Yesterday, my husband and my father and my Auntie Kelly came together to give me the best day ever. My husband took me to La Costa Resort, my father sent me to the spa there, and my Auntie kept my kids for the night so my beloved and I could escape from parenthood for the first time since before Roux was born.

It’s been so long since we’ve been alone as individual adults and it was so incredibly refreshing, that alone was such a great gift. We had a few private grieving moments, things I’m sure we’ll continue to share for a long time to come. But we had time to connect in a meaningful and memorable way, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We’d never been to a spa together before and it was a day we’ll always remember.

We kept saying to each other when you live in a place like San Diego such as we do, there is no shame in vacationing in your own city. There is no shame ever in vacationing in your own city, I’m allll about the staycation, but my point is that La Costa is world-renowned for a reason.

Ah, birthdays. My absolute favorite time to reflect. To consider the past and prepare for the future, acknowledging the significance of another completed rotation around the sun. It seems as I get older that each birthday is a little more poignant, there is a little more at which to look back and a little more at which to look forward. Perhaps that is part of getting older, awareness and all that, or maybe it’s just the time in my life for that kind of self-attunement.

There is something about turning 34 that has intensified my desire to be better, to try harder, to spread more love. To be a being of light and not sorrow, to let hope replace worry, to cultivate authentic beauty, these are the markers of success for which I am striving.

I plan on unfolding right along with this next year, flowing with whatever may come, rejoicing and accepting with a grateful heart every step of the way.