In celebration of my Grammy’s birthday tomorrow, and since I can’t be with her in Tucson to celebrate I’m writing a post including some of the wisdom she’s quietly bestowed over the years.

Let me first just put this out there, my grandmother is one of my very favorite people and I simply adore her.  She is 80-something years old (according to her, a lady never reveals her exact age) and claims to be born on a Leap Day which would make her a quarter of her true age.  She lives in the house my grandfather built during the summers and “snowbirds” in Arizona during the colder months.  Grammy remains very stylish, drives a convertible, enjoys being the hostess at a local pizza parlor when in Denver and loves a good margarita.  I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time with my grandmother and have picked up on a few things along the way:

• Dress up for any occasion.  Backyard barbeques are no excuse to look underdressed.
• Bailey’s Irish Cream can be enjoyed year-round, and must be refrigerated.  Yes, refrigeration was in question at one point and my dear husband had to ingest some curdled Bailey’s to appease Grammy.  Yuck!
• Put cream on your neck and always, always rub it upwards.  This I’ve been told time and time again prevents wrinkles.
• Make more food than your guests can possibly eat, and then send the leftovers home with them as parting gifts.
• Scrub your elbows.  There is no excuse for an ashy elbow.
• Homemade popcorn and an old movie is the perfect way to spend a night.
• Learn how to make at least one good pie for special occasions.  (Lemon meringue is one of Grammy’s specialties and it’s heavenly.)
• Spend time outdoors walking or simply sitting on your back porch soaking up the beauty of nature.
• If you don’t love your first name, go by your middle.
• In writing this post, I’ve made a note to self:  Take more pictures with your grandmother so you can cherish them forever.

Happy Birthday Grammy.  I love you and can’t wait for you to come back to Colorado!

Here’s to all of the strong, wise women in the world from who we can learn a thing or two.  May we know them.  May we raise them.  May we be them.