long live miss meesh.

[you can't buy cuteness like that.]

 [massaman curry at thai mango birthday lunch that daddy took me to.]

 [c'est mon anniversaire!]

 [too bad the only thing i liked on this plate were the grapes. also, too bad i still ate everything else.]

 [meeeeat. imagine this times 213 and thats what i ate. you think i'm kidding, ask my friends.]

 [raspberry lemonade concoction.]

 [you bet i brought it.]

 [so happy onnie was in town! i've missed this little otterstein so dang much. nobody laughs with me like she does!]

 [brinn and moi.]

 [me and chels! going strong on 13 years of friendship.]

 [monkey in the middle.]

 [matching bestie watches.]

 [cutest little tykes drawing me pictures on my birthday. oh, i could kiss them all!]

 [making baskin robbins my b.]

 [strawberry doughnut. that whipped cream was a little too much for me. always go for plain glazed, michelle.]

 [making my birthday wish...that everyone was trying to guess at the same time.]

[would've been just fine just eating all the frosting. oh coconut, how you get me every time.]

last friday was my 21st birthday.

and not that my birthdays are always super noteworthy days in my book,

this one was just exceptionally full of awesomeness.

meesh style.

let it be known that i spent the whole day milking that it was the day of my birth 21 years ago by always claiming shotgun, rounding up all the birthday coupons i had accrued online, crediting every positive thing like green arrows to be a birthday miracle, and cat calling at all the hot guys that were running as we drove past them.

apparently birthdays bring out the wacko in me.

whoops?

anyways,

the day started off with a recent favorite:

biking at the gym. with my bff chelsea. as we watched twilight.

let's just say i counted jacob's abs as my first birthday present.

then we rushed home, changed into our swimsuits, and laid by the pool for an hour with court and brinn.

another summer favorite of mine [especially when free cookies are involved, but what else can you expect?].

then, le piece de resistance.

tucano's was so kind to send me a free birthday meal card in the mail [okay fine, i personally requested it online. so sue me] that i was hankering to take advantage of.

ohhhh, that i did.

we met up with ashley, caz, onnie, and matt to feast on some unlimited meats.

note: let me just add that the birthday gods were so in my favor because we were so late to our reservation and the place was packed and we almost didn't get in in time for the lunch deal but they had saved our reservation for us.

 OH YEAH TOTAL SCORE MADE MY ENTIRE DAY.

i'm serious. i take my free meat meals very seriously.

we stayed and ate for hours. 

okay, everyone was basically done after an hour and i kept eating filet mignon and grilled parmesan vegetables.

it's not my fault they can't keep up with the big dogs!

i had had the craving to watch lion king all week [don't ask me why, you know i have no explanation], so that's what we did.

and then drove to baskin robbins and krispy kremes for a free ice cream cone and birthday doughnut.

bliss bliss bliss.

and the night ended by eating homemade-by-brinn german chocolate cake with everyone.

and by everyone, i mean basically me because everyone ate applesauce instead.

don't ask me where i find these wacko friends.

i just wanted to say for journal purposes how grateful i am for everyone in my life right now.

i truly do feel so blessed to have friends that i can be completely myself around and get hardly any flack for it.

i'm grateful for my awesome huge family that truly does teach me to be a better person, and helps me be more in tune with myself.

they've given me a strong personal sense of direction.

it was honestly a little hard for me this year to reflect back on my birthday last year because in my eyes, i had everything then and seem to be falling for anything now.

but the beauty of it all is that your life is truly what you make of it, and i'm going to keep moving forward.

to another year of learning from silly mistakes, eating too much, and becoming more of who i want to be.

my life a couple weeks ago according to my iphone

 [mondays call for reading in the park alllllll the day long.]

 [my first attempt at poaching an egg. half fail.]

 [my third attempt at making a roast. FULL SUCCESS. we fell deeper in love with one another.]

[favorite. not the best at staying away from soda and saving my money. 10 bold tasting calories though! can't beat that.]

["never eat at a restaurant called mom's" in an article at a cafe me and daddy stopped at for breakfast. guess what, they were dead right. blechhh.]

[awkward drink to share with your dad. just sayin.]

[somebody was driving this car.]

[when daddy ditches me to pay bills on the phone, i'm forced to document it via photoshoots. its only natural.]

[fish lake detour.]

[cows waiting for us to go until they crossed. i don't know why, but this cracked me up. such civilized animals.]

[i found heaven in southern utah. too bad i couldn't find a straw.]

[healthy road trip eating aka i ate the whole bag.]

[healthy-ish midnight eating with daddy. wrapped burgers and light lemonade. bought me my own because he didn't want to share. like father like daughter.]

[we made dog tags in honor of grandpa. i bffed it up with cousins jared and joshy poo. attempted to win oodles of candy...and failed miserably. how do they fit so much dang candy in those small containers! science. oh, and my drawing. i know, i'm a regular monet.]

[me and mommyla.]

[daddy and claire on her blessing day.]

[me and sweet clairey.]

[max literally tempting me with cookies all day. kid ate about 8 cookies and would pretend to go get one for you and eat it instead. atta boy!]

life's been a little fun lately.
since school's been out, i've just been working and running aka enjoying life.
and last weekend was one of those "enjoying life" times.
last weekend was the dastrup family reunion.
it was just me and daddy, but we had a freaking blast.
yes, i rode down to nephi with a random boy who fell asleep when we got there.
yes, we ate the nastiest breakfast that no amount of salt could better it for me.
but we made some good mems by accidentally getting to sigurd seven hours early and deciding to speed cruise around fish lake area to kill time.
blasting the beach boys and singing our lungs out.
"do you know what a woody is?"
[hahaha not what you think it is, but laughs were still formed.]
its seriously gorgeous down there.
and i definitely loved being one of the older cousins now, sucking at volleyball, getting addicted to the random sixtyD's that were at the park [okay, just googled them, $140?? so not ideal.], swimming with some cousins in a random hotel pool after almost getting jumped by a newbie crotch rocket rider in the parking lot.
turns out liking tommy boy and jack johnson is so yesterday now.
forgive me for liking the classics you crazy tykes.
also, at the very end we got to go to grandma and grandpa's house to go through their things and take some keepsakes.
i snagged grandma's old copy of how to win friends and influence people, and one of grandpa's army pins for my army jacket that i got in paris.
bittersweetness.

that sunday was my niece and brother joe's baby girl blessing.
clairey is the sweetest little thing in the world.
she didn't cry at all and looked so precious in her white dress.
and her older brother holds my heart. and knows it.
as long as he gives me unlimited fish kisses, i'm totally okay with that.
anyways, it was precious and i bawled, especially when joe bore his testimony.
and i ate my fair [okay, i hoarded] share of fruit and veggies at the after party.

so long story short,
it was a good weekend last weekend, guys.