It’s my birthday! Im feeling so incredibly grateful for my wonderful life and sweet family today. I thought it would be fun to share 30 things I’ve learned these past 30 years:

1. Getting to know yourself is hard but important work.
2. One of the best feelings in the world is having a baby fall asleep on you.
3. There's nothing better than pho when you're not feeling well.
4. Seriously, just drink your water.
5. Find and use your local libraries. 
6. Respect is earned, no one is entitled to it--not even you.
7. Good friends stick around no matter what coast you live on. You'll know they're good because it feels like no time has passed at all any time you talk to them.
8. Don't ever do anything you don't want to do. (But try to do the things you said you would.)
9. Working out matters but for more reasons than fitting into the next size down. 
10. Read a book every now and then, even if you have to make time for it. 
11. Learn how to say no and say it often.  
12. Take your makeup off every night no matter what. 
13. Invest in relationships where you get something back. Walk away from ones that drain you.
14. Go to bed early whenever you can. 
15. But stay up late sometimes. 
16. You get to pick what your life, your marriage, your family looks and feels like. 
17. Kindness is the most important.
18. Don’t wash your hair too much.
19. It’s okay to be more excited about the food than the football. 
20. Sweating your ass off in pants is better than getting eaten alive by mosquitos. 
21. Always have garlic, olive oil, and some pasta in your kitchen pantry. 
22. Also maybe a bottle of sparkling wine. 
23. You matter and you deserve good things. 
24. Worrying is a huge waste of time. Do your best to deal with things as they come. Nothing is ever as bad as you make it out to be.
25. Labor and delivery is the craziest and coolest, most insane ride. 
26.  Expensive liquid eyeliner is overrated.
27.  Good leggings are underrated.
28.  You’ll look back one day and laugh at the things you thought about, cared about, and worried about. You’ll barely even be able to picture the boys who broke your heart.
29.  Work hard but give yourself a break every now and then.
30. You don’t have to be like anyone but yourself. 

PS I’ve been blogging for 10 years! Thank you all so much for sticking around through it all—you’ve truly changed my life for the better.

This post is sponsored by La Crema. Find my favorite pesto recipe on their blog today!

Hello from Charlotte! I've had such a nice week catching up with friends and hanging out in one of my favorite cities, but today I'm on the La Crema blog sharing one of my all-time favorite recipes--my mom's pesto. She's been making it for years and it is still one of the best things I've ever eaten. She would always bring me little frozen containers of it in college--I can still remember them, small and rectangular with rounded corners. Friends from home still remember my mom's pesto--it really is that good!

Pasta is such an easy thing to make (and so is pesto, actually), but I would always feel so grown-up in my college kitchen; salting the water and setting out plates for a family-style dinner in our slightly ugly University-furnished apartment dining area. I'd defrost a little container of sauce and toss it into the hot spaghetti, top it with more cheese, and voila! Dinner was served.

Rob meets us in Charlotte tomorrow and this weekend we're off to Richmond to meet up with my mom, my brother, and my best friend Tina. We don't have very many plans other than to hang out and cook, which is always on the docket whenever we're together. I love the way food brings people together--it's one of the simplest things but one of the best, don't you think? Cooking has always been such a huge part of my life and it means the world to me that I've been able to share it with the people I love the most (and partner with La Crema once again to share another favorite recipe).

I love nothing more than being in the kitchen with family and friends, whipping up something delicious and enjoying a glass of wine. It's always so nice being back on the east coast and visiting my brother and/or mom because we always do just that.

Wishing you a happy and safe Labor Day weekend, friends! Hope it's full of food and fun.

My mom has been in town for a few days and today Sophie and I are flying back to Roanoke with her before continuing on to Charlotte for almost a week! Rob will meet us in North Carolina and then we’re all meeting back up in Richmond to spend some time with my brother and a couple of my best friends.

I’m really excited to take her on some adventures and see some friends! I’ve never traveled with Sophie “alone” before—I’ll pretty much be with friends or family the whole time—but it already feels weird to think about her not seeing Rob every day. I feel so ridiculously lucky to have wound up with this little tight-knit family of mine.

Wish me luck! The last time we took her on a cross-country flight she was cutting two teeth, so I’m hoping for a happier day of travel this time. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!