Love Yourself (Or, to quote Miley Cyrus: "You can buy yourself flowers")

Let me start this by saying that I am married to my Justin, who is perfectly imperfect. No, seriously...he's the best. We just surpassed seven years of marriage and I can say honestly that I love him more than I did at the start. Now that's not to say that not every day is full of sunshine and rainbows, but you know...that's LIFE. There's some days he gets on my nerves and ticks me off, and I know for a fact he can say the same about me. ANYWAY...

This past Friday was Valentine's Day. Sometimes Justin and I do something and sometimes we don't, and we're okay with that. This past Valentine's Day I offered to bring home pizza since I was going to be in Lexington. Y'all...he was SO excited. So that's what I did, and we watched a movie, and had some gelato, and it was honestly perfect. But before I picked up our pizza to bring home, I spent the day...by myself. Yep, you read that. A day full of love and sappy-ness and being with your person and...I was by myself? Yep. And I was more than okay with that. I mean...for starters, he had to work (Boo!), but I had something I needed to do in Lexington so I took a vacation day. What did I do?

I had my post-piercing follow up appointment (The thing I had to do in Lexington)...but I bought myself some cute little earrings just because. I went next door and had a fabulous sushi lunch...and sat in the restaurant in a booth all by my lonesome and happily read my book. I went shopping and bought a pretty skirt for like $3 and a gently used Kate Spade purse in a to-die-for shade of metallic pink that was 70% off. I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's just for fun. And that was my day! I was so happy and full of joy by the time I got home. 

And here's the thing...I do these sorts of things...OFTEN. 

It's not uncommon for me to bugger off to go poke around the peddler's mall or Home Goods if Justin's working on his bike or out for breakfast with his men's group. If I know I have a particularly long day at work coming up, I will stop at Dutch Bros or Dunkin before going in to get myself a ridiculous coffee. Heck, I usually stop at Dutch Bros or Dunkin after a doctor's appointment because, yes, your almost 35 year old girl here still hates going to the doctor. If I'm out grocery shopping and I see pretty half off flowers at Kroger or wherever, you better believe I'm bringing them home, just because they make me happy. If Justin has to work late, he will put me to bed so I can get some sleep because he knows how much I like my sleepy. Last night, Justin went to go exercise with his friend, so I sat on the couch with a big blankie and a cup of Sleepy Time tea and watched true crime stuff on TV. If I have a chunk of time off of work, I hit the gym early...and then come home for an epic nap. If I just feel like blah and draggy...I will go down to the hall to the vending machine and buy myself a snack because sometimes eating a junk snack just makes me feel better. If I get up before Justin on the weekend, you'll probably find me with a cup of coffee reading whatever book I'm into at the time...something I'm happy to do for hours. If it's cold and crappy and rainy outside, you can guarantee I'm making a pot of some kind of soup for dinner because soup makes me happy on a cold and crappy day. And don't get me started on my office at work that is full of silly pictures, trinkets, stuffed animals, and fake plants. 

I guess what I'm saying is that at the end of the day, yes, even if you are with someone, the only person who can love yourself the best is YOU. And if I'm being totally honest and transparent? Life is shit sometimes, and the world is shit most of the time. So we need to do whatever we need to do to find those little moments of joy, because otherwise...we're just going to go nuclear. We need to take care ourselves and I am a firm believer in not just treating yourself, but seriously romanticizing and prioritizing those little things. You do not need permission to do things or buy things that bring you joy just because someone else might think it's stupid or they don't get it or they think it's childish or WHATEVER. Who cares what other people thing? 

If you want extra whipped cream on your double XL triple shot frozen coffee with caramel and chocolate, then get extra whipped cream. 

If you want that silly beanie baby toy at the gas station because you think it's cute and it makes you smile, then get two. 

If you had a long, crappy week and you want to spend your Saturday in bed rotting, then fire up the Netflix and rot, baby! 

Love yourself!!! Because you know? You're worth it. You're so worth it! 😍

currently writing this while eating the two Lindor truffles I tucked into my lunch bag today because TREAT YO SELF.