IT'S MY PARTY // 22 years, people.

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Today is my 22nd birthday(!!!!). 

I remember being ten + thinking by the time I was 22 I would surely have

three kids + graying hair + a four-car garage. I used to think 22 was 

so old. Now that I'm here + reporting live, I can firmly say : 

I still feel like a 10 year old.

But my birthday! Today was great. In classic Brooke fashion, I locked my keys in 

my car this morning...spoiling my day full of errands + TREAT YO SELF-NESS. Ha. But you know what? I am glad I did. Today was full of long (LONG!) walks to get my caffeine fix + long baths (yes, plural) to be extra indulgent + long sessions on the couch, catching up on all the television I have missed these past couple weeks. And then Jeff came home! I ran to him like a puppy to its owner -- KEYS! CAR! LET'S GO! We went to Alamexo in SLC where I decided I, for no reason at all, wanted to be the most favorite person in the restaurant + tried to win the love of our waiter (have you ever had that desire? Sometimes I get the itch; I imagine the waiter going back to the kitchen and bragging about how they have the best table ever + how they are so lucky -- ONE DAY!). We dined on fresh guacamole, corn, salsa, and enchiladas. Oh! And the best churros I have ever had in. my. whole. life. 

We ended the night on Temple Square where I begged gaggles of adolescents to take our picture. Ha. Twenty points Jeff for obliging and for twinning with me.
(also, let it be noted, he started my birthday fiesta with a plate of salty, burnt bacon...MY MAN!)

(If you don't like your bacon burnt to a crisp, you ain't livin'...)

...and now, finally (this was going to happen eventually)...

I'M FEELIN' 22! 

Ha...

I've waited all year to say that. 

Anticlimactic. 

a little of what i've been up to...and i happy sunday, because, duh.

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sorry for the absence, 
but i'm excited to announce something exciting...

baby stapleton coming june 2017! ha. gotcha. i'm only kidding people. last time i did a pregnancy hoax, i had a bearded friend of my jeffrey touching my stomach ten months later. nope sir, that is just a steady diet of tortilla chips + peanut butter you are feeling...

but i have been up to...things! like turning twenty one, for instance. my twenty first was what dreams were made of, people! i had dinner with my friends + a rumbi bowl with my jeffrey (and his brother in tow, hi shane!) + wandered target with a large soda in my hand for no good reason at all. dreams! also jeff woke me up with ninety eight balloons piled on top of me. have i ever told you balloons give me the heebies? just one of the many things me and oprah have in common...

i also got a new job. you might be wondering if i get a new job every two weeks to which i answer yes, my resume is actually a fold out pamphlet at this point but like, isn't that what part time jobs are all about?! any hoots, i'm a substitute. and i'm the 95% certain i am worst. i just sit there + try to get the kids to gossip with me because why was karen crying in first period, anyways?! 
anyways, a story : i subbed a first grade class this wednesday before i left (oh, hi from california where it is currently sixty something degrees + people are wearing ugg boots? why?) and the teacher decided to make a 'naughty + nice' list. the kids on the nice list were able to go to the class christmas party but the kids on the naughty list had to go to the library + feel their anxiety bubble up and explode inside of them. people! these are six year olds! mothers were lined up at the door explaining how their child had cried themselves to sleep the night before + children were bawling their eyes out...oi vey. it was a treat! also hat tip to the teacher for leaving that drama bomb + taking cover for the explosion. ha.

in other words, dear utah : i am adding oodles to your school system. ;)
(i am not actually the worst. in fact,  a 16 year old told me i was the best sub she ever had after i told her i shopped at forever twenty one. it's a small feat?)

onwards! my sister came to visit. when she comes, it's slightly magical. it might be because the whole week is caffeine shakes + sugar highs coupled with little sleep + punchy music. anyways, we had fun. she brings out a side of me that i usually leave tucked away (...this ain't about to be a ciara-like confession, here) + i find myself caring about the kardashians + high school drama a whole lot more + wearing obscene hats that say 'thug wife' on them. it's fun.
also, related : the amount of camo in my wardrobe increased substantially after her visit? hrmph?

like i said before, now i'm in california. we finished all of our christmas shopping yesterday remarkably. i say remarkably because the lines were crazy + we had panda express for lunch. i actually felt my brain throbbing at one point. what do they put in that stuff?! we are hoping to enjoy all that california has to offer for the next week + a half...and mostly just marvel over having a fully stocked pantry because, duh.


happy sunday, people!

hilary duff + twenty years of life... or where i try to make something of my last year. go with it.

