Twenty Three

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Another year older; and wow, what a glorious whirlwind it has been since those twenty-two-year-old birthday wishes. Over the past week alone, I have been blessed to sit around the dinner table with college best friends, grandparents, siblings, boyfriend, Dad, and birthday-twin Momma. It's all been exceptional -- both the dishes (Hog and Hominy pizzas and homecooked lobster tails, ahem) and the conversations.

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Tonight, I will be shamelessly belting lyrics alongside Dave Matthews himself (most likely in the rain) with Alex and friends from all walks of life. I'm counting down the minutes to that opening song.

This past year marked a theme of "balance." I'm quite certain it will encapsulate my twenty third year of life as well. Balance between old and new; college dreams and real world achievements; challenges and changes; the familiar and the unexpected; professional responsibilities and creative expressions; caffeine and cocktails...

Ignore the last one. My balance of time, however, has been the most challenging. I have learned an incredible amount to which I can barely express, but I rarely grab the moments to truly observe my load. Time toward this blog has undoubtedly diminished to random iPhone snapshots and blurbs. I crave writing more than ever (sometimes more than pasta!).

Thus, my one wish for twenty three is to allocate more time to write regarding restaurants, clients, passions, future, etc., etc. Here's to a year of setting the alarm a tad bit earlier and making the most of my evenings to express myself.

featured image courtesy of buzzfeed