26.

Twenty-six promises to be a big year. For starters, I didn't cry on my birthday like I always do. It's kind of a tradition, but 10/16/12 was lovely enough I didn't feel obligated. I am always humbled that the most wonderful of people choose to invest in my life, and birthdays only amplify that. The fact that they put up with my demand that it is a week-long celebration should reserve them a spot in the most heavenly place in heaven. Alas, I am not in charge of such decisions, so family and friends, know this: you are much appreciated.

I've had some sort of illness that has left me bedridden for three days (save tonight's Indian food excursion with Kath), which means I've watched Pride and Prejudice three times. Turns out this bug is worse for my heart than it is for my health.

In the midst of bored blog-searching, I have found two things I love. So perhaps the sickness was not in vain.

This quote:

 "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." [Jack Kerouac, On the Road]

And this verse:

"Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways." [Psalm 119:37]

Too Young.

Video Games.

Want Not.

Birthdays Birthdays Everywhere.

This is a week of birthdays. Wednesday was my nana's 68th, Friday was my cousin Kaycee's 25th, on Saturday my sweet little brothers turned 24 (24!), and today, Sunday, Lizzie is 25.

To celebrate, I will eat a piece of cake for each of you.

Happy Birthday, Nana.

A wise woman once said, "Kyla, maybe you're just meant to have love affairs with cities."

That woman is my nana, my momma's momma, and maybe the spunkiest 68-year-old I know.

Love you.

Learn Something.

"The best place to learn a foreign language is from atop a barstool."

(From 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son)

Goodnight and Go.

You're The One That I Wanted To Find.

DONE! Done. Done.

Finals over. 

First year of grad school over.

New priorities.

Wherever Shall We Go.

Tuesday Afternoon.

I finally have a lazy afternoon to myself, which started at 4pm, when I got out of my last lecture of the year (hoorah!), had a dorm buffet burrito with my friend M (double hoorah!), and then plopped into a mass coffee shop (that shall remain unnamed) to finish up a short, five-page paper (only five pages? triple hoorah!).

But before I do that, a list of some of my current favorite things.

Ranch dressing made with yogurt. "Salsa Ranch" is good enough to eat from the spoon.

My new favorite shoes. Nine West's Garners are walkable and perfect with jeans and dresses, but sorry - sold out.

Nordstrom makes a perfect sweater.

Scholars Inn Mexican Martinis with Tom.

Revlon Red Matte Lipstick. Grad school has turned me into a grown-up, and what's more grown-up that red lips?

Southern California.

My summer. Come to me, sunny SoCal.

Nostalgic.

Sally and I have been a little sappy lately for the city that brought us together. Old, cold - and maybe full of mold - we loved (and still love) London.

XOXO.

Wise Words.

Don't overthink it...or better yet, don't let them know you did.

-Gayle Spannaus

Bloom.

Happy Birthday, Bestie.

I think this picture is just perfectly us.

So have a perfect year, lovely.

Lizzie Wizzie.

I Want to Host a Party.

Sunshine for My Soul.

Life lately has been a series of not bad, but perhaps irresponsible, short-sighted decisions. I have been trading school for socializing with the girls that make me actually want to be in this town, and I usually wake up saying a quick prayer, asking that there not be anything due that day. Because if there is, I'm definitely not going to be submitting it.

Gone is my training plan, gone are healthy eating habits to accompany that plan, and perhaps most noticeably absent is any remorse on my part. It's 13.1 miles, it's a month away - I've got this.

So bring on the pitchers of margaritas, the afternoons in the sun, and the hours spent sitting in friends' kitchens, talking about life and the things within it that we love and hate so much.

That's where I learn the most, anyway.

Happy Spring, y'all.

Love Is in the Air.

I Do.

Baseball Season.

It's here. Ah.

Summer.

It's almost here.

John + Reggie.

Muted.

Love Letter to My Friends.

I Giorni.

I am in love with this piece, and not only because it's beautiful, but also because in a time where most of what we hear at any given time is hypersexualized, fast, and cheap, "I Giorni" evokes something simply lovely, inspired, and pure within me. You can't listen to it and not be moved.

I'll play it for you if you ask politely.

And Because She Looks Like Momma.

Because I Bought Sheet Music Today.

Think.

The Lovely Things.

Home.

Things I Don't Regret.

Let me start with something I DO regret.

This. Last night. It's a burrito. I don't regret the burrito; I regret eating the entire burrito.

But the past yearish and some has resulted in some great purchases. Some of my favorites:

J. Crew Wellies - get the liners and you can wear them year round

MacBook Pro

Banana Republic cigarette pants

Grocery store sushi

Michael Kors flats

Well Said.

"I like drinking coffee alone and reading alone. I like riding the bus alone and walking home alone. it gives me time to think and set my mind free. I like eating alone and listening to music alone. But when I see a mother with her child, a girl with her lover, or a friend laughing with their best friend, I realize that even though I like being alone, I don't fancy being lonely."

- Unknown

Familiar?

Somebody That I Used To Know.

2011.

I was tempted to write a long, humorous (at least to me) recap of 2011, complete with pictures and stories, good and bad, about the year, but I've decided to keep it short and sweet. Because when I think of 2011, I'm most overwhelmed by those who did it with me. I don't know how, but no matter where I go, I always seem to be surrounded by the most incredible of people. We're never all in the same place - Indiana and Texas and NYC and DC and Baltimore and Chicago and Kansas City and even scattered overseas - but the short little bursts of time we get together are a reminder of how loyal and generous and kind and sweet and perfect the people who choose to love me are. I left too many in Dallas, I visited a few this summer, I met some new ones in Bloomington, and I regularly Facebook stalk those I didn't see in 2011.

You are so, so dear to me. You make my life richer. You show me love, you show me patience, and you show me grace. For some, I love your new spouses; for others, I love your new homes; and for still others, I LOVE your new babies. So many new babies. It's been lovely watching your lives change, always for the better, and I'm honored have been invited along for the ride.

Thank you for sharing your couches and beds with me. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for making me laugh until I cry. Thank you for sitting on the bathroom floor with me and talking until 2am on a work night. Thank you for giving me advice about the same thing over and over and over and over. Thank you for surprise birthday parties. Thank you for dealing with the puddles I leave in the bathroom every time I wash my face. Thank you for asking me to pray for you. Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for listening to my ramblings. Thank you for telling me hundreds of times that I wouldn't get fired or fail school. Thank you for not giving up on me when you didn't hear from me - I don't make New Year's resolutions, but if I did, they would be focused around my apparent inability to listen to voicemails and return calls.

Here's to 2012.