A(nother) Proposal for the Brides

I am in the midst of some very stylish wedding invitations. I'm planning plane tickets and parcels wrapped in whites and blues. Determining dates and dresses. Spring is here and it's brought marriage for many friends...more every year. I love hearing the details but admit to blushing a light spring green at the idea of registries.

I'd do well by a registry. I feel like I might just make one to organize my materialism into a checklist at Williams Sonoma. Motivate my personal savings, allow me to price shop a bit. Currently, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that for someone whose full daily ritual revolves around food (work, play, boyfriend flirtation), I am missing some fairly basic equipment.

• No Toaster or Toaster Oven
• No Blender
• No Mixer of Any Kind (Hand, Immersion, Standing)
• No Cast Iron Skillet
• No Full-size Food Processor (my mini is awesome but overflows)
  
• Coffee Pot (okay I have one but it is a 4-cup that is woefully out of date)
  

I look at that list and I definitely think it's registry material. So here's my proposal to all of my lovlies getting married. If you are starting to see duplicates in your soon-to-be Mr+Mrs. kitchen, send the originals my way. Counterspace or Not (Decisively Not) I will find a place in my heart and kitchen for your lovable plugables.

Your donation to Wicked Park also qualifies you for a foodstuff prepared with the item of choice as an act of christening and gratitude. To be delivered at the end of your honeymoon when you are tanned but exhausted. Think about it.

I don't care if they are not brand, spanking new, I assure you they will be well-loved into a ripe old age. Till death do us part. Ideally the toaster goes before me but with some of those gadgets you just never know.

Mazeltov!

Wedding weekend has come and gone for my beloved Elle Michelle and the Epicurious Alchemist. I can truthfully say it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I've attended. Not because the entire Chicago skyline was visible from the ballroom on a perfectly clear fall day. Not because the flowers and the people seemed to have coordinated their look in rich shades of violet and fuschia. Not because every song lit up the room with some certain guests vivid memory of a time gone by. All of those things were true but that's not quite it.

It was just so them.

Elle came down the aisle to Incubus played by a pop symphony. Dave started cracking up halfway through the vows. They wrote their own...everything. It was perfectly them.

Which made it perfectly all of us too.

My entire family was in town for the festivities and I don't just mean my parents and Brother. My other family, the neighbors who I was raised with forming a closeknit circle of the family we chose- different "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" all drinking wine and whiskey and taking over the dancefloor. The bride and groom led by example:
Dave: Ha! Isn't this fun?!?
L: What did I tell you about the goddamn chairs?!
Dave: What???
L: If I fall, you're coming with me. You are now legally bound to hit the ground before I do.
(conversation imagined by TKTC)

This is Mike. Mike and I grew up together. As in he was the first child I babysat for when he was a terror at 2 and I was in over my head at 10. Both a little misunderstood but not entirely misunderstood. And by that I mean we'd earned our respective reputations (him for being a smart little monster, me for a fatally percocious streak). Now we're sitting next to each other at dinner, drinking wine and talking about Vonnegut. So he may still outsmart me from time to time...

They might be giants. To be fair, L had given up on shoes at this point. Still kinda funny.

Lex and I staging a dance floor takeover one glass of chardonnay at a time.

We couldn't possibly be related. You must be kidding. So serious and then so tickled with the Mom.

This is the picture of the four of us I have and even with Danny lurking in the background, I love it. However, the one in my head is the four of us earlier in the day, sitting in my living room having coffee and listening to "Saturday Morning Music." Having my real home in my physical home all together for the first time? I think that will stick with me. Hard to know these things for sure, but I've got a good feeling.

For Immediate Release:

Media Contact:
TKTC
Chicago, IL
http://tokissthecook.blogspot.com

For Immediate Release:

Every good PR girl knows a few tricks of the trade....a handful of surefire tactics to pick up the pace when the good books just don't take the notice they should. Since I do so sympathize that not everyone is privy to the in's and out's of public relations (some might venture to define as those who determine in from out), here are three key examples:

1) Buzz. A little bit louder now. You know...revamp the look, add some haute to that couture and a little spice to the soup. This is not for every client. This trick takes a client that already has a certain inherent breed of panache. Looks great in red, errs on the side of pink and has a soft spot for tangerine. The potential for greatness and a safe bet for high expectations. Serious Sass, if you will...

2) An Event. Make that a party. People love parties. I certainly do (surprise, surprise) and I'm not alone there. Reporters, publicists and lightning rods (celebrities, socialites, those of royal bloodline or silicone enhancement) all have roles to play for a party to be a success. Like playing cops and robbers, these personality types vest themselves in parties far beyond the velvet ropes of Soho, Fulton Market and West Hollywood. This is a fact, not a trick.

