Feeling 22

I'm pretty excited to be 22.

Early October always makes me nervous about my birthday. I get sentimental about the passing of time and I genuinely love to be the age that I am, so the change every year is always a surprise (as silly as that sounds). Plus, the fall weather makes me want to curl up, drink tea, and write poetry, so I end up seeming a little mopey.

I like to spread out the celebration of my birthday as much as possible. On Thursday, I went to a poetry reading at Beyond Baroque, a literary center in nearby Venice. It was a class assignment, and I could not find anyone to go with, so I went by myself. At the reading, I sat and took notes, and enjoyed the peaceful environment. Freshmen year Gillian could have never gone to that by herself.

On Friday, I reviewed a dance show at UCLA's Royce Hall. Former ballerina and current Associate Artistic Director of New York City Ballet (the first woman ever!) Wendy Whelan performed with cellist Maya Beiser. The performance was such a testament to female power and grace in all forms. At 52, Whelan still comands the stage with virtuosity. Sometimes, I get stressed about the timeline on my career, but this work reminded me that dance will be with me for my whole life.

Saturday brought a trip around town to get as many free birthday gifts as possible. Free Starbucks, free makeup from Sephora and Ulta, free samples from Whole Foods. I made food for myself all day - scones for breakfast, assorted cheese and crackers for lunch, brownies for dessert. My roommates and I got sushi for dinner from my favorite restaurant, and I went to two bars in Santa Monica.

Even though my birthday weekend is over, the celebration does not end! I am excited to go to the musical Anastasia in downtown LA next weekend, and I am really looking forward to Halloween this year because I am not on duty!

And of course, I will be playing Taylor Swift's song "22" for the next 365 days. I have to soak it all in.