My Golden Birthday + 20 Facts About Me

with my mom, celebrating my first birthday

I can't believe today I am officially "in my twenties" and it's my golden birthday!!! Usually birthdays aren't a big deal for me, but because this is my golden birthday and it marks a new decade, it just feels extra special. I am currently in Palm Beach celebrating with my dad who planned a surprise for tonight that I cannot wait for! The last time he planned a surprise it was a private sailboat ride during sunset around Boothbay Harbor, Maine when I went with him, my brother, and my boyfriend for my 18th birthday. To this day, that is probably my favorite memory of my whole life. Soo... I guess you could say I have high expectations! I thought it would be fun to share 20 random facts about me, because, why not? Enjoy!



1. I'm left handed. Yes, this is my basic go-to fun fact and I know it is probably a lame one to start off with.

2. My last name, Acciardo, is pronounced uh-char-doe. I'm 1/4 Italian and I swear our family makes the best homemade meatballs in the world. Hence, the love for spaghetti above.

3. My first kiss was the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school during a game of truth or dare, and I smashed the boy's nose... like, kind of hard. It was so embarrassing.

4. I would rather stay in at night than go out... 99% of the time. 

5. I turn blue when I'm cold. My lips, my nails, my feet... hahah does this happen to anyone else?!?

6. I met Obama once, before he was the president, when I was in first or second grade living in Chicago. I didn't really get that this was a big deal until one day he just became the president and I was like, "Oh, I've met him" and no one believed me.

7. I am a huge crier. It's ironic because I think of myself as a very positive person, but if I feel like crying, I cry, and I do it often. In fact, I'll probably cry about how I feel so old now that I'm 20 at some point during this vacation ;)

8. I have one sibling-- my older brother Adrian who is studying abroad in Santiago, Chile this semester! He's a senior in college and he goes to DePaul in Chicago.

9. I moved from Chicago to Milwaukee when I was 9.

10. My favorite places in the world are Paris, Martha’s Vineyard, and Newport, Rhode Island. The photo above was taken in Newport when I was 11 months old-- I think it must've been my first trip! I love New York City but if I absolutely had to pick three favorite cities, New York would actually be in fourth place!

11. I've traveled to 35 states and five countries outside of the United States (England, France, Spain, Italy, and Canada). 

12. I applied to three schools for college: Indiana University at Bloomington, Lehigh University (where I went), and Tulane University. Lehigh was the only one I was considering, but all of my friends were telling me I was insane to only apply to one school, so applied to Tulane and IU without filling out any optional essays or anything just to say I applied to three schools. 

13. I love math. So, so much. Freshman year of college I almost failed calculus, so I started getting special help three times a week: private tutoring, office hours, and a homework group. I had never been so obsessed with a class or a challenge. 

14. My dog, Beau, is nine years old and he is a Coton de Tulear. A lot of people have never heard of this breed! He's French and I always introduce him to people saying, "This is Beau, he's French" ...because I'm crazy. 

15. My favorite genres of music are country, rap, and jazz. If that’s not a diverse variety I don't know what is hahaha

16. I do want kids, but I can’t really see myself being a mom! I’ve always felt this way, and I think in part it was due to the fact that I really didn’t like babies basically up until this summer when I started babysitting again.

17. I don't know how to use our remotes at home, LOL. I just would never voluntarily watch TV for fun... I only really watch a show if I am with someone else.

18. I drink a ton of water. The first thing I do every morning is chug a bottle of water, refill it, and chug it again. Throughout the day, I do the same thing, always drinking water bottles at a time, in one sip. It's a little odd, my friends think it's excessive (they're probably right), and I have to pee every 20 minutes because of it, but it's not like it's a bad thing, so I just go with it!

19. I'm crazy allergic to cats.

20. I started taking French classes in second grade, which no one should believe considering how bad I am at French, but I promise it's true.

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That's all for now! Hopefully you learned a little something, and as always, thank you for reading! I hope you all have a great Monday.

xoxo,
Fran