You can't sit with us!

"You can't wear a tank top two days in a row and you can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week. So I guess you picked today. Oh, and we only wear jeans or track pants on Fridays. Now, you break any of these rules, you can't sit with us at lunch." Mean Girls

I'm a rules person.

Not in the sense that I don't talk in libraries or that I abide by the fasten your seatbelt icon on airplanes. Those rules are a little silly. However, I am a fan of self-induced rules, especially in the pursuit of a goal.

For example, one year, I was planning on going to New York with my friend Callie. So, for a month before the trip, I made a rule that I couldn't use my credit card at all. And if I did use it, I wasn't allowed to buy anything on the trip and I had to buy Callie dinner.

Another time, I wanted this new Lacoste shirt, so I made a rule that I had to do 30 push-ups every day for a month in order to purchase it. If I missed even one day, no shirt.

The more extreme the goal, the more extreme the rules. And, the rules do not have to be in pursuit of something (ie: The Two Week rule for shirts in middle school.)

My roommate, Katie, taught me a rule for relationships.

She recently met a boy who told her about his friend who inspired a new rule to be created. (Recap: Boy A is friends with Boy B. Boy A had a traumatic relational experience that inspired Boy B to create a new rule. Katie met Boy B who taught her said rule.)

Boy A met a girl at a Super Bowl party. Maybe it was the chips and salsa, maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the football spirit, but Boy A and the girl fell in love quickly.

They dated for the rest of the winter and spring, got engaged quickly, and were married before the following football season began.

Unfortunately, the poor girl didn't realize just how obsessed with football Boy A was, as the couple was too busy trying to keep up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to notice.

Throughout football season, she became so frustrated with Boy A for his pigskin passion that she had to file for divorce. The young couple was divorced before the following Super Bowl.

So, Boy B made a rule for his relationships. He said that you should always date someone for all four seasons before committing to them.

I think this is actually an incredibly smart rule.

I mean, what if you get married without ever spending a summer together, and you don't realize that you, the Olympic swimmer, is actually married to someone who is allergic to chlorine. What are you going to do when it's 1000 degrees out and he won't go to the pool?

Or, what if your favorite holiday is Grandparent's Day, and your husband is so estranged from his grandparents that he won't let you celebrate it?

Paris Hilton, a real rule follower if you ask me, watched a graphic video about animal rights. Afterward she said, "From that point, I've never worn fur and I never will. I also haven't eaten any meat since. I just survive on pasta and stuff like that. I was grossed out. It was disgusting."

I hope that Paris and Benji Madden might consider my rule before taking anything to the next level. They've already been together for four months, so they're about one third of the way there.

Can you imagine what would happen if they get married this summer, and Paris doesn't realize that Benji has been eagerly awaiting National Meatloaf Appreciation Day on October 18? It could get pretty intense.

I think Paris could come to terms with it though, as she has previously expressed a conflicting opinion about animals: “Every woman should have four pets in her life. A mink in her closet, a jaguar in her garage, a tiger in her bed, and a jackass who pays for everything.”

She does tend to push the rules.

I totally rejected that 11&12-cabin-snack-boy.

I walked into a building today that smelled exactly like the cabins at Camp Eberhart. The smell, combined with the extreme heat, took me directly back to the hot summer weeks spent there when I was young.

The memory triggered most clearly by this olfactory sensation was of nap time, the period of the day between lunch and afternoon activities. Seeing as most of us were between nine and fourteen years old, nap time was really for the counselors.

You know? When you're little, you take naps because you need them to survive the intense day of growing, playing and imagining. After that, for a good six years, you hate naps. Then, the average person (my family not included) learns to enjoy naps again. So, the beloved nap time was really for those college kids.

I remember we would lay in our beds in the 100 degree cabins, writing letters home (we were gone for six whole days, now) and waiting, just waiting for the snacks to be delivered.

We'd whisper quietly, only to be hushed by the counselors trying to sleep, and stare out the windows.

Every camper had an account at the store that their parents paid off at the end of the week, so you could pretty much order anything you wanted at the store. My personal favorite were the Sour Skittles.

