Camille and Eli met at Italian Fest 2019 at the Tahoe City Golf Course Lodge (hosted by @ChrisNeelands and @SarinaBruno). The evening was filled with friends and copious red wine, and featured Italian references ranging from The Godfather playing on a black and white projector to lots of attendees dressed in Jersey Shore attire eating home-made pizza and rocking excessive amounts of hair gel. Eli spotted Camille across the room wearing a mafia inspired trench coat and black fedora in deep political discussion with a close girlfriend (@AmandaHazard). Right as Camille was getting ready to leave, Eli suavely sidled over in his black suit jacket and Italian loafers and livened up the debate doing what he does best - playing the devil's advocate. With his charm, intellect and striking good looks, he persuaded Camille to stay for "just one beer" at the Pete 'n Peters afterparty. Great debate continued (one month prior to the 2020 election!), and when Camille was finally dragged away at the end of the evening she very coyly told Eli to "find me on Facebook". At least that's how Eli remembers it. Camille is pretty sure that she refused to give Eli her number, but was intrigued to the extent that she asked Eli to follow her on social media (#millenial). Either way, it ended up marking the beginning of a beautiful romance.

Camille and a close girlfriend (@SamiraSalari) had just finished a beautiful fall hike along Rubicon Trail from Rubicon Point to Vikingsholm on the West Shore. They decided to warm up and enjoy a coffee and croissant over deep conversation at Tahoe House Bakery. Serendipitously, around that same time Eli reached out to Camille to see if she was in the area and interested in joining him and a buddy (@BernieAtkinson) on a boat ride around Lake Tahoe before the boat came off the water for the season. As luck would have it, Eli was across the street at Sunnyside pier (the lake is 72 miles in circumference, so their proximity is a wild coincidence! This coincidence also earned Eli the macabre nickname "the serial killer" from Roger, Camille's father). The foursome enjoyed a stunning sunset zooming around the West Shore before sharing beers and watching college football at Sunnyside Restaurant. Camille was surprised by the good omen of Pliny the Elder being on tap (@Kim&AlexSeipp!) and insisted on buying a round for the group. Eli refused the high quality IPA and ordered a Pacifico with lime (Camille soon came to learn that Eli is a bit of a Mexican lager connoisseur, not a heavy hops kinda guy). Eli walked Camille to her car and chivalrously opened her car door. Giddy laughter pursued, along with a somewhat awkward hug goodbye. Camille later learned that Eli was eager to go in for a farewell kiss but lost his nerve with @SamiraSalari being present. One thing was for sure; however, a romantic spark had ignited.

A few months after their initial meet up, Eli formally asked Camille out to dinner at Granlibakken. Eli was the General Manager of Granlibakken at the time, and pulled out all the stops - live music, a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, a multi-course meal and great conversation. After dinner, Eli surprised Camille and borrowed a couple pairs of snowshoes and drove the resort snow groomer up the mountain. With surgical precision and impressive expertise, Eli navigated the heavy equipment through tree-lined snowy trails and parked on top of a ridge overlooking Lake Tahoe. Snowshoes were donned, Spotify was jamming, and Camille and Eli gallivanted in the snow under the light of full moon singing and enjoying an Eli classic, Corona with lime. Eventually, as the temperature dropped and the evening drew to a close, they returned to the groomer and readied for their descent down the mountain. Eli again chivalrously opened the very heavy groomer door and this time mustered the courage to kiss Camille. It was the absolutely perfect first date! A romantic spark began to burn and hints of love were in the crisp, cold air :)

Flash forward a couple of years, a global pandemic and surviving (and thriving!) a long distance relationship stint with Camille living and working in Whitefish, Montana. Eli had a beautiful heirloom center diamond that belonged to his grandmother, Lucille (same name as Camille's mother!) that he redesigned with the help of a family-friend jeweler into a gorgeous classic ring with a pavé encrusted gold band. The plan was to recreate one of Eli and Camille's favorite hiking moments: a scramble up Eagle Rock to watch the sunrise over the mountain peaks from the Westshore of Lake Tahoe. 5:15AM Eli, Camille and Mako (Eli's son and impromptu engagement photographer) set off in the pre-dawn early morning and headed for Eagle Rock trailhead. It was a cold, brisk fall morning in November and the River Road was shrouded in fog. As they approached Eagle Rock, the fog worsened and completely encompassed the crag. This kind of thick fog was unusual in the area, and it was throwing a major kink into Eli's engagement plans. 5:40AM With his mind racing, Eli managed to calmly pivot plans and recommended driving up the nearby Blackwood Canyon in an attempt to get above the fog layer to watch the sunrise. They headed up the canyon and a couple miles in they started to hit snow leftover from an early season storm. Undeterred and in Camille's reliable 4WD Subaru Forester, they powered ahead and slowly started to get above the fog! YAY! Alas however, the snow was quickly deepening and they began to risk high centering and getting stuck up the canyon, with no cell phone service, about 3 miles from the main road. Eli frustratingly had to throw in the towel and treacherously reversed out of the canyon. 6:40AM As they had driven all the way over to the Lake, Camille suggested summiting Eagle Rock in hopes that the fog may have lifted. The trio made the short hike up the crag and were unable to even see the lake from the summit. ARGH-WHAT TO DO? Eli decided not to propose in the obstructive fog layer and the three headed back down. Upon returning the the car, they found it covered in chocolate kisses, flowers, Mexican lagers and "CONGRATULATIONS" signs. Camille turned to Eli and asked in a bit of shock, "Are you trying to propose?" to which Eli immediately and adamantly denied the allegation. With some quick thinking, Eli told Camille that he had mentioned the sunrise hike to their mutual friends (@DaveZachary and @PattiDiaz) and that Dave and Patti must have made the false assumption that he was going to propose. Somehow, Camille believed him?! There was still a possibility of achieving a surprise proposal! Eli had a second location in mind. It was a beautiful hidden cove on the East Shore just north of Sand Harbor where Eli went sometimes to clear his head. It was in this place that he had decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Camille, and it seemed an appropriate place to pop the question. Now, how to get Camille to the other side of the Lake without arousing suspicion? 7:30AM After the failed attempt at Eagle Rock, Eli, Camille and Mako met with Dave and Patti at Tahoe House Bakery for coffee. Dave and Patti were MORTIFIED that they nearly ruined Eli's surprise engagement plans and were determined to help him achieve his backup plan! The group went to Dave's house in Dollar Point to make breakfast and come up with a game plan.

