23

It was my birthday yesterday! Yay me! I turned 23 and let me tell you, I still find that a little hard to believe. I can no longer sing that Taylor Swift Song 22. I still feel 22 even though I am 23 now. After working 2 full days at Caltopia, I was pretty exhausted and felt like yesterday was more of a recovery day than my birthday. Most people take the day off on their birthday, and after working those 2 long days I felt like I should have but I am in a training in SF for today and tomorrow and will be going off to Japan in September for a 2 week vacation and felt a little guilty that I’d be out of the office for so many days. I know what you are thinking What? Japan!? Why?!

Well it just so happens my sister will be studying abroad for a year at Chuo University near Tokyo and I, needing an excuse to vacation and go somewhere far, decided to take some time off to help her move to her dorm and do some sight-seeing before her first day of class. I am so excited to be going to Japan again (this will be my second time there) and being able to experience this trip with my sister! 

In my last birthday post I wrote about accomplishing some goals, or resolutions, by my next birthday. When I think about what I’ve accomplished this year I feel very proud of myself for how far I’ve come. One was to have a full-time job. I accomplished that in April and love where I work. I do feel lucky to have a job so soon after graduating and being in such a positive working environment. My coworkers went all out to make me feel special yesterday by bringing me cupcakes, flowers, and gifts and for that I am extremely grateful.

My second goal was to improve the blog. I feel like it has improved tremendously since it first started and while I don’t have a consistent posting schedule, I am trying to write fewer quality posts rather than a bunch of so-so posts. I am putting a lot more of myself into my posts, so in my opinion my posts are better than when I first started. I am not as afraid of being critiqued and have been less frustrated with the world of web design and HTML.

The third goal was to be more sustainable, and that is a lot more apparent with my clothes and is slowly making its way into my lifestyle. I rarely shop at department stores now and buying new items sometimes makes me feel guilty. I feel like my wardrobe has improved tremendously by buying used items. This outfit is mostly finds from Crossroads Trading Co. (Top, Scarf and Skirt) and eBay (Flats, Bag, Sunglasses).

Now I have some new goals set for myself:

 1) Spend more time with my family/friends. Blogging has opened so many doors for me and has allowed for me to go to a lot of events and meet many new people. Often times it feels like I don’t have enough time in the day to work, blog, and stay connected with people, but I want to put more of an effort in spending quality face time with the people that are important to me.

2) Be more financially aware. I have gone a little overboard shopping at thrift stores and am not really saving as much as I should for the future. I am hoping to really pay more attention to the comfortable salary I make and really make an effort to save more. 

3)Travel! Now that I finally have a full-time gig I know it might be a little more difficult, but I would love to be able to take more trips and see new places. Even if it isn’t across the country, I’d like to be able to go someplace if I happen to find a good deal (and use some of the funds I will be saving up just for that!)

I am looking forward to being 23 and I hope you’ll stick around and watch as I continue growing up ( I know I am not done yet!) 

Until next time,