I post a lot about hadley and burns on this blog, but sometimes very little about the woman who is the very reason they are alive, and why they are the sweetest, most precious children. yesterday was my older sister’s 33 birthday. joyeux anniversaire lauren! girl, you old. 

I recently decided that I wish we had been born twins so that she could be over here with me as an au pair for another family and we could travel europe together. everything I see, I know she would just love and it’s hard to be so far away and not get to share these things with her all the time. plus it would be double the goods and let’s be honest, she has great taste. we both laughed when we finally skyped, because it had been over a month without us talking much, which is unlike us--we used to average about 3 calls a week. thank goodness I finally got a phone to call america. she has been such a huge supporter of me throughout this entire journey and her excitement and prayers have been wonderful and have made me not feel as far from home. 

I have always looked up to lauren and have always wanted to be her. sometimes to a flaw. I talked to an old high school boyfriend this summer who I dated right after lauren got married and he said our relationship was hard because it was like I was looking for a husband in him, haha. I know almost every little sister says this but I feel like I can be biased and say that she truly is one of the greatest people I know. she is thoughtful and considerate, and I’ve gone to the wise old woman she is for so much advice. but more so I think she is just really fun and quirky, and it’s nice to have such a great friend. she brings a lot to our family and my visits to charleston always make me feel so special. she pays attention to the small details in life and makes the little things important. like striped straws in our drinks and candlesticks for pizza parties and beautiful bedside flower arrangements full of my favorites, snapdragons. she asks lots of questions and is really interested in people, which is think is one of the greatest qualities possible. and she’s grounded in a wonderful faith that gives her really amazing joy.

lauren, know I am thinking about you and missing you and the rest of your crew like crazy. these days josephine wants to be called hadley and she calls emile burns and she wanted to throw you a party for your birthday yesterday, haha. I cannot wait to see you over christmas and am hoping that I can squeeze in a trip to charleston over break. I have plans to watch the family stone tonight, so even though it’ll be the middle of the day for you, I’ll be picturing you, me and bobby on your white sofa eating ice cream and watching together. I’m also looking forward to you coming here to visit me, heeeep!!! love you lots and hope you had the best birthday. 

p.s. she has recently started a vintage rentals company in charleston, sc called muster branch. check it out!