First and foremost, thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who reached out to me today. I feel so incredibly LOVED. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be celebrating a birthday during a world wide lock down, yet here we are! Although I wasn’t able to be out and about like I might have liked, I feel happy in my soul.  If you ask me, that’s the best birthday a girl could ask for. 

 I’m not going to lie, the idea of turning 27 caused me some anxiety. I was focused on how close it was to 30, and the clock just ticking on. I’ve learned a lot through this quarantine process but the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is to stop and have fun! Yes, it’s nice to be productive, but it’s also important to be spontaneous and break out of the schedule. Doing something out of norm that makes me smile! I’ve laughed more in these past few weeks than I have in what feels like months! I was so stuck in the daily grind, I wasn’t living in the moment. I took this break to really reflect on what’s important to me and what truly makes me happy. It’s a perfect time to try something new because well, I’ve got all the time in the world, so why not take advantage of it. I seized the opportunity to see what it would feel like as a full time blogger and I’ve fallen head over heels in love! I’m totally fine with the fact that my content isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea because I just love creating! I’m treating this passion as my full time job and I feel so fulfilled! I’m going to use this year to make this dream a reality. I just feel it in my bones.  This is my year to really push myself in all aspects of my life and see where it takes me!  

I realize there will be set backs, hardships, loss, and pain but also love, peace, passion, and successes. In the past, I have always stopped before I’ve started in fear of failing. But you know where that got me,  NO WHERE! It gave me a book full of what if’s. If I could give any piece of advice to my younger self it would be that life is what happens when you’re waiting for it to start! Live each day in the damn moment, love hard, let yourself fall, hurt, cry and bleed. That’s what life is! It’s finding what works for me and what doesn’t! It’s sitting on the couch at 1am with a bowl of cereal and laughing so hard with my husband that I cry! It’s building a virtual town with my daughter and seeing her sweet visions come to life! It’s allowing my dog in the bed and snuggling the little guy up! ‘Cause, why the heck not?!

I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I was given hardships in life to open windows to grow. I had empty spaces for people who were supposed to be there, so I could learn to love myself and let me be enough. It took me years to learn it, but I am enough! I wouldn’t change a dang thing about my past! It led me to finding myself, led me to my husband and growing a family, to moving to LA, to finding what really lights my fire! 

So, to my younger self, choose to find joy. It’s not always the easiest option, but I promise you, it’ll pay off in the end. Choose to see your cup as half full, and remember to do things that keep filling it up. You will fail, it’s inevitable. But that’s when you pivot and keep on going. 

I’m excited to see what I can turn this year into! It won’t always be sunshine and daisies but you can be dang sure I’m going to make the most of it! After all, I’m only going to be 27 once <3