Some lucky person was assigned the job of going to the store to get the snacks that day. It was a coveted job for a few reasons: 1) You got to be outside during most of nap time. 2) You got to talk to the other snack people. 3) (Most importantly) You got the snacks first.

It was a little bit tricky because you actually had to journey quite a long distance with a heavy, blue plastic crate full of candy, chips and drinks for the entire cabin of hungry girls.

I remember one time, when I was the snack girl on Wednesday, the 11&12 cabin snack boy asked me to go to the dance with him on Friday. Unfortunately, I was only in the 9&10 cabin. I told him this, but of course, he did not believe me.

He said, "I know you're in 11&12, you just don't want to go with me to the dance."

And I said, "Actually, I'm in 9&10. I'm just tall. And we're having an ice cream social."

And then he probably was either (a.) Feeling rejected or (b.) jealous we were having an ice cream social, and all he got to do was go to the dance (alone, apparently).

I'd imagine he was probably more concerned about the ice cream. Luckily, the snacks were soon delivered, and he got a Drumstick, so his ice cream desires were temporarily satisfied.

To be completely honest, it scares me a little that I still have such a keen recollection of the entire saga, down to the ice cream he was eating (and the fact that it quickly melted and dripped on his red Nike shirt before we parted ways at the 9&10-11&12 split) .

But, that's the beauty of those olfactory bulbs. I'm just glad that the room I walked into this morning didn't smell like the infirmary at Eberhart, because the time I skinned my knee while playing capture the flag was the worst! I'm not trying to relive that.

*Note: I'd like to apologize for failing to blog on the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination. I understand that you may question my devotion the the Kennedy family due to this failure (Courtney, ahem), but I promise my oversight is not due to a lack of concern for their well being. I was just distracted by playing in the sun.

Maybe Mr. Charlie Wright is Mr. Right

Because Atlanta felt very much like an oven today, I decided I should embrace the gym in the Gables complex.

It's very small, with only two treadmills situated next to each other, facing a mirrored wall. One of the two treadmills was taken by a boy, we'll call him Charlie.

Other than the sound of Charlie's feet, the 12 by 12 room was empty and silent. As I got onto the treadmill, I sized him up. He had already been running for five minutes, but was going a little slower than I intended. I didn't want to turn it in to a competition or anything, I just wanted to assess the situation.

About one minute after I began, I noticed that he had picked up his pace to match mine, and we were suddenly completely in sync. Anyone that has run in groups knows that it is common to fall into stride with those around you, but considering he had been going much slower when I sneaked a peak, I was caught off guard.

Because I find treadmills utterly boring, I thought I'd amuse myself a little. So, I picked up my pace just a bit and increased my speed by .2. I pretended to be preoccupied with something outside the window and watched as Charlie also increased his speed. So, I continued to increase the speed for another half mile or so, enjoying the game so much that I didn't even realize I was actually enhancing my workout at the same time. Just how far could I push Mr. Wright? (I gave him a last name in my head, by the way).

All of the sudden, I started laughing and I couldn't stop. Considering the room was completely silent, and we were staring each other down in the mirror, it was seriously awkward. It was the kind of humor that is similar to that of moving furniture. I'm not entirely sure why the situation makes me laugh, but once I start, I just can't stop.

It went on like this for a good two minutes, where I would start to laugh, then try to focus on the numbers before me in order to avoid making eye contact in the mirror. I promise, though, at one point he was smiling too.

There we were, doing the side by side, just the two of us in the tiny room. I looked in the mirror at our reflection, dressed in white runners, black shorts and blue shirts (crazy, I know!). We were both sweating and the only noise was the sound of our feet hitting the treadmill at the same time. In a strange way, something about it felt...intimate. It was as if we were sharing this moment and forging an unknown bond.

I almost felt like I wanted to strike up a conversation with him.

As I was trying to resist the temptation of laughing and of talking to him (a real double threat) I thought that this would be the perfect start to a commercial.

The commercial would begin by showing only Charlie's face, then zoom out a little to show mine too. It would stay focused on our faces as we ran side by side, bouncing up and down together while Chariots of Fire played in the background (the 2003 re-master version, obviously).

