This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see the terms page.

ast week I turned 28 years old. Twenty. Eight. To be honest, there are parts of me that never thought I would make it this far. Between living too hard when I was in college and some health problems when I was younger, I always felt like I had this dark cloud over me. And while I wouldn’t say that I’m 100% the happiest I’ve ever been right now, I will say – I’ve come a long way, and I am really happy right now. (I’m also the age my mom was when she had me, which is pretty scary.)

We celebrated a weekend of Desmas with a great weekend of fun around the Nashville area. I treated myself to some fancy new clothes (including a much-needed new pair of jeans, which are now the most expensive clothing item I own.) After work on Saturday, all of my work friends met up with some of my college friends at our favorite dive bar. Sixx even came out with one of his friends from tour. Sunday we took a rest day as I had a little TOO much fun. On my Monday, my real birthday, my friends made it very special with a pizza delivery to work, the most beautiful gifts, funniest voicemails and cards, and a fun night at my favorite Nashville institution: Motown Monday. It was the best birthday I’ve had in years, and I’m so so thankful for the way things are going.

My work life is calming down, thank goodness, which means I’m getting back more time to myself – to blog, to work out, to actually clean my house, to take care of myself in general. I’m cautiously optimistic and hoping that things continue exactly as they are right now. I’m spending the next week getting my life back on track and back into the world of budget living and measuring mornings in miles run, and excited for the stability (even if it ends up being fleeting.)