Emily and Rafa met in July 2017 at Duke University during the start of their MBA experience. The Brazilian students threw a welcome party to kick off the school year and Rafa was the bartender serving up the caipirinhas... Emily, of course, was drinking the caipirinhas. As fate would have it, the MBA program assigned them to the same study team only a few weeks later. Emily and Rafa, as well as their other four teammates, spent many hours together during their first semester studying for exams, submitting assignments, and preparing presentations together. What started as a friendship turned into a love story.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Emily and Rafa planned for an at-home new year's eve celebration. Rafa offered to cook a special meal at home while Emily decided to dress up and chill champagne for watching the ball drop on TV. Little did Emily know there'd be more to celebrate. After a few hours of cooking, Rafa "picked up" Emily from the bedroom for their New Year's date night. He asked her to close her eyes while he escorted her to the dining table. A beautiful meal with plates inspired by locations where they've lived and traveled awaited them. It was then that Rafa got to one knee and asked Emily to continue their adventures forever. Emily said "yes" even before Rafa could even finish asking! Their goldendoodle puppy, Ruby, had the honor of bringing Emily the ring, which was attached to her collar. They popped the bubbles and had even more reason to celebrate "ringing" in 2021!