The trick is that there are PR people who are capable of all three in carefully tempered proportion. The eye for detail of a hungry Page 6'er, the gentle touch of a seasoned handler and a controlled star quality that diffuses light on every member of the guest list. It takes all three in one spindoctor to throw a party that puts every individual part of the puzzle into its place. Cops and robbers included. Although in our world, that would be security and gatecrashers. There are full pages of the New York Times Style section devoted to these events. My favorites tend to be on Sundays...

3) A Merger. A Partnership. The conglomerate lovechild of two equally powerful, highly niched houses is a media blitz. You see this all the time and I guarantee that you're familiar with the concept on several fronts: Isaac Mizrahi for Target, the iPhone of Apple and AT&T, the CW (let's forget I said that). If the right balance is struck between homespun charm and high class hustle, you've got a runaway success on your hands. Specifically, the left ring fingers if I were to be making a point about great pairings...

You caught me. I do have a point. Here is the scoop that is only just starting to get those newswires tapping: My original public relations partner in capstone crime, another southerner with Cincinnati sensibilities and all-around wizard in regard to all of the above has become betrothed.

TKTC announces hearty and heartfelt congratulations to Miss Emily Rechter and Mr. Nick Sass on their engagement over the weekend in Denver, Colorado!

All media requests/ incredible karma/ marriage and wedding advice should be directed here for collection by the enfianced at their earliest convenience. Kentucky watch out...you have a pro on your hands and likely a party no pony would dare compete with!

September's Sass Squared
Other high res imagery available by request.

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In all seriousness (ok seriousness with levity circa Skippers), E and I became fast friends over independent studies, capstone presentations, wine, P-funks and as "adults," real career and client advice as we both navigated through the oft-exciting and unpredictable world of PR. Not to mention she is a straight up ace in terms of girlfriends.

And Nick appears to know this which makes me ecstatic for them both. When she rang last night, her intro was, "I think I have a new place for you to wear that red dress of yours..." I think not, dear Emiline, this will be a whole nother production indeed:) Congratulations again and again!!!

Devils & A Red Dress

Click for the bigger pic...Ben's wedding 3 years ago and Jesse's wedding last night.

I am typing this as I should be packing. I'm still hearing the words to Jesse's Girl and tasting Yellowtail chardonnay. My feet still hurt from hours in gold strappiness and my hair still smells like gardenias and cigarettes. There are things that have changed and things that never will. More tomorrow but I'll say I am glad that I got to be here.

All-night talks (and cake and margaritas) with JB, shopping & crepes with she and Kimmy, the wedding and promised debauchery, a rather charming pilot and a fantastic brunch are some of the highlights to be checked for tomorrow. Back to 0 degrees... of separation from my bed and my "grown-up" life.

*This will be a bigger post tomorrow but here are the pics...

My hosts, Jenn and Brian, are hilarious together. Definitely one of those couples that give me hope as people who start something good as adults in contrast to in college. They also appear to have worked out a good ratio of BS she puts up with from him/ BS no one puts up with from him:)
Can you tell I'm having a little too much fun with the Now & Thens? Brian and I have been friends for coming up on 20 years, non-negotiably ingrained in each other's business for 10. His mom (left) is one of my mom's best friends and something of a favorite aunt for me. Brian's parents will dance at my wedding. Brian will too if he's not passed out under a table or ejected for a terribly inappropriate toast. That is not an empty threat, dear.

Brian's brother Alex the All-American. Alex and I were super sober at Mystic Celt. Jenn apparently puts up with a lot from both Klimans. Alex was the subject of a manhunt through the zoo last night. More on that tomorrow. I also took artistic license and cropped myself out of this one. No thank you.

Right before our police run-in. We thought it was cold. It was 42 degrees warmer when this photo was taken then it currently is in Chicago..i.e. Not Cold. I was wearing a minidress, gold stiletto sandals and a cardigan. That's all.
TKTC Note: Bri, this isn't a bad look for you. By all means, make "The Rock" the new sexyface.

Sup G?

I am back at home in Germantown and it is a beautiful, sunny morning. Seriously- 9:30 am and already 50. I was fixin to shake the people I saw shivering yelling, "THIS? THIS IS COLD TO YOU?" to be followed by, "I walk 5 miles uphill both ways to work in blizzard conditions." Which is a lie but Chicago is a bit of a mystery down here sometimes so I might get away with it.

I just realized that the 5 people I'm down here visiting with the most have ALL been to visit me in Chicago. I'm so lucky!!! JB, Kimmy, Brian/Jen, and Dad have all been up at various times which is pretty awesome. Now we're working on scheduling round two's. Round Two is more fun because you can cut out the Hancock Building and add in a dive bar. Real city personality stuff.

Anyhow, I'm going to try to steal a camera to take to the ball tonight or at least hijack Brian's. For now a quick workout, getting the nails did, lunch with Kim & JB, Sephora, Brian's, the WEDDING! Happy Saturday y'all!