Happy Anniversary, Los Angeles!

One year ago, a wide eyed caffeine addict set her sights on the big city to take the world by storm.

One year ago.

That was 365 days ago (ish). 12 months. 5 jobs. 349 cups of coffee. 1823 phone calls to Mom. 16 therapy sessions. 217 miles run. 13 parking tickets and 109,487,698 hours in traffic. 19 to 31 unwanted face hairs. 48 times I wished I had showered that day. 58 boxes of cereal.

Or something like that. One year is a long time…except, it isn’t.

When my one-year date came along, I kind of brushed it under the rug. Ya know, pretended it didn’t happen, like I do to evenings spent watching reality TV, and my farts in public. Because I didn’t really have much to celebrate.

Um, excuse me? I may not have a million dollar salary, or up-to-date highlights, or a dog, but I do have some promising things going on here. If my life were a Girl Scout challenge, I’d be sewing a golden Survivor badge on my vest for this year.

Anniversaries are times for celebrations! I’m celebrating…me.

I’m celebrating that this year, I got my footing in the “real” world. There was a slow realization that it’s going to take a couple of failed career attempts before I get to the one that fits me. There was a lot of time wasted wishing for something to happen to me, before I figured, hey, maybe I should take the reigns myself, and maybe I can take the reigns myself. This year, I realized that life is big, and sometimes shitty, but never hopeless (have you heard of margaritas and best friends? Highly recommended).

I’m celebrating all of the times I chose to keep the faith. If I had a notecard for every time I thought about moving home, waitressing at The Crispy Waffle, and drinking at dive bars at night, I’d be able to supply an entire classroom of overachieving students studying for an organic chemistry final. I haven’t moved home, because I haven’t given up. Maybe we’ll chalk this one up to blind faith, but I know I’ve got a bright future behind those stormy QLC clouds.

I’m celebrating the beautiful people in my life. My family is my golden ticket – a bag of nutcases who support the crap out of me. I’ve got a smokin’ hot fella who, lucky for me, hasn’t realized he’s wayyy out of my league. I’ve got a coupla smokin’ hot best friends who haven’t realized they’re even further out of my league. I have a handful of work friends who make the days and nights feel like summer camp instead of hours towards a paycheck. I have a Japanese waitress at my favorite vegan cafe who doesn’t speak much English but knows I like to drink a lot of water. I have my Stratejoy girls!

I’m celebrating lessons learned. I’m celebrating the days I couldn’t get out of bed…but did. I’m celebrating the times I saw something for the first time and appreciated it.

Happy Anniversary, Los Angeles! Here’s to another year of adventures and traffic, of best friends and goodnight kisses, of too much coffee and too much laughter. Here’s to another year of fighting the good fight.