Today is the start of my birthday month! Which also means I only have 29 days left of being 29! AKA – 29 days left of my 20s! Wow! I honestly feel like my 20th birthday was not that long ago. I remember it so perfectly…it was the day before we started school and everyone was back in town so we celebrated all weekend long! A bunch of my friends did a tailgate for the Angels game every year, so I started the celebration there, we went out that night and then the next day I had a big dinner with all my friends. It was the perfect way to kick off my twenties and I remember thinking how fortunate I was to have so many wonderful people in my life. Closing out my twenties I have that same sentiment, and I’m so grateful for everything I’ve been able to do and all the opportunities I’ve been able to accomplish. This has been a really weird past few months, but I wanted to end on a high note – so I am sharing 29 highlights from my 29th year!
1. We bought a home!! – Probably the biggest highlight of my 29th year! This was a struggle and took a lot of patience, praying, and trusting – but we found the perfect home for us!
2. I kicked off my Golden Year with a Roaring Twenties Party – This was so much fun and the perfect way to kick off the last year in my twenties and my golden birthday 🙂 We all dressed in our best roaring twenties garb and had the best time at the Hamilton House!
3. Taking my Birthday Off of Work – Probably the nicest and most relaxing way to kick off 29! For the very first time, I took my birthday off from work! I got to spend the day with my mom getting brunch, manicures, and massages. Then it ended with Aaron and I having an amazing dinner!
4. I got to spend more time with my Mom, Dad & Sister – Having Aaron and I move in with my parents was not what I was planning on in my late twenties, but it was really to nice to get to spend extra time with my family and getting to see them every day.
5. Getting to experience working from home – I think this pandemic has been frustrating, scary, and annoying to all of us, but it has been really great to see what working full time from home would look like! And I think it does come with a lot of perks!
6. Spending more time with Zekey Boy – One of the best parts of working from home this year was how much extra time I get to spend with my fur baby! Nothing makes me happier when I get off a call to come out and give my pup some love and cuddles for a minute before getting back to work.
7. Getting to see and spend quality time with my Nana, Uncle, and Cousins – This wasn’t under the happiest of circumstances, as my Nana’s cancer took an aggressive turn – but my Mom, Dad, Sister, and I hopped in the car in a moments notice to drive down to Arizona and spend time with my family as we didn’t know how much time left my Nana had. We had undivided family time and I got to spend some quality time with my Nana, which didn’t happen too often growing up, so I really treasure that last visit I got to have with her.
8. A weekend getaway to Mendocino and Fort Bragg with Aaron and Zeke – This was my little birthday gift to Aaron and it was so fun to head up the California coast to the beautiful Mendocino Coast. And this was the first time we took Zekey on a vacation with us – let me tell you…he did great! I also got to see where Aaron went to college and play baseball! A great little getaway
9. So many great date nights with the hubs – I love that we still make an effort to have special date nights – from going to a restaurant opening, to going out during restaurant week, a night out at Flatstick Pub, dinner on the Delta King, so many fun nights enjoying our new backyard and so much more in-between! Love getting to spend time with my number 1!
10. Becoming More Confident in my Blog – I celebrated my first year of blogging during 29 and I love that I have kept this going and have continued to work and it and find more ways to grow – all while still enjoying it int the process!
11. So many fun collaborations! – Speaking of my blog…I have been blessed this year to work on some awesome collaborations from MVMT to Total Wine to Vici to Loft to Yasso Ice Cream! It has been so fun to partner with these different brands and work on creating new and fun content along the way!
12. Growing Professionally – Along with getting to grow my blog, I have also worked to continue to grow in my job at work! I look at where I was a year ago and I am always so happy to see how my continuing to push myself and continuously learn and evolve has really paid off!
13. Traveling more for work – My new position has allowed me to travel more (within our areas in California), which as been really fun! I became a train regular going to our Bay Area office and I got to go to Vegas for a yearly conference.
