Birthday — five tones.

Maya, another year closer to the inevitable! Just kidding (mostly). You've somehow gotten cooler with age, which seems unfair. The secret is probably caffeine and selective hearing.

Anyway. Cake yourself. Pet a dog. Ignore your inbox. The world can wait one day.

Love you, weirdo.

Every year I think I can't possibly love you more, and every year you prove me wrong.

You make ordinary days feel like something. The way you laugh at your own jokes, the way you remember everyone's coffee order, the way you show up when it's hard. None of that is small.

Today is yours. Spend it however you want. I'm just glad I get another year of being lucky to know you.

I don't always say this, but I think about you a lot. The world is better with you in it. I'm grateful for the ways you've shown up for me, and the ways you keep showing up for everyone.

Hope this year is kind to you.

another orbit around the sun, and somehow you've made every one of mine brighter.

I think about the morning we met more than I should admit. The light through the window. The way you laughed when I dropped my coffee. I knew, even then.

Happy birthday, my love. Every day with you is a gift, but today the universe agrees.

Hope it's a good one. We should grab dinner soon. You pick the spot, I'm covering it (within reason — I see you eyeing that omakase place).

Cheers to another solid lap.