Go Party. It's Your Birthday.

Oh, come on. We've all done it before, right? That thing where we look in the mirror and decide, "wow. I look nice," but then we still ask others how we look just so we can hear it out loud? I mean, I've never done that, but I'm sure all the rest of you have.

The funny thing is that no one likes that person. No one likes the compliment fisher.

"OMG, I'm so ugly. No, seriously. I'm ugly. This dress is horrible. Ew, I hate me. I hate my face."

Etc.

And then you have to be all, oh, god, no. You're so pretty. How did you get to be the hottest person alive? Your face is my favorite face of all time.

Etc.

It's hard sometimes being a blogger, one that tries to be open and honest, and not coming off as a fisher. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but that's how I feel sometimes when I post about my own blog or my insecurities. I guess I fear people will interpret it as an invitation for validation rather than an attempt at sharing and honesty.

This was just all on my mind because I'm about to tell you how awesome my blog is to me. This is in no way an invitation for validation or anything. Seriously. Don't give me sideways eyes.

Basically, today is the one day that I can stand in front of the figurative mirror and say, "Looking good today, blog. You are amazing," and not feel bad. And not really because I think my blog is amazing, per se, but because it is alive. 

Two years ago, I sat down a wrote a post about how I had nothing to say. Some might say that I've been saying nothing this whole time. Today, I'm okay with that, because I've been saying nothing for two years.

Anyways, the point is, yes, we've reached a bloggiversary.

Last year, we celebrated by recounting the birth of LttP, in what is still one of my favorite posts to date. Other favorites include "The Breakfast of Champions," where it is decided no one eats Wheaties and "The One With a Lot of Teeth" where Dora needs to STFU
Here's what's happened from then to now:

- A random outing lead to me picking up a box of zebra cakes. I never really stopped picking them up.

- I vlogged for the first time and went on to record 4 more throughout the year.

- Rox, Penny and I took to meeting almost strangers on a whim. I met Hoooney and he gave us Googley Eyes of Death, Rox and I met Antonio Telemundo the most unavailable boy ever, we met that one guy who hated everything and MikeTeeth, whose favorite thing ever was "full disclosure."

- My laptop was stolen and I wished the culprit's penis fell off. And then I forgave him.

"I apologized when he fell in love with me, but not with who I am. So, I was forced to apologize for my preferences. I apologized because his cigarette smoke made me cough. I apologized because I would never get the tattoo he often joked about. I apologized because I want children during the course of my life, and he was okay with the one he had. I apologized because I still had faith, and he'd lost it all. I apologized because he was up to his ears in emotions, and I was reserved and proceeding with caution. He loved me, or some version of me, intensely. Briefly. And for that I apologized."

I wrote that!

- I spent Christmas here:

- Penny blogged 3 times.

- Roxanne blogged 4 times.

- Penny, Roxanne and I saw Jimmy Eat World, and it smelled like beer battered vagina. I also so Relient K in concert.

- It was decided. Man razors are better:

- Penny and I rode banana bikes up and down the boardwalk on Hollywood Beach.

- We met Harley and Scrubs, who came all the way from Ireland. We ate tons of sweets and had a few drinks with them.

- I went to the dentist for the first time in 10 years.

- That one time I had costochondritis, an injury common to rowers. And me.

- My niece turned two and I survived her party full of Dora. DORA.

- That time Penny and I went to a baseball game, and sat in front of little boy with a cowbell. 

- That brief period of time I fell in love with 90's Dean Cain.

- A string of nights downtown where we heard things like, "Cairo in this bitch!" and said things like, "ever feel like you're in a douche sandwich?"

- I helped start my favorite thing on the Internet, Childhood Trauma.

- I got hired at BobU, but had an amazing last few weeks at Paper Folding USA.

- The fourth of July block party we went to and the time Summie found the blog and thought I hated her. :(

- My second niece, Ellie-bug was born.

- I met another fellow blogger, Teacher Girl!

- Penny and I had adventures in Chicago, including but not limited to, seeing a Cubs game, eating pizza with Melbourne on my Mind, walking all around the city with Sweeney, and attending the 20sb summit.

- Somewhere in here, I started working for 20sb!

- Asking Roxanne if she would ever blog again and having her say no. Coming to terms with being a lone blogger.

- Pistene got married to her Navy Man and I ran away from a few boquet tosses.

It all seems to have happened so quickly, but I suppose measuring your year in blog posts will do that to you.

Thank you every one for this past year. For sticking with me, for commenting and laughing with me and at me. For patting me on the back when I needed it. For patting me on the head when I deserved it. I truly love all of your faces.

I'm not very good at commitment or follow through. Except for this.

And, seriously. How do I look?

Kidding,