25 Is the New 18? Really?

I can think of at least seven people in my life who would benefit greatly by reading Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues to the Mysteries of Adulthood by Christie Mellor. My brother, for one, who is embarking on his first ever apartment alone (at age 26) after living with my parents, grandparents, and his ex-fiancee for the last 6 years. A smattering of soon-to-be college graduates who are younger siblings of some of my life long friends. And, let's face it, me. Being the ripe old age of 29 doesn't mean I can't use a few new tricks up my sleeve, and this book is chock-full of 'em!

Besides giving practical advice on everything from making your bed to making a flower arrangement, this book is packed with witty humor and fantastic illustrations. Mellor, author of The Three Martini Playdate (note to self: update my GoodReads to read list) has a wealth of information and talent to go on, and the list of Unbelievable Baking Soda Tips! is worth the price of the book alone. There is also tons of info on behavior in the workplace, how to dress, hosting parties, and 'Not Being an Embarrassment.' There is an extremely useful chapter on the kitchen and cooking which instructs on how to boil and egg and make your own mayo. I particularly enjoyed the section on how to poach a chicken, because honestly, I had no idea.

Also enjoyable was the chapter on starting your own holiday traditions. Since all of our family lives about 300 miles away or more, we were forced to choose between schlepping every mother loving child-related item in our house to Pittsburgh or inviting folks to our place. Now we host Thanksgiving, and I found several good ideas to throw into our celebration for next year!

Also, since January I've been trying to spend less money on silly things (read: starb*cks) and tuck it into a savings account. So far I've been doing quite well, but I wanted to make some projections. Guess what? She references a 'Stop Buying Expensive Coffee and Save' calculator, and I found it very handy indeed!

So overall, I'm going give Were You Raised By Wolves?: Clues to the Mysteries of Adulthood a big old recommendation, both for those newly hired twenty-somethings who are getting paid enough to buy it and us older folks who should buy it for them if they can't! Many thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network for bringing this gem to my attention!