Grace turns 20 today. Hard to believe that she is no longer a teen! This marks the first birthday that we haven't been with her and the first time that we haven't made her a birthday cake in 20 years. We miss her like crazy and I so wish I could give her a great big hug. That said, after the craziness of the past few years, I'm so happy that she seems to be settling in nicely at school and finding her people. Here are 10 of our favorite things about Grace right now...
I was so happy that she continued our pancake tradition across the pond.
1. Her writing. I love to read Grace's writing, especially her newsletter. It's full of fun bits that I don't get on our talks and I love seeing the things that are interesting to Grace. She also writes for magazines and organizations at school that I love to read as well.
2. Her creativity is something that I also hope she continues to explore and develop. She's always been a a crafter and I see her developing her style more and more in the various avenues she pursues such as baking, crafting, making, drawing and even creating her flat-lays and digital compilations.
3. Grace cannot stand drama. When there is drama within her friend group, she works hard to stay out of it and doesn't want it to effect her friendships with others. Sometimes I worry she's a little too wary of conflict.
4. Her love of travel. One of the reasons that she chose to attend St Andrews was the ease of travel throughout Europe (covid notwithstanding). This school year she has traveled to Lisbon, Portugal, Dublin, Ireland and, most recently, Copenhagen, Denmark.
5. Her work ethic. Grace has a strong work ethic whether it be for her job during the summer or her school work.
6. She's a very loyal friend. Typically, Grace hasn't been one to have a million different friends, though she has formed a nice friend group this year. Instead, she tends to have a few very close friends. She and her best friend, Kathleen, have been besties since 5th grade and still chat (FaceTime or texting) most weeks. It seems to me that once Grace loves you, she will always love you no matter what!
7. Her heart. For whatever reason, Grace doesn't really want people to know how sensitive she is and so she's not quick to show that side of herself. She's very sensitive, thoughtful and has a strong moral compass.
8. Speaking of being thoughtful... Grace overthinks almost everything. She is a list maker, a planner, a furturizer and always be prepared kind of gal.
9. Her favorite meal is breakfast and she's been perfecting her Cinnamon Rolls recipe for a while now.
10. She loves her cat, Coco, to the extreme degree (it's mutual). She has more pictures on her phone of Coco than anything else.
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