Happy birthday to me:

By the way, Monday was my birthday.

23.

We had an orange food night.*

"Orange food nights" originated when I was in high school, and my best friend Britt and I would go to the 24 hour grocery store and stock our cart with our favorite junk foods, which all happened to be in the orange-yellow-beige color palette. We'd go home, put in a disc of Gilmore Girls and stuff our faces in true Gilmore style.

We'd savor the sickeningly cheesy flavors of Velveeta Shells & Cheese, french bread with nutella, Wheat Thins with cream cheese and orange soda. Often followed by some midnight cookie dough (more than once without baking any cookies).

This year we made a few fantastic additions: Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and Garden Salsa SunChips.

A night with the girls is always worth the stomachache that inevitably follows.

*note: this is an exception to all of the food rules I profess in my life and all over this blog. But birthdays are the perfect occasion for breaking the rules.

image via

twenty-two

I'm back from New York.

Back to my own bed.

Back to {trying} to eat normally and not spend all my money on hot dogs and bagels.

Back to school.

Back to real life.

Back to doing my hair {maybe} and not living out of a suitcase.

I'm happy to be back.

But I'm definitely going to miss my east coast almost home. Even if it was only for 6 days.

I'll miss street food.

I'll miss feeling like I can spend as much as I want.

I'll miss the subway.

Oh and today, well, it's my birthday. The big 22. Which really isn't as old as it sort of feels right now.

But 21 was a great year.

And I'm looking forward to discovering the 22 year old version of myself.

Here's to life.

image via deviantart

twenty-one

Yesterday was my birthday.
The big two-one.

{Okay so maybe this birthday isn't quite as monumental, considering I'm LDS and don't drink}

But still. We had a pretty rockin' Black and White "Mocktail" Party complete with:

-21 original non-alcoholic concoctions (Upside Slammer with a Twist? NCMO on the Beach? AuPear? and, of course, the "Laura."*)
-a fierce game of Nerts.
-Oreo Truffles. (and homemade Oreos, courtesy of Katya)
-an impromptu dating panel, instigated by Mario, which ended up with both sexes complaining about how confusing the other is.
-michael, frank, and ella, singing me some jazz in the background.
-and plenty of incredible people dressed to the nines in black and white garb.

It's official: I have the greatest friends.

image via vi.sualize.us

*gilmore girls, anyone?