In my Thirty-First Year: 8/10/17-8/10/18
Alt Title: "I'm Pushing Past My Post Birthday Writer's Block"
I listened to Hillary Clinton narrate her audio book, "What Happened," and I felt both sorrow and strength in her words. While standing at a sink of dirty dishes with purple rubber gloves scrubbing coffee cups, I ugly cried when she detailed her crippling disappointment about how things turned out. I'm now buying this book for every girlfriend who's ever been dumped. We all want to understand what happened. Hearing Hillary was healing.
I traveled to Mexico City with my best travel girl, CH for an impromptu long weekend that had been previously postponed by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in September. I never knew that I'd be so happy to be in a place that I had previously no interest in visiting. I just had no idea! I'm so glad CH brought me there and fed me tacos and made me "jaja" for four days straight. Sometime we should go somewhere other than Mexico, but on the other hand.. tacos...
I spent 5 days in a place I lived for 5 years. I went to Manhattan and drank a Manhattan; I went to Coney Island and got smooched by a sea lion; and I went to SS's backyard in Brooklyn with cheap wine and 4 best friends. I boarded a 5:50am flight still drunk on red wine and landed in Denver with a serious city hangover that was so worth it.
A few times this past year I felt a little broken. A bird broke my heart, a coffee table broke my nose, and 165, 974 miles finally broke my Jeep. But a cool thing is, I healed. My heart's still a little achey sometimes and my nose needed surgery, but I'm OK. Except for the Jeep--she was a goner.
On the first of November, I walked up to a stranger sitting at a bar wearing a Dodger's baseball cap and drinking a pink beer. That night we sat on bar stools learning about each other while watching the Dodgers lose the last game of the World Series. We've been sitting on bar stools and learning about each other basically ever since. We laugh at each other, frustrate each other, take care of each other, and most importantly chose each other. Also that pink beer is delicious!
EH, fellow surviver of both Watertown High School and Harlem, packed up her Prius and moved to Denver in the spring. She now lives less than a mile away from me, and home really feels like home now that such an old friend is a part of my day-to-day. On the night that she pulled into town, we ordered Chinese food and drank champagne on her living room floor, just like we had done 7 years before on our first night together in Harlem. Having EH in the same city again is the strongest evidence I've ever had that things really do happen for a reason. We're supposed to be here.
I took 10 round-trip flights, most of them with rewards points, to visit old friends and new cities.
I played 9 games of cup-in-hand kickball with a bunch of 23-year-old accountants (have I written about this yet? I need to).
I went to 8 shows, some at Red Rocks and some at small venues in my neighborhood, and every time I went I thought, "Why don't I do this more often??"
I made 7 new friends on a girls trip in New Orleans (not THE Girl's Trip, but close)
I traveled for 6 hours to a small German town in Minnesota to surprise my mom and aunt at an outdoor beer festival.
I dogsat 5 different dogs, ranging from a Weiner dog name Lucille to a mutt named Maggie.
I sang karaoke for 4 solid hours on St. Patrick's Day in a room with some of my best Denver buddies.
I spent 3 entire summer days on Blue Dog Lake floating on a giant rainbow unicorn.
I told 2 people that I loved them, and you know what? 1 of them said it back.
I recently saw a sign that said, "Remember when you wanted what you currently have?" and it stopped me in my tracks because--I do remember. I remember longing for a career that challenged me and a bank account that wasn't empty at the end of each month. I remember wanting an apartment of my own, a car that wouldn't spontaneously break down, and a man to see my flaws and still love me back. And I guess I got all of those things in my 31st year. But here's the BUT... even with all of those boxes checked there are still nights when I stand in the shower with suds swirling at my feet, and I cry and I don't know why. Is it wrong to admit--I want more? Maybe my 32nd year will be the one.
I listened to Hillary Clinton narrate her audio book, "What Happened," and I felt both sorrow and strength in her words. While standing at a sink of dirty dishes with purple rubber gloves scrubbing coffee cups, I ugly cried when she detailed her crippling disappointment about how things turned out. I'm now buying this book for every girlfriend who's ever been dumped. We all want to understand what happened. Hearing Hillary was healing.
I traveled to Mexico City with my best travel girl, CH for an impromptu long weekend that had been previously postponed by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake in September. I never knew that I'd be so happy to be in a place that I had previously no interest in visiting. I just had no idea! I'm so glad CH brought me there and fed me tacos and made me "jaja" for four days straight. Sometime we should go somewhere other than Mexico, but on the other hand.. tacos...
I spent 5 days in a place I lived for 5 years. I went to Manhattan and drank a Manhattan; I went to Coney Island and got smooched by a sea lion; and I went to SS's backyard in Brooklyn with cheap wine and 4 best friends. I boarded a 5:50am flight still drunk on red wine and landed in Denver with a serious city hangover that was so worth it.
A few times this past year I felt a little broken. A bird broke my heart, a coffee table broke my nose, and 165, 974 miles finally broke my Jeep. But a cool thing is, I healed. My heart's still a little achey sometimes and my nose needed surgery, but I'm OK. Except for the Jeep--she was a goner.
On the first of November, I walked up to a stranger sitting at a bar wearing a Dodger's baseball cap and drinking a pink beer. That night we sat on bar stools learning about each other while watching the Dodgers lose the last game of the World Series. We've been sitting on bar stools and learning about each other basically ever since. We laugh at each other, frustrate each other, take care of each other, and most importantly chose each other. Also that pink beer is delicious!
EH, fellow surviver of both Watertown High School and Harlem, packed up her Prius and moved to Denver in the spring. She now lives less than a mile away from me, and home really feels like home now that such an old friend is a part of my day-to-day. On the night that she pulled into town, we ordered Chinese food and drank champagne on her living room floor, just like we had done 7 years before on our first night together in Harlem. Having EH in the same city again is the strongest evidence I've ever had that things really do happen for a reason. We're supposed to be here.
I took 10 round-trip flights, most of them with rewards points, to visit old friends and new cities.
I played 9 games of cup-in-hand kickball with a bunch of 23-year-old accountants (have I written about this yet? I need to).
I went to 8 shows, some at Red Rocks and some at small venues in my neighborhood, and every time I went I thought, "Why don't I do this more often??"
I made 7 new friends on a girls trip in New Orleans (not THE Girl's Trip, but close)
I traveled for 6 hours to a small German town in Minnesota to surprise my mom and aunt at an outdoor beer festival.
I dogsat 5 different dogs, ranging from a Weiner dog name Lucille to a mutt named Maggie.
I sang karaoke for 4 solid hours on St. Patrick's Day in a room with some of my best Denver buddies.
I spent 3 entire summer days on Blue Dog Lake floating on a giant rainbow unicorn.
I told 2 people that I loved them, and you know what? 1 of them said it back.
I recently saw a sign that said, "Remember when you wanted what you currently have?" and it stopped me in my tracks because--I do remember. I remember longing for a career that challenged me and a bank account that wasn't empty at the end of each month. I remember wanting an apartment of my own, a car that wouldn't spontaneously break down, and a man to see my flaws and still love me back. And I guess I got all of those things in my 31st year. But here's the BUT... even with all of those boxes checked there are still nights when I stand in the shower with suds swirling at my feet, and I cry and I don't know why. Is it wrong to admit--I want more? Maybe my 32nd year will be the one.
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