Twenty-Six

I will land on my feet this time,

knowing at least two languages and who

my friends are. I will dress for the 

occasion, and my hair shall be

whatever color I please.

- From Crossroads by Joyce Sutphen

.

On the beach at Malibu with Lisa. One of the awesome parts of my birthday trip to LA. 

25 was kind of a crazy year. Real fun, but a little crazy.  Here's hoping that 26 is just as fun, and maybe just a little more stable.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me over this past week. Y'all are what makes life so sweet.

25 Things I am Grateful for at 25.

1. Incredibly supportive friends and family.  People who sit down with me, and stay on the phone, and tell me they're proud of me, even when I feel like I'm losing.

2. A job I wake up excited to go to.

3. Running buddies who force me out of bed early, up hills, and through an extra couple of miles.

4. Creative and fun birthday gifts that make me feel like a bad ass.

5. A city I love living in.

6. Good health.

7. The 5th Season of Mad Men.

8. Fashion and design blogs.

9. Hula hoops.

10. Opportunities to travel.

11. Communities I feel connected to.

12. The fact that boxed wine stays good for a long time.

13. Continuing education.

14. Mega Bus.

15. Hair Dye.

16. Celebrating small victories.

17. Optimists.

18. Birch Box.

19. A flexible schedule.

20. Food. Eating it, cooking it, hopefully someday growing a little bit of it.

21. Dog sitting for a lovable Basset Hound which gives me a puppy fix, without actually having to get a dog. A responsibility I am not ready for yet.

22. Orange lipstick.

23. A place at the end of the day that I am happy to come home to.

24. Public Libraries.

25. Blogging/Twitter/Instagram and the other ways we can connect with one another and share our stories around the world.

My birthday was lovely. Life is good.  Here's hoping for many happy returns.

Margaritas, Bar Bands, Canada, and Growing Up...Literally.

Tomorrow is my Birthday (23). It's been the kind of week where there's been a lot of stuff happening, so I've been kind of celebrating all week. And by celebrating, I mostly mean drinking margaritas, which has been a great choice.

Part of the celebrations included seeing my favorite, favorite band The Hold Steady play in the Southside last night. (Disclaimer: My favoritism in no way diminishes the love I have for Pittsburgh band Big Hurry. They are awesome.) Anyways, The Artist and I went to this show, which was appropriate because she's who introduced the Hold Steady to me in the first place. The artist also has a great talent for working her way through crowds at shows, and so I found myself right in front of the stage jumping up and down like a 16 year old at a Good Charlotte concert, and screaming along to Craig Finn. My neck this morning is incredibly stiff as a result of this.

I love them a lot.

Tonight I celebrate my birthday in Pittsburgh, with more margaritas naturally, because tomorrow I leave to go to Toronto for the weekend! Precisely, the Lady of Leisure and I will be roadtripping up to Canada for a weekend of brunch, and partying with University of Toronto grad students. I still haven't packed surprise surprise, and really don't know what to bring, so I asked Google "What should I wear to attract cute Canadian Graduate Students"? And Google had nothing. Internet fail.

Finally, this is perhaps exacerbated by recognizing my being older, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that I've grown. As in gotten taller over the past month. It started when I seemed to be hearing a lot more comments than usual on "my height". I'm certainly not short, and wear heels a lot, but 5 foot 6-and-a-half isn't exactly Cindy Crawford height either. I think actually, it's pretty average. But then, last week I tried on a pair of pants I hadn't worn in months and they were way too short! Like inches too short! They looked ridiculous. And this morning, while I was at the ATM, it seemed like my vantage point was higher than usual, and I was wearing flats! And no, I haven't just measured myself to see because I'm mostly thinking "Who on earth grows taller when they're 22?!?"