. So here’s to life. And here’s to olive costumes!