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i'm nearly twenty one, you know? this upcoming monday! get your party pants on + your streamers ready + don't give me too much attention because i thrive on that stuff + before you know it i'll be twirling around singing a nearly unrecognizable version of santa baby + staring at you, begging for your approval + reminding you that you created this monster, now give me a hearty courtesy laugh!

i'm just joking, sort of?

my morgan friend + i were talking about life today. real deep, no? well, we were talking about life in between long, heated manifestos about how hilary duff truly followed the straight + narrow and about our love for deep, gothic flowers. whatever those are. any hoots, were were talking about how fast life can move! it feels like a year is such a long time + then, poof! you are left scratching your head and thinking, was dying my hair darker really the most noteworthy thing i did this year? 
answer : sort of.

my twentieth year was one where i just left things gel. i'm a wife +, while there are some definite logistics + parameters, it means whatever i want it to mean, you know? like this whole marriage thing has me saying 'who gun stop me now?' fifty five times more than a normal adult woman should. i'm an awful full-time employee...and student and that is okay, i can make ends meet many other ways. i love to cook but would much rather get eye rolls for brining in store-bought cookies than have to whip it up myself. i need my girl time and i need my alone time. weekly.  and that's so okay. i'm sort of more introverted than i expected? i'm not always happy + funny. oh, + i'm not an ombre type of girl. i just ain't.
i learned to not care so much what people think. i never thought i did, but also i kind of do? i feel like each year i'm giving less damns about the approval of other people which is awesome yet really scary for my future? i predict a lot of muumuus + not a lot of bras. mmmm.

i like this twenty-year-old brooke, despite the thousand things she started + quit + started again + quit for good this year. ha! but hi! twenty-one! new license + a new start! (group poll : i don't have to add those 'x' amount of pounds i gained since my last license, right? right.) also i'm talking in third person? this should stop?

the point of this all is...welp, back to hilary duff? she's my safe place.

and a happy birthday to me!

three minutes into my twentieth year i waxed a bit too much off my eyebrow and cursed into the mirror. my eyebrows are one of my prized possession, you know. we have been through a lot together, me and them; they've been too thick and then too thin and then way too thin that one time i plucked my eyebrows while talking on the phone and one time my left one up and fell off when i crashed my bike and cracked my head open. but finally,  finally they were perfect. up until three minutes into my twentieth year, that is. 

but hey, i'm kind of growing to like it? sort of? and i feel like it all might be one grand metaphor for my life. sometimes i make quick decisions that make me go "oh #*$#!" and then i later i'm like "hey! i kind of like this eyebrow that is half missing and makes me look like i am always suspicious of something!" 

...on second thought, i think it was just a really bad wax job. 

and did i mention i'm twenty now? it was really quite convenient, my mom, grandma + paige were in town during my birthday weekend and spoiled me sufficiently. like, two separate drinks at ikea type of spoiling (one at the beginning, one at the end...le duh!). my mom also threw me a quick little surprise party which nearly every guest was late for. in fact, all but two showed up thirty minutes later which made me all sorts of confused...hi lindsay...why are you in my mom's hotel room? 

in other words, it was the best twentieth birthday yet; full of love, soda, and chocolate chip pancakes (with peanut butter on top!). thanks to everyone who helped me transition into adulthood (no longer a teen! say what!) and who has put up for me for some or all of these twenty years (...and i'm really sorry about my third, tenth, and fifteenth year. rough patches are real). 

i'm so glad you were born.

it seems i have somehow turned this weekend into a makeshift ‘brooke’s big birthday and friend fawning’ session?

earlier last week, i mentioned how a postcard from my dear friend murny constituted for the best day ever. little did i know (ugh, story of my finals…)! little did i know, that i was going to keep having the best days ever.

for in my mailbox awaited… 

…lots and lots and lots more postcards from some of my favorite people!

the notes made me laugh, cry (almost!), and cringe from the raw sentimentality. each one was so special and reminded me of the friendship that i had with each person (okay…stop…finals are making me sappy).

i am so glad that all of them were born. cyber hug!

and i’m so glad that i was born too…because this life has a lot of best days ever and that’s pretty rad.

birthday pt. two.

