49 Things About Me

Family, Love, & Legacy: The People (& Things) That Shaped My Heart

1.  My favorite color is, and has always been, purple – from lavender to royal purple. When I was young, my grandparents redid their bathroom in lavender. I couldn’t have been more excited that they were getting “a purple potty.”

2.  My favorite season is Fall because my POTS symptoms improve and…football.

3.  My favorite color is, and has always been, purple – from lavender to royal purple. When I was young, my grandparents redid their bathroom in lavender. I couldn’t have been more excited that they were getting “a purple potty.”

4.  My favorite season is Fall because my POTS symptoms improve and…football.

5.  My favorite toy growing up was Smokey Bear. I loved him so much that his stuffing started coming out, so my mom sewed him a new pair of jeans. When those wore out, my grandmother sewed him a new t-shirt and overalls. I slept with him in my bed until his arm was falling off & he could no longer be mended. He now rests in my mom’s closet. My Smokey Bear is my Velveteen Rabbit.

6.         I will never love anyone more than I loved my maternal grandfather, Daddy Pat. He was my whole world.

7.         I love to listen to the rain. My Daddy Pat and I used to sit outside on my grandparents’ front porch swing, talk about life, and listen to the rain during storms.

8.           All of the notes that my friends wrote me in middle and high school are in a keepsake box under my bed.

9.         My first kiss was a boy that I cornered in preschool. 10/10. No regrets.

Quirk, Theories, & Unapologetically “Tara” Habits: All of My Loveable Oddities, From Sparkles to Song Lyrics

10.      I have a frequent tendency to fall up steps. Falling down steps? Let other people do that. I like to stand out from the crowd.

11.    I can’t resist buying clothing with sparkles on it. How can you not love sparkles?! They’re like shiny fairy dust.

12.      I collect autographed books and autographed 49ers memorabilia.

13.      My housekeeping style can best be described as “a tornado hit a hoarder’s house.”

14.    I’m a very picky eater who likes my food very plain. No high end dining for me. The food is too fancy. Side note: I also don’t drink, so I’m a very cheap date.

15.      I have a terrible visual memory, but I have an almost perfect audiographic memory.

16.    I speak almost entirely in quotes from tv shows and movies. I never notice it in the moment – I only realize it later when I’m rewatching the show/film and think, “Oh! I thought I created that phrase!”

17.    I have a compulsion to recite the dialogue when I’m watching a movie or tv show that I’ve seen before.

18.    My most irrational theory: If a baby is on my flight, the plane is much less likely to crash.

19.    Hidden, useless talent: Tying a knot in a cherry stem with my tongue.

49ers Fandom & Game Day

20. I believe that there’s no such thing as too much fan gear.

21. Yes, I talk to, or sometimes yell, at the players, coaches, and refs during games as if they can hear me. I also have one-sided conversations with commentators, analysts, and reporters.

22. I may or may not jump up and down on my bed during a close Niners game or a walk off win.

23. Golden Rule: If the 49ers are playing, you are not allowed to speak, except during commercials.

24.    My Monday mood is directly correlated with the Niners Sunday performance.

25.    IMO, Hottest NFL Coach: Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales; Sexiest NFL Coaching Staff: Niners Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh; NFL Coach That I’d Most Like to Hang Out with at a Sports Bar: Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell

26.    I have an unopened bottle of vodka signed by Joe Montana in my bedroom closet. (Now that I think of it, that’s a great pickup line!)

Pop Culture Soulmates: From John Cusack to Julia Roberts: My Comfort-Character Universe

27.      My all-time favorite tv shows are “Family Ties” and “Party of Five,” with an honorable mention to “Dawson’s Creek.”

28.      My favorite movies are a tie between “His Girl Friday,” starring Cary Grant & Rosalind Russell, and “Splendor in the Grass,” starring Natalie Wood & Warren Beatty.

