Jessica is turning 30 on January 13th so I’m doing a special edition of Shero Saturday! Here are 30 facts about my sister, Jessica Chiu.
1. Jessica Chiu was born on January 13, 1990, almost two weeks past her due date of December 31, 1989.
2. She enjoyed being an only child for only 16 months and then I was born.
3. When you’re only 16 months apart, you automatically become a dynamic duo. Our dad took advantage of this by calling chores cute things like “Towel for Two”, which meant putting the dishes away.
4. Jessica was talented at everything she put her mind to – soccer, softball, ballet, piano, and flute.
5. She would also beat me at every single video game that we had on our Super Nintendo and Playstation.
6. When we were around 9 and 10 years old, our parents registered us for Junior Grizzlies Basketball (and every other sport/activity). As part of this activity, we got to play basketball during halftime of a Grizzlies game. Jessica has always been good at basketball and she was the only person to score a basket during halftime. I will always remember her face smiling on the big screen.
7. Continuing her success at Junior Grizzlies, Jessica played basketball throughout elementary and high school. Our parents would always get her very unique basketball shoes whenever they travelled to Asia so she became known in her leagues for her cool kicks.
8. Jessica and our mom travelled to Waikiki for her birthday last year. They were in Hawaii when the false alarm nuclear message went out. They did not see the alert and when they realized what was happening, they laughed and knew our dad would be freaking out.
9. Jessica is currently the Regional Marketing Manager at Cactus Club Cafe head office. She oversees marketing of the restaurants and kills it at opening their new locations.
10. Her experience with Cactus Club goes beyond her past couple of marketing roles. She started working at Cactus Club Richmond at 16 years old as a hostess. While Jessica studied at Langara, she worked as a server and shift lead at Cactus Club Bentall. Basically you can’t get more Cactus Club than that.
11. Other work experience includes: Rogers Cell Phone Salesperson at the PNE, Server at other restaurants around Richmond, and Sales Associate at Bluenotes
12. Her work experience at Bluenotes inspired me to apply for a job there too and now we are both really good at folding graphic tees and jeans.
13. Jessica is obsessed with whales. This started with her love for the movie Free Willy.
14. Jessica’s new obsession is 90 Day Fiance.
15. She also loves Say Yes to the Dress.
16. Her love for TLC shows actually started one summer when we would watch A Wedding Story and then A Baby Story during the day. Anyone else remember those shows?
17. Jessica and I have been to three Backstreet Boy concerts.
18. Our first concert was Janet Jackson.
19. She loves listening to movie scores when she needs to do focused work. Hello Hans Zimmer and John WIlliams.
20. Jessica could watch the movie Selena and never get sick of it. We can also quote every single line of the movie.
21. Her favourite food of all time is pasta.
22. Jessica wasn’t a huge fan of dogs during our childhood. Our family thinks it’s because a dog once jumped up and stole a hot dog from her hands.
23. Jessica played rep softball in Richmond for several years. She was so good that she and the Islanders 90A team travelled to Oakville, Ontario for nationals.
24. Jessica’s name is actually Jessica-Ann, but she never uses her full name. Our mom hoped that people would eventually call her Jessie-Ann, but more on nicknames in Fact #26.
25. One of Jessica’s favourite genres is crime and mystery. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book, podcast, movie, or 8-part Netflix series. She loves it all.
26. In high school, everyone called her “JC”. Now, most people call her “Jess”. I don’t use either of those names and call her “Jessica”.
27. On August 3rd last year, Jessica stood by my side at my wedding as maid of honour and I couldn’t imagine anyone else being at the altar with me.
28. She and my sister-in-law planned the most perfect events for me leading up to the big day including a bachelorette party that was perfectly suited for me: high tea, steak dinner, limo ride, karaoke, a hotel downtown, and dim sum the next day.
29. Jessica is an incredible big sister – she is very protective of me and will always have my back.
30. I am so lucky to have Jessica as my sister and best friend.
Happy 30th Birthday Jessica-Ann!
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