I love doing fun, all-about-me posts. So, I thought it would be cool to do a little “things you might not know about me” piece! While I am an open book in a lot of ways, I do know that, on here, there are some things you might not know about me. If you’ve read my “Confessions of a Singleholic” series, I’m sure you think you know way more about me than you probably ever needed to – but here are some other non-dating Madeline fun facts for you!
1. I was trained in opera
I have loved to sing my whole life. When I was in 5th or 6th grade, my Chorus teacher, Mrs. Price, pulled me aside one day. She wanted to tell me that she thought I’d really enjoy singing lessons. She recommended me to her former voice teacher, an opera singer. Then, she helped me prepare for my audition (yes, I had to audition even to take lessons), and I was accepted! For the rest of middle school, I had voice lessons every week I I ultimately quit because I told my teacher that in high school, I wanted to do more musical theatre than opera or classical training, which was basically blasphemy to her. But she was absolutely fantastic and taught me so, so much. I still look her up often and am grateful for everything she taught me.
2. I wanted to be a fashion designer or an actress
Growing up, I wanted to be a lot of different things! I wanted to be a flight attendant like my mom, I wanted to be a chef or a baker… pretty much the only consistent thing I wanted to be was a mom!
It was “The Parent Trap” that made me want to be a fashion designer. I started drawing little sketches everywhere, just like Elizabeth James did. I still have my first design sketchbook! All the outfits and dresses were named after women, and some were even designed and named for friends and family. It’s actually crazy how much my wedding dress looks like the one I designed for myself when I was younger!
But, go big or go home gal that I am, I also wanted to be an actress. I’d always loved performing and theater and got involved in that pretty young, so I also wanted to be an actress. I dreamt of the day I’d win my first Oscar. Ultimately, I decided that I was not cut out for the Hollywood atmosphere and could not sacrifice that much family time, so I decided to shift gears.
3. I have a condition called brachymetatarsia
Essentially, this means that one of my toes is abnormally shortened – in my case, both of my second to last toes (right next to my pinky toes). They are very short and stubby. This is apparently a congenital defect, but I don’t know anyone in my family who has it. But I have heard that it can also happen due to trauma or be an isolated incident.
I used to be incredibly self-conscious about it . For instance, I never wore sandals in public, hid my feet at sleepovers, and hated my feet and toes. I looked into having surgery on them, but I’d have been on crutches for over a year (you have one foot done at a time). It’s also apparently a pretty painful recovery. When I talked to the doctor, though, he told me Jennifer Garner has it, and then I felt a lot less bad about it. Instead, I decided to embrace it. I’ve never had anyone say anything mean, or someone think I was less pretty, friendly, etc., because of it. It’s actually one of my fiance’s favorite little things about me. So, little toe it is.
4. I NEVER thought I’d end up living in Florida
My family moved to Florida when I was ten years old. I was born in North Carolina, and we’d just spent two years living in Washington State. After the loss of my grandfather, 9/11, and the fact that FaceTime and Skype weren’t around yet, we moved back to the East Coast.
While I never hated Florida, I always identified (and still do) more as a North Carolinian and craved city life. I went to middle school in Florida and the first two high school years, but I hated it. I still wanted to go to boarding school, and my parents had recently moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Meanwhile, my older brother was off at college. I researched and decided to return to school in Asheville, NC. For college, I went to Boston to prepare myself to live in NYC one day… which never happened. I grew to appreciate the slower pace of Florida when I came home to visit but didn’t think it was for me. I did move back and spent a few years in Orlando between college and grad school, but the appeal of that was complicated. Once that ended, I went back to Boston.
After my stint in Arizona and having my fiance in my life, I was finally ready to move to Florida. Permanently. I’d spent almost half of my life living away from my family and was ready to be home. I was ready to be by the beach (living landlocked is no joke), have sunshine, and enjoy a slower pace in life. So, 21 years later, here I am.
5. I can’t eat lunch foods until I’ve had breakfast
I’m not sure why, maybe because breakfast is my favorite meal? But, I cannot eat lunch foods (sandwiches, burgers, salads, etc.) without having something for breakfast first. Even if I sleep late and have plans to meet someone for lunch, I have to have some fruit or yogurt or a little piece of peanut butter toast before heading out. It’s a weird OCD tick for sure, but it’s harmless, so oh well.
So, those are just a few things you might not have known about me… but now you do! Share some fun facts with me below!