Thank God for Nick Liberato, Justin's friend of twenty years and Ali's former boss. On a typical day at the Venice Whaler, Ali was going about her shift, when suddenly, Nick grabbed her by the wrist, pulling a man she had never seen before by his wrist towards her. "I have been trying to introduce you two for years" Nick said. Justin asked Ali for her number a few minutes later, and then didn't call for three days. But when he did finally call, they made plans to grabs drinks the following week. Ali debated not going all day when the date finally came, but within 30 seconds of sitting down, she knew she was done for. They have been attached at the hip even since.

After a wild couple months with a new puppy and a new job, it was high time for a weekend get away. Ali booked an airbnb in Big Bear, California. While typically Ali and Justin enjoying pitching a tent somewhere without service, Ali was not in the mood to sleep on the ground, and while they had never been to Big Bear together before, they found themselves there four times that summer after this first magical trip. In the morning, they headed out for a hike, breakfast sandwiches in tow. They got to the top and finally found a bit of privacy (which was not easy) and sat down in the sand looking out on the small lake. Ali asked Justin to pass her a breakfast sandwich, but Justin had other plans. When she looked back to find him, he was before her on one knee, a ring box open and gleaming. "Marry me". It was all a blur after that, a happy beautiful blur! When they got back to their car, two hours later, Ali suddenly started crying and said, "I think I just realized what happened"! They went back to the airbnb, got drunk on the deck, and facetimed everyone they could! Far to drunk to drive come dinner time, they ordered a pizza and talked about the life they were going to build. It was perfect.