Words would come up on the screen that say: She's who you come home to after a long day at work.

Then it would slowly zoom out and reveal our matching outfits, and the words would say: She can read your mind.

Next, it would show the fact that we were actually on treadmills. Then, as it panned out further, you'd see a blizzard outside the large windows behind us, and it would say: She doesn't think it's crazy that you insist on running every single day.

Then, he'd stop running and step off the treadmill. He'd get down on one knee and pull a diamond out of the tiny little pocket inside of his running shorts. He'd say, Whitney, I want to be with you for the rest of my life...

And the screen would say: She's who you'll run with forever.

Then, it would go black and it would say: Till death do us part. Run Nike.

Hmm, maybe you should stop at flea markets...

"Clutter drains your energy - and you don't realize it till it's gone. Every item in your home has an energy to it. When items go a long time unused, unloved and uncared for, they become stuck, stagnant energy that actually physically drains you of your energy." Ariane Benefit

Since I have four siblings, I would like to think that I am pretty good at sharing. I’ve been trained and seasoned by some of the finest sharers in the country.

My sister, Courtney, shared her room with my brother, Sam, and me for about six years longer than she should have. Especially because Sam and I both had our own rooms the entire time, we were just afraid to sleep in them alone. This happened, literally, every single night. Except for one time, she was fed up (I can’t blame her) so I proceeded to sleep in the blanket closet down the hall. I really didn’t want to sleep in my room.

This is just one example, because truly, everyone in my family shares very nicely. My siblings definitely all got O’s in the “Plays well with others” category of elementary school report cards.

However, if there is one thing that I have never shared (I've never had to, really) is the best day of the year: September 5, AKA my birthday. (Yes, I realize it is selfish to call your own birthday the best day of the entire year. But everyone thinks it, at least I’m honest…)

I'm not a twin, so no one else has ever been around to share the day. Luckily, I discovered once I arrived at IU, I don't really mind sharing my birthday, because, I now get to share September Five with my amazing friend Jordan.

Jordan is the single reason that I place any belief in Zodiac signs. I still certainly don't believe in horoscopes (though we do often race to text them to each other on a daily basis), however, maybe something is to be said for parallel personalities being born at a certain time of year.

We share an uncanny amount of similarities. One, in particular, is a strong aversion to cords. Both of us really hate it when you can see cords in our rooms. Just run it under the carpet, please!

We also don’t like clutter. We both prefer to everything to be put away and neither of us display unnecessary items in our rooms.

I’d like to think that I’ve become somewhat more accepting of clutter over time…

When I was younger, I was known to remove certain pieces of furniture from my room and put them in the hallway. My mom would round the corner and bam! An extra dresser would be waiting for her.

She didn’t particularly love this exercise in spring (or winter, summer and fall) cleaning. It was kind of like I was just trying to share the furniture with everyone else, though…

One afternoon, I walked into my room to find that my brothers, Duke and Sam, had filled it with extra furniture from around the house. While I hate to admit it, I think facing such a fear helped me; it’s that whole idea of immersion.

Now, being in college means smaller spaces shared with people of different tastes.

Thus, Jordan and I have both (in our opinion) become more tolerant of other people’s decorative choices.

One woman’s cluttered mess is another woman’s Claude Monet, right?

Two Indiana women also experienced a trash to treasure moment this week when they discovered Weegee memorabilia inside a trunk they found at a Kentucky yard sale.

The trunk was filled with letters and photographs that the Indianapolis Museum of Art was eager to acquire. Apparently these artifacts are pretty valuable to the IMA.

As I read about the Hoosier woman that discovered these antiques, I thought about what I might have done had I purchased the zebra-stripe trunk. I’m scared to say that I probably would have purged the trunk with haste. I am almost certain I would have failed to call a rare-documents dealer.

Maybe I should try to take this lesson into consideration next time I find myself in the mood to rid my life of clutter. Because you never know what valuable things are surrounding you.

I mean, I might think that a poem from my eighth grade boyfriend is trash, but if he starts a band and wins a Grammy, those could be considered lyrics to a hit song.