27 things I learned by my 27th birthday

1. By some magic the top knot I slept in the night before can look chic at work if I add a bold red lip.

2. The most important conversations in life happen in parked cars.

3. Joy is the most courageous choice I’ll ever make.

4. Grilled cheese and Grey’s Anatomy binges are Band-Aids. If everything hurts I need to get outside and take a walk. I need to pray honestly.

5. It is 100% worth spending all your savings to sip champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower with your best friend.

6. I ‘knew’ when I realized I’d rather do laundry with him than be on a tropical island with anyone else.

7. Regret is so much harder to live with than failure.

8. Life is not a pizza, if someone wins or succeeds that does not mean there is less left over for me.

9. All relationship begins in knowing I am worthy of love.

10. Age and education have very little to do with character and maturity.

11. Friendships are so very different after college. Long commutes to brunch, Facetime book clubs, and weekend getaways will be worth it every time.

12. Forever 21 dresses look like they were made primarily for weekends in Vegas if you are 5’8”.

13. Consistency of action trumps words.

14. Dreams that feel too big for me are a good place to practice faith in the God of the unimaginable.

15. I’m healthiest when I’m exercising and eating for myself, not cute guys or magazine abs.

16. It’s silly to wait to use the china or expensive perfume. Everyday celebrations are best: eat pancakes on the china and spritz the Chanel before Trader Joes.

17. Friends who get in the dirt with me and pray like it’s their fight too, are the glue that holds my life together.

18. Donuts + apple pie, they're a life lesson

19. A stable, well-paying job isn’t a prison, it's the opportunity to be utterly picky until the perfect career presents itself.

20. No one can replace your mama.

21. If you both want to tattoo the word ‘home’ when you marry, I’m not sure life gets sweeter.

22. Don’t speak at a political belief, speak with a human who holds their political ideas gingerly before you.

23. Timing is unbelievably important.

24. Owning my story, the high-highs and low-lows, is the most empowering thing I can do.

25. Family can be chosen.

26. It is my personal responsibility to help revive the art of the handwritten note.

27. If I slow down and look around at my life, it's hard not to exhale thank you, thank you, thank you.