Your contribution will help make our safari in South Africa memorable! We are spending 9 days on safari in Kruger National Park and nearby private game reserves.

Your contribution will help make our time in Johannesburg and Cape Town memorable! Our time in Johannesburg is brief (2 days), but we'll be spending a week in Cape Town, and using this as a home base for a few overnight side trips to a nearby wine country town (Franschhoek), the Cape of Good Hope and Hermanus.

While on safari, we're planning to take a helicopter day tour.

We'll spend 4 hours visiting Soweto, the biggest and most vibrant township in South Africa. Soweto was pivotal to the struggle for freedom, and is now full of sites of significant historical importance. Today, Soweto is a cultural melting pot, and an absolute must-see for any visiting tourist.

We'll spend a night in Hermanus hoping to spot some whales... from the shorelines, since Stacey gets seasick on rough waters!

We're taking a day tour of several wineries outside Cape Town.

Contribute towards an authentic South African meal. We don't know what local foods we'll encounter, but we want to try them!

We'd love a new telephoto lens, lens hood and camera bag to help us capture every shot from our trip.

The better to see wildlife with...

Because we'll need to travel light in aircrafts like these, we will be buying some new luggage and travel gear for our trip.

A grown-up set of cookware. All-Clad Stainless with d5 technology maintains the classic style of the original stainless collection while introducing superlative performance and ergonomic enhancements. 7-Piece Set includes: 10" skillet, 1.5-qt. saucepan with lid, 3-qt. sauté pan with lid, and 8-qt. stockpot with lid.

Sometimes we get a raised eyebrow when we give our guests a paper towel sheet for dinner...

The views look amazing!

Contribute a bottle of champagne to make one of our nights on safari extra special.

One of our favorite vineyards, this is also where we celebrated our engagement over 3 years ago. Help us start a collection of bottles to enjoy on anniversaries to come with this wine club membership.

The better to taste red wine with...

The better to taste white wine with...

Because we literally cut everything with worn-out steak knives right now. Wüsthof Classic knives are precision-forged from a single piece of specially tempered high-carbon steel for outstanding strength, and each blade’s extraordinary sharpness is easy to maintain. All knives in this set feature triple-riveted, ergonomic, full-tang handles designed in consultation with professional chefs to be seamless and hygienic. Full bolster helps protect fingers. Laser-controlled and tested cutting edge. Nine-piece set includes: 3" hollow-edge paring knife, 3½" paring, 6" utility, 8" bread, 5" hollow-edge santoku, 8" chef’s, 9" steel, kitchen shears and a handsome 13-slot block.

Beautiful and practical.

These soup bowls will get plenty of use in the cold Chicago winters. And the lion's head detail is so fun!

A classy way to serve the winter soup and chili that Arno makes.

A few years ago, Stacey's parents gave us the set of coffee mugs that they received on their own wedding day. We use the mugs for our coffee every day, and it reminds us of their happy marriage whenever we drink from them. We thought it would be special to receive some mugs of our own to pass along someday.

Cheese...

For future parties...

We eat a lot of salad...

Because Stacey loves popcorn but hates the chemicals in microwave popcorn bags.

Intelligensia was founded in 1995 in Chicago. Their first location was on Broadway Street - just steps from the apartment we rented when we moved back to Chicago from San Francisco. Support our caffeine habit with some of their delicious whole bean coffee.

A warm wool blanket to cozy up with together on the couch.

To control the fur tumbleweeds that otherwise threaten to overtake our home. The kitties shed so much!