i'm officially in my twenties and that's just weird.

Summer is awesome because when it's at it's best it's no makeup, hair that smells like chlorine, and just the right amount of sunburn. Summer is also hard because (among other things), my life has far less structure, which then makes my blog posts far less structured too. Not that much changes from day to day for me, so it's hard to feel like I have anything worth sharing here. Which isn't true, of course. Thoughts and feelings are always worth sharing and who the heck cares if what I write here is riveting, because it's my blog anyway which means I can do what I want (#yolo).

I only have 9 more days of work left, which has it's pros and cons. The sad part about a job you only work at for a few months is that right when you start to really get the hang of things and love the people you work with, it's time to leave. That really stinks. Also no more free desserts, that also stinks. Then again, that's also a pro because I'm completely serious when I say I've gained some weight since starting work at the bakery. Another pro is that I won't have to wake up at 4:10 anymore. Because there is absolutely no way you can slice 4am to make it enticing, there just isn't.

In between these 9 days of work left, there is a really anticipated trip to Oregon, which I am thrilled for because 1) first vacation of the summer, 2) the tillamook cheese factory, 3) a week with my family, which is the best, and 4) Daniel is getting back off his mission.

Daniel. My favorite cousin, the one I'd be friends with even if we weren't related, the one we make really cheesy but also cool movies with, the one who I have so many inside jokes with my cousin once told us she can't follow our conversations on facebook at all. That Daniel. To say I am excited would be an understatement. This is the man that will someday be my fellow Divine Comedian (once we both make it - note to blog readers: goal). It's been a long time since I saw him, and Oregon never felt the same without him there, so this is going to be the trip of a lifetime. That's a hyperbole, because it's really not a huge deal, but whatever.

I turned twenty on Tuesday, which is super cool and super intimidating too. For pretty much as long as I can remember, when people have asked me my age the answer has ended in "teen". Maybe you can remember saying you were 8 or 9 or whatever, but I sure can't. THIS IS A BIG CHANGE PEOPLE, and it's going to be like this for the next ten years of my life. Also, the twenties are so officially "adult". There's no excusing lame behavior with "well, she's technically still a teen", but rather it's more like "why in the world is she incapable of washing her sheets as often as she should, she's twenty!". Cry with me and say goodbye to teenagehood. You did me well, 19. Phew, 19 was a big year, can we just talk about that? Lots happened and I really grew and found myself in ways I didn't fully expect or anticipate. Plus, a year ago who would have been able to predict I would be preparing for a mission right now? The prophet, maybe, that's who.

Which, oh yeah - I'm going on a mission! So thrilled, more on that later though (I think it deserves it's own post, which I will do after I receive my call, which should be in 2-3 weeks).

Anyway, let's all just raise a glass to the teenage years, which included my first real job, my first kiss, graduation from high school, my first speeding ticket, my first year of college, learning to clog, declaring a major, and ugh, puberty.

And let us toast the twenties! Which holds who knows what, I'm not going to assume marriage and stuff because then if it didn't happen in the next ten years I'd look back and be like "ah, how embarrassing" and then I'd go feed my pet cat and sleep in my unwashed sheets.

Cheers and stuff.

happy days will come to me all year

For the birthday yesterday, I received some red lipstick and the new (relatively speaking - it came out in February) Ingrid Michaelson CD, among other things. I am one happy camper.

I think birthdays are the best when celebrated with family. I love spending time with my friends, but it always feels a little bit wrong when we celebrate the actual day of. However, that's not to say I don't enjoy spending time with friends the day of my birthday, but mostly I just really love my family. They're the best.

cake, the HP way

Once upon a time I loved Harry Potter.

I mean, present tense - love. But since we're talking about a time in the past here, we'll stay in the proper tense.

Also, for several years now, I've had a birthday once a year! Crazy, it's like I'm some freak of nature.

Okay okay. So obviously I have the coolest friends, right? Because they put two and two together:

16th Birthday:

17th Birthday:

18th Birthday:

The 16th and 17th birthday treats were made by my friend Kendra, who is exceedingly awesome and does things like this for all their friends on their birthdays (and incidentally, if you meander on over to her blog, you will find a post about some of those cakes. which really isn't very incidental at all if you think about it, because i obviously just read it and was reminded of the fact that i've never shared the beauty of my cakes with my blog stalker friends yet).

The 18th was made by my friend Carlie, and had an entire full-swing surprise party to go along with it (complete with Quidditch, of course).

Now you might begin to glimpse how awesome my friends are. Do I feel some jealous animosity?