100 Things about Lisa
1. I don’t know where I’m “from” (born in TX, raised in CT, lived in TN, college +some in STL, now in Chicago).
2. I once drove a stick shift in an empty parking garage while talking on my phone and shifting out of first without stalling.
3. But when I got on the road, I was terrified and refused to shift out of second gear.
4. I call my parent’s dogs “my dogs.”
5. My dogs are a beautiful female Vizsla named Monty and a maniacal Pit Bull named Moe.
6. Moe is actually nicer than Monty, but she is my little baby princess.
7. I come from a loud Italian family, most of whom live in NY.
8. I am the oldest of three kids. And the shortest.
9. I did gymnastics for 10 years, traveling to competitions almost every weekend. I won stuff.
10. I love wine, even though I know nothing about it.
11. I will NOT drink wine from a box.
12. I got rid of my car when I moved to Chicago, and I don’t miss it at all.
13. My brother wants to join the Air Force to be an Air Battle Manager. This means I have to learn what that means.
14. I pushed Stone Cold Steve Austin on an airplane once because he was in my way and was too rude to move.
15. I make such a mess everywhere I go that I have earned the nickname “Little Tornado.”
16. I lied on my driver’s license by saying that I was 5’2. I am actually only 5’0. It felt great.
17. When I was in first grade and boarding the bus, a big third grader jumped in front of me and said, “Outta my way, shrimp.” I had no idea why that was an insult until I asked my mom what “shrimp” meant. She laughed at me.
18. I have absolutely no sense of direction. None.
19. However, I never get lost in a mall.
20. When I was four, I learned that hamburgers came from cows. I have not eaten one since.
21. In college, I stopped being vegetarian and started eating chicken because the school cafeteria would otherwise make me starve.
22. I went to a psychic once. When I walked in, she said, “I’ve read you before!” (She hadn’t.) It went downhill from there.
23. I still like to watch psychic Sylvia Browne.
24. I majored in Political Science, took the LSATS and then decided NOT to go to law school during my senior year of college.
25. I don’t like coffee at all, except for a while chocolate mocha with a shot of raspberry.
26. Raspberries are my favorite fruit.
27. My hair is ridiculously large and curly, but I straighten it daily to keep it tame.
28. I have three tattoos.
29. Still, I’m terrified of needles.
30. The only real lie my mom ever told me during my vegetarian childhood was that hot dogs grow on trees, just so I would eat them.
31. I read trashy celebrity gossip blogs like Egotastic, Pink is the New Blog and Perez Hilton.
32. Carbonated beverages (minus beer) make me hiccup 90% of the time.
33. I am glad beer doesn’t make me hiccup.
34. My entire family, at one point or another, has traveled to Europe. I have not.
35. I type “hahaha” over “lol.”
36. My sister is an aspiring chef, so I offered to “hire” her as a personal chef – one that doesn’t get paid but DOES get to sleep on my futon. She keeps declining, but I am wearing her down.
37. My version of cooking almost always involves a microwave or a take-out number.
38. The last four digits of my cell phone number spell LISA. Yes, it was on purpose, and yes, I chose it in high school.
39. I thought I was close to 100 at this point, but I’m not even halfway there….
40. My great-uncle’s name is Giovanni Graziano. It sounds like he belongs on The Sopranos. I love that show.
41. I feel funny if I’m not wearing nail polish.
42. I’ve been water skiing before. I fell a lot at first, but once I got up, it was a ton of fun.
43. One of my favorite things to do is lay out on a boat, soaking up the sun and drinking a cocktail.
44. I like TV.
45. Vanity Fair is my favorite magazine.
46. I am a St. Louis Cardinals fan.
47. I have a STL Cards Build-A-Bear that I got from my brother.
48. When my brother and I were younger, he would call me “Lisa PEPPINO,” which rhymes with my last name, and for some reason, I would be infuriated by this.
