My name on my birth certificate reads Alessandra Victoria DiRenzo. Informally, I am someone that goes by a million different names. My family calls me Ale (pronounced like Alley), to some I am Alessandra, others call me “Ale” (yes, like the beer), and some have had the pleasure or misfortune of meeting my alter ego Sandra Dee. She’s a wild one and tends to get a little rambunctious. I am a mutt when it comes to places I call “home.” I was born in the lovely Philadelphia, PA. I lived there until I was 6. Then moved to the little suburb of Chicago called Plainfield. Yes, Plainfield. An east coast child surrounded by corn fields and suburbia. I say I’m from “Chicago” but I really only ventured there on the weekends with friends on the train, a past time I miss everyday. When I was 19 my mother had the opportunity to move to the great state that is Texas and work in Houston. As someone who loves new landscape and places to call home, I jumped on the chance to go. I lived in Houston for about a year, met amazing people and because of them moved to San Marcos, TX.  I attended the lovely Texas State University. I am so fortunate that I moved down there because that is the reason I am the person I am today. I was a sneezing distance away from Austin (my spirit animal) and music was surrounding me constantly. I never knew how much I could connect with a place, a destination, until I lived in central Texas. If you have not visited, go. See the beautiful “Hill Country”, eat queso, drink mexican martinis, and bask in the sunlight that constantly surrounds you. I moved to Fort Wayne, IN, a year ago. I took a risk on a new place because I felt my heart yearning to be a part of this company that I had been so attached to for the past 3 years. So I have made an almost full circle back to the Midwest. But I feel my story is an open book. Who knows this time next year I could pick up all my stuff and move to Europe! The options are endless.

I am a pop culture, entertainment junkie. I love the media and everything in between. Since college, I cannot watch a show or a movie the same. I am continually fascinated with the cinematography and the way the story is told in ways other than the script. I am a Netflix, Hulu, and all streaming services addict. You can catch me on the couch engulfed in the next hit show trying to break it apart and figure out what’s next. I also am obsessed with music, live music especially. I enjoy practically all genres. I will never turn down the chance to feel the buzz and energy you experience by being in a room full of other music lovers. I admire people who can write songs that change people, that stick in a persons memory for years to come. Music has single handedly saved my life. It has opened my eyes to the things unseen and prepared my heart for all of life’s challenges.

You will always find me in a coffee shop, with my beanie on, no makeup, headphones in, reading my book. This is my therapy. My chance to escape the pressures, scrutiny, horrible thoughts, that fill my mind throughout the day. I am a believer in writing your thoughts down. Expressing yourself in the way that feels best for you.

I hope Awkward Adults finds you as you are sitting in your room, on your couch, or wherever you may be, while submerged in your guilty pleasure wondering if there is anyone else out there who is as awkward as you. (SPOILER: Everyones awkward, especially as an adult).

 Remember kids, everything happens for a reason. Live the life you love and never look back.

xoxox