Very belated Birthday wishes for Andrea

polka dot birthday card

I love birthdays. The cake and ice cream, the party hats, the presents. I get a ridiculous amount of joy out of shopping for other people, most especially my family and friends. Christmas really is the most wonderful time of year for me (did I mention I also love to wrap?!).

But every now and again, a birthday trips me up. I’ll have a super-fashionable and thoughtful friend to buy for and I’ll get totally stumped. As such was the case with Andrea. She celebrated her birthday in January—it took me nearly five months to deliver on the birthday wishes. I only take partial responsibility for the delay though. She’s on the hook for being so notoriously hard to shop for! But I always say, better late than never! [Read more…]

Birthday wishes for Kristin

kristinb1

Kristin is one of my oldest and dearest friends. We’ve known each other since childhood, so there are only about, I don’t know, a million memories between us. And although we live in different cities and don’t get to see one another often enough, we always pick up right where we left off. It’s rare to have friends for decades. I know how lucky I am. Happy Birthday bonded bud.

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Birthday love + thanks for the wedding whisperer

lisas1

Prior to starting my new job, I spent a few days down south finalizing some wedding plans. I’ve shared my checking-things-off-a-list affinity before. And as those of you former brides know, planning a wedding is a series of massive lists that double in size when you’re not looking. None of my list-checking-off would have been possible without the lovely Lisa, planner extraordinaraire. She set up meetings, kept us calm when some of our vendors under-delivered, and transported us from city to city, show tunes soundtrack notwithstanding. A word: invaluable. Her birthday happened to be a day later, so I felt compelled to send her a little birthday love.

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A letter to me at sixteen

lauren16

On Friday July fifth, I turned thirty. It feels like just yesterday I was adding streamers to my two-wheeler and counting down the days until summer. And now I’m a real grown-up with a full time job, a soon-to-be-husband and (gasp!) a few gray hairs.

Have you heard of Dear Me? It’s a collection of letters from older and wiser personalities–to themselves at sixteen. It got me thinking, what would I write to my younger self? Sixteen is such a tender age–what do you share and what wouldn’t you want to spoil? What would you write to yourself? Here’s what I came up with…

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Birthday wishes for Gramma

gramma6

Last Tuesday my Gramma turned eighty-six. She is beautiful as ever and filled with more energy than me most days. Last year we celebrated big– there were not one but three cakes and a pinata–at my insistence of course. This year, she gathered a few of her friends for dinner and an off-key rendition of Happy Birthday (as she tells it). And there was chocolate cake, her favorite. What more could a girl ask for?

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Tara is thirty

tara

Today my friend Tara turns 30. She is one in a million. Her laugh is totally infectious and without fail, she is always wearing lipgloss. Some of my best high school memories include this gal. I wish I was in Miami to watch her blow out all those candles! But I know she’s in good hands. Happy Birthday Manis!

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birthday wishes (and onion dip) for Tory

tory

One of the many perks of coupling up is making new friends. I met Tory and his fiance Brittany a few years back thanks to Adam. We became fast friends and have spent the last two summers together at the beach. Tory is the best story-teller I know. And he gives great hugs. But best of all, he has a dachshund named Zeus who serves as his unofficial sidekick (I’m a sucker for dogs!). On Saturday night we celebrated Tory’s 30th birthday with a gathering at their apartment followed by too many celebratory cocktails at a nearby bar. Naturally, I used the birthday as an excuse to make the most delicious onion dip.

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