It’s important to do exactly as one wants on one’s birthday. This morning, I left my house early and stopped at Comet Coffee and Croissanterie on the way to work to get a pain au chocolat and a cappuccino.

I snagged my favorite table by the window and leisurely sipped my cappuccino and ate my croissant. Then, I got out my journal and wrote for a while.

I don’t usually get sentimental on my birthday but for some reason, I have a lot of reflections this year. Maybe it’s because it’s the first birthday that I’ve celebrated at home in a while. Maybe it’s because a pain au chocolat reminds me of France, and I miss it there everyday. For whatever reason, I had a lot of emotional reflections. WARNING: This post is about to get gushy.

If you would have asked me a year ago if I’d be eating a pain au chocolat and drinking a cappuccino at a bakery in my hometown on my birthday, I would have laughed in your face. Life is unpredictable, especially when we think that we have everything figured out.

I also would have said a year ago that I wouldn’t be happy to be back in St. Louis full-time, but now that’s untrue. I feel lucky to be surrounded by family again and I’ve enjoyed rediscovering my hometown.

St. Louis is stealthily amazing. It’s modest about its food, coffee, gardens, and beauty. To the untrained eye, it might not have that much to offer. But strolling around the city the last few months, eating at restaurants, chilling in coffee shops, and visiting local shops has shown me its value and potential.

A lot of times, I get caught up in the future. I worry about what I should be doing or where I should be. Today as I was writing, I remembered how important it is to savor the present. Happiness starts with the beauty we cultivate in our everyday lives. I’m going to focus on this during the year to come.

Here are a couple songs that I’m jamming out to today. One is an old favorite and one is new.