My Favorite Pictures of 2014: Part I

When I think about 2014, I think pictures. With iPhones and Instagrams and Instaxes, there are visual associations that are synonymous with moments and subjects; the yellow house, my running impala dress, Eckburg 202, selfies, New York City, graduation, Philly... 

So I pulled some of my favorites together-- opened my iPhoto and dragged and dropped anytime I saw a picture that made my brain smile. 

You guys. I pulled 153 pictures. I mean, there were only 365 days in this year, so let's talk about all of the brain smiling that went down last year. I paired that down to 76 and was going to keep slimming but then I was like... my blog, my rules. So 76 pictures (give or take) (I might have added a few more back in) there will be (in a few installments). What can I say? 2014 was big for me.

(Some have been blogged before, some have not)
(Some deserve a caption, some do not)

The New Year through Graduation

Ok, so technically, this was 2013, but it felt right to start with the new year. I also love my dress. 

The first day of winter quarter with Susie and Lindsay. We took perhaps 10 different pictures and Lindsay's eyes were closed in every single one. 

Portfolio with Topher and corner that we ruled. 

Daufuskie Island and the boat we trespassed. 

Grace and Ben forever and the smell of Fireball forever making me nauseous. 

Carol Harris, the single most influential professor I had in college, with her most loyal fans. 

One of my most favorite weeks of 2014 and also maybe college was the cold snap Savannah received in February and the nearly week long cancellation of classes that followed. Winter was heartily embraced. 

When Zach visited.

At Abe's.

Many a morning spent with these two women at Foxy Loxy. This picture is in Lindsay's bed because even after going to Foxy maybe three times a week, I couldn't find one picture of the three of us there. An actual fact that deserves repeating for the rest of time is that I would not have finished my senior project/senior year/college without them. 

My official interview outfit.

My galentines. 

A whole lotta shit went down in this kitchen. 

And even more at the this island.

This little flerm worked what little ass she has completely off for her Senior Thesis. In this moment, her work wasn't even half way completed but I was so proud of her. 

Final winter critique.

And the mandatory supportive Back in the Day run that followed. 

This is college.

Mom and I in New York for Spring Break.

Baille Younkman. A support and flame of creativity. 

Spencer. My favorite picture of us ever.

My sweet room in Savannah.

Happy 30th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

My mom's side of the family. 

Juarez Beergaritas and my best friends. 

My team.

Easter and the yellow house.

The Farmer's Daughter is Getting Married

Jury Show. Over. 

Kind of the most and the best and the definiteliest. And just about nine million and two other things. 

All of them and together. 

I felt how proud of me they were this day. 

One of the coolest moments. 

Followed by another one of the coolest moments. Here's to being pushy and wearing matching white. 

Carol & Melissa

The front cover of the book I write about what best friends look like. 

One of the most bittersweet days of my life. 

An end to it all.

More proud of these pigtails and the body and lady that is attached to them than I even know what to make of it. 

Graduated and sweaty.

Early thoughts on 2015

There's something dry and different about the air in my room when it's 4 in the morning and I can't sleep. 

When I wake up like this in a factual combination of too warm, exhausted, frustrated and just enough energy to entertain thought of maybe going on a run (one that I'll immediately regret before I even hit the light pole three houses down), I am often shocked to see the sun actually coming up around 6:30. Like there was a chance that the version of me, alone in my room, watching Sense and Sensibility and thinking about scheduling a hair cut might be permanent. "If you keep making that face, it'll stick like that forever."

For the rest of the day, I have this ownership that I've been through it and fought the good fight with the day. A kind of understanding that no one else has of what the entirety of the day really meant-- what December 29 really was all about. 

Moments like these give me just enough time to be completely alone with my mind, but tired enough not too linger too long on any one thought.

Playing Tetris of scheduling my day. 

Deciding what it is that I like and don't like about being an associate adult. 

Wondering if it's possible to look cool while scrambling eggs or if I just look like someone who's scrambling eggs. 

Hoping that in the dark of my room, the large pile of clean laundry on the floor to my left is getting smaller with age like an old lady. 

Thinking about each one of my friends in a roll call of daily reminiscence and motherly concern. 

Then also the hard, strong stuff will walk across my mind at the kind of steady pace that you'd see someone walking to work. 

This one, like a sting: I can't believe what this one single year has held.

I can't believe that there were so many moments of total "over and done" in just one year.  

I can't believe I'm 23 and still single and living at home and not getting to live life with my best friends. 

Once every three minutes, I remind myself that I have no control over what happens in my life. 

Once every three minutes and three seconds, I remind myself that it is best that I have no control over what happens in my life. 

And then those thoughts keep walking along and get put back in the box of weird life things and I start thinking about shaving my arm pit hair again. 

I want 2014 to be closed out- for all different sorts of preservation. I can't say that I'm totally excited for 2015 yet. But that's only because excited isn't the right word. I'm ready for it. I want it to be good. 

Ok, I feel like 2015 has the feeling of running into an ex boyfriend at Urban Outfitters. Not the love of your life ex boyfriend, but just a guy you dated for a few months that one summer. You seriously wish him all the best in the world, but if you had your way, you also would have just rather been at Urban Outfitters and not seen him at all. You were doing fine and now he's standing in front of you and you feel like you should laugh at the not very funny joke he just made. I don't like 2015 and I don't want to laugh at it's dumb jokes. 

Pre-sunrise, sleepy, morning, melancholy is real and it will eat you alive. 

If Kaitlin's friends weren't in the living room sleeping, I'd take a bath. 

2015 is going to be a big year for baths and me. 

Thank you

Thankful for my dad's career advice

(Thankful for lists that are about to be crazy, hard core rambley)

Thankful for my sister's honesty and patience with me

Thankful for my mom thinking I'm funny most of the time

Thankful for my mom forgiving me when I'm actually not being funny anymore

Thankful for bones and muscles that move 

Thankful for creative food

Thankful for creativity 

Thankful for temperatures below 70

Thankful for hand rolled pasta

Thankful for kind strangers

Thankful for my own space 

Thankful for new space

Thankful for new friendships

Thankful for old friendships

Thankful for enduring friendships

Thankful for texting

Thankful for ideas and brainstorming

Thankful for conversation

Thankful for this blog

Thankful for real, loud, embarrassing laughter

Thankful for Taylor Swift

Thankful for my grandparents telling me they're proud of me

Thankful for unexpected support from unexpected community 

Thankful for snow and Seattle

Thankful for Kaitlin making me get out of bed to touch the snow in Seattle

Thankful for Christmas baking

Thankful for about a million other things that I should be thankful for more often than November

Thoughts:

Do you ever feel like it takes longer than it should to put on a shirt? Like once you've put one on and it's all said and done, it feels like you must've done it the wrong way or something. This isn't a metaphor. 

Also, I poured out the five day old cup of coffee that was in my car onto the street and now I feel super convicted about the stain that it's made on the concrete. Also not a metaphor. 

Finally, what do I want to do with my life? And that really is a real question right now. Not a wandering prompt to get to a certain answer. I honestly want to figure this out because I feel like there's something I'm missing. Like a corn maze with lots of perfectly fine routes and exits, but with one of the exits having a chocolate cake at the finish line. Something I'd really enjoy. 

I want to find my chocolate cake corn maze exit. 

On My List

Save money for real
Quilt
A job that I want to think about after 5:00 pm
A road-trip to Seattle
Learn to use my camera
Make things with jars:
- pickles
- jam
Find the best ramen restaurant in OC
Senior Citizen interviews
My own apartment 
One book a week