Days Like These

I want to remember days like these. 

Perfectly warm summer Saturdays, spent thoroughly enjoying Santa Barbara sunshine in the company of good friends. In this particular occasion, celebrating the birthday of one of my favorite people. 

We wine-tasted (I water-tasted), filled up on appetizers, and sat around a table chatting and laughing and simply enjoying the day. 

PJ's attendance was missed, but his name was mentioned as people inquired how he's doing, how we're doing, and when on earth he will be gracing Santa Barbara with his presence permanently. 

People often wonder when I suspect he'll ask, well, a certain question. I always chuckle when I say "the boy doesn't have a secretive bone in his body," and mean it whole-heartedly. 

Or at least until now. 

I left the party early to work on some homework, and had only gotten a few questions in when I received a phone call. 

"Did you get a package from me today?" PJ asked. He's asked this twice before, and both times I rushed to the door expecting to see his handsome face with no such luck. So learning from my past experiences, I had zero expectation of seeing anything besides a package sitting at my doorstep. 

You can imagine my complete shock when I found my totally-unable-to-surprise-me boyfriend standing on my welcome mat. It took quite a few school girl giggles and "nooo wayyyy"s before I registered that he was truly standing before me, ready for a giant hug. 

The boy drove 4+ hours each way for a simple 4 hours together. 4 hours spent with little words and lots of cuddles, starting with an awestruck hello and ending with a terribly difficult goodbye. 

It's days like these that I want to remember. It's moments like tonight that I want to imprint into my memory, tucked away for preservation, so that stories can forever be told of two crazy kids in love doing what crazy kids in love do. 

I often think back to my days when singleness didn't feel like much of a blessing, to when waiting felt hard and painful, and when dreams felt like they may always remain just dreams. 

And those days? They were all worth it, every single one. Every tear shed wondering if I would ever find my love story was undeniably worth it.  

Because God's story? It's worth waiting on. Every single time. 

And when it happens? When His story unfolds before you, and dreams become reality?When your sweet man comes knocking on your door? Or that job lands in your lap? Or you get that apartment you've been dreaming of? Or that bill gets paid off that you weren't sure ever would? 

Remember it. Tuck it away. 

Because I can assure you, waiting is involved in every season, it just may appear different than it did before. 

And when you're thick in that waiting? It helps to know, 

He's done it before & He'll do it again. 

And His story is always worth waiting on. 

25

You know when you build something up so much in your mind? When envision it down to the tiny details, start thinking about it way too far in advance, and have a perfect image in your head? When you've imagined it being so awesome, that there's almost no way it can live up to the expectations? So it doesn't and you just shrug and move on with life? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. 

This was so not that. 

***

I can honestly say I've been thinking about my 25th birthday since I turned 24. I'm usually not that girl, but this year was going to be special. It wasn't just turning 25, though that's a big one in and of itself. It was marking a whole year of sobriety, and that I wanted to celebrate. 

I envisioned a beach party, a 'come when you want, leave when you want' kinda thing. Super low key, just a day for any and all friends to come and hang out and celebrate life. I envisioned a mocktail bar, a little touch to bring the sobriety factor into the party. I envisioned fun, and relaxing, and rejoicing. 

Welp, friends. That's exactly what I got. {thankyoujesus}

You know it's a good day when you hardly take any pictures. You also know it's a good day when there's salted caramel latte cupcakes involved. 

My friend Madeleine made these. She asked what kind to make, and I told her something that reminded her of me. I'd say she nailed it, yes?

Everything about the day was so wonderful, exactly how I'd hoped it would be. 

The one teeensy detail I didn't expect was this guy:

He drove 5 hours each way just for my birthday, and met about 35 of the most important people in my life all at one time. I'd say he's a trooper, wouldn't you? 

I'm feeling mighty lucky right about now. And 25 is looking pretty darn good. 

Happy Humpday, loves!

A Friendship For The Books

It's one of my favorite people in the whole wide world's birthday today. 

It used to be the one day of the year I could get all sappy on her, but either she's gotten better at handling that, or old age has gotten her more sentimental. ;) Either way, I'm a lover of sap so here it comes. 

I told Kristi that if I ever write a book, she's getting her own chapter. She's taught me so much about friendship, and it would take an entire chapter's worth of pages to express all of it. 

My favorite quality of hers is her honesty. She's not one to sugar coat, and I love that about her. She cares enough about you to tell you when you're freaking out over nothing, over-analyzing the shiz out of a situation, or when you need to ditch the person you're dating because they're not good enough for you in her book. And I've come to find that Kristi's book is pretty spot on. 