14. Making the most out of work travel – There is nothing I love more when I get to travel somewhere for work where my friends live! We have an office in Fresno, so I love when I get to go down there because that always leaves time to see one of my best friends for a night!
15. Working on my health – Wow…I just saw a photo of myself right around my 29th birthday and it kind of took me by surprise. I didn’t realize how I had let myself go…but I did make a focus this year to re-focus on my health. I did group training with one of my best friends as my amazing personal trainer and a few months ago, I really started to look at what I was eating every day and made some changes and adjustments for a healthier lifestyle! I love how I am feeling and looking forward to continuing down this path in my 30th year!
16. Apple Hill – twice! – Apple Hill is one of my favorite places to go every fall! Last year I got to go twice! One with girlfriends on a very unusually cold September day – but we got pastries and took tons of pics! And other time with Aaron and Zeke! That was Zeke’s first big adventure with us and he did so good and was so cute exploring!
17. Girls weekend in Napa – With all of our busy schedules, it’s hard to find a time when we can get together! So I had such a blast spending the day in Napa with two of my best girlfriends! Just enjoying good wine and good company!
18. Vegas with Friends – One of those kind of last minute trips that you just say yes to and you’re glad you did! Fun time in Vegas with the hubs and our friends! Enjoyed some time by the pool and we got to see 50 Cent perform!
19. The most fun Halloween Costume with my Coworker – My coworker, who is also a good friend of mine, and I both love the TV show, FRIENDS. She was pregnant last fall so we did a Fat Monica and Rachel throwback when they go to visit Ross at college. Let me say – we nailed it 😉
20. Too many fun photo shoots – Whether it was days with my mom or some of my blogger gals – fun photo shoots where we pick a destination or a “theme” is always so fun and gives me the best memories!
21. California Love Music Video at Work – When you get to be completely ridiculous with your coworkers and make an awesome music video that gets shared around the company – you know you had a great time and made something awesome!
22. Women of Sacramento BRUNCH – I was so looking forward to this, and it was actually a gift for my birthday! Got to go with some of my girls and get so inspired my some incredible women in our area!
23. Visiting our friends in San Diego – even amid this crappy pandemic, we still got to enjoy a weekend away visiting some of our best friends in San Diego! The weekend was filled with laughs, a beach day, rooftop BBQ and some great quality time.
24. Celebrating my friends Bachelorette in Paso Robles – There was a small window of time when things were open in California, and it aligned perfectly with one of my best friends’s bachelorette party! Nothing beats sipping delicious wine with great friends!
25. Sister time – I love that as we’ve gotten older, my sister and I have continued to get closer! I love our girls days and nights and we have had some fun ones from a day in San Francisco seeing the Harry Potter play, to kayaking, to just hanging out at the house!
26. Good Quality time with my parents – I love having special things that I do with my mom or with my dad! A highlight for me will always be watching the Cowboys play with my dad – I love that I got to do that practically every weekend with him last year! And any shopping day, or getting to see a play (we got to see Dear Evan Hansen this year!), or taking photos with my Mom is special!
27. Decorating our new home – I don’t know what else feels more adulting than getting completely excited to buy a couch, headboard, and a dining room table! I have loved turning our new house into a home and can’t wait to continue!
28. Took time to slow down – I was always such a go, go, go kind of person. It has been nice this second half of my 29th year to sort of being forced to slow down. Not having plans every weekend, giving myself time to rest, time to be with our families and with Aaron has been really nice! More movie nights on the couch, please!
29. Focusing on happiness – As we grow older, I think our happiness looks different. I have really worked on finding the joy in little things, to be happy with where my life is at. I know it’s hard to not compare yourself or think you should be at a different spot in your life, but I think it’s great to just be very happy with where you are at! I really am so blessed and do have a very grateful heart for everything I’ve had and for an incredible (although some of it definitely looked different than what I thought it would look like) 29th year.
Peace out 29!! In 29 short days, I’ll be joining the 30s club! Let the countdown begin!