zach and melissa: wedding in chicago

our dear friend, zach, fell in love and married melissa and we went to chicago to party with them. i made jonathan drive so we could listen to david sedaris on CD, have picnics at WPA rest stops, and load our car up with stuff from IKEA on our way home.we stayed with jonathan and emily (whose wedding on september 2, 2007 is responsible for bringing jonathan and i together). they are a seriously-in-love couple and between our two relationships i see similarities that comfort me and also differences that encourage and challenge me. their love is real and their generosity huge. it was a blessing to be able to stay with them and catch up. i also adore emily's sense of home and interior style!

besides the reasons of seeing old friends and stomping grounds and celebrating our best friend's wedding, i could not wait to get to chicago to get my hair did by susan, my chicago stylist of six years whom i desperately miss in denver. she opened her own shop shortly before we left chi-town and certainly does not need me to sing her praises as that girl is busy. i'd say she did a bang-up job. see for yourself:

during this week in chicago, jonathan and i celebrated our two-year anniversary. we decided no gifts: "just" to splurge on dinner at schwa. i called almost daily to get a reservation for the one day we would be able to make it. i was giddy as a school girl when they finally returned my pleas for a wednesday night reservation. we arrived with a bottle of wine, a bomber of beer, and a bottle of whiskey in tow (schwa is BYO) and promptly offered the whole kitchen a shot of whiskey each to help us properly begin our anniversary festivities. they served us up some of the best food we have ever had, including an additional course and a few liquors of their own.

jonathan and michael carlson taking a end-of-the-night shot of leopold whiskey. he would return the next day to stage with the crew.

after schwa, jonathan and rallied for some more hours at longman & eagle. it was lovely but, admittedly, a bit too much for our livers and travel-wearied bodies.

the next morning, jonathan made us all a delicious and much-needed hearty breakfast. we dined at emily's beautifully set table. what hospitality that woman extended us!

that day and the next were filled with prepping the backyard for the wedding day, running last minute errands, and a lovely and casual rehearsal dinner that welcomed all guests who had travelled to the wedding.

i didn't get many photos from the ceremony and reception. we were all too busy eating amazing food, dancing, drying off from the humidity, dancing some more, and stealing swigs from whole bottles of charles shaw. right, nicole? (above: newly weds zach and nicole, our other wedding of the summer).