After my last week at Anthropologie I went to Pennsylvania with Andrea so I could spend the week all my sister-in-law's extended family! random huh?! but really so much fun :) Gotta love those Jacobson's!

A few days later....I have the best birthday of my life. LOL It almost sounds like I'm kidding but I'm not! Maybe I should say adult life, though, because my 7th birthday when I got a bike AND puppy surprise was pretty dang sweet. But of my adult life...this one takes the cake! HA! (get it?!)

It seriously was awesome. First off...it started with no expectations or plans for the day... so the night before, Allie, Jessica, Kim, Brandon, and I go out on the boat with our friend Ben in Hendersonville. I had never been on a boat at night and let me tell you....it was GORGEOUS! The moon was huge and reflecting off the water and all the stars were out too... I loved it. So we kicked off my birthday floating on the water and stayed out till about 3 am. I didn't get to bed till 4 but then had to wake up at 5 to go open up Provence. That kind of hurt a little, but then a guy I work with came in at 8 to cover the rest of the day for me since it was my special day! SO after I get off, I meet up with the lovely Ashley Hamilton for a scrumptious brunch and hang out time at Fiddlecakes. Next, it was back out to the lake for me to meet up with my boating crew again from the night before. We go out on the water for some hardcore tubing and sun soaking! Once back on land, we girls went out to eat Chick Fil A for lunch, have a Miley Cyrus shopping spree at Wal-Mart, and take a nap at the house (which would add up to only my 2nd hour of sleep so far). After we all awake it's time to get dolled up for dinner at the Marina including outside deck seating, swooping Christmas lights, and live music....which then turned into Allie joining said live music on stage where I received an AWESOME happy birthday duet! At this point my eyes were already filling up with pure watery happiness just over what a great day and amazing friends I have...thinking my day couldn't get any better.....but it did. We came home to the Buford, I walk in, the lights are off and I think Emily is just having a relaxing evening after she got off work, when I turn the corner to see candlelit cupcakes and all my friends shouting Happy Birthday!!!! There were decorations hanging from the ceiling and walls and the cupcakes were of Princess Tiana! DISNEY! Emily gave me her present which was a case of bottled cream sodas, dark chocolate, AND FRIENDS season 8!!!!! THENNNNNN as if my love tank wasn't already overflowing, they all take me out for a late night showing of "Inception" which was AMAZING.............SO GOOD.

That was where I finished out my last hour of July 20, 2010. I can't get over how great it was. Thanks to my wonderful friends who really knew me well enough to make my day so awesome :) :) :) I'm so pumped about being 23 now. This year is seriously going to be great. I just know.

June 18-27 I was on vacation with the family in Orange Beach, Alabama! I had been looking forward to it for SO long. I loved it. We were in a condo right on the beach overlooking the ocean, so each of my mornings was spent on the balcony watching the sun rise. So good. Unfortunately, the big oil spill had just started to make it's way to that beach, so about halfway through the week a storm really stirred up the water and washed a lot of oil ashore. It was so sad to see. We still had a great time though and everyone enjoyed my board game I made "Kay Family Scene It!"

Being there only reaffirmed in my mind that I want to live on a beach somewhere for at least a short season in my life. We'll see how that works out ;)

After I got back, I resumed work at Provence and Anthropologie....and it really kind of hit me just how much I wasn't enjoying my Anthro job as much as I thought I did. That, plus I've had almost no time to work on any graphic design projects, and Erin wants me to illustrate her children's book that she is writing. So, I decided it was time to go. I'll still be working at Provence and hopefully get a few more hours there, but if I'm wanting my graphic design stuff to go anywhere I need to dedicate more time to it! Which is what I'll do!

Let's see... vacation, quit my job, oh yes, I moved! Yup, Emily and I moved in with Jessica, Allie, and Kim to the Buford house which is about 5 minutes from Provence and right next to downtown Nashville! Cool huh! I currently don't have a bedroom, so my bed is in the living room, but it somehow works! We've all been really having a lot of fun this past week and I think it is going to work out great for us. Plus I just love that I actually live in a house again, I haven't done that since I lived at home!

Things are going pretty dern good. I've really been learning a lot and still have a ton to go. But this time and place I'm at right now couldn't be more perfect :)

So....an update for what's been going on!

