WELL, IT’S HAPPENED. My older brother is officially old. Today is T’s 30th birthday. (Yet mysteriously he doesn’t seem a day over twelve.) When I asked him what he was planning on doing today, he responded with: “Well let me tell you what I’m NOT going to do today.” He then proceeded to list only two activities, both of which had to do with launching into space. So take heed, American public, anything is possible.

For my part in the celebration, I’m baking this cake (fingers crossed I can pull it off). And if you’re in the mood to get nostalgic, too, here are a few of T’s greatest hits from The Sister Project archives:

Brother T’s (snore-fest) birthday from last year, and the year before.

Unsuccessful attempts at finding T a date.

The all-time favorite phone call foibles.

Adventures in pony-riding!

Enjoy. Happy Birthday, dear brother!

No related posts.

SISTERLESS AS I AM, all my original lessons on sisterhood came from my sweet, sweet Mama. Here she is in 1981 with baby Brother T. Of course, I still catch her gazing at him with that exact same adoration now 30 years later. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas (and mama’s boys)!

No related posts.

good brother...good style...I'm in love.

LET ME TELL YOU: watching the MTV “reality” show The City is one of my favorite guilty pleasures ever. As you may know, this week marked the new season premiere. (Did you watch?) And so while I lay in bed soaking up all the new season gossip and Kelly Cutrone quips, I noticed a painfully handsome man sitting around at People’s Revolution. And then he spoke! And MTV told me that he was a designer for a brand called Nicholas K! And thus I put my stalker skills to work.

As it turns out the Nicholas K label is the brainchild of two incredibly good-looking siblings, Nicole and Christopher Kunz. We’ve seen plenty of style savvy sisters in the fashion business (Rodarte, House of Dagmar, Sienna and Savannah Miller…) but never have I come across a big brother-little sis designing ensemble. And by some elusive miracle of sibling-hood, they’re able to churn out beautiful designs.

Three looks I love from the Nicolas K spring 2010 line.

From a 2007 article in Men’s Vogue, sister Nicole says of their collaboration: “We hadn’t been under the same roof together in so long, and you kind of revert to childhood.” Um, seriously. I can’t imagine working creatively–let alone working at all–alongside my older brother. I’d give it two hours before a spit ball war broke out in the office. So hats off to the handsome Kunzes! (Lesson: it pays to google beautiful strangers.)

[top photo by Patrick Anderson for Men's Style File.]

No related posts.

GOOD GOD, HAS ANYTHING SWEETER graced the pages of the internet than the birth of Tessa Tangerine to the blogging family at Pacing the Panic Room? Don’t know what I’m talking about? (“Who gave birth to a tangerine?”) Allow me to explain how this growing family has stolen my heart.

Panic Room daddy blogger has been photographing his wife, Cole, and stepson (“Littlest Buddy” or “LB” for short) throughout Cole’s pregnancy with weekly letters to their growing not-yet-born. Two weeks ago the baby was born at home with the assistance of a midwife. (Hooray for home births!) They named her Tessa Tangerine.

I’ve actually shed a few tears (hormones, anyone?) hearing about this new sister-brother duo in action. (“Your brother kissed you when he met you, and wanted to get in your crib with you.” Does it get any better than that?) Welcome to the world, Tessa Tangerine! You are one lucky little sister…

LB says goodbye to Tessa before school.

No related posts.

In Nevis, listening for the ocean in Conch shells.

FOR ABOUT A DECADE, every year around Easter my family packed up our rice cakes and organic boxed lentils and left the house in the wee hours of the morning for the Caribbean. We didn’t ever go to Disney World (much to my and T’s disappointment) or other family resorts. Instead we found ourselves on deserted beaches, tucked away in the corners of tiny islands. In hindsight I see these trips as complete paradise. I’ll readily admit, however, that T and I didn’t always appreciate the isolation at the time.

T looks pretty grumpy here in St. Lucia.

We fought. A lot. And I’m going to go ahead and point the finger at T, because he was a total instigator, complaining about everything and spending his days worrying about the well-being of his X-Men figures, who were stranded at home. On these trips we were forced to interact with each other in ways that we were never required to otherwise, without our friends or toys—our respective interests stripped away to mosquito netting, supermarket Raisin Bran (something our parents didn’t buy us at home), and body surfing.

I can’t exactly remember, but from the look of our photo albums, we must have surrendered at some point during these trips, accepting that we were stuck with each other. In some photos T and I are even holding hands, grinning.

Last week I went on a vacation to Nicaragua with a friend from Guilford College, which I graduated from in 2008. While it wasn’t the Caribbean, I did find myself with a familiar craving for Raisin Bran and for T’s company (especially while I rode some waves).

Walking the streets of Granada, I found a park and a church called Xalteva (which I assume comes from an indigenous language rather than Spanish). The park’s tiled plaque was chipped away, simply revealing the name ‘Teva,” and it reminded me of my goofy brother with a soft spot for X-Men and an ability to complain like no one else.

After showing him a photo of the plaque in our Massachusetts kitchen, he thought for a moment and replied, “I should probably go there and see if I’m entitled to any land because of my name.” He turned away, walking into the living room with biceps flexed, announcing to his imaginary disciples, “Xalteva has returned!”

No related posts.