It's not easy to keep it real. Even when you really love someone, it can still be way easier to just say what you know they want to hear. Kristi has shown me that real friendship can handle honesty, it strengthens because of it. 

In our almost 7 years of friendship (say what?), we've walked through a lot. We have that friendship where when there's something to celebrate? We're there. When shit hits the fan? We're there even faster. 

I recently joked that when I get married, I need to give my future husband a cheat sheet. It'll read:

When angry, get flowers. 

When sad, give a hug. 

When super excited, have a dance party. 

When hyperventilating crying, call Kristi. 

Any Grey's Anatomy fans out there will get it when I say that she's my person. 

As you get older, you grow and you change. Some friendships get to the point where the original stuff you have in common, you just don't have in common anymore. For Kristi and me, we did grow. And we did change. But something else happened as we got older, we made a conscious decision that this friendship? It's not changing, even if we do. 

And it hasn't changed, it's only gotten stronger. 

I love you, Kristi!! Thanks for being my other half. 

And for the next 13 days, I officially get to call you old. ;)

Happy Birthday Madeleine!!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people. And since it happens to fall on a Thursday, I thought I'd do a little Throwback Thursday, Madeleine style. 

You see, our friendship has gone through many seasons. So let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? We've had the "YOU LIKE TO DRINK? I LIKE TO DRINK!" phase.

We made a pretty dashing beerpong team, did we not? Alcohol, always the building of a solid relationship. But alas, we had to grow our roots a little deeper. So we ventured into our running season. 

And then, Madeleine realized that her knees were not huge fans of running. So we started a "let's make healthy dinners!" season. 

It was kind of difficult because right around the time I went vegetarian, Mad and her boyfriend Niko went paleo. Kiiind of hard to cook a meal that is both of those things, but you know, we made it work. 

And because we needed entertainment during our meals, we kicked off our "Friday Night Lights" season. 

We watched the entire series from start to finish. Or, I guess I should say they did. Because, I slept through about a third of the episodes. Whoops?

Madeleine is one of my favorites because she is always down to take jumping pictures:

Get In N Out to celebrate staying awake past 11pm:

Have a spontaneous dance party outside the car:

Be used as a prop in a photo:

So blurry, but how could I not include the picture where she filled in as Todo for this Dorothy shot? 

Basically, Madeleine is one of my favorite people because she is just plain awesome. And not just as posing as a little black puppy dog. And not just because our friendship survived my sobriety, though that is a big plus. 

Love you, Madeleine!! So thankful for your friendship, and for your blogtogropher skills (yeah, all the fancy fashion posts are due to her). You really are the best, and I'm lucky to have you!

Happy Birthday!!

Got My Fix In (& a Birthday Shoutout)

Yay for another round of Stitch Fix! This is actually my forth one, but I didn't post my third because I wasn't a huge fan of anything. Glad I came back for round 4 though, because this fix was definitely a success :)

If you don't know what Stitch Fix is, it's basically a new fun and easy way to get your shopping in. You pay $20 for personal styling and delivery, have a package arrive with 5 items (including one accessory) at your doorstep, and choose what you keep! Whatever you end up keeping, you get to automatically save that $20 you already paid, and whatever you don't want, you send back! Easy peasy. 

And now, let's get on with the good stuff! Bring on the clothes:

1. Amani Cowl Neck Sleeveless Blouse by 41Hawthorn

I love this color, and definitely am a fan of the versatility of this shirt. The neckline can easily be dressed up or down, and as I've said before, I like the longer in the back look. The only cons about this top are the fact that it may be difficult to wash, and it was a bit more than I'd typically pay for a shirt. 

2. Keller Sheer Swiss Dot Blouse by GLAM

I love the style and material of this shirt. The loose fit makes it extremely flattering for all body types, and the polka dots give it some fun flare. Being that it's see through, it definitely requires a tank top underneath. But, I kind of like that you can add some color to it that way! Only con is that it was the same price as the top above, so again, a bit more than I typically pay for a shirt. 

3. Jaclynn 3/4 Sleeve Button-Up Cardigan by Mak

4. Pop of Color Scarf by Rapti

Big fan of both of these items! They were the two least expensive things in my fix, which is always a plus in my book. Fall is right around the corner, and with it comes scarf season! I've been getting more and more into scarves each year, so definitely ready for that! And, I could always use another cardigan. Especially one with some color, like this gorgeous burgundy. These were both winners for me!

