November Birthdays, Part 1: The Scribe

Today marks the birth anniversary of one of my great friends and favorite people on this God-given earth, about whom I can say nothing that couldn't be said better. Hard to believe that it's actually been a year since she last came to visit us here in Hawaii, and less than six months since my own turn to visit her and Mr. Scribe in Ohio - but here we are, looking forward to the future with open hands and hearts.

While I can't really speak of Scribey without getting too wistful or teary-eyed, I will admit that it was our mutual love of style and shopping that brought us together in the first place. While she continues to be befuddled by makeup, I will admit to being more than envious of her insanely unedited wardrobe, which not only includes clothes and shoes from her "costume dramas of one" but also various items that have carried her through various fluctuations in dress size and mood. (It also helps that we share the same shoe size.) And while I may never get to fit myself into the same vintage-quality tunics and maxidresses that she has been wearing lately, I will admit that I've borrowed elements of her personal style to match my own, to wit:

- Taking risks with fashion. Yes, those leather boots looked ridiculous on both of us in the middle of the tropics - and my pair didn't survive the Great Wardrobe Weed-Out of the last two years - but if that's what it takes to up the fearlessness factor, then so be it.

- Shopping inside your closet. "Fashion is cyclical," she always says - which explains how her mother's blouses and suede Ferragamo boots from the '70s have ended up with her in Cleveland. (Though it probably does not explain why her cat seems to have developed an attraction to those boots.) True, it may sound ridiculous and selfish to keep weeding out... but when times get tough - as they often do - it always helps to have those investment pieces at the ready.

- When everything else is in doubt, dress bright. Believe me, this was a hard lesson to learn for both of us - and especially in my case, since I've always thought that we were always going to be the creative/emo types who were destined to roam the world clad in all-black Prada, with the occasional Happy Bunny tee thrown in for extra snarky flavor. Lately, however, she has opened my mind to embracing swirly prints, dreamy fabrics, and bright colors to convey a never-ending sense of hope - not to mention a conscious celebration of our shared Filipino heritage. Yeah, you can go ahead and blame all of that on living in Cleveland's answer to Haight-Asbury, but I think it's the kind of wisdom that comes with age. Speaking of which...

- It really is all about the eye of the beholder. We may be imperfect, but we never realize how much our imperfections can be the very things that people admire about us. Scribe took a long time before she could truly embrace the very Eurasian features and cultural traits that many people have admired about her, which in turn has given her a newfound sense of purpose and advocacy. I, in turn, have learned from her to acknowledge my own feelings about my body - especially the fleshy parts that I have kept covered up for years - which has led to my ongoing path towards building a better sense of self-acceptance. Not to mention it has also led me to choose cuter dresses and take better pictures while wearing them.

So then: Cheers to another great year of life, dear friend. :)

Stay tuned for Part 2: A Salute to the Women of Hacienda de Meimei.