On Jan. 21, 2017 two strangers walked into a bar, they talked until they closed the place down, and the rest is history. That's our story; the "we met in a bar" cliché. However, when we relive that night it feels anything but cliché and it is evident that us meeting was fate. Neither of us were supposed to be out that night. Shelby lived in Capitol Hill at the time and it was the day of the Woman’s March in DC. So to avoid the crowds she went home to MD for the weekend…that is until her FOMO kicked in when her friends began planning a girls night. Meanwhile, Brandon’s friends all bailed on him, except a friend of a friend who needed a wing man. So then began the series of events that would lead to Shelby and her friends making their way to the dance floor just moments before Brandon decided walk across the dance floor. Brandon’s acquaintance had left him with a girl who, in Brandon’s words, “couldn’t hold a decent conversation.” So he offered to get her a drink, and when she said she'd walk with him, he said “No, I’ll bring it back here.” So that’s when Brandon crossed the dance floor and Shelby caught his eye. He extended his hand and simply said “Hi, my name is Brandon.” Being possibly the most respectable introduction ever heard in a bar, Shelby was intrigued — his good looks didn’t hurt his case either ;) Shelby proceeded to make the next couple minutes of interaction super awkward (of course!), but once we stepped away so we could hear each other, we talked the rest of the night until we closed the place down. A few dates later and that was all she wrote! Perfect match! ...that poor girl never got her drink that night. But thank goodness because I got my (future) husband that night. I guess Rhianna was right after all, you can find love in a hopeless place.

Anyone who knows Brandon knows he does nothing half-way, and his proposal was no different. He spent months concocting an elaborate plan to get us to Cancun, Mexico, where he would pop the question. So here’s the story… While I was at work, I received a text from Brandon that we had received (yet another) save the date. Only, to our surprise and excitement, it was a destination wedding — Cancun! The formal invitation followed shortly after, at which time I mailed back the RSVP card, booked our accommodations, etc. This particular wedding was set to be a morning ceremony and brunch reception (yay! speaking my language). So fast forward to January 11th, we get all dressed up and head down to walk over to the wedding. Since, per usual, we got an early start we went out to the beach for some pictures. As we walked out Brandon saw a girl who could take our picture and told me to go pick out the spot where I wanted to stand and he’d bring her over. So we started taking pictures and then turned to face the water when Brandon turns to me and says “Mona Lisa” —Now, at this point you should know, Brandon has always said when he proposed it would be his “Mona Lisa” because he would only do it once in his life — I replied with “Yes, it is so pretty” (still completely clueless and thinking we’re just talking about the beautiful sunrise), it wasn’t until he said “Mona Lisa” a second time that my wheels started turning. Next he says “Babe, there is no wedding. I just wanted to get you somewhere really pretty to tell you how much I love you.” Then, the next thing I knew he was down on his knee saying “Will you marry me?” So then we had 3 days to ourselves to bask in our engagement together, it was utterly magical!

Can we please take a second to point out how well this man knows his future wife? The resort this “wedding” was supposed to be at was an all-inclusive resort and me being the cheapskate I am, I immediately did a search for Marriotts nearby. Why pay for a hotel when we have points?! So when I discovered there was a Marriott right next door to the wedding’s resort, I thought I struck gold! We can just walk down to the beach and walk over, couldn’t be more perfect! I even bragged to him how awesome I was for this deal. The whole time he KNEW I would do exactly that. So it worked, I felt like I made all the plans. I was playing checkers while he was playing chess. Can we also acknowledge the fact that I MAILED that rsvp card back to…..where?! As you can see from the pictures I’ve plastered all of social media, save the dates, etc. the random girl Brandon found on the beach did an absolutely incredible job! Yes, she was random. No, she was not professional. And, yes, she used an old iPhone 6! She could have not done a more perfect job. Such a blessing!