I'm much more comfortable staying in and chilling by myself on a Saturday night, whereas in my 20's I would feel like a social outcast if I didn't have plans on a weekend. My metabolism almost instantly changed and I started gaining weight, until I realized I couldn't eat and drink the way I used to and started a healthier diet. I'm way more interested in news and museums and Broadway musicals and things I didn't exactly avoid, but didn't seek out either, when I was younger. However, I'm much less interested in politics, because I realize how little it all matters, or at least how little my role as one tiny voter matters. I'm way less concerned with appearances, and don't mind going to work without makeup or wearing something comfortable to the bars instead of whatever I think looks hottest. In fact I rarely even like bars anymore, at least not ones that are loud and crowded. In my head I still feel like I'm 21 and have no clue about anything, but then I look at actual 21-year-olds and realize how much more mature I am than that. I'm way more aware of my own aging and realizing I'm moving into a different phase of life. I always knew on an intellectual level I wouldn't always be this young pretty party girl, but now I'm hyper aware of how little time is left. Oh and I've gotten worse with money, but only because I make so much more of it. Still, it's weird being able to make little impulse purchases without worrying about a budget, and it makes me nervous to develop bad spending habits in case I ever fall on hard times again. And it's true that slightly older people are WAY better at sex; I understand why my college boyfriend had a thing for MILFs. I know a thousand more things than I did when I was 20, and am more comfortable and confident, and so are men my age.

Of course none of that was an overnight change; more of a gradual progression starting in my late 20s.