I wrote this post for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance (AFBA) website, in an effort to create a record of the organization that I’m very proud to have helped found. The timeline doesn’t include the many emails back and forth, hours long meetings, and ups and downs that the founding members and current board members have gone through to get AFBA going; but looking back on all we have accomplished in our very first year, I’m glad I stuck with this group of smart, funny, opinionated, and amazing people. I …

If you ever decide to get engaged, and want to plan a beautiful, small, inexpensive wedding, head straight to the Chapel Dulcinea bookings page and get on their calendar. The romantic chapel has seating for 12, and the little reception area holds up to 30. I went there recently for the Monday night (I TOLD you it books up fast) wedding of my dear friend Brooke and her husband of a little over one month, Dave. Check out these pics and tell me you wouldn’t love to get married there:

The …

Sending a shout out to everyone celebrating a birthday today on 11-11-11! This year, I spent my birthday in Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium. Adam and I bought a small package of candles at HEMA, one of those stores where you end up buying things you never knew you needed.
We ate our way through Bruges, and almost everywhere we stopped, Adam stuck a candle in whatever we were sampling and lit it. I got to make lots of wishes that day! Here we are at da Vinci Gelateria.
Next stop was for …

While Adam and I took a bit of a social media vacation during our two-plus weeks traveling in Europe, we did take some time in drafting this email to some of our closest friends. Here it is, unchanged except for the addition of some additional detail and photos to help tell the story.
Dearest friends and family,
I’m writing with exciting news from the land of love and raw milk cheese. Adam asked me to marry him on Sunday Sept. 25 in Paris and I said yes!
The story:
We went to the specialty shops …

Today is the day that Adam and I leave on our Whole Foods Foodie Fantasy trip to Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Paris. Thank you again for voting for the video and giving us the opportunity to experience the trip of a lifetime.
Being an OCD over-planner, I picked up a couple books from the library and a friend. I’ll admit that I didn’t crack the spine on some of these, but I think setting them next to my bed while I slept may have allowed some of the information to enter …