What she gave: Buy local

Chelsea Clinton's guest baskets were filled with locally purchased goods, like Saturn peaches from Montgomery Place Orchards, chocolate cookies from Wild Hive Farm, a tote bag from the Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market, and a bottle of a Seyval Blanc wine from Clinton Vineyards.

While we could revisit (yawn, yawn, yaaaaaawn) the endless debate over her menu having been prematurely labelled "vegan"; the prescense of the grass fed beef on it going to show that the food press was truly not in the loop at all. Or take a swing by the cake made by La Tulipe Bakery in Mount Kisco, New York; my favorite bakery on the planet which is, not coincidentally owned by schoolmate of mine and her amazingly gifted pastry chef husband - I would much rather focus on Chelsea's decision to focus on local products.

Buy local. This is sentiment is critical to small business and local economies but in general yields far better products which are far healthier for you.

At the place of each of my own wedding guests was an apple from our own local Salinger's Orchard, with a small note, "Good health, from the Hudson Valley to you." The parting gifts were monogrammed cupcakes from a local bakery which were diligently loaded into individual boxes by the maid of honor the night before. And while she still suffers some emotional trauma from this, I say: Worth it!