let's party

We first met back in June 2015 at Kevin's birthday party in downtown San Jose. Aaron saw Tiffany gazing at him, awestruck, from across the room (Tiffany vehemently denies this). The party then moved from Kevin and Kristin's apartment to 55 South, a bar downtown. Aaron had to shout over a (nonplussed) friend to carry out his very smooth and very cool flirting. Tiffany shook Aaron's world so much that he disappeared for a whole month on a soul-searching quest through the Pacific Northwest (with family). But, before leaving, he slid into Tiffany's DMs with a swoonworthy "let's grab Philz sometime." Tiffany hit back with an epic tip to check out Crater Lake, which totally fooled Aaron into thinking she was some hardcore outdoorsy girlboss.

Tiffany is the planner. Aaron is the "let's wing it" guy. She packs snacks, a mini pharmacy, and a backup plan. He skips pit stops, gets sick on trips, and raids her meds. She folds her clothes Marie Kondo-style in compression packing cubes. He packs like it's a timed challenge. Together, it works.

By the time Tiffany came to visit Hong Kong, Aaron had already been living there for about 2.5 months. During their stay, Tiffany’s grandparents came across a diamond they thought would be perfect for her. Aaron saw it and instantly knew: this was the one. But there was just one problem: how do you secretly buy a diamond and plan a proposal when your girlfriend is staying with you 24/7? Answer: team up with her mom. With Tiffany none the wiser, Aaron and her mom, Winnie, spent several days sneakily plotting, making up excuses, and secretly getting the blessing of Tiffany’s grandparents and dad. Aaron wanted to incorporate something meaningful, so he placed the loose diamond on top of a VLT lemon tea box—side flaps up, no fancy ring box in sight. VLT was something Tiffany’s late paternal grandfather always had ready for her in his fridge whenever she visited from the US, so it was the perfect nod to both her maternal and paternal sides of the family. After the surprise (and a few happy, ugly tears), they went ring shopping together to choose the perfect setting, turning that special memory into something they designed as a team.