Hi everyone, We're getting married!!!

We are so grateful to have each of you in our lives - a loving community that knows us, guides us, loves us. We have both been so blessed, individually, to have grown up with such an amazing group of friends and family. Those that have known us since we were small, those that grew up with us, those that we found along our journey to adulthood - all of whom have been there for joys, sorrows, mistakes, triumphs, and so many moments in between. In the last 5 years together, we have had the joy of sharing our lives, and our people, with each other - creating our shared community of loving family and friends. How lucky are we, to have you all?! In choosing to spend our lives together, we have chosen to spend our lives with all of you. You have poured into us - and you are witness to our commitment to one another. Thank you all, so much, for being a part of our journey. We love you!!

We met at a gym. But no, it's not what you think. We promise Jay didn't try to correct Anna's form or anything…that wouldn't have gone over well...(it still doesn’t). This is a very exciting, whimsical, and romantic we-met-at-the-gym story. At least, we like to think so! This story begins in 2017 at a little gym on the Upper West Side of New York City, called BeFitNYC. Anna worked behind the front desk during grad school. Jay trained his clients there during his time in grad school. Alas, Anna moved to Florida the month before Jay started training there. They did not overlap! However, as fate would have it, Anna came back a few months later to visit her dear friends at the gym. She was hanging out around the front desk when Jay walked in to train a client. They noticed each other immediately. But Jay had to wait until he was done with his client to go talk to her. On his way out, he struck up a conversation with the group….which quickly turned into a conversation with just Anna. (If you ask Debby, Fernando, or Mike of BeFitNYC…..”We just left the conversation…we just left! They didn’t even notice.”) After that, Anna went back to her life in Florida, Jay to his life in NYC. They parted ways with no more than first names exchanged. Years passed. Seasons turned. Then, in 2020 (that wasn’t an eventful year for anyone, was it?), THE STARS ALIGNED. Lol. Anna had recently moved back to NYC, a few blocks away from the gym. Jay was still training his clients there. One day, Anna gets a call from her friend Debby: “Hey Anna, do you remember a few years ago, meeting a guy named Jay?” (....yes...she does…..) “Well, he was asking about you…. can I give him your contact information?” (....yes…..she can…..) Meanwhile, Jay is walking out of the gym one day, when he is abruptly stopped. Enter Debby: “Jay!! Quick question. Do you remember, a few years ago, meeting a girl named Anna here?” (...yes….he does….) “Well, she was asking about you…..would you want to see her sometime?” (....yes….he would…..). And thus, the meddling angel had done her work. There you have it, folks. They went on two dates in person before COVID struck. Anna ran away to Connecticut, leaving Jay heartbroken and distraught in a tiny one bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side with one hour of sunlight a day. FORLORN, he would look out the window wondering… why has she gone!? Will she still think of me?!” Anna, in the woods of Connecticut, did not. (Just kidding) While thinking of Jay and wondering what could be next for a budding relationship in the throws of COVID….she mostly hung out with her parents and her cats. She even built a squirrel picnic table (it was a weird time, okay?) Jay asked Anna on a virtual date, suggesting that they watch the live action lion king together over facetime. He even ordered her dinner to her house! (smooth, right?) They talked for hours…. They didn’t even start watching Lion King until the late hours of the night, until Anna eventually fell asleep (foreshadowing the many, many movies that Anna would fall asleep during in the years to come). The rest was history. They talked all the time. Facetime dates turned into more in person dates (carefully planned ones….complete with COVID safety plans and isolation and all that jazz that none of us miss), which turned into being in a “COVID pod” and eventually moving in together…finally meeting each other’s friends and family that they had been distanced from. All the way up to now! Here! With you, their wonderful friends and family, reading this very long and very silly “how they met” story, on their WEDDING WEBSITE! Writing this story has been on our random wedding to-do list for many months now, and we’ve finally done it. Boy did we make ourselves laugh. If you’ve read this far….thank you for your patience, and THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR BELOVED COMMUNITY and putting up with our silliness! Time to get married!