happy birthday to aunt juki

we have a beloved family member who is about as far away as one could be so we must fete her wonderful accomplishment of rocking another year with a tribute in pictures and in words. pictures first:







This is the trip we took to the beach the weekend before last all the while reminiscing about last summer's super fun visit to Quogue with los shefwiggins! We miss our tia juki something awful!

Happy birthday to my lifelong adopted sister who I will come visit very soon! We are in each other's thoughts constantly as we imprinted on the same things together in our impressionable years. We have formed almost as two individuals from one source it sometimes seems. She and I made up words to the muzak on the radio as 8 year olds. The songs always began "I was walking down the street." We made elaborate accessories out of paper and staples. We put on numerous variety shows for our folks complete with songs, sketches and programs crediting the creators.
As tweens we frequented the nearby drug store trying to figure out which "temporary" hair dye we could talk our moms' into letting us use. We had our princess phones glued to our ears-she in her room me laying on the kitchen counter as far as the one family phone cord would stretch. She and I shaved our legs together for the first time. When I got "it" before she did she hand crated the loveliest temporary solution of cotton balls tissue and tape until we could get back to our favorite drugstore and figure out a whole new world of feminine products. She encouraged me to join choir with her in middle school and she insisted I apply with her to the arts magnet high school. Our high school years were mercifully enriching and exciting adventures in self discovery as opposed to the "mean girls" fate we could have faced (for the most part-we were teenagers after all). During college she kept me involved in the booming music scene in Austin first by inviting me there almost every weekend (then by becoming a fixture in that scene and inviting me there almost every weekend).
She let me move in with her on a couple of occasions when I had no money for rent, fronted me til I could take up the slack and even helped me find jobs. All our major transitions, into teenagerhood, into college, into the real world were made in reference to each other with mutual support and many creative solutions. Juki even introduced to mah sweetie who I carefully avoided for several weeks because he was just a little too cute. Now I have the world's cutest baby boy (ok maybe 2nd cutest, Cyrus!)
We don't talk on the phone frequently but we generally make up for that with volume and intensity. She is my only adopted sister and I am glad she has joined me in this our blankety blank year of life (keep guessing)
There are some very incriminating photos of our youth I could post (our original eyebrows-watch out Brooke Shields!) but I'll be kind! Happy day Miss Miles Away! I'll see you soon.
xoxoxo