Today marks my 1 year anniversary living in Los Angeles.
Today is my parents 30th anniversary (Way to go mom & dad!!!)
Today I bought Gavin DeGraw tickets.
Today is Bloomsday in Dublin.
Today in 1989 "Ghostbusters II" opened worldwide (miss ya Harold).
And today is my 23rd birthday.
Luckily, June 16th has never just been all about me. I am lucky enough to share my birthday with 2 of the greatest parents in the world. Even though they have always put my birthday before their anniversary, I love celebrating their marriage and am so proud to share this day with them. AND every few years it's also fathers day, which is always fun to share & celebrate!! We even used to pretend my sisters half birthday was on June 16th so she wouldn't be the only one in our family without something to celebrate (thanks for always being a good sport Bex).
And now with this new stage in my life, today will forever mark the first day I moved to California. On this day last year I spent the entire day moving into my apartment with the help of some really good friends. My roommate brought me a coke slurpee and a bag of 90 second rice, proving she knows me so so so well and my parents sent me a box of Sprinkles cupcakes, proving they also know me so so so well. And after everyone had gone home later that night I remember sitting on the roof looking out at the Santa Monica Mountains, imagining what my life would look like a year from now.
I remember fantasizing about all the premieres I would go to (lol), making the weekly tough decision of spending my Saturday at the beach or Disneyland, casually bumping into famous people at the supermarket, spontaneously adopting a dog, naming her Sookie and finding out she is actually the worlds most well behaved dog (who also loves to watch Gilmore Girls with me), aaaaand I would have an ultra glamorous job where I got to say things like "Brad is stuck on the 405. And by Brad I mean Bradley Cooper, not Brad Pitt, we are such close personal friends he lets me call him Brad. But yes, Brad Pitt will be in later today".
After about 5 minutes of being on that dream cloud I snapped back to reality. I decided instead of all of that, I really just wanted to set new and different challenges for myself. I mean heck, I had moved halfway across the country to a place I had only ever lived in for about 2 months prior and all the while only knowing a small handful of people out here. If ever there was a time to challenge myself to new things, this was it.
I decided I wanted to be adventurous. I wanted to be an explorer of my new city & state. I wanted to learn more about myself and learn about people I had never met. I wanted to start writing again. I wanted to embrace my awkward side. I wanted to educate people about southern kindness and study the art that is so-cal chillness. I wanted to take advantage of my situation and not take living here for granted. And while if I'm being honest, I did spent a relatively unhealthy amount of time binge watching practically every show on Netflix, I think for the most part I met all my challenges & even exceeded some of them! I'm happy with where this year has brought me and I'm happy to be able to live in Los Angeles for another year chasing after my dream.
This place isn't perfect, but it's perfect for me (right now).
So to all my family and friends who have showed me so much love and kindness today (and everyday really) thank you so very much. Thanks for encouraging me and thanks for loving me. It means more than any of you will ever know. I like this day mainly because of you guys.
But also the sweetest old British man just randomly told me "Tea is a magical thing. And I like a little bit of magic." and now my day has been forever made :)