29.      My favorite cult movie is “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” starring Kristy Swanson & Luke Perry (RIP).

30.      I believe that there’s nothing that can’t be made better by binging a Julia Roberts rom-com marathon while doing a facial and eating pizza.

31.    My first celebrity crush was Ricky Schroder on “Silver Spoons.” That blond hair, those blue eyes, and that gleaming smile…every 10 year old girl’s dream boy in the early 80s.

32.    John Cusack is my future husband. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve been planning our wedding since I saw “Say Anything” in 1989.

33.    Guilty pleasure: Binging on cheesy 80’s movies that I loved back in the day: “Adventures in Babysitting,” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “The Boy Who Could Fly,” “Labyrinth,” & “Mannequin.”

Books, Words, & Meaningful Things

34.      The book “How to Live Between Office Visits” by Dr. Bernie Siegel, literally, changed my life. It taught me how to not only accept and live with chronic illness, but also how to learn from my illness and thrive from it.

35.      My favorite book is “The Great Gatsby”: Jazz Age glamour, romance, intrigue, and tragedy. All written in sentences as beautiful as Monet’s paintings.

36.      My favorite author is F. Scott Fitzgerald with Shakespeare being a very close second.

37.    I prefer print books to ebooks. I love the weight, the texture, the feel, the smell…Also, I almost cried when they all but stopped printing magazines. (I miss you, “Glamour:” and “Marie Claire!”)

38.      Favorite Quote:

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember

how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

-Haruki Murakami

Idenitity, Purpose, & Self

39.      I truly believe that everyone is put on this Earth to serve a purpose. I believe that my purpose is to help people and make them happier.

40.      I love animals (not including bugs, birds, or reptiles). My favorite are big cats. And I’m all but  convinced that I’m part sloth.

41.    Nicknames That I’ve Had: “T”, “Red,” “Big Red,” “Tara Boo” (my dad), & “Number 1 Girl” (my Daddy Pat)

42.    There’s no denying my heritage. I am, basically, my maternal grandmother’s doppelgänger. Because of her, I’ve always been proud to be a redhead.

43.    Celebrity that I’m most often compared to: Nicole Kidman

Dreams, Destinations, & High Hopes: Where My Heart Points When I Look Toward the Future

44.      My favorite cities are San Francisco and Nashville.

45.    When my health improves, my dream is to move to Nashville. It’s the only place where I’ve truly felt like I belonged.

Music That Raised Me (Or Ruined Me…in a Good Way): From Motown to Taylor Swift Therapy

46.      My all-time favorite song is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” I have 11 versions of it in my Apple Music library. My favorite Christmas Carol is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Strange coincidence: I also have 11 versions of that in my music library.

47.      I’ve misunderstood the lyrics to a lot of songs, but none as much as “C’mon, Eileen.” My middle name is Eileen, so I always happily sang along to the chorus…“Come on, Eileen. I swear on my knees. At this moment, you mean everything. At this time, I confess, you are pretty…” When I was 24 years old, my then-boyfriend cited the lyrics to me. Boy, color me shocked!

48.      I believe in the healing power of music. My favorite genres are Motown, 80’s, 90’s, & Country. I was introduced to Motown by Bruce Willis in “Moonlighting” and to Country by a boy that I dated in the 90s (boys don’t last, but music is forever).

49.      The album that I most relate to & that serves as my personal therapy session is The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift.

Broadway & My Inner Theater Kid: Shows, Stagedoors, & Sobbing in Orchestra Seats

50.      My favorite Broadway show is “Les Misérables.” I saw it once on Broadway and twice at the Scranton Cultural Center. Yes, I sobbed every time. And yes, I also love the movie.

51.      I have Broadway stagedooring down to a science.

If you made it through all 49 Facts, you are, officially, in my huddle. Welcome! I’d love to get to know you, so feel free to share some facts about yourself, whether it’s your favorite color, your most original quirk, or what coach makes your heart flutter.