I spotted this couple at Rialto. The two of them “looked” like a couple; they were happy and sociable with other guests, yet they also seemed happy to be with one another. I knew I had to snap their picture.

But as I looked into the viewfinder, something in my head (an innovation, right?) clicked.

I blurted out “Alex?”

I was right: it was Alexandra Hall with her husband, writer Michael Blanding.

I met Alex while I was still at Improper Bostonian; she was a freelancer at the time, doing an article on Boston salons.

I know this sounds “stalker-ish,” but ever since I met her, I’ve always taken note of her journalistic career, way back when she worked at Boston Sidewalk (I worked for Digital City) to Boston Magazine to her current job, Editor of Fashion Boston.

Other than a change in hair “tint”, Alex looks exactly the same as she did ten years ago.