LITTLE BLACK BIRTHDAY DRESS
T W E N T Y N I N E .
Today's the day! The last few years, I've made a tradition out of reflecting on the year behind me - what I've learned, bucket list things + places I've checked off my list, and what I hope the next year holds. This time last year, J and I were waking up at Gurney's in Newport, RI and the words that came to mind were:
Whatever is good for your soul, do that. There's never a time you shouldn't pop champagne; celebrate everything. Always, always know the truth by the way it feels. Stay wild. Find the ones who bring out the magic in you and hold on tight. With everything, order a side of fries. Know when to put your hair up and call it a day. Escape as often as possible. Embrace uncertainty, you'll figure it out. Be obsessed with as many things as possible. You're stronger than you feel. Don't worry about washing your hair. Quality over quantity, in everything. Take as many bubble baths as you possibly can.
One year later and I still feel ALL of those things to my core.
The past year was unlike any other for us. Between moving out of our first home, renovating the cottage, moving in + making our new house a home, all of the travel and new places we were able to explore, and the amazing friends + family who we've made countless memories with over the last year - I'm left with two words.
Content and so grateful.
Sometimes the word 'content' has a negative connotation in that it implies you're at a pause in life or stop growing or evolving, but content can't be confused with complacent. I've recently been reminded just how beautiful it is to genuinely feel content. In your relationship, in your home, and just in life in general. I'm obsessed with everything about our little home and all I want to do is live in it. Make memories in it. Host endless get-togethers and parties. Everything from coffee on the porch in the mornings to happy hours every evening. Wake up every weekend and cook breakfast with J in our pajamas. Eat dinner on that back deck while looking out to the backyard and seeing pups + chicks running around. It's all just absolute perfection and I feel so incredibly blessed to reach a point in life where I feel such peace every day. The older I get, I see how rare that is and I have no idea how I got so lucky, but I soak up every second of it.
Obviously, so much of that happiness centers around the amazing people I get to do life with every day. And let me tell you, John Runion is an absolute godsend. He's the best person I know and makes me want to be better every single day. It doesn't matter if we have a house full of people or if it's just the two of us - we just sit around and laugh. For hours. Growing up, I saw that spark in very few relationships, and I wake up every single day feeling so grateful that I have it. He allows me to wear my heart on my sleeve, loves that I feel things so hard, and simply lets me be me. He makes a casual night-in feel magical, reminds me every single day how wildly capable + strong I am, and he finds the good in everything. We're far from perfect and occasionally life is messy + knocks us off our feet, but we choose to celebrate life and all the chaos that comes with it - together.
Last, but definitely not least, my amazing friends and family make up so much of my gratitude. Literally all I long for when I'm traveling is what I like to call 'family dinners'. Whether it's our immediate family or a table full of friends we consider family, I love those casual, easy nights that end up making the most beautiful memories. I've learned that at the end of the day, surrounding yourself with people you love is all that really matters. So I stay close to the people who get it. And hold on tight, because they're everything to me. I love hard and wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm so excited to see what 29 has in store and can't wait to share it all with you - cheers to too much cake and champagne! X.
(P.S. - shop my dress here!)