Wedding time!!

Our story starts like any classic love story - in a dimly lit, slightly damp dive bar in Chicago 2018 (RIP Mad River, iykyk). Both visiting Northwestern Medical School for a second look prior to committing, we recognized each other as distant acquaintances from our shared time at UCLA as undergrads. Bonds quickly formed over a shared love for UCLA football tailgates, live music, and themed parties, and we knew we’d be friends. Fast forward about a month to a Facebook message from David to Rachel: “I’m thinking Northwestern… what about you?” Her response: “Me too! Do it!!” Easy decision from there, and neither of us looked back.   Over the next few years, our friendship deepened over countless “study groups” , concerts, and COVID-induced game nights, quickly realizing the unstoppable team we made in planning house parties, silent discos in Lincoln Park, and local and international trips (shout out Kurt Vonnegut’s Indiana lake house). Forming an amazing group of med school friends around us (Go Cats, meow), we kept them on their toes, their patience tested time and time again waiting for the obvious spark between us to finally ignite into something more. At the beginning of our 4th year in med school, it finally did… After returning from a long month away rotating at USC in LA, David finally made his move, officially asking Rachel out at a concert on a Lake Michigan boat overlooking the Chicago skyline (crushed it…). Some (lame) people may say fourth year med school was a silly time to start dating, given the residency "Match" in a few short months would decide where both of us would have to move for the next 4-5 years (with no guarantee we'd match in the same area). But what is life without some excitement. On March 18th 2022, we nervously headed to school together for the Match ceremony, exchanging "it's going to be alright... right?" looks back and forth in a much-too-quiet uber. At the ceremony, we cautiously opened our match envelopes side-by-side, Rach screaming and jumping into Rio's arms before he could even read her letter. We had both matched in Los Angeles - Rio at USC for Orthopedic Surgery and Rach at UCLA for Emergency Medicine (go Bruins)!! Realizing some things are just meant to be, we celebrated that night at a concert by one of our favorite bands, Glass Animals, and said our first “I love you’s.” After med school graduation, we packed up our Chicago lives and headed back west, Rio moving to a studio in Koreatown (our "City House") and Rach moving to an apartment in Marina Del Rey (our "Beach House"). Shout out to Court for embracing our 3rd roommate. Little did we know that living across LA as hospital residents was essentially a long distance relationship, so in 2023 we decided to find an apartment of our own in Ocean Park. This is where we became cat parents to our two wonderful kitties, Zena and Bear. Living together was a seamless, laughter-filled transition, and life continued until April 19th, 2025, when Rach's friend and co-maid of honor, Ariel Cohen, came to visit. Using a fake AI-produced phone call from her "boss", Ariel "bailed" on our planned Malibu trip, tricking Rach into a solo hike with Rio. We walked to a beautiful look out point overlooking the ocean where Rio stopped, got down on one knee, and said “I’m about to do something...” Champagne flowed quickly after. From there the time has flown by. We’re engaged planning this wedding, our cats are angsty teens (in cat years), Rachel’s about to graduate residency, and David's interviewing for a fellowship in hand surgery. Even with our lives busier than ever, our time together continues to be filled with laughter, fun, and cringy made-up songs about our cats. Thank you to everyone who has shared in our love story with us. We love you all and can’t wait to celebrate with you in July!! TLDR: UCLA. Med school. Music. Themed parties. Love. Residency. Cats. Engaged. Wedding!!