I’ve been kickin’ and screamin’ on this planet for 21 years!

real still frame from a home video circa May 1997

Today I’m celebrating 21 years of life, legal consumption of alcohol in the United States, aaaaand the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Besides my first legal drink in the US though, this weekend has been filled with many firsts.

First time…

…listening to Harry Styles’ new album. I love his song, “Sweet Creature”!

…being seriously concerned that I could need hip surgery. When I was walking in pain yesterday, I thought I could very well have a labral tear (which would be pretty bad), but the more I moved, the more I ruled that out. I’m going to guess that I just strained some inner thigh muscles, but I’ll report back after a few more days of rest.

…doing a workout in my summer apartment. I made it low impact for my legs + for the downstairs neighbors.

3 rounds:

• 20 alternating single leg slide out bridges
• 20 split squats each leg
• 20 decline plank kicks
• 10 single leg bench sits to twist each leg
• 10 elevated pike pushups

…eating at Pino’s Pizza and White Mountain Creamery! I had a lazy day with Ben and Casey all Memorial Day since it was pretty dreary outside. When we finally got hungry for real food, we took a walk for pizza and ice cream, because #America.

split a Napoli pizza (grilled chicken, broccoli, garlic)

apple pie + banana oreo (← sounded weird, but it was SO TASTY!)

I am a big fan of White Mountain Creamery now. Not a fan that it’s filled with Boston College pride (Boston University’s arch nemesis), but that can be overlooked when it comes to friggin’ good ice cream.

…watching John Mulaney standup comedy and Zootopia. I really liked both!

…showering in the gym. I’ve been going to the campus gym for three years now, and I’ve never showered in the locker rooms. Since I live kinda far from campus now, I can’t just go home and shower in a snap, so I packed a huge duffel bag to carry around all day and finally showered at the gym.

this has nothing to do with my gym shower, but this is what I ate yesterday morning — Kylie’s banana pudding for breakfast

…handling cadavers. For our first gross anatomy teaching assistant meeting yesterday, we had to take care of the cadavers a little bit, and it was quite an adventure! Fluids. Fluids everywhere.

…eating tapas in Boston. For my birthday celebration, my friends joined me at Barcelona (the restaurant, not the Spanish city) for tapas and sangria. The tapas were ON POINT. Perfect for sharing with a big group!

My favorites were the beef empanadas, croquetas (fried balls of ham and melty cheese WOW), and spiced spinach and chickpeas.

…drinking [almost] legally! Ben apparently told the waitress to bring me a celebratory drink at midnight, but she brought it at 11pm without carding me, soooo I just drank it before my official birthday. Thus, turning 21 at midnight was rather anticlimactic, but it was still fun!

sparkling wine with a little candle at the bottom woohoo!

I drank ~1/3 of the sparkling wine. Me: “Alcohol makes me too full. I’d rather just have room for more tapas.”

…drinking white sangria. We ordered a pitcher for the table after we finished our tapas, and holy smokes this was the best alcoholic beverage I’ve ever consumed (I’ve drunk legally in Canada and Ireland before)! I don’t love alcohol in most forms, but this was delicious. The hint of pineapple perhaps?

…taking a shot of brandy. Ben, Casey, Lauren and I had a short, low-key after party at Ben’s place, during which we grooved, ate cookie dough and each took one brandy shot before going home.

Immediately after, I said, “HATE THAT.”

I’m happy to report that I remember absolutely everything that happened last night. Thank you so much to my friends who came out late on a Tuesday night to celebrate with me! ♥︎

…making a smoothie in a Ninja blender. This morning (read: a couple hours ago at 11 am), I blended an overnight oat smoothie in Christie’s huge Ninja blender. What a powerful machine!

oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of salt, yogurt, almond milk, peanut butter, spinach + cereal and sunflower seeds

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Thank you to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday and for all those who pray for me. Most of all, thank you to all those who have touched my life in some way during these past 21 years. God is good. ♥︎

How rare and beautiful it is to even exist. — Sleeping at Last, “Saturn”

So tell me:

What is the best thing you ate this weekend? (← did I already ask that on Monday?)

Any “firsts” this week?

What is your favorite alcoholic beverage if you drink?