|| And the Party Never Stops||

My birthday weekend in a word -- awesome. Lying in bed eating chocolate for breakfast, dancing until the clock turns and a bus full of strangers sing you Happy Birthday, gifts wrapped in paper towels, and skyping with my momma -- couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend to end my teens and start my twenties. Such a shock -- ending my age in a -ty rather than -teen ... I've had the same ending for the last seven years of my life! What ... change is difficult : - ) . I've never felt so relaxed being myself before. Does that make sense? Just not letting others get in the way... it seems easier now, even though it's only been a few days of this new age. It's as if being a teen gives little authority. Anyone else feel that way about a different age? I'll be writing more about this over the course of the week -- I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'll be working on making up work, holding meetings, staying calm, and loving on my friends because of how supportive they have been lately. And then I'll be graduating this weekend from my yoga teacher training ... wow -- 8 months already! What are you up to this week?
I'd love to hear how you all are doing. How was everyone's weekend?

|| GRATITUDE ||

I am grateful for friends that have become family. I am grateful for bright water bottles that make me excited to drink water. I am grateful for road trips and heated cars. I am grateful for messages of love and hope and inspiration. I am grateful for Gilmore Girls. I am grateful for my own company. I am grateful for life, for aging, for being one hundred percent real. I am grateful for all this and more -- overflowing really -- there isn't enough room.

What are you grateful for?

xxoo

[weekend snapshots by emily friend]

WEEKEND || HALLOWEEN + BIRTHDAY

I cannot believe it's Halloween already -- my favorite time of the year!!! I'm being a pineapple tonight -- inspired by the picture above. Fun right? What are you being tonight? This week was pure dedication for me; there were exams, interesting posts, pictures to edit, fun things to share, and a need for love and exploration and adventure. Busy! But now tomorrow is my birthday -- as you can read on the countdown to the right, and it is such an interesting pace and mind that I leave my teens and head into my twenties. Wow. It still shocks me to say that. It isn't as if the number is scary, but the monumental jump to true adulthood is gratifying and humbling. The feeling is pretty darn cool. Next week I'll be throwing a little post out there about age and turning twenty, but I also wanted to touch on the blog's posts this week. The How To three part productivity series kicked off on Tuesday: Part I + Part II + Part III. And yesterday I compared quick and easy Caramel recipes for your tastebuds -- I hope you enjoy! Lastly, but for me, most importantly, I wrote on the peace that can be found in gratitude, and I think as we rush ourselves into the holiday season and begin to lose touch with what true graciousness means, we need to come back to center and refocus on what it means to be filled with humbling attitude and peace. I hope you found this week's posts to be encouraging, freeing, and yummy. If you have any ideas for content you'd like to see on the blog, let me here em! Love you all -- have an amazing weekend xx