IT’S BEEN ALMOST EXACTLY 30 DAYS SINCE OUR EPIC ELOPEMENT DAY — OUR CITY-HALL-AND-BEYOND WEDDING DAY WAS A SUNNY, ICY-COLD DECEMBER TUESDAY HERE IN CHICAGO — AND I FEEL COMPELLED TO GIVE A PROPER SHOUT-OUT TO OUR EVENT PLANNER, THE UNIVERSE.

And while I am quite delighted to share some of the surprising moments of our experience, the whole point here is to pretend you and I are sitting with a nice bottle of wine between us, and we’re gonna talk.

More specifically, we’re gonna talk about how it might be possible to hire the Universe for way more events in our lives — moments, even — and enjoy that most luscious of juicy fruits, magical coincidence.

Why all the excitement and fuss about magical coincidence, you ask? For one thing, magical coincidence is one of the characteristics of that highest energy bandwidth, synchronicity. It’s a high-end neighborhood of a different sort, synchronicity is, and a very cool place to hang out—if you haven’t been there lately, keep reading for sure.

Anyway, magical coincidence is that zing you feel when you exclaim to yourself, Whoa, out of all the people in the world, how did this fortuitous thing happen where I crossed paths with you… in this way, and in this very moment?

Magical coincidence has got that meant-to-be quality to it, a whiff of quirky perfection.

But I digress. Let’s do a magical mystery tour of the pixie dust party that was our wedding day. And the couple of days leading up to it, during which all the details such as dress, flowers, festivities and whatnot got sorted out, mostly not by me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

And then we’re gonna break it down: Some practical yet cosmic ways to cultivate magical coincidence. You know, takeaways. So don’t leave before the end or you’ll miss those. (This one’s a little longer than usual. If you get to the end, would you leave a comment so I know someone made it that far besides my mom?)

 🧡 

3 Days Out: Whereupon the Universe lets me try going it alone…then presents me with my fairy godmother, and I decide I really will find a dress by Tuesday.

I SET OUT WITH A NOT-SO-MAGICAL MIXTURE OF DETERMINATION AND ANXIETY, AND AS I TRIED ON DRESS AFTER DRESS IN MY USUAL NEVER-FAIL SPOTS, EVERYTHING LOOKED PRETTY…MEH. I FELT DOWDY AND HO-HUM. YUCK. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE’RE SHOOTING FOR. I TEXT MY AESTHETIC WIZARD AND STYLIST FRIEND CARL TAYLOR. “DO SOME BLING!” HE ADVISES. GOOD.

On a whim, I walked into Chicago’s Rent the Runway store, and out of the busy cloud of Saturday afternoon shoppers emerges a calm young woman, Taylor McElr0y, who looks at me with gorgeous doe eyes that invite immediate trust. It seems there’s quite a wait for a fitting room. I tell her I’m getting married on Tuesday and am looking for a dress, and she invites me to come back for a private appointment with her the next day. “We don’t usually do appointments on Sunday,” she says, “But never mind. We’re doing it.”

 🧡 

2 Days Out: Whereupon my high-vibe fashion maven introduces me to My Dress, plus hands me a wedding day itinerary as a bonus.

AS I LEAVE OUR APARTMENT SUNDAY MORNING, I TELL CHRIS I REALLY HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THE WOMAN I MET, THIS TAYLOR. “I’M COMING HOME WITH THE DRESS TODAY,” I ANNOUNCE. “SHE’S GOING TO HELP ME FIND IT.” “OKAY GOOD,” HE SAYS.

A LAST-MINUTE DESIRE FOR LUSH LASHES HAS ME TEXTING MY BEAUTY GODDESS, JORDYN OLAWUMI, WHO OWNS SALON SNOB AND IS MY GO-TO GAL FOR HAIR MAGIC. OOPS, THE SALON IS CLOSED!

And yet…this saint of a woman came in on her day off — squeezed me in between hot yoga and going home to a sick toddler — to make my peepers pop. “You’re getting married!” she said. “Of course we’re going to make this happen!” I love that woman, she is kindness and grace personified.

HMM…WHAT ELSE? FLOWERS! (IS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING TOO EARLY TO WORK THIS OUT???)

As nontraditional as we were going with this thing, Moxie does need her flowers. I had $50 budgeted, which, if you’ve ever shopped for a bridal bouquet, doesn’t tend to take you far beyond a plain jane nosegay, especially in a major city like Chicago. I stopped in at a favorite place, A New Leaf — sadly, in its final weeks of business — and showed them a picture of my dress and then this picture on my website, a gorgeous image I use to represent the Moxie Oasis service. (That evening, my designer and art director daughter Tova tells me this is perfect and perfectly consistent with my style, which she informs me is “modern Frida.” Modern Frida, I love that. Let’s go with it.)

When I return to pick up my bouquet, I am floored by the stunning arrangement they’ve put together for me. The price? Exactly $50 for an exotic tumble of grand orchids and other blooms that far exceed my expectations. And what are these, I ask, pointing to the unusual roses in the perfect shades of burnt orange and brick. “Those are Free Spirit Roses,” the flower artist says. Of course they are. ✨✨✨ (I now have a dried Free Spirit Rose from this bouquet on a shelf in the Moxie Penthouse.)

