hot toddies
apples and cheddar with fig butter

wild rice and mushroom soup
freshly baked bread and butter

smoked salmon, dill and goat cheese quiche
green salad

triple chocolate cookies
accompanied by
coffee, whiskey or milk
(depending on your cookie-eating preferences)

the paperwork that got us there:

i love love love wrapping christmas presents. here: repurposed groundplans for last year’s production of Glass Menagerie.

every time there’s a gun-related tragedy, whether it’s one child caught in gang crossfire, or 26 children murdered in their grade school, i can only wonder why anyone who owns a gun doesn’t immediately surrender it to the nearest authority saying, “please take this machine of death and destruction and dismantle it so that there’s no possibility that it could ever be used to hurt someone.”

a new approach to blogging: i was perusing online lists of gifts and came across a line-a-day journal, designed to let one record a single line or two about each day, five years rolled into one neat leather-bound journal. the idea appealed to me becuase writing one line isn’t so intimidating as composing a full essay. i told B i was thinking of trying that approach to blogging and he said, “you know what that is? twitter”. but twitter and blogs aren’t the same, at least not in my head (don’t call me on this distinction. they just feel different.) the idea is a flexible, not rigid, structure. one line, or twenty, whatever feels right for the day, or whatever the day can spare.

in unpacking after the wedding, it became clear what our respective wedding manias were: mine was buying, scavenging, and collecting ribbon like a magpie. Ben’s was stocking up on fresh craft knife blades.

guys! we totally got married!

There will probably be more wedding-related posts, but to start Ben and I have spent the past 4 days repeating to one another, “dang we had a good wedding!” and we are well aware that our awesome perfect wedding was the result of many many people’s help. To start, and in no particular order (nor is this list necessarily complete):

Our parents, for their contributions financial and otherwise. And for giving us the space to plan the wedding that we wanted to have, and supporting us every step of the way. My mom sewed 140 feet of bunting (see photo above), a dress for our flower girl and miles of lace onto my wedding dress. She took me shopping for wedding dresses, shopped for an impossible tie, coordinated the whole family to stay in a beautiful vacation home in Bodega Bay, delivered and picked up wedding detritius all weekend.

Our niece Geneva for being a most enthusiastic flower girl (petals were not scattered so much as they were launched down the aisle).

One of my dearest college roomies and bridesmaid, Lauren, for being a flower-arranging MACHINE (seriously, she spent approximately 24 hours creating 12 table arrangements, 15 corsages, four hanging cones, four bouquets, and one flower girl basket. And they looked more beautiful than I could have imagined).

Our groomsmen Chris Plevin and Scotty Iseri, who made all things electrical absolutely seamless, from our frankensteined sound system to playlists to making sure we had an iron. And for DJing the dance party in such a way that our guests NEVER STOPPED DANCING. It was amazing.

Chris also organized an amazing bachelor party for Ben in Chicago, featuring a dinner menu pulled from the book “Devil in the White City.” Classy all the way.

Chris’s father Steve Plevin, who ran all manner of errands for Ben the weekend of the wedding.

Lee Keenan and Mandy Merino, whose duties as partners-of-wedding-party actually included ironing the clothes that Ben and I wore to rehearsal dinner. And all of the partners-of-wedding-party, who stayed up MUCH too late drinking whiskey with all of us. Three nights in a row.

Ben’s family for holding down the stage right half of the dance floor ALL NIGHT LONG.

My brother Matt and sister-in-law Carrie for helping assemble wedding crafts, for picking up my wedding dress, and for shopping for the impossible tie.

All the groomsmen for helping decorate the patio to make it so beautiful for the ceremony.

Lee Keenan for his patented photobooth setup (more of those pictures to come…)

Chelsea Keenan for being such a super bridesmaid, planning a bachelorette party for me, for making piles of paper flowers with me, giving me good advice about how to write our ceremony, getting nails painted and even playing ultimate frisbee despite the fact that team sports give her anxiety attacks.

Callie Schieffer, the bridesmaid who took a frisbee in the face during our ultimate game (in the olden days, bridesmaids were decoys, intended to protect the bride from kidnapping marauders; the modern-day version of that is that she took the frisbee to the face so that I would be spared the black eye on my wedding day).

All the women who went wedding dress shopping with me, including my mom, her best friend Kathy Lyon, Carrie Gadda, Teresa Gadda, Valerie Shirk.

The incomparable Vienna Teng who provided all of the ceremony music (Prelude: The Last Snowfall; Processional: Green Island Serenade; Warming of the Rings: Eric’s Song; Recessional: City Hall). Some people dream of their wedding dress years before they find the groom. I imagined including Vienna’s music in my wedding years before I found the groom.

Ben’s sister (and my new sister-in-law!) Eva Wilhelm, who officiated our ceremony SO graciously, and who threw me a bridal shower that was both classy and non-cheesy and non-intimidating for people like me who are uncomfortable being the center of attention.

My brothers Matt and Chris who were our readers (Readings: excerpt from “An Epithalamion” byTony Kushner; except from “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams).

My sister-in-law Teresa, who knit a beautiful shrug for me to wear over my wedding dress.

Chris and Teresa, whose house served as wedding home-base for us in California – they helped make wedding crafts, they stored boxes of stuff, received dozens of packages, did airport pickups and drop offs, practically ran a B&B for a few days when the family all arrived in town, and finally loaned us their car for two weeks of wedding and honeymoon travel.

Hannah Read [and the Handsome Gardner], who swooped in on Saturday morning, braided my hair like a pro, built me a birdcage veil, fixed the propane heater on the patio, danced the night away, and the next day were on a flight to Portland to attend ANOTHER wedding that same weekend.

Our most fabulous vendors, including the venue, Valley Ford Hotel; photographer, Emily Takes Photos; band, Misner & Smith; wedding coordinators: d2 Duet Designs [website still in progress], all of whom gave their time and talent and never made us feel like our wedding was just a business transaction.

And finally, my groom. Who married me. :)

our moving truck took our stuff and headed, inexplicably, to Ontario (Canada or California or Oregon, we can’t be sure), leaving us with two weeks to camp out in our new home sans furniture.

ironing clothes for work, college-student style:

plenty of room for yoga:

airbed, improvised bedside table, timely RedEye article outlining the booming sleep-aids industry:

we are champions of the one-pot, three-spice meal:

…and plenty of room to hang out on the kitchen floor: