because youth is only a state of mind.

it's funny because sometimes i have to remind myself that i am a twenty-two year old college graduate and cannot still ride the kiddy rides at disneyland. in my mind i still picture myself being twelve years old and having sleep overs with my friends and wearing matching puffy paint pj's. i'm going to be honest, sometimes i yearn for the days of my childhood; when the only thing I had to worry about was perfecting my slicies on the handball court. Or whether or not i had dunkaroos in my lunch. or when recess occurred multiple times a day on a daily basis. minnie mouse was, and still is pretty legit, but now in this time frame there are much bigger and better things to worry about aside from meeting mickey's mrs.

life happens. you graduate college and realize that the map you had meticulously planned out for the subsequent years following is not the map you're supposed to be following. i was talking with a good friend today about how scary it is to not know what's ahead. how scary it is to go new places and live a life you're not quite sure how, but yet you do it anyways because that's kind of the only thing you really can do. for most of the recent college grads, you realize that you are no longer living life on a semester by semester basis. where all you had to worry about was making sure classes didn't start before noon, and that fridays consisted of absolutely no school and only cafe rio and matinee movies. but then you finally reached that light at the end of the tunnel and finished. now it's the big leagues. it's real life. and all you can do it live it.

i kept asking myself if this was real life when i was taking these pictures. i mean really? done? i still can't believe it, but i do have a diploma hanging on my wall so i guess it was real life. woo COLLEGE! 

so after the big hoo-rah-wing-ding of awkwardly trying to wear the cap hat and the gown that makes you realize what life in the wardrobe of judge judy might be like, i headed home for a mini vacation in some california sunshine. 

dodgers never disappoint. i don't care that they haven't won a world series since 1988. i always have and always will bleed dodger blue. mike piazza 4L.

 call and gillz. words just don't do these two justice.

but sometimes, i do make an exception for the inland empire 66ers. the 909 deserves some respect.

but probably my favorite thing about being home is hanging out with two of my brothers.

creeper smile.

and finally, this gem of a girl who has been my sister for the past 19 years and will be for the next 19+, had a bridal shower shower yesterday that my mom and i gave her. it was perfect. but then again i wouldn't expect anything less than that for a perfect bride!

1998.......................................................................................2011

sometimes i consider giving up my current career goal and just going into the wedding planning business.

but here's the thing, at the end of the day, as much as i loved being twelve with my beanie babies and puffy paint, i love even more being twenty-two with my uncertainty and excitement. i love planning countless wedding showers and giving catherine heigal a run for her money in 27 dresses. i love having 80 years of life ahead of me (yes i plan to live until i am 102 years young). youth is only a state of mind.