49. When I was 22, I was carded for a rated R movie. Don’t you have to be 17 for those things?
50. I had braces for about 4 years. I’m pretty sure I’ve destroyed all the photographic evidence.
51. I am tone deaf. Big time.
52. I TiVo America’s Next Top Model.
53. My fiancé has six piercings in his face and four tattoos (not on his face). This makes him a bad ass.
54. He is also getting his PhD in chemistry at the University of Chicago and once put a periodic table up in our bedroom. This makes him a nerd.
55. I get angry when people confuse “their” and “they’re” as well as “your” and “you’re.”
56. I’m not a breakfast person, unless it’s an egg and cheese croissant from Dunkin Donuts.
57. When I first typed that, I typed “Drunken” Donuts.
58. I was a babysitter and nanny for seven years, and my favorite creative activity to orchestrate was “Wash Lisa’s Car Day.”
59. People either think my sister and I look like twins, or nothing alike at all.
60. Personally, I don’t see it.
61. I like grapes, but I absolutely hate grape-flavored things.
62. When my brother was little, I saw him writing and coloring with his left hand. I promptly told him that was “wrong” and I made him switch. He is now a righty.
63. I love feta cheese.
64. I named all of my dolls and stuffed animals Cynthia when I was young. I have never met a Cynthia.
65. Since I was such a dedicated gymnast, I feel that I have exceeded my lifetime work-out quota and I no longer exercise.
66. I keep telling myself that I WILL start working out. Tomorrow. I swear.
67. I tend to swear too much, and not in the “I promise” kind of way.
68. I love ranch, especially with French fries.
69 I have been called a “cooler,” so I am not allowed near anyone when they gamble. I don’t gamble either, for this very reason.
70. I own the entire series of Six Feet Under and Sex & The City.
71. I do not have Myspace.
72. I always overpack.
73. I truly trust my intuition and have learned (the hard way) to listen to it.
74. I only have 3 first cousins and 2 of them are named Rachel (but one spells it Rachael).
75. When I got my ears double pierced, my dad asked me why I chose to “mutilate” my body.
76. I send really long e-mails to my friends.
77. I took three years of Italian in college.
78. I cannot speak a word of Italian.
79. I always wear a hair elastic around my right wrist just in case my hair starts acting up. It’s like my silent threat to my tresses.
80. This is the first time I’ve used the word “tresses” outside of a women’s magazine article. I probably won’t do that again.
81. I steal the covers every night. Allegedly.
82. I only watch American Idol until they weed out the bad people. Then it’s just not as fun.
83. I will never forget the name of the one girl who beat me at the state championships in gymnastics by two-tenths of a point.
84. In high school, the track coach walked into my art class and tried to recruit me to be on the track team because I “looked like a runner.”
85. Little did he know, it takes me almost 14 minutes to run (well, walk) a mile.
86. I do not own an Ipod.
87. I love burritos from Chipotle. And Qdoba. That’s right, I won’t pick sides.
88. I never thought I would live in a city where I celebrate the fact that it’s “only” 10 degrees outside (hooray for being above zero!).
89. I remember my brother’s preschool graduation better than his high school graduation.
90. When my mom didn’t feel like cooking for us kids, she would grab random things out of the fridge and say we were having “smorgasbord” for dinner. I’m totally going to do that to my children.
91. My dad is a much better cook than my mother.
92. I say I don’t cry at movies, but I totally do.
93. I haven’t seen a lot of classic 80s movies, but I won’t admit what they are for fear of ridicule.
94. The only time I don’t like dogs is when the one on my floor yaps relentlessly at the elevator.
95. I was bald until I was 2. Even when I was dressed in all pink, people would ask, “Aw, how old is he?”
96. Happy hours make me insanely happy.
97. I have never been farther west than Chicago.
98. I love bowling. The highest score I ever got was 140.
99. I am shamelessly in love with anything designer, and I spend too much time thinking about what to buy next.
100. I rarely sneeze just once; usually it’s at least twice in a row.
