Today is my 22nd birthday! And here I am, sitting in my apartment, drinking hot tea and blogging for Her Campus. I decided to turn down margaritas at Los Agaves or spending a few hours down at Mac’s and the funny thing is, I am so okay with that. I must be getting old, huh?
But let me add- I had an AMAZING day. I got to go out for early morning coffee at Theo’s Java Club in Rock Island. This place has the BEST coffee and sweetest service ever. I then turned in my research brief for my capstone, happy to have that off my hands. And then I enjoyed dinner at Cafe Fresh, my FAVORITE restaurant! It’s in downtown Moline, check it out if you get a chance. And I heard from so many awesome people who have made the past 22 years so good. I’d say it was a definite birthday success.
What’s a birthday blog without an Instagrammed photo of a cupcake? This is the adorable mini carrot cake cupcake I enjoyed after dinner. It was perfect. I also had half of one of their pumpkin cupcakes topped with homemade cream cheese frosting and Heath. You need to just check this place out!
The thing this, birthdays give the perfect excuse to just sit back and reflect. And I want to be sure to take full advantage of that. This past year has been crazy. Seriously, talk about a roller coaster. My year has been full of change, but I am starting to realize this isn’t a bad thing. Change is actually really, really good. And I have such a hard time admitting that but I am definitely getting better.
The crazier thing is thinking about how much more change is going to happen before my next birthday. I will complete my majors in public relations, media studies, and journalism, start applying for jobs, graduate from college, move (hopefully to Iowa City), hopefully start a new job, all of a sudden be on my own, GET MARRIED- okay, seriously, my whole life is going to change.
But this year is going to be amazing. And I am determined to make it MY year. I am not trying to get all “birthday crazy” and be weirdly positive. But I truly believe the college years, these ages in our lives, are the most critical. Between the ages of 18 and 22 you experience the absolute best and the absolute rock-bottom moments in life. Things change so quickly, so rapidly, and I think it is important to take time to slow down every once in a while and just think about it, take it all in.
Birthdays are kind of a lame excuse to do this. I think being really aware of everything going on in life should be a constant thing. And I know I am SO guilty of just letting things happen and keep moving, full speed ahead. Which, sometimes, is a fantastic thing. However, I feel like there have been so many times in the past few years that have been SO rich and SO straight up amazing, but I missed them.
So, I guess I am kind of deviating away from the birthday theme of this message. But, seriously, why use your birthday as a time to sit back and reflect and get sentimental? Why are birthdays these HUGE celebrations? Really, it is a lame excuse. I feel like through these four years in college, or maybe it’s 5, 6, or even 7 for you, we need to find more time to celebrate. We need to celebrating the big and “small.” I mean, honestly, I feel like there is no such thing as a “little accomplishment” or “small step” in college. All of these “small” steps, collectively, get you the farthest of all.
So, start celebrating more often. Realize pay-day has come and gone and you didn’t rush to the mall for some pointless retail therapy? Go get a pint of Edy’s ice cream from Rogo. Make it through the whole week without skipping class even though it was crappy, rainy weather every day? Good for you, reward yourself with an hour of guilt-free pinning. Maybe a whole month has passed and you realize you haven’t texted that boy that kept running through your head, even when he didn’t deserve to. Seriously, that’s fantastic. So CELEBRATE.
Find reasons to celebrate. Don’t just wait for your birthday. Find reasons to reflect on the past year, past month, past week, whatever it may be. Seriously, things are changing so significantly and so quickly. It becomes so easy to just let it pass by. But don’t make that mistake. Your life is so unique and so worth celebrating. So just do it!
PS- Edible Arrangements are AMAZING. My fiancé, Aaron, is notorious for always getting me the most gorgeous bouquets of flowers for special events. He switched it up this time and got me one of these babies. Seriously, so fun and so creative. If you are REALLY feeling like celebrating yourself, go pick up one of these!
PPS- I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22!