Nashville has surprisingly started to grow on me, which is a good thing since it looks like I'm going to be here indefinitely. Indefinitely is actually a good word for me in general right now. Nothing is really for sure as far as planning my life goes. I am certain though that everything is going to come together in a much better way than I could ever design, so I'm not stressing!

Working at Provence and Anthropologie is going pretty good! or WELL, as my mother would say. I like Provence a lot (except when I show up when I'm not needed) and I'm just now starting to get the hang of thing at Anthro so yeah...I think I'm in for a good summer.

ALSO I've been able to do some freelance graphic design work for a few of my musician friends already and just got asked to do another "gig" for someone else now! I'm kind of excited about it. The stuff I've made for them has been getting good reviews so maybe my name will get passed around some!

Alrighty....I think I may go grab a bagel at Panera and then maybe do some shopping I feel like all my clothes are falling apart. ha! ok have a good day!!!

I feel very full of life... and with that I am beginning to realize how precious life is. Ha....yes, this is going to be a weirdly deep post.

I'm turning 23 this year. This is the first time I've ever wished I could slam on the brakes of growing older and take a minute to reassess everything. 23 is still really young as an adult, but really old for a child. So in a sense I am just a baby adult. The world is totally new to me now in a different way. Instead of being guided in everything I do, I am now the one making my life choices. With that knowledge I know there a lot of potential with what I choose to do (or don't do). There is so much I want to see and do; I want to start DOING it all now and not wish I had 30 years from now. I just have no clue where to start....

I am basically just feeling really overwhelmed with life. God has blessed me with so much love and freedom I just want to be able to use who I am to the best of my potential. I made a awesome kid (haha).... now I just want to be a great adult.

I've been working QUITE a bit the past couple days. All of them starting with my alarm going off at 4:50 am. That was not a type....i repeat 4:50 am. Mainly that is to give me a 10 minute wake up buffer till 5:00 where I actually have to be out of bed, get ready, and be at work at 6:00. Getting out of bed is the hardest part, but once I get going it's really not that bad. I find playing some jazz helps me. Then working at Provence goes by kind of quickly I think. Which is nice. Today like Sunday was a double shift though. So it was 6-1 at Provence then 1-6 at Anthropologie. Ouch.

Yeah I'm super tired, but I think I'm really going to like working both places. They're a good mix for me. Artsy and Chill. Plus I'm feeling super productive. Whereas before, I just felt like I was wasting time in between my Anthro shifts.

Alright, well I'm going to beeeeedddddd....... . . .. .... . .

So yesterday morning (friday) was my first day at Provence! It went really well! I had a great trainer the whole day and time just really flew by! PLUS I found out that I get to take a ton of free "waste" food that are basically untouched leftovers that are still good AND I get to take home a complimentary loaf of fresh baked bread each time i work! (which I'm eating right now) AND I get a free drink each time I work too AAAAND a 40% discount if I ever find reason to buy something from there! Sweet deal if you ask me!

After I got off work I went shopping to find some more work clothes since there is a "uniform" there. That was all nice till I was heading home waiting at a stop light when this blue jeep comes whizzing by and slams into the car to my front left which then dominos into 3 other cars! I turned on my flashers, got out and started asking people if they were alright and then dialed 911. I had never dialed it before! The people were alright just a little banged up and the guy that hit them was actually drunk. So because I saw it all I had to stick around and talk to the police to give my witness statement.

Then this morning I get a text from my roommate, Ashely, saying she was in a car accident last night on her way to Memphis. Her car flipped several times but she miraculously didn't break any bones but was just a little bruised. I couldn't believe it! So scary all these close calls... We've got some angels working overtime here.

Today I worked at Anthropologie from 5 to close so it's now 11:39, I have to be at Provence tomorrow morning at 7 work till 1 then I work again at Anthro from 2-8.... let the crazy schedules begin! Alright...well I'm going to finish my sleepy time tea turn off the jazz music (which I'm TOTALLY into right now) and hit the sack. Goodnight!

Well that trip took about 8 minutes...so I had to think fast of something else I could do to get me out of the apartment.... THRIFT STORE! I LOVE thrift stores and I remembered that I had mentioned finding some cute beach coverup equivalent to something they have at Anthropologie. Well I would say my trip was successful! A few quick and simple alterations and voila! Ok, I won't build it up too much because it may not turn out looking so good...we'll see.

Right now I'm back at the apartment, sitting on my deck, and waiting for my roommate to wake up from a nap so we can do something! .....oh me....i need a life...