10:30AM The day had warmed up and the fog layer had finally burned off! It was decided that the group would head over to Squaw Valley to play pickleball and pick up their season ski passes. As Murphy's Law would have it, the pickleball courts were closed for the season and The Village was a ghost town. Eli, Camille and Mako managed to pick up their passes (finally, a win for the day!) and headed back to the parking lot shortly after to reassess next steps. Camille wanted to play disc golf in Truckee, but much to her annoyance Eli rallied the rest of the group to head over to Sand Harbor and walk along the East Shore Trail. This should have immediately raised suspicion as Eli despises spending time at Lake Tahoe's heavily touristed areas, and Sand Harbor was an hour's drive away on the other side of the Lake! However, Camille's brain was still foggy from the early morning wake up and crack of dawn false alarms from hours previously. Little did she know the internal torment poor Eli was experiencing with every minute that passed without this proposal happening! 12:30PM Lunch at Koi Sushi in Incline Village. Eli had been fielding text messages all morning from Camille's family to ask when and how the proposal was going. Naturally, they were eager to congratulate the newly engaged couple. While they were waiting on food, Camille's cell phone rang - it was her mother, Lucille, wondering how things were going. Eli smoothly placed the call onto speakerphone and managed to insinuate that the proposal was still in progress. Lucille read the subliminal message and bid them adieu; another bullet dodged! Invisible beads of sweat covered Eli's brow. How much longer was he going to have to wait? How many more hiccups would there be? Would Camille notice the obvious bulging ring box in his pocket? 2:15PM The crew finally arrived at Sand Harbor. It was an absolutely stunning sunny fall day, and there were minimal crowds! They spent about an hour exploring the gorgeous giant boulders that are characteristic of this beach before walking north along the East Shore Trail to watch the sunset.

3:10PM Eli managed to separate with Camille and (finally!) came across the entrance to Emerald Cove. They left the East Shore Trail onto the small path leading back towards the Lake. They scrambled over some boulders until they came to Eli's thinking rock and the spot where he planned to propose. He suggested to Camille that they take a timed selfie silhouette with the lake in the background. Right as he had the phone set up to capture the proposal, a large group of kayakers paddled into Emerald Cove and stopped - NOT AGAIN! Eli was FUMING, which Camille, oblivious to the gravity of the situation, found ridiculous. She explained to him that the lake was a public place and the kayakers had every right to be there :) After a minute, that felt like an hour, that Eli had been waiting on for over the past 8 hours since the first failed attempt earlier that morning, the kayakers finally moved along. He set up the self timer, and the 10 second countdown began...10, 9, 8, 7, 6... 3:18PM Camille readied herself for a romantic couple silhouette, one of her favorite shots! She kicked up her back foot and leaned into Eli for a cute kiss on camera...5, 4, 3...Eli dropped to his knee and pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it...2, 1...CLICK (Live Photo Mode). Camille looked down in shock at Eli and the beautiful diamond ring reflecting a million different colors in the light of the setting sun. Eli emotionally divulged his feelings to Camille, his intent to marry her and build a life together, and shared his excitement in pursuing their many shared dreams and goals. In tears of joy, Camille accepted his proposal and the ring with shaking hands, dropped to the ground and kissed him, laughing and crying as they embraced in a long hug. It was absolutely perfect :) 4:40PM Mako captured beautiful pictures of the newly engaged couple as the sun dipped below the horizon at Speedboat Beach. From sunrise to sunset, it had been quite a day! They all celebrated the exciting news with a champagne toast at Camille's parents' home when they finally made it back to Truckee. Cheers to happily ever after!