WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!

IT WAS THE FIRST - RATHER, THE SECOND - DAY OF THEIR STUDY ABROAD SEMESTER IN ROME. ELIZABETH HAD ARRIVED THE DAY BEFORE AND SEBASTIAN CAUGHT UP TO THE CLASS AFTER MISSING HIS FLIGHT IN FROM SPAIN. WHEN SEBASTIAN ENTERED THE DORMITORY COURTYARD AND DELIVERED A VIVID & HILARIOUS RETELLING OF HIS TRAVEL MISADVENTURES, ELIZABETH FOUND THE WHOLE THING PRETTY ENDEARING. SHE DECIDED THEN AND THERE THAT SEBASTIAN WOULD BE INVITED TO HER BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION THE FOLLOWING WEEK. OVER THE COURSE OF THE SEMESTER, A FAST FRIENDSHIP & MAJOR CRUSHES WOULD DEVELOP FOR BOTH PARTIES. ONCE BACK AT TULANE THE FOLLOWING SPRING, IT BECAME QUITE CLEAR WHERE THINGS WERE HEADED...

our graduations, a year of long distance dating, a few new jobs, new apartments we made our own, ... blizzards, hurricanes, scheduled and unscheduled metro closures, 2x the joy of cat parenthood, ... family vacations, romantic getaways, road trips & their customized playlists... refinements to the spiked apple cider recipe, "real" christmas trees in a variety of sizes... a nationwide network of restaurants where we've been known as regulars, unquantifiable "cheers to...", late night beignet runs, twirls on and off the dance floor... silly voices, good-enough selfies... trips to Picnic, actual picnics... backyard bonfires, game nights, Target runs, actual runs, sunny days and hurricane days, work from home days, moving days, Saints game days... a lot of cat hair, miles and miles of midnight strolls...

ALMOST 8 BEAUTIFUL & WEIRD YEARS LATER... IT WAS A TYPICAL "LIZ-N-SEB" FRIDAY NIGHT. TACOS, STREET CORN & MANGO MARGARITAS WERE FOLLOWED BY A MOONLIT STOLL TO AUDUBON PARK, WHERE WE ENCOUNTERED A SERIES OF WELL-TIMED SPRINKLERS AND AN EVEN-BETTER-TIMED APPEARANCE BY AN UNOFFICIAL PARK RANGER. ALL BUT CHASED FROM THE PARK AND ACROSS ST. CHARLES AVENUE, WE FOUND OURSELVES ON OLD STOMPING GROUNDS IN FRONT OF TULANE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE. WHILE REMINISCING ON OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER, WE AGREED THAT IT REALLY BLOSSOMED HERE. SEBASTIAN ASKED ELIZABETH TO "LOOK OVER THERE" AND DISTRACTED HER WITH COMMENTS ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE ACADEMIC QUAD; WHEN SHE TURNED AROUND AGAIN, THERE WAS SEB DOWN ON ONE KNEE... WE'RE SO EXCITED TO CELEBRATE THIS NEXT CHAPTER IN OUR LIVES WITH YOU. SEE YOU IN NOLA!