Posts Tagged ‘Team {life} Practical’

Apr 2011

As you guys know, Columns Editor Alyssa has a monthly community feature on weddings and anniversaries, so we can all get to know each other a little better, and cheer on those about to be wed. As we're heading into wedding season, this feature is getting longer and longer, but more and more awesome. This month, as ever, I'm excited to see all the readers and regular commenters who are about to get hitched. But my heart just swells with gratification and happiness seeing all the happily married couples celebrating their anniversaries. Because that's what all of this is about kids—marriage. Now let's cheer them on. (And remember, this is an ongoing project, so if you'd like to be included, see the bottom of the post for details.)

Upcoming weddings this month:

Kahiwa and Grant (Team Grahiwa), May 5th, 2011; Blog: Team Grahiwa getting Hitched , Twitter: @kiwafruit

Katie T. and Rob M. May 7th, 2011

Anna (LV Anna) and Steve, May 14th, 2011

Danielle and Chris, May 14th, 2011

Emily and John, May 14th, 2011

Laura Holway and Ben McGinley, May 14th, 2011

Vanessa and Phil, May 14th, 2011; Blog: Into Something Rich and Strange

Cass and Andrew, May 21th, 2011; Blog: Boobs and Beer, Twitter: @cheshire_cassie

Emma and Kyle, May 21st, 2011; Twitter: @emmao257

Kim & John, May 21th, 2011; Blog: Domestocrat

Natalie and Eric, May 21st, 2011; Blog: Natalie - Post-Graduate Pie, Eric - The Other 87

Rachel C. and Troy C., May 21st, 2011; Blog: Chaos and Courtship

Sarah and Andrew, May 21st, 2011; Twitter: Sarah @purplecupcakes, Andrew @Flamingshoe

Tanya & Brian, May 21st, 2011; The Art Nouveau Bride

Neil and Caroline, May 22nd, 2011; Twitter: @CarolineEr

Kristin and Denver, May 26th, 2011; Twitter: Kristin @RockstarBakes; Denver @denverleonard

Amy and Dave, May 28th, 2011

cartascartas & peanut butter, May 28th, 2011

Shiloh and Christian, May 29th, 2011

And Anniversaries:

Dan and Bethany May 1st, 2010 Walnut Wedding

Marissa & Nick Welch (who are expecting a tiny practical person in December!!!!), May 1st, 2010; Blog: Paper Turtles, Twitter: @marissawelch

Meg & Dan, aka Anchor's Aweigh & The Husband, May 1st, 2010; Blog: Anchor's Aweigh!

Jami and Carrie, May 5th, 2010; Blog: Somewhat Bookish, Photo by Eva Russo

Lauren & Aidan, May 16, 2009; Blog: Lauren McGlynn Photography, Twitter: @laurenmcglynn

{More happy smiling faces after the jump. Including Alyssa's super young PARENTS!} Continue reading May Weddings and Anniversaries

Posted in: Uncategorized | 30 Comments »

Apr 2011

April Weddings and Anniversaries!

As you guys know, Columns Editor Alyssa has started a monthly community feature on weddings and anniversaries, so we can all get to know each other a little better, and cheer on those about to be wed. And while I couldn't visualize it when she told me it was the best idea ever, Alyssa is wise, and she, of course, was right. So here is the next round of happy grinning faces, and readers that are about to be hitched! (And remember, this is an ongoing project, so if you'd like to be included, see the bottom of the post for details.)

Upcoming weddings this month:

Jessica and Ben, April 2nd, 2011, Twitter: @thelittlefella

Alice and Jon, April 9th, 2011; Blog: Snowflakes in France

Stephanie and Wayne, April 9th, 2011

Ali and Austin, April 16th, 2011; Blog: Redhead Reports

Claire and Oliver, April 16th, 2011; Blog: Chic, Classy....and a little bit Sassy

Jessica and Neil, April 16th, 2011; Blog: Cats Lick the Butter

Jo and James, April 16th, 2011

Matt and Valery, April 16th, 2011; Blog: Young(s) and in Love

Melody (Melodious) and Eric, April 16th, 2011

Rhiannon and Stef, April 23rd, 2011; Blog: Thinking Wedding

Ashley and Ace, April 30th, 2011; Blog: tea@elevensies

Erica and Sean, April 30th, 2011

Kassy and Brandon, April 30th, 2011

Ben and Kathleen, April 30th, 2011; Blog: When Hoya Met Saxa

Yuval and Katie, April 30th, 2011

I know right? What a month!!! Wish them strength through the final weeks, and huge-ness on the day itself.

And our anniversaries:

Gaynor & Graham, April 3rd, 2010; Blog: Our Day by Design

Jennifer and Sean Ryan, April 17th, 2010

Angela and Jorge, April 23rd, 2010

Kari and Matthew, April 24th, 2010; Blog: The Handmade Event

Nick and Liz, April 25th, 2009; Blog: Nick and Liz Go Global

The happiest of anniversaries to each of you, and thanks for sticking around, talking about married life, building a family, and why all of this really matters.