 

the rest of the my birthday just served as an affirmation that i have some of the best and most sweetest friends in the whole world of wide (accidental fat joke). i feel like i am a portly man dating a superstar supermodel; i have no idea what i have done to deserve these friends but i am so, so grateful for them.

as i was getting ready for the night, lily, rach, and avery walked in and sang me happy birthday and presented me with the sweetest gift ever: 19 things that i love for my 19th birthday. the gift included sweet nothings like chocolate covered almonds, a gift card to mcdonald’s, cosmopolitan, nail polish, and a picture book entitled ‘hot guys and baby animals.’ they know me all too well.

after i had opened the gift and gushed over everything, we picked up ally and syd and headed over to spark–a hilariously ironic and suave non-alcoholic lounge. there we ordered drinks and split food and soaked in how suave and grown up we were (“i feel like i’m TWENTY right now!”). 

when the last of the drinks had been slurped, we ran down the stairs and shoved our checks at the waiter. i was really curious as to why we were in such a hurry but thought that maybe everyone was on the same cycle? or really sick of me? or the hour my mom had paid for them to be my friends was up? something to that extent.

we then piled into lily’s car, blasted christmas music, and sped off to ‘the chocolate’ where a surprise was awaiting.

when we arrived, i thought things were a little bit weird. sydney and ally were nowhere to be found, the man behind the counter was sheepishly smiling at me, and lily, rach, and aves refused to walk up the stairs first. ummm…okay?

as i walked up the stairs, the first people i saw were my brother and his wife and my friend and her boyfriend…was this some weird group date that i was barging in on? i awkwardly smiled at them only to be met with a loud ‘SURPRISEEEEE!’ coming from the next room. 

a surprise party.

for me!

the next hour was filled with hugs (and i’m not a hugger), excitement, and complete awareness that i had apparently peed my pants during the car ride over?  

thanks so much to everyone that helped make my birthday so great (or: thank mom, for paying my friends so well). i love you all more than you will ever know…ever, because i’m not the affectionate type.

so far, 19 is pretty kick-a.

birthday pt. 1.

when the clock struck midnight, friends and i hurried off to celebrate my nineteenth birthday as any nineteenth birthday should be celebrated: with mcdonald’s diet coke, fresh fries, and rollerskating. 

earlier that day, landon’s dad came into town and took a big group of us out to tucano’s (truth: it wasn’t for my birthday at all, but it’s fun to pretend). have you ever been to tucano’s?! they just keep feeding you and feeding you and feeding you till you think you’re going to pop. i felt like i was at the fanciest costco in the world with all the samples (and don’t worry, i didn’t refuse any; chicken heart? sure!)

the moral of this story?

ummm…

my birthday was a day in which i happily gained 27 pounds.

(oh. and after tucano’s and before mcdonald’s my intramural team won the division one intramural championship…it’s really no big deal or anything. also, this post is chronologically kooky)

but anyways, after rollerskating i rolled into my bed and woke up a few hours later for a final review in my religion class. and then i gave myself the gift of a few more hours of sleep and got back under the covers (a gift that i’m sure will bite me in the but later…like a cheese plate or butt-hungry pug!).

two hours later, i found myself in sonic (sitting INSIDE! i didn’t even know there was such a thing) with the lovely and blonde morgan. we gulped down route 44′s and munched on tater tots and played with my camera (isn’t she the prettiest?!). 

for lunch (sonic was just a warm up), a group of girls and i headed up to the sixth floor of the wilkinson center to the fanciest restaurant on campus. it was a buffet. buffets may be the death of me–i just want to try everything! the lighting was perfect so of course i had to snap pictures of them (…they were so annoyed); it was such a task trying to hold the camera still while laughing so hard. 

i really, really love my friends.

and i really, really love buffets.

and i really, REALLY love my parents for, you know, bringing me into this life. you guys should go to a buffet or something.