Happy Birthday!!

Today I'm really excited to be able to say Happy Birthday to not just one, but two of my favourite ladies of all time!

First up is my little sister Amy, who's celebrating her 16th Birthday today!

She's a gifted comedian, with aspirations to be an actress and knows more random facts than almost anyone else I know! On the whole, I think she's got great taste in music (we both love Michael Buble and Maroon 5) and TV, and I love the trips we take to the cinema and museums...next up will most probably be "Sherlock Holmes" in the Christmas holidays! We do have our differences though...for example, she's about the least girly girl I know, not having worn a dress since she was old enough to choose her own clothes and taking no interest whatsoever in makeup! And that's Amy; all that's left for me to say is that I love her lots and I hope that she has a fantastic day, even if her 16th is making me feel very old!!

And secondly, celebrating a birthday which is a bit larger than 16 is my best friend J. I first met J on the bus we used to get to high school. I was about 12 when we met, she was a year older and we've been best friends ever since. I've celebrated many of her birthdays with her; the most memorable ones include her 16th where I went to my first ever concert and slept over at hers afterwards and her 18th when her parents hired a function room at a local pub, and being unused to alcohol, I got drunk really quickly but still had a fantastic time, as did she! However, as we've got older, things have changed. She moved about 2 hours away to attend university, and, over 8 years on, she's still happily settled there, meaning that we only see each other about 3 or 4 times a year. Despite that, our friendship is still going strong, and I was touched and honoured when she asked me to be her chief bridesmaid last year, even though she has a whole group of close friends in her new(ish) town. And in the same way, I know that if there comes a time when I'm picking bridesmaids, she'll be the first on my list!

So Happy Birthday J! You're one of the most caring and passionate people I know, and a true individual! I also love the fact that you've never lost your sense of fun and your quirky sense of humour despite the fact you're now a grown up, and I'm happy that you've found a husband who shares that with you :-) Hope that you have a fantastic birthday and am looking forward to hopefully seeing you over the Christmas holidays! :-)