Want to join the monthly Weddings and Anniversaries fun? Yes? Well click here, already!

Posted in: Uncategorized | 32 Comments »

Mar 2011

January, February, and March Weddings & Anniversaries

A few weeks ago, Columns Editor Alyssa put out a call for Team Practical Weddings and anniversaries, so we could all get to know each other a little better, and cheer on those about to be wed. I wasn't sure about Alyssa's project, because I just couldn't visualize it, but she's Alyssa, and she knows APW like the back of her hand, so I let her at it. And today, I got it. And I think you will too. It's amazing to see the faces of the ladies who hang out here, living their lives.

Since we got a bit of a late start, we have January, February AND March weddings all in one giant post, just bursting with love! (And remember, this is an ongoing project, so if you'd like to be included, see the bottom of the post for details.)

Our upcoming weddings this month:

Molly and Cameron, March 12th, 2011

Brodie and Emily, March 26th, 2011

Wish them strength through the final weeks, and huge-ness on the day itself. Squeeee you guys!

And our anniversaries:

Agirl and Aboy, January 3rd, 2009; Blog: A Girl's World

Drea and Josh Eisenberg, January 24th, 2009; Blog: Maiden Metallurgist (baby due after infertility: very soon)

Devereaux and Justin, January 30th, 2010: Twitter: @dmrkns

Chris and Karla, February, 20th 2010

Justin and Kate, February 14th, 2011

Megan and Richard, February 19th, 2011 Marbella and T-Rex, February 26th, 2011; Twitter: @stellamarbella (photo courtsey of Doug Pettway)

Morgan and David, March 20th, 2010; Blog: High Diving Board

Mike and Bec, March 20th, 1999; Blog: Blush Celebrations

Rachel (ddayporter) and Zach, March 20th, 2010; Blog: Bananas, continued

Rose (Rose in SA) and Mike, March 22nd, 2008

Happy anniversaries to all of you, and thanks for reminding us what all of this is about.

And um, is it just me, or will we be needing some wedding grad posts from some of these ladies, cough, cough, cough?

Want to join the monthly Weddings and Anniversaries fun? Yes? Well click here, already!

Posted in: Uncategorized | 41 Comments »

Nov 2010

Reclaiming Wife: The Hillratt’s Voyage – Money & Independence

Today Sara is back, talking about her concerns about giving up her income and being supported on her husband as she embarks on her journey around the world. When Sara first wrote me about this dilemma, she kept beating herself up about struggling with this, when she was lucky enough to journey around the world in the first place. And I told her to be kinder to herself. Because first of all, who among us doesn't admire someone brave enough to give it all up and take a life changing adventure? I don't envy her that, I applaud it, because it makes me braver just by hearing about it. But more to the point, I suspect that most of us will have to deal with this thorny question at one point or another in our lives as wives. Maybe we loose a job, maybe we have a baby and are on maternity leave, maybe we hate our jobs and decide to quit. But when the moment comes when we are dependent on someone else's income to eat, we run hard and fast into some serious questions. And with that, I'll let Sara (of Stofnsara) take it away:

The other day I explained that my husband (Stof) and I are about to embark on a bloody marvellous voyage across the Pacific with nobody other than each other (well, for most of the time). As should be expected, this has raised a number of ‘issues’. While my current quandary has arisen because I’m a lucky fish who gets to sail half-way across the globe, I think there may be many more women who grapple with the same tension between her income (or lack thereof) and her identity as a ‘strong woman’, but for different reasons.

I currently work as a lawyer – as I have for the past five years. For those familiar with the legal profession in (most) commonwealth countries, I am a barrister. This means that I am largely self-employed and I specialise in court work. It can be enormously intellectually and financially rewarding. BUT I have had enough: there is too much of my capacity that is not being used while I am my lawyer-self. Even if we weren’t embarking on our adventure, I would be making some kind of professional shift. As things stand, I am immeasurably grateful that I can “bow out” of the profession with grace and a jolly good excuse.

Stof is also self-employed, but his business is internet-based and easier to maintain while voyaging. Before we became a serious couple, he bought a house with gorgeous ‘bones’. Together, we renovated her into a beautiful home and filled her with splendid art and furniture. Earlier this year we moved the art and furniture into storage and sold that house. With a portion of the house money, we bought a boat in Mexico…

OK! Here comes the juicy bit: Because we both run our own businesses, when we married we kept our finances separate. Now that we are embarking on a Pacific passage, I must (and willingly do so) give up my work. Stof, however, will continue to earn money. We will both be dependent on that income (as well as the income generated from the balance of money from the sale of [his] house). I am about to become (at least while we’re travelling) a “kept woman”.

