Happy Tuesday, Happy September, and Happy Birthday to me! I’m officially thirty-one today, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. It’s funny to think about how different this birthday is from my twenty-first (although, I’m still celebrating it with mostly the same people, which I absolutely adore).
On the morning of my 21st birthday, I woke up to a broken phone screen after my first night out at a bar in my college town. I ate my favorite hangover food (Tuna melt on a bagel with a glass of milk–gross, I know, but I swear it worked), and then learned the Polka in a ballroom dance class I was taking as part of my physical education credits. I went to dinner with friends (including my now-husband) at my then favorite Mexican restaurant, and then danced the night away to live music at what would soon become my favorite college bar. At the time, it was my perfect idea of a birthday.
This morning, I woke up at 7:30 am, did some yoga on the roof of our apartment, had a cup of coffee that my husband made for me, (and a cupcake for breakfast, that was sent to me by a dear friend!) and dove in to my work for the day. Tonight we’ll go to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Philly (clearly, my choice in birthday dinners hasn’t changed in the past decade, haha) and probably come home and watch an episode of Sherlock. This is absolutely my perfect idea of a birthday, now. (Minus the whole working part…I should have taken the day off!)
Looking back at the past ten years since that my twenty-first birthday, I’m awed by how much I’ve grown, how much I’ve accomplished, and how much love I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by. If the past decade is any indication of how the next decade will go, I am all in on seeing what happens next!
So, to honor my thirty-first birthday, I want to celebrate thirty-one things I’ve done or accomplished since I turned 21. Some are little things, some are bigger, but I’m proud of all of them because they all add up to who I am today, in this moment, at 31.
- Graduated college with two degree
- Graduated law school
- Passed two bar exams
- Lived in D.C. for a Summer
- Moved to Philadelphia
- Traveled to Europe
- Traveled to Mexico
- Finally figured out I was in love with my best friend 😉
- Married said best friend
- Started my first, and second, “grown up” jobs
- Traveled for work
- Grew my hair out. And then chopped it off again
- Re-taught myself how to crochet
- Fell in love with reading again
- Got the Jonas Brothers to sign my birthday card
- Performed a song with my brother’s band
- Learned how to dress for my body
- Made new friends
- Cut out toxic friends
- Built stronger relationships with my parents and siblings
- Leaned back into my faith and relationship with God
- Switched out my toxic home products for cleaner, safer products
- Ate a countless amount of chips and dip
- Discovered my favorite drinks
- Fell in love with music festivals
- Started practicing yoga
- Started occasionally running
- Became a better cook
- Learned that I’m capable of anything I put my mind to
- Figured out that this is just the beginning 😉
I’m so excited to see where this next year takes me. 30 was a ride in an of itself, but I know 31 is going to bring on some even bigger adventures. So…stay tuned!!
