Ashley and Joe met on Hinge! Joe's profile stated loud and clear in big, bold letters that he was moving to San Francisco come July. Ashley wasn't looking for anything serious, so she thought nothing of his upcoming cross country departure and decided to go on a date with him anyway. They had their first date on March 2, 2020 at Ashley's favorite restaurant in NYC, a little Italian spot called Rezdora. After two more dates, the world shut down and they quickly found themselves quarantining between their tiny apartments, which were conveniently only seven blocks apart. Their dates went from nights out on the town to staying in and making homemade pasta on Joe's TV stand (because counter space in NYC comes at a premium), and Ashley cheating at board games almost every night. A few months into quarantine, Joe left for San Francisco. Ashley visited soon after, and despite his best attempts to send her back to the city, she simply never left.

Joe and Ashley are notoriously bad at keeping secrets: he's an open book and she will snoop if given the opportunity. One day Joe spontaneously mentioned that they'd be going to Big Sur for the weekend. Joe planning a trip on his own, without Ashley's input, was the first clue that something was amiss. He said they'd be departing on a Saturday at 3 p.m., which didn't make sense considering it was such a short trip. She knew something was up when they were holding hands in the car and he was profusely sweating; his only defense was that it must've been her hand that was sweating. Very clever. He managed to say fewer than five words the entire 4 hour drive. They pulled up to a beautiful lookout on a cloudy, windy day, and as they climbed to the top of a hill Ashley noticed a woman with a huge camera pretending to take pictures while ushering people down from the lookout point. Joe got down on one knee and Ashley blacked out, so it's a good thing he wrote down what he said in a notebook for her to keep. They cried, took pictures and facetimed family and friends before heading to the Nobu Hotel in Palo Alto. It was truly the most perfect, special day.