a few things i love...

i hate when people ask me to list my favorite music, food, movie, friend, etc. i hate choices. i even once made a list of my top 10 best friends because i couldn't imagine having only one (are you all wondering if you made that list?).

but these are some things i certainly love:

#1. to eat and to drink coffee. the joy of life. most of the food/drink places that i love are those that are connected to wonderful memories with wonderful people. i will always love third coast cafe on dearborn st. in chicago. their scones will bring you to tears. it is the only place i have found in this country that satisfies every occasion i ever have for an eating establishment. it was the place to study, the place to go have a heart-to-heart with a good friend, the place to gather, the place for wine, coffee, dinner, breakfast, conversation.
(http://www.3rdcoastcafe.com/3rd_Coast_Cafe/home.html)

#2. i especially hate the favorite music question. i love almost all of it. and, i don't say that in a "i'm too shallow to think for myself" kind of way. i really do love music in most forms. i do, however, find myself drawn to music that is sad and calming. like, william fitzsimmons, for example. that man sings about mostly sadness and goodbyes. but his songs are so beautiful, so heart-wrenching, so fresh. he sings about divorce and leaving, and i feel like a teenager who is pretending she knows adult-sadness when i listen. but, i find the tears that he provokes weirdly encouraging in a "oh good, your life is periodically awful too" kind of way.


#3. i love a good dark belgian beer. the one that has impressed me most in the last 6 months was the Ommegang Abbey Ale. that beer moved my soul and it could move yours as well.

happy birthday to me.

It is no secret among friends and loved ones; I love birthdays. Especially my own. Yesterday, I turned 29.
Birthdays in years 1 through 21 were pure bliss. 22 will go down in history as "the year of the 22 dates" (which requires an entire blog at a later date posting for explanation). 23 was the nose piercing birthday (my attempt at rebellion). 24 was lonely after all the celebratory college years. I distinctly remember a slight panic attack at 25. Turning 26 was devastating because I was in Korea and my birthday celebration was combined with a farewell dinner for the only in-country friend I had. 27 made me feel old without warning. 28 was calm and made me feel overly adult. And now, it's 29.
It is easy to compare myself to every other 29 year old. Am I equally successful? Have I accomplished enough for these 29 years? Do I have less wrinkles? Am I wasting my life? Does it even matter?
My desire is to live my life to the fullest, to find joy in what I have been given, to trust God in what I have not been given. And, to never dread a single birthday. That would be such a waste.