Fun Facts Friday: Jen Merz Edition

1) It’s Jen’s 30th birthday!! So this post is dedicated to Jen Merz. Here are 30 fun facts about Jen and our friendship over the past few years.

2) Our friendship began in 2006 when she floated for our UniCamp session. It grew even stronger when I joined Mentorship in 2007. This is when we developed “NoHoFoSho.” (The kids we mentored were from North Hollywood. We liked abbrevs.)

3) It was at this time when we also developed a club called “Junk in the Trunk.” This is essentially just a group of people who hung out with the trunk of my Honda Accord open. With shot glasses, tequila, and limes.

4) Jen Merz loves dancing. Primarily to country music. But, she’ll do the “Wobble,” the “Dougie,” the “Bernie,” the “Twerk.” She’s not picky. She’ll dance anywhere and everywhere.

5) She can also sleep anywhere and everywhere. She sleeps like a dead person.

6) She never gets tired of inside jokes. In fact, the more we re-enact them and repeat them, they become even funnier to her.

jen as penelope — Here, Jen is pretending to be Penelope from SNL.

7) She is a pretty solid person to go wine tasting with. Mostly because she doesn’t drink the wine. More for me.

8) She doesn’t mind when I pet her face. Sometimes a little too aggressively.

9) One time, we went to Vegas and Jen got pretty sick. She spent the entire day in bed, only to rally and go out again. It was during this trip that Jen earned the nickname, “Heaver.”

10) When we take pictures together, Jen always knows that I go on the left side. Jen has a pretty face. Both sides of her face look nice so it all works out.

11) When I lived in LA, Jen and I would send each other pictures of our Starbucks cups during red cup season. I think I’ve accumulated at least 200 pictures that look a little something like this:

12) We love 7-11. We used to pop in for Diet Coke or energy drinks. Now, it’s for Smart Water and Chex Mix. Oh, the joys of growing up.

13) She’s the world’s most competitive human. If you tell her she can’t do it, she will. And then she’ll turn around and smirk at you with one eyebrow lifted. Like she’s the BAUS.

14) Before I moved up here, she would practice her Launch dances with me through Facetime. (I told you. She will dance anywhere at any time).

15) She helped me set up my very first classroom. And helped me feel so at home when I moved to the Bay Area.

16) She puts up with my weird habits of taking pictures of EVERYTHING. And 50% of the time, she’ll let me take a picture of my food before she snags a bite of it.

17) Jen doesn’t always get her nails done. But, when she does, she always has a party nail that she attempts to show off every chance she can get.

18) Sea turtles are her favorite animal. Sometimes, she likes to pet them when they’re giving birth to babies. Which I think is an invasion of privacy. She just thinks she’s helping the process.

19) She’s the best person to go on adventures with. We like the same foods. We enjoy the same activities. And we find the most peace when we are outside.

20) Not only do we like the same types of food, but we just LOVE food in general with the same level of intensity. The “hurry up and get in my mouth before you disappear into thin air” kind of love. The “let me pray to the food gods that they continue to bless me with french fries” kind of love.

21) She convinced me to run a half marathon – something I never thought was possible.

22) We both come home from work with random things in our pockets. Headphones. Bouncy balls. Laundry pins. Paper clips. Expo markers. You name it, it’s probably snuck home with us.

23) Being fashionable is really important to Jen Merz. [Please note that the previous sentence must be read with an EXTREMELY sarcastic tone. AKA it’s not really a fun fact. It’s a fun lie.]