happy birthday, mandy!

Photos courtesy of Kelly

I've found that, in my life and in friendships, I tend to surround myself with the quirkiest people. As I mentioned just moments before, Mandy introduced herself by showing me some awfully strange passages on the bus in eighth grade, and her strangeness hasn't really ceased. In her house, you can find racks of clothing (you'd feel as if you had fallen into a fashion closet, only maybe this one's fits more of a drag queen sensibility with bright colors and bold prints), she loves to go to estate sales and collects the strangest things. Her room at her parents' house (when we were in high school) had a dark blue ceiling with glowing plastic stars and pictures of Dean Cain cut from magazines as the border. We used to tease her at sleepovers about how we could always find her long strands of hair. As a joke, I bought her her first vibrator (which eventually broke). She used to call it her boyfriend. She loves chunky rings, playing the piano, and laughing. She's got a wonderful laugh.

And today is her birthday. And it wouldn't feel right if I didn't make a special little post just for her: happy birthday, Mandy! I don't know if she reads this blog or not, but it's here, in case she ever comes by, and even though my card is late (because my cards are always late), I am still thinking of her on this very special day.


PS: Apologies for the silly pictures. I don't have any digital ones of her (!), and our scanner is being fussy. Kelly sent me these when she ran into her at Hobby Lobby (Kelly, Mandy, and I all went to high school together, so our parents all live in GB, if you are thinking about geography), where she is apparently working.

PPS: And she is having a girl. Turns out Dylan can be a name for both genders. :)