5. Dali Geo Print Skirt by Pink Martini

Loooved this skirt! Especially the way it matched these shoes perfectly. You can absolutely dress this up for work, or down for anything else! Versatile: check! Great print: check! Price? Eeek, that's where this one got me. It was the most expensive thing in my box, so definitely would have had to be my absolute favooorite in order for me to fork up that cash. 

All in all, Stitch Fix did a great job! Thank you, stylist Becky!

I decided to keep one thing this round, and the winner was:

...

The Jaclynn 3/4 Sleeve Button-Up Cardigan! 

I love it! And I know I'll get a ton of use out of it. 

If you want to schedule your first Stitch Fix, do it right on over here!

***

And also, happy birthday to the most amazing, wonderful, incredible roommate, friend and photographer that a girl could ask for. 

Kristen, thank you for being all that I could ask for in a friend, and more. 

Side note: I mention January 1st, 2012 a lot as the day that I truly surrendered my life to Jesus. Well, I was standing beside this girl. She is the one who brought me to church that day, she is the one who held me as I cried my eyes out (and has many times since), and she is the one who prayed over me that day (and has many times since). 

I couldn't even tell you what she prayed over me, but man, did it work. 

I love you, Kristen. Happy, happy birthday, my beautiful sister, friend & roommate!

Happy Birthday Madeleine!

It's one of my best friend's birthdays today. 

Madeleine and I always laugh about how we met. Around this time last year, I became friends with a group of guys at work. It was just before my birthday, and we kiind of went from "oh hey I just met you" to "oh hey let's hang out all the time."

Sometimes it just happens like that, right? So Madeleine and her boyfriend were on a 2 week long trip to Oregon (funny story about that, for multiple months I had it in my head they were in Europe.. not Oregon. Whoops.) and when she got back, all she heard was "Amy this" and "Amy that."

And while she was gone, all I heard was "Madeleine this" and "Madeleine that."

Being the girl that I am, I looked up this Madeleine chick on our work website, and saw how drop dead gorgeous she is. (I mean, just take a look at the photos above). 

I immediately got intimated. Immediately assumed she wouldn't like me. Immediately assumed that everyone would like her more than me. 

Based on one look at one picture. 

Goodness gracious, do I have issues or what? 

Luckily for me (and for our friendship), it turns out Madeleine gets my issues. Because the same thing happened to her. 

And fortunately for both of us, it took about 5 minutes and one happy hour before we got over ourselves and realized that instead of being intimidated by one another, we were actually going to become amazing friends. 

And it's been love at first happy hour ever since. 

Lesson learned: don't make assumptions. Don't judge on looks. And have a little more confidence in yourself, and in others. 

Madeleine, happy birthday to you! I am so blessed to have you in my life, and I can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays together!

(How's that for a love letter?)

8 years ago...

My baby sister was born!

At 11:54PM, she was the last baby born in all of San Diego in 2004. Pretty cool, huh? 

Happy Birthday Milissa!

I am so blessed to be your big sister, and am so proud of the big girl that you have grown up to be. 

I love you so so so so so much. 

You're the best little sister in the whole wide world. 

Weekend Details!

I know I'm a day late here, but I swear the days seem to fly by. 

Like I said on Friday, this past weekend I went up to visit some friends and celebrate a first birthday. What first birthday is complete without pictures?

Is she adorable, or what?

And no weekend is complete without Mommy's Night Out, am I right?

I've known this girl since I was 5, and I am seriously in shock that we are celebrating her daughter's birthday. 

As much as I would love for life to slow down, I'm okay with embracing the fact that things are changing an awful lot around here. Between everything from pregnancy announcements to engagement announcements, we've got quite a bit more going on from your average sweet 16. 

Life is changing for all of us, and I kind of love it. Especially when I know the Big Man upstairs is in control, and I don't have to worry or stress about a thing. 

Happy Tuesday!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Starting my weekend early!

Kind of. I'll be back to work tomorrow. 

For this girl's birthday:

I'll be leaving work early to head to a Red Sox/Angels game!

Can you guess who I'm rooting for?

Let's go Sox!!

Happy Humpday loves!

It's My Birthdayy!

2008 - 19th birthday

Now go have yourself a wonderful Friday, and weekend. 

{And thank you all for the birthday wishes through out the week. You guys are amazing! So happy to be celebrating this birthday not only with friends here, but blog friends as well :) }

Let The Birthday Week Begin!

My fabulous roommates took me out for a birthday dinner last night. 

{It was the only day all 5 of us could get together, so yes, it's 4 days early. Why not?}

I have

the most

amazing roommates

EVER.

I love them a lot.

And our self timer photo shoots:

I kind of love birthdays :)