I Give You, "The Gastronomy of Marriage"

In 1998, I showed up for work one day in Los Angeles and met a guy who came to interview for the position just above mine. He was thin, dressed in khakis and a polo shirt — instead a suit like the other candidates had worn — and definitely not my type. I fell in love.

In 2000, I decided to move to New York and get an MFA, and he, to my delight, offered to follow. In 2004, the week my MFA was handed to me, he proposed, I accepted, we moved in together, and on a night soon afterward I opened a Word file, named it AYearofDinners.doc and starting writing down what we ate.

Today, the culmination of those events, plus a lot of thinking, writing, editing, and thinking and writing some more, is "The Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir of Food and Love." It's my very first book, and you can find it in bookstores starting today.

In hindsight, there are many things I might have done differently, including sharing the text with my parents before sending the book to the printers. (Mea culpa!) When I finally sent them early, uncorrected proofs, they were both surprised to see themselves portrayed as such ... well-rounded characters. (Rich and I are also portrayed very honestly, I think, but granted we each had time to grow accustomed to the idea.)

They both also had identical, strong opinions about how I handled the wedding, and insisted I should have given more. (Everyone's a critic!) So that you don't have similar complaints, I'm offering you a bit more of the wedding — which was simple, perfect, and in my sister's garden on the prettiest day of May 2005 — below.

To all of you who loved and supported (and edited) me through the process of birthing this book, a million heartfelt thanks — I couldn't have done a bit of it without you.