On my way home, it was getting dark and blustery, and I decided my Soul needed a nice cup of hot chocolate. So into a nearby choco-cafe I went, and when I emerged all warm and happy, it was rush hour and raining and the cabs zooming by all had passengers.

Never mind, I thought, I’m on a cosmic roll — I put up my hand, and a cab without its “I’m available” light on pulled up in front of me.

“You had such an obvious will to get a ride, I had no choice but to stop,” announced the driver.

At which point he informs me he’s The Singing Cab Driver, and if I like, he’ll serenade me. When I tell him I’m getting married in the morning, he decides a love song is in order. And he proceeds to belt out a quirky original tune I couldn’t begin to describe here. When I get home, I google him, naturally. Turns out, Ray St. Ray has gotten media coverage on CNN and, well, lots of places.

IN THIS VIDEO OF HIM, THE SINGING CAB DRIVER EXPLAINS HOW TO SUMMON HIS CAB: “IT IS A COSMICALLY SELECTIVE PROCESS WHO GETS ME, AND WHEN. WHEN YOUR KARMA IS DUE, PERHAPS I’LL SHOW UP.”

I COULD NOT MAKE THIS UP, FRIENDS:

I am happy my karmic situation was such that this happened.

🧡

The Big Day: Whereupon we are surrounded by sacred doves, give an Uber driver a lucky milestone, are introduced to “Lady Lucent of Awakening,” and are showered with love by strangers in beautiful places.

Oh, and we got married. 🥰

So on the morning of our wedding day, what was I doing? Sending out a fresh-from-the-heart letter to the lovely people who subscribe to The Moxie Diaries. (You can read that letter in Part 1 of this series, here.) We had made the choice to have no one present but us, and in lieu of the physical presence of our community, it felt especially important to invite special people to send us their love beams.

One of the responses that came in, which I happened to read as we were headed out the door, included this, from a woman who runs a healing center:

I READ IT OUT LOUD TO CHRIS, AND HE CLOSED HIS EYES AND SMILED. FOR THE REST OF THE DAY WE NOTICED DOVE AND BIRD REFERENCES. “DOVES!” WE’D SAY, AND HE’D SQUEEZE MY HAND.

We popped into a cab and Chris gave our driver the address of City Hall. “Guess what! Today’s our wedding day,” I told him.

“No!! Really?! It really is??”

We assured him we truly were on our way to City Hall to get married.

ALL THE WAY THERE, HE TOLD US HOW AUSPICIOUS THIS WAS: “OH BOY! TWENTY NINE YEARS I’M DRIVING A CAB, AND THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DRIVING A COUPLE TO GET MARRIED. THIS IS GOOD LUCK, YOU KNOW. THIS VERY GOOD LUCK!”

And then there was Gosia, our photographer, whom I’d reached out to a week prior by text. (I knew her from more than a year ago when she took some pics for Moxie branding, including my main head shot.) I gave her free rein, telling her I trusted that she gets me. Thank GOD. Because I never would have known to request pics by the Jean Dubuffet sculpture outside City Hall. And I’d not have known to ask that we walk a block to the Allegro Hotel, where she photographed us in front of a massive mixed media piece, “Lady Lucent of Awakening” by Sara Raskey.

I’D NOT SEEN THIS PIECE OF ART BEFORE, AND I WAS INSTANTLY GOBSMACKED. AS IN, I FELT A JOLT WHEN I LAID EYES ON THIS DIVINELY FEMININE AND POWERFUL FIGURE WITH HER HEADDRESS AND BANGLES AND JEWELED COSTUME.

I made sure to get the artist’s name before we left, and a few days later, I googled her.

As I wandered through Sara Raskey’s elegant website, I got goosebumps. Not only is the woman “dedicated to artistic and transformative living,” the psychotherapist and art therapy professor’s work “touches upon a plethora of references including planetary consciousness, energetic frequencies, healing and ancient wisdom traditions, symbolism, expanding consciousness, and the sacredness of the human spirit.” Her work is described as “contemporary art with old soul.”

There’s a wonderful brief video of artist Sarah Raskey working on and talking about this stunning piece. I love this part:

I've embedded the most meaning and intention that I can into this piece so that when the piece is viewed, all of that love and energy and unseen parts of myself can be felt. I have seen art change lives, because art at its best can inspire and transform us and reminds us that we are all connected to something so much bigger than ourselves.

I cannot imagine a more resonant, moving, perfect backdrop for our wedding pictures.

AND HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? GOSIA LATER EXPLAINED TO ME THE IMAGE SEEMED VERY MOXIE COMPATIBLE, THAT IT JUST FELT RIGHT FOR US. I TRUSTED HER, SHE TRUSTED HER INTUITION, AND NOW WE HAVE A PHOTOGRAPH WE’LL CHERISH FOREVER.

Here are a few more of the moments Gosia captured for us:

With love and moxie,

Deb