Happy Birthday to my favorite bookends! Assigned symmetrical photo placement established in 1991.

Even though Staci's birthday was on August 7th and Em's is today, I wanted to do a co-birthday post for my 2 favorite leggy blondes, Em & Staci...


La Cañada Kitchen, 2003. The night of the infamous, "You GET me, Julie" quote from Wadley, as he emptied all of the sea salt out of the grinder onto your kitchen counter, for no reason other than 'it looks cool'. Followed by my even more infamous response, "Uhhhh... ok then, good night. Enjoy the salt."



My 30th surprise party, which each of you flew in from the coasts for. On my shoulder, Em's own coveted birthday bag that she received one month prior. On my feet, 3" heels. Surprisingly, neither made me tall enough to join the "Legs for Miles" club. Maybe a larger shoulder bag next time, or even better, a big pile of sea salt. Someone call Wadley.


I could go on for days about how much we've all been through together, but I really want to say that I couldn't have been luckier to have lived in Dobson Hall in 1991. If it hadn't been for my boyfriend at the time freaking out that I wanted to live in Porter Hall, the co-ed dorm with the photography darkroom (he was freaked about the co-ed thing, not the darkroom; or maybe it was the possibility of co-eds IN the darkroom?!), I never would have met you two. Yay for jealous ex-boyfriends!


I might seem slightly taller than usual in this photo, but it's only because Em & I are on up the sidewalk and Staci is 6 inches below us standing in a parking spot.


While I was extremely tempted to pull out some scandalous photos from the vault, I realized it's not in me to put your un-plucked eyebrows (Stace) and your permed-ish hair (Em), or my big bangs from the early 90's on blast. Not to mention the gorgeous array of Z. Cav's and flannel-wear that only women in southwest Wisconsin consider the height of fashion. The fact that we literally had "dressy" flannels still charms my NYC friends if they have the misfortune of coming across those old photos.


My, how the tables have turned. The short one in the middle is the blond!


While it's true that gone are the days of Wednesday night quarter tappers at Orville T's, sneaking into The Shute with IDs more fake than a Rolex in Chinatown, as well as $85 per month for our share of the rent in an actual house just off-campus, our friendship has stood the test of time and distance for over 15 years.


{Read to the tune of Beyonce's 'Irreplaceable'} "To the west, to the west. Mel flew us out for your party, to the west. To the west, to the west!"


We've always been there for each other, on the phone or emailing, reporting on life's minutiae, or flying in for the big milestones, marking them together.


I had never seen what pure joy looked like until I took this photo of Em on her & Mel's wedding day, and never saw it again after that on anyone else until...


There it is again 2 years later! Frank glowing with wedding joy on his & Staci's big day! These wedding photos are perfect compliments to each other. While I'm on the subject of each of your weddings, what kind of friends are you to have married such fantastic men, when neither of them have a brother that I can marry? Seriously. Help a seestor out.


I shudder to think what old college memories, and my life in general, would be like without the two of you. Not to mention how dull my photos would be without you tall drinks of water flanking me on either side.


Apparently there comes a time when the shutter-depressor feels the need to zoom in. This is ridiculous. I mean, how close is close enough?



The rest of this photo was sky. How is this even possible?


You know I have to be in the middle or I end up looking like the petite brunette stepchild at a family picnic, as evidenced by the hot mess that is this photo:

See, all hell broke loose! None of us are even looking in the same direction, and apparently we're all mimes starring in our own drastically different genre of film. FYI: I have on 4" heeled boots, and still am not 6'1" like Em. Her Native American name isn't "Stands with Long Legs" for nothing.



Wait, maybe it takes a few glasses of wine for the "brunette on the outside" configuration to work, since we were able to pull it together just fine for this one.


Where we are all currently living makes complete sense to me: Emily out west in California. Staci out east in Rhode Island. I'm here in Chicago--right where I belong--in the middle of the both of you: My favorite bookends.

Happy birthday, Hunker Friends!