How I Celebrated
This birthday was one of the best ones yet because I was able to celebrate with some very special new friends of mine. If you haven’t already seen me raving about these girls on my Instagram, check out the gorgeous ladies in the Golden Girls Crew. I reached out to these girls on Instagram a few months ago and it has been such a blessing in my life to network with them and become genuine friends!
The past few years, I have celebrated my birthday at Coachella with a super small group. This year I wanted to switch it up! To celebrate my birthday we rented the CUTEST pink boat from Electric Boat Co in Newport Beach, CA. We cruised around blasting throwbacks and sipping on BABE wine, it was a literal blogger babe dream (until the sun went down, the wind picked up, and we all almost peed our pants).
- Tips for going on a duffy boat:
- Don’t fill the boat to capacity: the duffy boats are pretty small plus less people = more room for dancing.
- Bring jackets and blankets! It is drastically colder on the water.
- Go out 2 hours before sunset. The sunset is so beautiful and once the sun goes down you will want to get off the boat.
- You are allowed to have open containers on the boats so bring your favorite drink but make sure you have a designated driver.
If you’re interested in reserving this boat you can book on their website: https://eboatsrental.com or email Jeremy at sales@eboatsrental.com. They also have a new boat coming out at the end of this month and a percent of proceeds will be donated to CHOC. PSA the boat does not come with a driver so make sure you trust someone in your group to drive the boat — we figured this out the hard way.
“Realizing Things” – Kylie Jenner
Even though I had the best day celebrating with my girls, my birthday is always an emotional time for me. I think I cry on my birthday literally every year (does anyone else do this? lol). One major reason is the fact that Connor still hasn’t gotten home from his deployment yet and I really thought he would be here for this. But I have also started to realize that my birthday makes me a little anxious about the future and nostalgic for the past. I think about what I pictured my life to be like at 23 and how I haven’t quite lived up to my own expectations. At the same time, I am also so excited about the direction I am headed in. This birthday I really tried to reflect on my life and what I want to change.
If I could describe my life at 22 in one sentence it would be “I don’t have time.” I think I tell Connor at least three times a day that I don’t have time to do half of the things that are important to me. This past year, I was filled with so much motivation and ideas but I literally did not have time to execute it all. I bought a camera and starting taking more pictures, I studied abroad, I started a blog, I started a Youtube channel, I started “influencing”, I worked a ton, I got an internship, and I just barely squeezed by in school. I did so many things but I never felt like I did any of those things well or with my full attention.
At 23, I am sick of half-assing things. I am ready to slow down and start giving full effort to the things that are most important to me. I have realized that I need to invest in myself, put some things on the back burner, and take a few risks. My new goal is to find the time (or if anyone has a time machine please contact me). STAY TUNED, BIG THINGS TO COME!
CAITLIN ASHLIE 