In the Fall of 2021, Justine had just moved to the city for her Master’s program at New England Conservatory, and Eli had just moved back to Boston from LA after the pandemic to continue working at MFS. Both were on the dating app, Hinge. Eli, a man of efficiency, put his radius for dating to 1 mile. Justine’s profile came to Eli first and he sent a like, which Justine accepted and they began to chat. The two had very different ideas of what was going on as they texted. For Justine, it was a slow burn. Initially, she wasn’t sure where their texting would go, but something in her knew she should keep it going. Eli thought he had it in the bag from day 1 based on Justine’s frequent smiley faces and enthusiastic responses. After a week of exchanging messages back and forth, Eli asked Justine to go on a date. Justine agreed to go out the next day, on November 6th, 2021 to a restaurant called Tres Gatos in Jamaica Plain. They talked about their families, faith, careers, and dreams with ease. After finishing their drinks, they perused the record and bookstore in the back of the restaurant. Eli picked the place specifically because he knew Justine was a musician and would enjoy looking at the records. They both knew from the first date that this was something special. Justine got home and immediately called her best friend, Samara (aka the MOH) with such certainty that she had met the love of her life.

Eli and Justine went on their second date a few days after at a Cuban place just down the road from their first date spot. When he walked her home that second date, he realized just how close they lived - a 10 min walk! That 1 mile dating radius really came in handy ;) The third date was the next day: bowling and dinner at Time Out Market. The fourth date, they ate their weight in sushi - the first of many big feasts the two would have together. The 5th date, Eli invited Justine to his apartment and they played music for each other and had the DTR discussion where it was decided that they would be “exclusive” aka not date other people. Soon after that, Eli went home for Thanksgiving and the two texted nonstop about their time at home. Eli was originally supposed to stay in LA through Christmas, but ended up coming back after Thanksgiving to spend time with Justine (and go to work…). When he returned, they spent almost every evening together, and by the end of the week decided to officially be a couple.

Mission Hill was the backdrop to Eli and Justine’s first memories as a couple. The trek from apartment to apartment is permanently etched in their minds as they did it at least once a day for two years. They had snowball fights and picnics in the park that was in between their two apartments and played Frisbee and wrote songs there when they both got Covid. Eli and Justine found their favorite breakfast spot, Mike’s Donuts, and made their way there on Saturday mornings for the best breakfast sandwich around, always with a hash brown in it, and some coffee! They had many fun Friday nights out at the Sinclair dancing to disco music with the Glitter Boys. They also found a wonderful church in Brookline and met with their community group just down the road from Justine’s apartment. Justine and Eli also made several trips to LA to visit his family. Eli showed Justine the best spots for tacos, the most scenic views, and they explored new places in California together that Eli had never really seen. One of their favorites is Laguna Beach in Orange County. On one of their trips, they stumbled upon a beautiful beach called Woods Cove. It was a hot summer day, but neither brought bathing suits. They made do with their clothes and spent a day swimming in the ocean together. This is one of their favorite core memories as a couple.

Although Eli is notoriously not good with surprises, he pulled off the best surprise of all for the proposal. Eli began planning in late August with the help of Samara and Justine’s family. It took Justine completely by surprise, as she thought they were on their way to do a pre-Thanksgiving meal with her family. It only really clicked when they arrived at the beach and Eli said that he spent the previous day with his parents. On 11/11/2023, Eli proposed to Justine on West Beach in Beverly Farms, surrounded by their family and friends, and with a beautiful setup of roses, candles, and a marry me sign. It was the most beautiful day.