Welcome back, and happy Monday!

Here's a bit of trivia about me: I hate birthdays.  Not other people's birthdays, but my own.  Every year there's something that goes wrong, or something to make me upset, and I've decided that the overall birthday hype is much more exciting than the day itself.  And that, my friends, is a formula for disappointment.  So, I never get too stoked on the arrival of September 26.  This year was no different.  I was not excited for my birthday.  I felt I had nothing to celebrate.  I felt like celebration would have been totally irresponsible and undeserved, because my life was falling apart and I was in financial turmoil, so who do I think I am throwing some kind of celebration in my honor?

But, this year was the big 2-5, so my wonderful friends, Rachel and Mike, made sure I'd have a birthday getaway to remember.  They completely changed my attitude about the day just by how excited they seemed.  We rounded up the troops, headed to the port, and got on the CATALINA EXPRESS!

Here's where I begin my drink count, because ladies and gentlemen, what the three of us did that day was pretty remarkable, and I must share it.  Just please hold your judgement and remember A) that this is over the span of an entire day, starting at 10am, and ending at who-knows-when-o-clock, and B) it was my freaking quarter century birthday and C) I can cry if I want to.

Drink count: 1 glass of champagne, 1 can of a blonde ale

That's right kids.  My friends took me to the fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer for my 25th birthday!  

It was more beautiful than I ever imagined, and also without out a doubt, the weirdest place I have ever been. 

After we took the short journey around everything that is the town of Catalina, we settled down at a Mexican restaurant for some lunch.  They served us ceviche out of an avocado.  To die for. 

Drink count: 1 glass of champagne and 1 can of a blonde ale on the ferry, and however much 1/3 of a pitcher of margaritas is

Then we decided to take a dip in the ocean.  Bad idea.  Hey kids, remember when your parents said to wait to swim for 30 minutes after a meal?  Listen to them.  I was trying to wade in the water as we all talked, but then one of them made me laugh, and since I was laughing, I couldn't keep myself afloat, which made me laugh harder, which made me sink faster, and being full and tipsy didn't help, and kids, it could have been a shocking ending to an otherwise beautiful day. 

Wanting to be adventurous, but understanding that we were probably too tipsy to attempt anything too dangerous, we went on a miniature hike!  The views there in Catalina were next level.  It completely felt like we were on an altogether different island in the middle of nowhere, instead of just an hour and a half of the coast of California.  

As the sun became less prevalent, so did our desire to hike.  We went to the tiniest little grocery shop to get water and other necessities, and we headed back to the room to shower and change.  

There was a rooftop deck at our hotel, overlooking the entire town, and after we got into our Sunday best, we grabbed my gifted bottle of Basil Hayden's (which is my favorite whiskey in the world so thank you Shea!) and watched the sunset.  

Rachel has been that steadfast friend I so needed upon moving here.  We've got each other's backs in that sister type of way.  One of the running jokes of the trip was that every time Shea made fun of Rachel even slightly, I would respond, "Don't talk to my friend that way!" 

She is always down for WHATever, she indulges with me, she's the voice of reason when she needs to be, she is just the best and I'm so lucky to have snagged her into my inner circle.  

Drink count: 1 glass of champagne and 1 can of a blonde ale on the ferry, however much 1/3 of a pitcher of margaritas is at the Mexican restaurant, and two glasses of Basil Hayden's on the rocks

This is Michael Shea.  Another friend I snagged out of that Godforsaken restaurant I used to work at.  A downright good homie.  Always down for anything from getting coffee and talking comedy, to splitting a pitcher of margaritas and hardcore parkour-ing.  I mean, he came on this birthday trip with two girls, with no possibility of getting laid.  That's friendship.  

I have no photos of that night, but once the sun was fully down, we walked to an ocean view restaurant, ate our weight in three courses, and proceeded to have one of the weirdest nights of my life.  We made our way to what seemed like the local dive bar, but left after one beer because it felt like everyone was staring at us.  We were just on a much higher level than everyone there, so we made our way to the only nightclub in Catalina, which we're convinced was an off duty strip club.  There were about, 12 people inside, no exaggeration, and we started controlling the music, and dancing our asses off on the dance floor, pretty much by ourselves.  I fell on the dance floor multiple times, but was told by my friends that I'd accompany the fall with an, "It's my birthday!" and keep going.  

Drink count: 1 glass of champagne and 1 can of a blonde ale on the ferry, however much 1/3 of a pitcher of margaritas is at the Mexican restaurant, two glasses of Basil Hayden's on the rocks at the hotel, two glasses of Woodford Reserve on the rocks at dinner, 1 beer at the dive bar, and one last glass of Basil Hayden's on the rocks at the off duty strip club, and a partridge in a pear tree.  

Needless to say, I woke up the next day in one of the rougher hangovers of my existence.  But not regretful.  Never regretful.  I'm 25 and alive ok?  We got breakfast at this cute but bizarre little diner, I grabbed myself a pedialyte from the town shop, cause duh, and we laid on the beach for the rest of the day.  We talked about going kayaking or paddle boarding, but then we got a beer as a kind of hair of the dog situation instead. 

Then we headed back to the ferry, slept on the ride home, and we were back.  A wonderfully weird two days spent in the oddest place on earth, and it was the perfect place with the perfect company to start my 25th year.  

If you've made it this far, you might be someone who's interested enough in what I do here on The Jones to purchase a print of one of my photographs!  I'm starting to think about creating a click-through link on my photos, so if you feel connected to one, you can go ahead and purchase a print for your home!  If you'd be interested in this at all, leave a comment so I know if I should look into it!!! 

I hope your week goes smoothly, and that if not, you buy a bottle of Basil Hayden's to make it all okay.  Love one another.  Til next time!

xoxo