We met outside Allen Hall, where we both resided our Freshman year at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Our friends were getting some air, and James started a conversation with me and asked if I wanted to play 'Chicken'. I asked, "How do you play?" and James replied, "You get as close as possible, and whoever kisses the other person first, loses". I agreed to play, leaned in, gave James a peck on the lips and said, "Guess, I lost" and walked away. Shortly after we first met, we started to spend a lot of time together. We took the same bus to College Avenue, but James would get off the first stop. James made the relationship official by texting me to turn to a specific page in my Expos 101 book, where I would find a letter asking to be his girl, and the rest is history!

We were preparing to move to San Francisco in December, and we were approaching our ten year anniversary. I casually mentioned to James, how great it would be if we could get engaged before we moved, and share the moment with our friends and family. James definitely felt the pressure and realized he had a short window of time to make this happen. I was trying to use my blowouts I have accumulated at Drybar before moving, so I made plans with my friend Claire, which worked out because she was going to her best friend's bridal shower. Little did I know, Claire was in on the plan too! James asked me to meet him afterwards at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in SoHo for coffee, before meeting some friends for brunch. James was waiting for me at a table, and asked me to look over at the bookshelf to see if something was odd. There was a copy of Wizard of Oz on its side. James remembered there was a copy of Wizard of Oz that I loved and repeatedly checked out at the library when I was a kid. James wrote and placed a letter between two pages with the quote, "The road was smooth and well paved now" on one side. As I read the letter through blurry eyes, James was on one knee and asked me to marry him. Our friend Jae was hiding in the background taking pictures, and all our friends were waiting for us at Union Bar & Kitchen to celebrate over lunch. The day would not have been possible without the help of our friends and family. We are so grateful for the love and support, and cannot wait to celebrate with you!