Two years ago

Two years ago, yesterday, Alex and I got married in a lovely building in downtown Manhattan. It seems like both one second ago, and a lifetime ago. True to form, for our anniversary present, I made Alex a book of our wedding photos...
(Cocktails, with a lion and fascinators...)
(I love this photo of our flower girl!)
...It now lives on our coffeetable, and we haven't stopped looking through it since.
I also made a framed photo for him (and me:) to put on our mantlepiece. It shows the thrilling moment we walked into our cocktail reception, announced as "husband and wife." Alex, I adore you. xoxo

(Book photos by Laura Ratliff; wedding photos by Max Wanger)

Would you date older?

Have you ever dated an older man or woman? I had never dated an older man before, but Alex is a whopping 13 years older than I am. At first I thought his age might be a deal breaker, but it's worked out (old movies, cooking skills, doesn't mind my under-eye wrinkles:).

Have you ever heard this funny trick? "Divide the older person's age in half, then add seven, and that's the biggest age difference you can have. So if you're 30, the youngest you can date is 22." It's actually a pretty good rule of thumb!

So, I'm curious: Have you ever dated an older man or woman? Much older? Would you rather date older or younger? How old would you go? Is your current partner older than you? I'd love to hear your thoughts...
(P.S. Btw, George Clooney is 50, so he's fair game for any of you older than 32 1/2!)

Motherhood Mondays: Alex's side of the birth story

Now that it's been more than a year since Toby's birth, and our second wedding anniversary is around the corner, I thought I'd finally ask Alex to share his side of our birth story. I'm always really curious about what it's like for dads, whether they're coaching breathing, getting their hands tightly squeezed or pacing the waiting room. So, below, Alex shares his thoughts... :)
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Motherhood Mondays: 8 confessions of a new dad

For today's second Motherhood Monday post, I'd love to talk about new fatherhood. On the three-hour drive home from the beach this weekend, Alex and I started talking about parenthood, and he revealed a few funny and surprising thoughts on our first year with a baby. Here were his eight confessions, in his own words, below...
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My boys

Wow! Alex is officially one of the coolest dads in NYC, according to Refinery29. Exciting. :) But he's really a History-Channel-watching, milkshake-drinking, cheesy-joke-cracking nerd at heart.

Our first date

Alex and I were reminiscing last night and realized that we went on our very first date exactly four years ago! I remember feeling giddy and nervous as I walked over to meet him at the Angelika Film Center. We saw The Lives of Others, the suspenseful German film about the East Berlin secret police. It was really intense and my heart was in my throat as we watched it.
Afterward, we took a cab over to Cafe Cluny, one of my favorite restaurants ever, and ordered steak and scallops, followed by two glasses of port, since it was one of Those Great Long Leisurely Dinners.
Then Alex walked me home, and, although I was usually a pretty slow mover (I'm a Michigan girl!), we kissed outside my apartment. The funny part? We were on Bleecker Street, so even late at night, crowds of people were passing by. Three drunk guys passed us and yelled, "Look at the lovers!" Romantic. :)

Another funny thing was, since we both really liked each other, we were searching for signs during the date that the other person was (or wasn't) into it. I got nervous when Alex offered me a bite of his steak, but then placed the piece of steak directly onto my plate; did he not want me to eat off his fork? And he later admitted that he thought the date was shot when I didn't lean on his armrest at the movie, but instead leaned toward the other side. So funny how nervous people can be when first dating!

Needless to say, it worked out, despite the armrest gaffe. And now he lets me eat off his fork:)

What about you guys? What did you do on your first dates with your main squeezes (or past boyfriends/girlfriends)? I'd love to hear...

Birthday dinner

Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes for Alex! Last night, to celebrate, we went to Recette, an amazing little West Village restaurant. We had a lovely table right next to an open window, so we could feel the crisp fall breeze as we ate. We toasted with Champagne and then shared lots of small plates, including sunchoke soup, beef carpaccio with burrata cheese, and salt cod fritters with lamb ragu (they had such cool combinations of ingredients). It felt so magical to dress up and go out on the town, just the two of us. xoxo

The Smiths

When Alex and I first started dating, I'd go over to his Brooklyn apartment and we'd drink wine and order dinner. (I remember always getting insane butterflies when I walked up the stairs to apartment! He would lean over the banister to say hello, and I would get all heart-pound-y.) Anyway, he'd usually put on music by The Zombies, Love and The Smiths, so I thought he might appreciate these clever limited-edition prints.

(Via Mixed Plate)

Happy birthday, Alex!

Dear Alex,

Happy birthday! We love you to pieces! You make us laugh, give pitch-perfect advice, and cook up the most delicious pasta Bolognese (with capers!). You're hilarious to gossip with and such a joy to confide in. It's awesome that every TV show you watch includes the words "Mega Disaster" or "Haunted History," and I know that you secretly want to shave your beard sometimes but I love that you never do (thank you).

We feel so lucky to be your family.

Joanna + Toby
P.S. See you tonight!