My best friend and roommate for a number of years at grad school. He and I spent many evenings just sitting around and enjoying a bottle of wine and listening to music or watching TV. He was the first recipient of my patented "salt lick cookie", an absolutely failed attempt at a snickerdoodle. From hosting family dinners at our various apartments so we could get other people to cook for us, to just staying in and enjoying a bottle of wine, Kazi and I always have so much fun together and I'm excited that he agreed to be my Best Man!

Being another only child on the street where Michelle grew up ended up being the recipe for a lifelong sistership. They have been best friends since forever, starting at a neighborhood cookie swap when they realized they lived 3 doors down. As her "sister", they grew up together, vacationed together, made scary Halloween decorations together, and much much more. I, for one, am grateful that she showed Michelle that Ryan's are marriage material, and we couldn't be more excited to have her as our Maid of Honor!

My best friend from high school. We used to spend all of our time being far too competitive for anyone's own good (me in particular!), playing lots of tennis, ping pong, and football, but luckily we have simmered down and can now chill and binge watch TV.

Michelle and Cassie took German class with each other and would see one another at a number of events with some mutual friends. Quickly, they were the ones that became friends, so much so that Cassie took the trek out to Germany with Michelle to help her movie in.

One of my roommates and my best friend in college. He encouraged me to start doing research and to minor in physics with him, probably because college itself was too easy for him. This later trapped me to a life in graduate school, but I try not to hold it against him! Now he keeps himself busy and challenged by being the founder and CEO of an IOT startup.

Michelle and Emily have been sitting next to each other since junior high, due to their rare W last names. They have plenty in common, through and after high school, having both played clarinet and studied geology. They first really got to know each other in the "Bye Bye Birdie" pit, and now they have both gotten pinned / engaged!

The captain of the high school gang, Gowth is the glue that holds the group together. He has had to put up with me longer than anyone should.

Michelle and Emma first really bonded on a band trip to California, where Emma made her go onto a roller coaster that Michelle didn't like (like all roller coasters), but they have been inseparable ever since.

For some reason, my former boss decided that I should be the contact point for graduate students interested in joining our group, which has largely been regarded as a bad move. This led Ian to email and meet me, in hopes of joining the group. This was also a bad move, and now he is stuck continuing some of my work and keeping my catchphrases alive and well at Northwestern.

Michelle met Hannah when she interviewed her to be a new research lab candidate and companion. She quickly became a great friend, especially providing youthful knowledge at our weekly trivia nights at Whiskey Thief and taking night long shifts at beamtime with her. We still get to hear her high pitched squealing as we learn to conquer the Nintendo Switch together.