{ Birthday party envy from Coco + Kelly }

Oh hey there, it’s my birthday!! I hope everyone is stocking up on deeply discounted Valentine’s Day candy and celebrating with me.  Looking back on the last year, I’m feeling incredibly lucky and super excited to see what being 24 holds for me – here are 23 awesome things that happened while I was 23 (in no order):

1.  Moved from the East Coast to the Midwest (800 miles away from home) all by myself
2.  Launched Pretty & Fun after years of obsessive blog reading and planning
3.  Finally learned to love sushi (thanks to a very persuasive coworker of mine)
4.  Took big steps to make my apartment a place that I truly loved – upgraded from my basic IKEA pieces and splurged on some amazing furniture
5.  Got over my fear of cooking for one (and eating take out all the time instead)
6.  Started to wear things that I love and embraced having my own personal style instead of simply wearing what everyone else was
7.  Had my first Christmas tree (her name was Francine) AND bought, brought home & decorated it all by myself
8.  Spoke on a panel about social media with some rockstars of the industry
9.  Met SO many great friends through blogging and Twitter
10.  Got a promotion at work!
11.  Became extremely independent and constantly impressed myself with the things I’m able to do on my own (assemble furniture? no problem. do the 13 hour drive to NJ? multiple times.)
12.  Started wearing red lipstick and now am a full-blown bold lipstick addict
13.  Did my absolute best to keep in touch with the people in my life who truly matter, despite being far away
14.  Attended lots of amazing blogger events and worked with some really great brands/organizations 
15.  Perfected the art of the messy, but not too messy bun
16.  Visited a new city (Chicago)
17.  Moved into my very first apartment of my own – no more boyfriends or roommates
18.  Found the perfect dark skinny jeans (thank you American Eagle)
19.  Wrote 130 blog posts (with a several month blogging hiatus)
20.  Bought an espresso machine and I must say, I have some mad barista skills
21.  Developed social marketing strategies for more leading brands than I can count
22.  Went to the beach several times after going a few years without seeing the ocean
23.  Stopped worrying about the long term and the silly life timeline I’ve had in my head and recognized how truly lucky I am and how much I’ve accomplished