Ever since 2012, I have waited to unlock the God-tier of white girl-ness and caption a birthday selfie with Taylor Swift’s most iconic lyrics, ‘I don’t know about you… but I’m feeling 22!1!!’. Yet, on the eve of my 22nd birthday, I was feeling kind of sad. Yes, I’m getting older and birthdays are less exciting and only remind me that time is going way too fast.

When I was younger, I always promised myself that at 21, I’d have my life somewhat figured out! Now that I’m turning 22, I can laugh because in many ways, life has never been so confusing. Yet, I’m super proud to have ticked off lots of goals I’d set myself to achieve before my 22nd birthday. Without further ado, I have a quick list of thank you notes dedicated to my 21st year, à la Jimmy Fallon-style.

21 Thank You Notes:

1. Thank you, AmeriCamp and Chen-A-Wanda, for allowing me to finally travel to America and achieve my goal of seeing New York City (and many other parts of America) by the age of 21.

2. Thank you, Molly Williams, for forcing me to watch The US Office. My life will truly never be the same again.

3. Thank you, to the University of Birmingham, for looking past my terrible attendance in second year and allowing me to graduate with a 2:1 in English Lit!!

4. Thank you, to you! Yes you, reading my blog right this second. I’d put off starting a blog for the longest because I was scared about people judging me or my writing style (and obsession with gifs from Friends and now The Office). However, I’ve had the most amazing support from friends and strangers alike and it makes me super happy that even one person likes my work enough to read, like or comment on it! So thank you 🙂

5. Thank you, Lana Del Rey, for releasing an amazing album and saving both my soul, and music in 2019.

6. Thank you, The Ordinary, for improving both my skin and my skincare-related spending.

7. Thank you, to my student overdraft, for supporting me for 3 years and enabling me to live my champagne lifestyle aspirations whilst being on a lemonade budget. I will miss you dearly.

8. Thank you, to all my amazing friends, for being the best bunch of weirdos I’ve ever met and making me laugh more than ever before. I can honestly say I’m leaving 21 much happier than when I arrived into it and I’m genuinely really excited about the future.

9. Thank you, Monzo, for not charging international fees whilst using my card whilst abroad and for just making life a tonne easier. (Even if seeing my every financial transaction ever makes me feel slightly guilty!) Guilt aside, it’s literally one of the easiest and biggest money saving hacks ever, so I’d highly recommend.

10. Thank you, to Netflix, for finally a) buying the rights to Glee (I’m still as obsessed as I was in 2013) and b) keeping the rights to Friends. 

11. Thank you, HUJI, for making me looked tan in photos even when I couldn’t be bothered to commit to buying yet another bottle of Bondi Sands.

12. Thank you, to The Hardware Societé in Paris for introducing me to baked eggs and matcha lattes. If you’re going to Paris/the Montmarte area anytime soon, you should definitely visit.

13. Thank you, to the process of growing up and self acceptance, for making me finally feel confident in my appearance and feeling less self-conscious about rocking the natural look more often.

14. Thank you, Chipotle, for just existing.

15. Thank you, San Diego, for having the most beautiful beaches and scenery I’ve ever seen!

16. Thank you to some random influencer who introduced me to the quote ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’. In today’s society, it is easier than ever to compare yourself to both your friends and strangers online and even easier to feel like you’re a hopeless case or going nowhere. As long as you can say that you’re doing your best and you feel happy/content with that path, that’s what matters. Don’t let other people dictate your life for you.

17. Thank you, Simba (my cat), for turning me into a person who can sort of interact with animals now and appreciate why pets are important additions to anyone’s life!

18. Thank you, FaceTime, for making long-distance best friends seem a tiny bit less far away.

19. Thank you, Betty Crocker, for providing me with an endless supply of brownie mixes to #stressbake at any given opportunity.

20. Thank you to anyone who has given me business-related opportunities or life advice this year! I used to feel a huge amount of panic about life post-university but honestly I’m ready to take things at my own pace and find out where I want to go in life.

21. And lastly, thank you to my friends, who still love me even if I take 2-3 business days to reply to them sometimes (I’m sorry I suck at replying!!). I promise I’m working on it…

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading & I’ll be back soon!

Hol xo