It's the Dowager Countess, er, Maggie Smith's Birthday!

Ladies, my afternoon tea today will be in celebration of the life and acting career of Maggie Smith. The Brit, born on December 28, 1934, is 79 years old and she has given us fabulous characters like Hook‘s Granny Wendy, Gunilla Garson Goldberg of The First Wives’ Club, Mother Superior from Sister Act, and Professor Minerva McGonagall of the Harry Potter series. Still, my favorite of her most recent work has to be Downton Abbey‘s Dowager Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley. Her lines give me infinite joy and her delivery is like sitting beneath a tree in summer, shady. I love it.

Here are a few of my favorite Dowager Countess moments, in gifs:

And my personal favorite? Ms. Smith’s rendition of every day of my adult life.