PANIC!!! Continue reading Reclaiming Wife: The Hillratt’s Voyage – Money & Independence

Posted in: Reclaiming Wife | 138 Comments »

Nov 2010

Reclaiming Wife: Introduction to the Hillratt’s Voyage

Today I am jumping around the living room, because I'm that excited to introduce you to a new series for Reclaiming Wife. Long time readers will remember Sara & Stof's rather amazing South African wedding (Sara is also a regular commenter, who comments as Saartjie). Well, the wedding was just the tip of the iceberg with those two. Since then they've been cooking up plans to sail half way around the world together and documenting it all on their blog Stofnsara. I've been excited by this project, and thrilled at the way the Hillratts are breaking the mold of what a marriage can be, and expanding my horizons. Because of that, I asked Sara if she'd write a little series about what she's learning along the way. Well, actually, I planned to ask Sara to write the series, and the very same day she emailed me with a question about money and marriage, that we'll tackle on Thursday. But today, Sara is introducing the project. The Hillrats leave at the beginning of February, and she'll report in as she can. That way, all of us get to learn what she's learning, and follow along as she sails around the world. What could be better?

Stof and I married last year in September. Like so many of the people who read this blog, I stumbled upon APW looking for wedding inspiration. Within a couple of weeks, I’d practically stopped even looking at all the “wedding porn” I’d been addicted to for months of wedding planning. I realised that our wedding would look like no other wedding out there (or, thankfully, that no other wedding would look like ours). I stopped being interested in what other weddings looked like, but in how other brides felt and thought.

We had a four-day wedding extravaganza at a venue that had never been used for a wedding our size (the reception hall had not been used as anything really for about 50 years). 180 of our friends and family trekked out to a nature reserve at least three hours away from their homes for a celebration that was full of copious laughter and memory-building. It felt like we had pulled off a party that was both spectacular and unassuming and so close to our personalities.

I re-hash the wedding story, because we felt like, together, we could do anything we set our minds to.

So we began to talk about the life we want to live: the family we want to grow into. Adventure, tolerance and the pursuit of fresh perspective were (are) central to many of those discussions. We want to introduce our children to a certain kind of life-philosophy for which travel will be the tutor of many lessons. But we decided that if we want to travel as three or four or more, we’d best be in the habit of adventuring as two.

At about the same time as we started mulling about these things, we were inspired by friends who had taken their own year-long adventures as couples. One couple lived in a small town in Argentina learning Spanish, another rode around India on a classic motor bike and another took off around Africa in a 4x4. Two more friends are just now coming to the end of a two year sailing circumnavigation. If our friends could do it, we reckoned, so could we.

We dreamt the craziest dreams about the trip we could take. We fantasised about the places furthest away from home (South Africa) and, on a semi-whim, we decided to travel around the Pacific Rim using all manners of different transport. Continue reading Reclaiming Wife: Introduction to the Hillratt’s Voyage

Posted in: Reclaiming Wife | 61 Comments »

Sep 2010

Mighty Summit: In Gratitude For The Blog-o-sphere

Ok. So. I'm trying to figure out how to tell you guys the story of this weekend - one of the most mind-blowlingly amazing, life changing and intense weekends of my life. It was a weekend that made me so profoundly grateful for each one of you - the commenters, the lurkers, the listeners the writers, the cheerer-oners of each other. Profoundly, profoundly grateful. But to tell this story I'm going to need to back up a little bit and start at the beginning.

On April 21, 2003, a few days after my 23rd Birthday. I found Andrea Scher's website. On the website there was a link that said "journal," And I thought, "What does that mean? What's an online journal?" (ha!) and that's when I found out what a blog was. I've written about the rollercoaster ride that was my 20's in New York City working in the arts. It was a hard and confusing time, and Andrea, this woman I'd never met or spoken to, held my hand through all of it. What she wrote helped me figure out who I was and what I wanted and how I was going to make that happen.

Flash forward to 2006, when David and I were preparing to uproot our lives, take a step toward adulthood and move to San Francisco. Right around that time, I fell headfirst into Maggie Mason's writing at Mighty Girl. Maggie was five years older than me (big sister age, and I don't have a big sister) and lived in San Francisco. But more than that, she was, and continues to be, this amazing woman who wrote her own rules for life. She was having a baby and staying in her one bedroom apartment in the city, building a career that didn't really exist yet (professional blogger), and was blowing every preconception of motherhood out of the water (travel all over the world with your son during his first year? Done!) Maggie, this woman I'd never met, held my hand through my late 20's, my move to San Francisco, my engagement, planning my marriage. She gave me faith I could live life on my terms, even when people told me it was impossible. David likes to call Maggie, "Meg's Oprah" or "Meg's biggest celebrity." True. Also, I always just wanted to hang out with her, because it seems like we'd get ALONG.

So last year Maggie through this crazy amazing party for a bunch of her blogger friends, in one of my favorite places on this planet. I literally stared at the website for the event for two weeks last year thinking, "I have to go to this party next year. I have to. I just have to figure out a way." Which of course made no sense, since at that point I had a non-pro website, and didn't know Maggie, or anyone she knew. But I had to go. I was totally sure of that.

So a few months ago, Maggie announced she was doing the party again this year, but different. This time it was going to be called Mighty Summit, and was for women leaders in media. It was going to be all about life lists and realizing dreams. And they were taking applications for attendees. So, obviously, I applied within 24 hours, even though I knew I didn't have a shot of getting it. I mean, please.

And then I got in.