of 22

Yes, I'm officially 'less younger' now.
and it's a beautiful warm balmy Sunday afternoon.
it's one of those rare sunshiny weekends in the midst of a cold snap. and I like to think it's nature's birthday gift to moi, a summer baby who nearly got sadly frozen solid last week.

and i'm sipping my yummy lemon tea in my pretty pink mug, complete with flower motif and a huge saucer (courtesy of dear Kim who is my absolute fave AMS buddy).
and my uber precious bicycle luggage tag (courtesy of PY, the baking goddess of my life) is standing on my study lamp. my leafy journal and pen is safely on my nightstand, girl. lols.
and I've got one more new addition to my horde of unread books (thanks to Rach) and another Borders voucher from the primary school peeps. woohoo.
and I've another pretty addition to my study table. a pristine-white stationary holder from KikkiK from Jacqjacq.
and I've got another pretty clutch to choose from when I go out to paint the town red (thanks to J and Sha). and it's in that pretty turquoise colour that you seldom get anywhere.
and I'm waiting for a wintry night to indulge in Kylie's (who's my lifesaver in AMS) hot choc and pecan bikkies.
and mum and dad as usual, got me a beautiful present.
and can I just say how well my girls know me??!!

but even when I'm surrounded by my horde of new treasures, the cards and messages and tags that came with them are still the most precious for me.
dad always has little nuggets of wisdom that he'll give out all the time when I was young, even when I had no idea what it meant and I would just nod along sagely and pretend that I understood his philosophy lessons.
and one of them came to mind as I put away oh-so-carefully the little gems of words that came with the pretty gifts.
"This too shall pass"
eventually, I'll exchange the voucher for books
I'll finish Rach's book
the stationery holder, the clutch, the luggage tag, the pen will sadly succumb to wear and tear
the mug might get smashed
ditto for the hot choc and bikkies and journal.

but I'll have my drawerful of little cards of sweet, touching messages that I would never exchange for anything in the world.
and I've been surrounded by words my whole life.
and that's why those little gems matter the most to me.

*I have 2 fave cards out of the whole lot. one that mum and dad gave me when I turned 21 that I bluetagged to my wall. and the second one from the baking goddess a few days ago. *


and I got the nicest birthday present from my sister-from-another-mother who is just 2 hours older than me and that I've known for practically 3/4 of my life.
she's happily in the throes of her first relationship.
and I was so so so so so happy for her coz she's the sweetest, mildest-mannered girl I've known.
and I love her to bits.
and any guy would be lucky beyond words to be with her.
but being the overprotective 'younger' twin, I totally FB-stalked him and asked around to make sure he was a decent guy, and not some annoying egoistical jerk.
well, it probably was a little extreme to be doing that all the way in Melbourne, when they are in Singapore.
but hey, this is my 'twin' I'm talking about. 'nuff said.
and it was soooo cute when she talked about how she misses him, and how she wants to be with him constantly. it's still the 'honeymoon' stage for them. and boy, was it surprising hearing that from her! she's always the more rational one between the 2 of us, the quieter, the one that has her feet planted firmly on the ground, never the emotional one, never the rash one.
and seeing this side of her is adorable.
and I admit that I'll feel a bit leftout when I go back to see her in June, because now there's also him there. and his calls might be a tad more important to her now.

even so, it's the nicest birthday gift that she can ever give me:
her being in love and being pampered and spoiled like the precious sweet little thing that she is.
that night, I fell asleep with a silly grin on my face.