Hi all! We’re Brianna and Ben. 

We’re city-loving Chicagoans who met through an app (Coffee Meets Bagel) 7.5 years ago, and had our first date at Jeni’s Ice Cream on Southport Ave (try the Brown Butter Almond Brittle!). 

Our lives have since become centered around our little Southport Corridor, including getting married at our favorite restaurant (Ella Elli) in 2020 — which was complete with Jeni’s Ice Cream Cohens instead of cake and a quick change into sweatpants to walk home after!

We were both raised in Conservative Jewish households which had particular emphasis on values including: mishpacha (family), chesed (kindness), tikkun olam (caring for the world), tzedakah (charity), and l’dor v’dor (from generation to generation/tradition). 

These are just some of the many Jewish values we plan to instill in our future child— the same Jewish values that were instilled in us which ultimately led us to our love for each other. 

We are profoundly grateful to the partnership between the Chicago Coalition for Family Building and JUF for contributing to our fertility journey. 

Brianna and Ben are recipients of the Path to Parenthood Grant from the Jewish United Fund – Chicago.