May 11, 2015

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY to my beautiful friend Anja!!!!!  Today is the day to celebrate all that is YOU, and in your honour, we have created a list of 40 things we LOVE about you:-)  We are so very blessed to have you in our lives, and although I was very sorry to have to miss your awesome celebration week in Italy, I'm sure it will be just like being back in Italy when you come visit us in the Lanark Highlands, he he!!!!!!

So here we go......40 things we love about Anja:

1.  Anja is the BEST godmother ever, to our first baby Kea.

2.  She introduced me to salty black licorice while taking me on a life-changing sailing trip with her parents when I was 17. It is an obsession I am determined to pass on to each of my kids - Kea's already addicted:-)

3.  She thinks splitting wood for hours is a lot of fun, and looks forward to doing even more.

4.  She is our favourite photographer, having taken our most favourite wedding photographs EVER and continuing to wow us with her photographic eye.  Always inspiring.....

5.  Anja is the one who introduced me to the art of letter writing, at the young age of 12.  Everyone I have started a writing relationship since then can thank her:-)

6.  She continues to fill our mailbox with post regularly, so many years later......

7.  Anja gives the BEST packages ever.

8.  She is an amazing artist, painting such a variety of styles.  I wish I had a tiny portion of her talent, I suspect my life would be vastly improved!

9.  She is always game to try one of my many new ideas......always so fun to have a friend to play along with:-)

10.  Anja is constantly baking the most amazing creations - having been trained at Cordon Bleu in Paris and practicing for so many years, my taste buds are always excited to have a visit from her!

11.  She has always traveled the world to visit me, even after horrendous gut issues from Nepal, and the freezing temps/bugs of Northern Canada.  What a trooper!

12.  She survived 3 days of born-again Christian camp with me as a young teen.  She may still be scarred, but she remains my friend:-)

13.  She took my teenaged daughter to Europe for over a week.  Again, she may be scarred (ha ha) but she still remains my friend!

14.  Anja gives the most thoughtful gifts to all of us, every birthday and Christmas and just because.

15.  She oozes in talent.  In everything she does, it seems.

16.  She shares my passion for all things ICE CREAM - always has (once covered me in ice cream for my birthday) and hopefully we'll be sitting in our rocking chairs at 80 enjoying an ice cream cone together!

17.  I love that she got over her obsession with Michael Jackson, he he!  Not before making me sit outside his hotel room in Hamburg for HOURS at a chance to catch a glimpse of his wave (don't think it ever happened, but we met a lot of FREAKS - us not included!) or hours upon hours of practicing the moonwalk........but I'm no longer surrounded by Michael Jackson posters when I visit her, nor his soundtrack.

18.  It will always amaze me that she decides to try her hand at writing, and is immediately published in magazines......did I mention oozing with talent???!!!

19.  She remained my friend, even through the trauma of staying with us for an extended time when we were teens, and waking up to whole-grain pancakes with plain yoghurt and fruit on top.  At the time she had no clue how healthy her diet would become, all she was desperate for was her familiar NUTELLA!

20.  She is always willing to read book upon book........upon book to the kids.

21.  Anja is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo generous.  Always.  It often blows us away, and makes us feel truly blessed to have her in our lives.

22.  Her shared obsession with watching Dirty Dancing, over and over again, especially while living in Accra.

23.  I will always remember sleeping over for her 13th (?) birthday and dancing exuberantly all night long to Crocodile Rock - Anja always knows how to have a good time:-)

24.  As a child, I LOVED her access to many bags of Haribo gummy bears.  Being her friend gave us such access to pure luxury while we were living overseas:-)

25.  Anja has such a fun sense of style, ever evolving but always classy xo

26.  She has such enthusiasm to try new adventures, and jumps in with such an open mind.

27.  I love her quirky sense of humour........the Prawn Star t-shirt still sends us into fits of giggles every once in a while:-)

28.  She loves exploring cemeteries as much as I do - it's not often I can share this passion with someone!

29.  Her dedication to relationships - Anja works so hard on keeping relationships going, and always lets you know she is thinking of you.

30.  I love receiving her random mailings of beloved tea bags not to be found in Canada, and exotic bars of dark chocolate.  I always feel so spoiled by her.

31.  Her amazing ability to speak so many languages, and fit in with many different cultures.  I am so envious of her Europeaness, her easy grace and easy poise.  I wish I had an ounce of her sophistication.

32.  Her beautiful smile - it absolutely lights up a room, and draws you right in:-)

33.  I love her passion for all things NYC, and really enjoy visiting her there for a different experience every time.  Whether it is wandering in a new art gallery, drinking really bitter green juices in trendy cafes or attending one of many weddings at city hall, it's a unique life experience with Anja as my tour guide:-)

34.  Our shared passion of yoga......so fun that we can share it together, think 'deep' thoughts, stretch unused muscles and encourage each other to keep going.

35.  Her eclectic taste in books and her willingness to share her Kindle account with me.  I am grateful for the well-rounded education that I am receiving from this:-)

36.  Ry loves doing puzzles with her, she's so patient and good at finding the right piece.

37.  Kea loves exploring new places with her, and looking for new licorice products!

38.  Tiegan loves baking with her (and more importantly, eating said baking!)

39.  Jamie loves discovering new artists through her, most specifically Andy Goldsworthy, but there have been many more - such an inspiring influence in our lives!

40.  She's so comfortable to be around, and has the talent of making you feel at ease to be yourself with her.......we are so blessed to have her as a friend xo


It's been almost 30 years of friendship, and this is just a small smattering of memories and things we love about Anja - I have to say, I'm really looking forward to making at least 40 years more of memories together!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANJA, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!