So this is a nostalgic one, guys. Today is our anniversary and I've had a severe case of the Wedding Nostalgias all month. I know at the time I was stressed out like crazy with all the details of coordinating what went where and when, and whether my embarrassingly detailed "Setup Manifesto" was sufficient to communicate all of this. We were on a pretty tight budget and handcrafted the majority of our reception setup to cut down on costs. But looking back from the safe distanc

I am terrible about making gift lists. Birthday lists, Christmas lists, any-occasion-where-I-get-a-gift lists... you name it. Well, with the exception of the wedding registry. That I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, I wanted to be sure there were enough things on there that no one would be tempted to go off-script. Because as we can all imagine, that almost never ends well. But for most any other occasion, I am the worst person in the world to ask for a gift list. I'm not sure why I

Fall has been a bit standoffish this year. It's nearly the end of October and the past month and a half has been far too dominated by 74 degree weather and green-leafed trees. It's October, Chicago! Get your act together. But at long last this week has delivered those wonderful, rainy Autumn days I've been missing. It's 58 outside and has been drizzling for the past five hours, which means I can don my wool socks and cozy up with hot cider and things made almost entirely out