Thanks for all the Birthday Wishes!!

I had such a fun day and thank you so much to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and sent happy notes my way!

We started the day at Universal Studios and I got my button that told everyone it was my birthday. The staff there was super nice and kept yelling birthday wishes my way. It’s nice to feel special once a year. We even got a priority pass for the Studio Tour so we didn’t have to wait in the 80-minute line. I love theme parks and roller coasters and Universal Studios was just up my alley. I’m also a huge pop culture nerd so that studio tour really made my day. When I saw that “The Mindy Project” filming on location, I freaked out! I wish we could have actually gone into the lots, but alas, perhaps another day.

SO excited about my priority pass!

For dinner, my family took me out to Red Lobster. It’s not the most festive of dinner spots but I had a craving for seafood, lobster really, and it was the perfect end to a fun filled day. If you want to see all my photos from the day, check out my Instagram!

Family!

I also came home to two birthday cards! I love getting snail mail and it was such a nice surprise to have them waiting for me on my doorstep!

Thanks again to everyone! All those texts and posts really made my day!

22 Things to do Before I Turn 23

I don't know about you // I'm feeling 22!

I can finally use that song lyric :] Thanks T.Swift! Today is my 22nd birthday and as promised, here's my list of 22 things to do before I turn 23. Some of them are exercise goals, some are monetary, some are things I want to try and everything is going to be done before I'm 23 (at least I hope so)! Feel free to join me in my endeavor. If there's something you want to try and it happens to be on my list, I'd love to try it with you! I'll definitely try to bring this list up time and time again when I finish one of the things on the list. Look for the label: bucket list or 22 Things.

1. Run another half marathon
2. Visit Dawn in Charlotte
3. Visit JHU to see my sister
4. Run 100 miles
5. Write 5 Yelp! reviews
6. (re)Learn HTML and redo my blog theme
7. Save one entire pay stub
8. Meet a blogging friend in the offline world
9. Have and ocean side picnic
10. Try a fad diet
11. Read 20 books
12. Get a Sprinkles cupcake
13. Send 50 letters &/or postcards
14. Donate blood (again)
15. Take a yoga class/spin class/dance class at least one a month
16. Buy an impulse plane ticket
17. Tailgate a football game
18. Try a barre class
19. Try an aerial silks class
20. Try a salsa class
21. Attend a stand up comedy show
22. Learn to make 5 drinks

What's on your bucket list?

P.S. If you look at the time of this post, it's around when I was born :]

Counting Down to My Birthday!

I’m hurrying to write this post because there’s only about half an hour left before it’s my birthday! I had such a lovely, albeit unconventional, 4th of July and I wanted to share some of the memories with you!

4th of July outfit! I finally put up my mirror after this picture.

We started off the day having a light brunch down by Manhattan Beach where I ran into my boss and her family. Who knew we would both be in the same area for brunch! I wanted to show my parents around the beach and ocean since I’ve been there a few times and thought it might be interesting to let them see where they might want to hang out. After brunch, we wen to Target and Walmart to buy a few things for my apartment: lamps, shelves, cleaning supplies, etc. It wasn’t the most traditional way to spend a 4th of July but we were participating in the all-American culture of consumerism!

I had a spare key made with an American flag pattern in honor of the holiday.

We got an early start to dinner after picking up Nick’s brother in Irvine and getting to barbeque. Korean barbeque that is! We went to Gen Korean BBQ House, which is an all you can eat Korean barbeque place and I stuffed myself. Pork belly, sirloin steak, any meat you can think of, I ate. I had to lie down for a bit afterward because my stomach was so full.

Nom nom nom nom nom!

After our tremendous dinner, my parents dropped me back off at my place where I’m playing host to the boyfriend and his brother and we took a stroll down to the beach to watch some fireworks. Something about fireworks bring out the child in everyone and they’re just enjoyable to experience. Tomorrow, we’re off to Universal Studios for a movie experience filled day!