Dear Friends,
As newlyweds, my wife and I are all about adopting new traditions for our little family
(me and her and our two female cats, Doug and Manny). We revel in morning coffee
dates on the couch and Sunday nights, making sauce in our kitchen.
To kick off this holiday season, we wanted to start an even grander, more inclusive,
tradition. We hosted 25 dear friends — our “extended family” — for Friendsgiving. Jenn
made a succulent turkey, while I set the table with burlap runners from our wedding
and gourds I spray-painted gold on the front porch. Soon, our favorite people filled our
home, warming the space and us in it. We were ignited in the spirit of celebration, which
became a theme for this issue: Let’s celebrate it all.
Two years ago, we started the tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree, but
it wasn’t until working on this issue that I discovered what an eco-friendly practice this
actually is. Did you know that live trees absorb greenhouse gases, reduce our carbon
footprint, and boost our Pennsylvania economy? Read more about the argument to
forage for your own fir in Scott Creary’s article on page 44. And then, buddle up with
someone beautiful, arm yourselves with a saw and some spiked hot cocoa, and go do it.
While you’re at it, start a new tradition of ultra unique gift giving for everyone on your
list. We had a ball compiling our first gift guide as a magazine, uncovering cool finds for
some of the more off beat people on your list (like your drinking buddy and the hot guy
who sometimes cooks for you). Check it out on page 22, and get an eyeful of the gaggle
of glorious-looking girls and guys we shot for this spread (our gift to you).
In this issue, we’re also spotlighting big gift-givers in our community — like Evan
Wolfson, who is heading up the Freedom to Marry Coalition, nationwide (page 30, and
Dan Rossi, executive director of the Animal Rescue League, who is making it easier for
his employees to be out at work (page 16). Candi Castleberry-Singleton, chief diversity
officer at UPMC, is our “Ally” this month for her work on the outstanding and hopeful
Dignity & Respect Campaign (page 37). We feel blessed to share a hometown with
these heroes.
We hope these stories inspire your own traditions, that you’ll be ignited, too — with
warm ideas and enlightened forward thinking. Let’s celebrate who we are and where
we live and the incredible people around us. Let’s adopt a ritual, this season, to spread
overwhelming love and to feel that love come back to us.
Happy holidays to your little family and to the extended family you’ve built around you.
You guys are awesome.
With love and peace,
Victoria Bradley-Morris
Editor-in-Chief
