Thirty-One.

I celebrated my 31st birthday on Saturday. It was a lovely day spent with Ben; we had brunch, went and picked out my birthday present together, went to see Sisters (get thee to a theatre and see it ASAP!), enjoyed dinner out at my favorite guacamole spot (that's how I think of it), and finished the evening with dessert at home, a moving rendition of 'Happy Birthday' (during which Ben freestyled a bit), and an early bedtime.

It was perfectly relaxed and simple, which is just what I wanted. In fact, 'simple and relaxed' isn't just what I want on my birthday--it's what I want infused into every facet of my life this coming year. 

As I begin this next lap around the sun, which coincidentally always falls around the holidays and thus, the New Year, I've been thinking a lot about my intentions for this 32nd year of my life [as you do...].

2015 was a great year. I learned so much and did so many new things. My career grew in exciting ways that I didn't necessarily see coming and I feel like I'm in a really good place with it. 2015 was a year of hard work on my business, on our house, and on new endeavors (like the podcast, my eBook, my first "line" of shirts, etc.), and here at the end of it, I feel very fulfilled and grateful for how it went. 

But in my 32nd year and in 2016, I want to focus more on relationships, family, self-care, and giving back. I want to continue to work hard, but also put the work down a little more and create better boundaries so that I can love on my community--both here on the Cape and those who live further away but mean the world to me.

I want to use the first couple of months of the year to hunker down and finish a bunch of indoor house projects: painting the bedrooms, 'renovating' our new pantry space (formerly the home of our washer + dryer), and organizing + painting my art studio. I'm excited to lead two retreats in the first half of the year--Costa Rica in February and Nantucket in June--and in between these trips, these house projects, and my work projects, I want to be sure to enjoy some serious downtime. Much more than I did in 2015. And I'm going to do it, goshdarnit!

For these last two weeks of 2015 and the first two weeks of my 32nd year, I plan on using my time to focus on being as present as possible. We head to Atlanta to spend 5 days with my family right after Christmas, and because I want to truly be there with them, I'm taking a break from blogging from Christmas to New Year's (last blog post of 2015 will happen this Thursday, Christmas Eve). 

I love this time of year so much, and I'm excited for things to slow down so that I can do the same. I hope you can find the time to do so, too. 

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday over the weekend, and for all of your kind words and love. Thank you for making my 31st year such a special one. Thank you for your amazing support online and IRL. I couldn't do it without this incredible Starr Struck community.

You guys are da best!