Chris and I are looking forward to taking our honeymoon a few months after the wedding. We decided we want to go some place neither of us have been, and Portugal is in first place so far! So much so, that we spent 3 months doing nightly Portuguese lessons on Duolingo before we realized we were learning Brazilian Portuguese. (Did you know 200 million people speak Brazilian Portguese and only 10 million people speak Portuguese-Portuguese??) After trying different Portuguese-Portuguese learning apps, Chris and I refocused to nighly Duolingo Spanish lessons. My Spanish foundation was a huge help in starting Portuguese, and this way Chris can have command of a language we’ll use forever.

Cooking is another thing Chris and I love to do together. When we were dating, Chopped was our favorite show. I’ve never taken a cooking class and we’d love to take a Thai or Korean cooking class.

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together. These bags will be for tomato plants (my dad’s favorite) because all the tomato plants we grew were decimated by blight (Yes, the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in 1845…) and here’s a fun fact about blight: the soil will reinfect vulnerable plants like tomatoes and potatoes for years afterward. So we’re exploring alternatives.

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together. This drip system is something I’m super excited about! I spent all last year lugging buckets of water across our yard to water our plants at their base because I didn’t want to spray them with the hose and damage their leaves.

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together. These are for our front yard where we have more of the decorative plants, trees and succulents- anything that the deer won’t devour.

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together. I discovered this cool tomato grower and wanted to try it! I never know how much to water and I’m convinced Chris overwaters everything. I’m excited to see this groovy watering system helps!

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together. These cages fit over those groovy tomato halos. Because of beginner mistakes and BLIGHT our first harvest of tomatoes last year totalled out to 4 heirlooms and maybe 30 cherry tomatoes out of 8 original tomato plants and 10 propogated babies… but we learned A LOT and I’m looking forward to growing ALL THE TOMATOES next season!

I’m obsessed with how this soap dish is engineered. And its from a sustainable shop that is mindful about labor, sourcing and the environment.

My dad and I started my first garden at his nursing home last year a few months before he passed away. When he died, Chris helped me move the garden home and build it into a solid hobby. Despite having fundamentally different approaches to watering and pruning, gardening is one of our favorite things we do together.

Chris runs warm and I run cold so its hard to keep the house a comfortable temperature for both of us. Our current electric blanket was my favorite cozy solution until it recently crapped out. RIP snow leopard print blanket.

I love these woven mats over the more traditional thick towel-type mat we have now. Also these are from MadeTrade, a shop dedicated to selling ethical & sustainable goods.

We have a tree in the back yard that I’ve been decorating with disco globes. I’m excited to be That Disco House that people see from the lake! Also if you can find globes for cheaper (I know 99 Cents Only in LA sometimes has 8 inch globes for $5), great! I prefer OG silver :)

Our digital thermometer just broke so I’ve been using our old school meat thermometer. Then I served Chris still-raw chicken last night. It’s not the thermometer’s fault, and I still want a new digital and am too frugal to actually buy it.

Using our Rug Doctor is one of the biggest unexpected joys of my life. However my precious needs a new upholstery tool, because Chris hoisting the entire Rug Doctor onto my car seats to try and clean them, while entertaining, is slightly less joyful.

Chris and I love theater- its one of my favorite ways to treat him! Austin receives some great Broadway shows on tour at the UT Performing Arts Center which has been renovated so that there isnt a bad seat in the house and the acoustics are phenomenal!

I’m a dancer. Chris is not, though he’s so game to dance with me and we’ve talked about lessons before. I’d love for us to take a tango or bachata class!

Those who know me know the unbridled joy disco globes bring me. I’ve been experimenting with hanging them around my house but since the sun moves, each disco globe we have only gives a few minutes of magic sparkles. Having the ability to bathe any room in disco light for hours at a time would make me (thus making Chris) the happiest person on the planet.

When I moved in with Chris one of the few things I brought to the party was this incredible down comforter that my stepmom, Deborah, gifted me at least 25 years ago. I’d love to give her a new cover because we’ve been using her without one for no good reason. Also this duvet is from MadeTrade, a shop dedicated to selling ethical and sustainable goods.

We’ve been through a whole journey with weighted blankets so that I’d actually given up on the concept and just strategically piled pillows on top of and around my body to help me sleep. My best friend, Stella, suggested a kid’s blanket because they’re lighter. This way I won’t feel like I’m trapped under a 12-15 lb monster, and Chris and I won’t have to navigate my pillow mountain any longer.

We love games and we never play them because we don’t have any. A work friend highly recommended Exploding Kittens and I’m a sucker for a Good vs Evil story narrative.

We love games and we never play them because we don’t have any. I saw video of my dear friends, The Bessers, playing this over the holidays and it looked like SO MUCH FUN!! I honestly can’t wait to play this with our family.

We love games and we never play them because we don’t have any. I’m a big fan of Esther Perel and I’ve been intrigued by her storytelling game for a while now. She designed it with connection, discovery, sharing, risk and laughter in mind, and I can’t wait to play this with Chris.