This past weekend was very fun, very fallish. Beautifully sunny with dappled leaves floating through the air, I embraced the gently brisk days like a coat I knew would only be warm enough to wear for another week. Smoky smells, pumpkins, and corn were all part of the outdoor ambiance.
One of the more interesting things that happened during the weekend was the wonderful opportunity for Joe and I to meet Shauna James Ahern, author of the Gluten Free Girl blog(Shauna's blog has been linked to my blog for months and I encourage you to check it out if you have not already done so). I stumbled upon Shauna's blog about a year ago, after Joe was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, and fell in love with her prose, her recipes, and her real-life stories. From sharing her struggles with celiac disease, to meeting her now-husband, the Chef, to sharing tidbits from her wedding and honeymoon, I almost feel like I know Shauna. Now, she has released her first book, Gluten Free Girl, and when I found out she would be in Chicago as part of her book tour, I knew we had to meet her.
Making a potential meeting with Shauna even more intriguing was the fact that our friends Karen and Shawn, who just moved to Seattle, are currently living with Shauna's book publicist! I turned Karen on to Shauna's blog months ago since she is also gluten intolerant, and it was just a big happy connection for all of us.
That is how we came to sit inside Swirlz Cupcakes in Lincoln Park on Friday afternoon sharing stories with one of the most prolific bloggers we know. She is a great gal, and even invited us to have dinner with her that night. Alas, we already had plans, but we sure were sorry to pass up the opportunity. Joe found her story really encouraging as he navigates his own journey as a wheat-free guy. Check out her blog today to read the shout out she gave us!
From gluten-free conversation on Friday to Northwestern football on Saturday...who says we aren't well-rounded? Saturday dawned beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, and we were happy to make our way to Ryan Field at Northwestern University to watch an autumn football game between Joe's alma mater and Iowa. Northwestern was slated to WIN, but they really let us down in a big way. But we enjoyed ourselves among the purple-clad fans.
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