The Secret Art of Being a Grown-Up, by Bridget Watson Payne

A little treat for you this week.

I found this tiny book in the apartment I sublet in Germany, and I think I read it in 10 minutes. It's quite recent that I really feel like an adult, and I agree with the author: adults have more fun. Why? Because they end up learning things like the ones in this book.

Here are the excerpts that made me smile:

You can wear whatever the heck you want

You can pull off exactly however much you decide you can pull off. The only person who really cares is you.

You can go into nice hotels to use the restroom.

For real. Just walk right in like you own the place and odds are no one will say a thing about it.

Work can, and will, be a drag.

That's why they call it "work" and not "crazy fun time". And that's why they have to pay you to be there.. By all means look for a job you love, but realize there will always be unlovable things about any job.

Hang up some art.

Many people feel that they are too broke, or too young, or too uncertain about their own taste, or too temporary in their living situation to take the leap of actually hanging up pictures on their walls.

But grown-ups get to have things up on their walls that they enjoy looking at, that make them just that tiny bit happier each and every day. That's part of the deal. You have to take out your own recycling, but you get to hang up art.

Go where you want.

Sometimes, you may get the sense from the world that certain kinds of places aren't for you, but we are grown-ups now and we can go wherever we want to go.

These places (and many, many more) are for you :

• Art gallery
• Fancy restaurant (white tablecloth, several forks per person)
• Farmer's market
• Golf course (or some other fancy sports place)
• Classy bar

Dinner parties don't have to be a certain way; they should just be fun. Throw them.

You don't have to know what you're doing. You don't have to be fancy or posh. Just cook some food and invite some friends over to eat it. Then later, do it again. And again. And again.

As I read all this, I realized how much I was restricting myself at times because I didn't fully realized that I was now a real adult. So reading that really spoke to me. And made me laugh. A real little piece of joy.

Plus, the book is really cute. I can totally imagine giving it as a gift to someone. Like to my little sister, when she's an adult too.

In English only :