Dear Teenage Self....

A Letter to myself when I was sixteen...


Dear Me,

There are literally SO many things I want to tell you, it's hard to know where to start. You've just celebrated your sixteenth birthday. You rocked that white tank top and the orange hawaiian print skort, just own it. You rented Picture Perfect on VHS (ps: by the time you graduate high school, VHS will not really be a thing anymore), and you ate cake and opened presents and talked about boys. Right now you're thinking "wow, this is what it feels like to be grown up". You'll actually have that feeling all over again when you're in your mid-twenties. Don't stress about it. Go eat a box of Twinkies and do something irresponsible (it's okay, we both know you won't).

The Backstreet Boys will not always be cool. Eventually they'll get old and have wrinkles, and let's be honest, you never really liked them that much to begin with. Stay loyal to Paul McCartney, he'll never lose his awesome-status, I promise.

That guy you're crazy about right now? You won't actually marry him like you think you will. You won't marry the guy you go out with after him, either. But it's fine - trust me. There's a tall handsome blonde guy named Kevin in high school in Georgia right now - he's funny, smart, and adorably nerdy. He plays clarinet in the marching band, and you will fall crazy in love with him when you're 25 and living in Atlanta. Oh yeah...you'll be living in Atlanta. Don't worry about it, it'll all work out. But this guy will be the best thing that has ever happened to you, and you'll enjoy yourself SO much on your first date that you will be out way past midnight, and will not hear the multiple panicked calls from your dad asking where you are.

Listen to your conscience. In high school there will be a guy who gets bullied a lot by the more popular guys. You will spend a lot of time as an adult regretting the fact that you never really did anything bold to stick up for him. Just do it. You'll feel dumb in the moment, but I promise you'll feel good about it well into your mid-twenties.

You will go to college. You won't finish. It won't be the end of your life, so don't beat yourself up so much about it. You'll get on track, just listen to mom and dad. They know what they're talking about, and when you're older, you'll be incredibly thankful for them every day.

You're not a bad cook, so don't listen to anybody who tells you that you are. Someday you will make roasted lamb with rosemary and cracked pepper with sautéed broccolini and fingerling potatoes, and you will have a sense of culinary accomplishment that will spark a love of food. Go with it.

You'll have hard times. Roll with it, and take time to focus in on who you really are. I promise by the time you're in your mid-twenties, everything will be in better perspective.

xo

Your 27-year-old self...