"are you twins?"

We got asked that question no less than 5 times while my sister Wendy was out visiting, sans children & husband. When we responded, "No, just sisters," the inevitable next question was "Who's older?" ?!What?! I'm nine years younger, thank you. I don't mind too much though. There was a time I longed to be included in the older three's set. 

 

For a while, I was just the little sister she took shopping & spoiled. The age gap keeps shrinking the older I get, though, & now we are best of friends. It was awesome having her here: even though we were both feeling a little run-down & overworked. We might have spent an exorbitant amount of time in sweatpants on the couch:). To be real though, I did come down with strep throat & she'd just survived tax season. But I can't think of a better way, actually, to spend time with one of my sisters. Just chilling & not feeling like we had to run around & experience all the PNW has to offer (we'll do that when the whole fam comes in August). We went grocery shopping daily, European-style, at the fun, albeit expensive, grocery store for fun food like kalamata olives, wine, good cheese & bread, & had appetizers before dinner. There's nothing quite like a sister: it didn't matter if I got sick, if my oven broke & started broiling everything, if one day was spent at urgent care getting antibiotics & it rained most of the time she was here. It was enough just to be able to gab, to "prutz" around, rearranging my decor (already! I know.), to sit at the island & eat baked oatmeal at 10. She did get in on a Sinn family Easter; I love merging my two families. They get along famously! I'm so thankful our two families are so similar & get along so well. It doesn't feel awkward to mesh them around & have extras at holidays. I'm so glad for that.  She got to know them a little better & they got to know her, & it makes me so happy to think they'll understand my past a little more because of it, and she'll understand my present & future better. Family means so much.

We did do an afternoon trip to Sisters, OR & got some coffee & lunch. And so what if the cute, little Western boardwalk was all torn up & we strolled across dirt streets to the sound of jackhammers? With a sister, there was no pressure to procure a perfect experience & we could just laugh about the irony of driving a couple hours & finding the town under construction. It was just that kind of trip.

And then we did some more coffee & shopping in Silverton. :). With Wendy there is coffee. Always & lots of it. When I think of Wendy's house, I just feel so comfortable: there was always coffee on, a place on the leather couch with a nice fluffy blanket, warm colors everywhere, wood floors, & usually a Mexican skillet dinner she'd whip up from seemingly nothing. She's pretty awesome. To be mistaken for her twin is a compliment I'll relish.

We hit up the Pearl District in Portland before she had to fly home. We nipped into anthropologie (our all-time favorite store) & Powell's House of Books. Our favorite aisle is the cookbook aisle, fyi. (You cared, right?) I like strolling through a city best with my sisters.

a display being painted at anthropologie.

Then she flew home to her boys & I headed back to work, & the past days were already a nice little memory to tuck away. My oven's still broken & I still have a bottle of pills to finish, & I still have people asking if the sister that visited  me last Sunday was older or younger than me, but the time we had together was just perfect:). Can't wait to have her & her boys out here come August!