We met online through mutual friends and after 2 weeks of texting back and forth, we had our first date! We went to a hot pot place and during dinner. It was obvious that we were both nervous and at the same time trying really hard to impress each other. That led us to ordering weird soup broth flavors and pretending to like each other's food preferences. (BTW: Charlie's hella weird for 1) loving tripe and 2) NOT loving raw egg in our hotpot). Afterwards, we grabbed some ice cream and spent the rest of the night by the Golden Gate Bridge look out point talking about anything and everything. After a month filled with late night calls, silly shenanigans, cringe worthy sweet talk, and surprise dates, we became facebook official and began our new journey as boyfriend girlfriend.

The last 4 years have been a whirlwind of a journey filled with ups, downs, and silly adventures. On my 30th birthday, Charlie planned a surprise birthday dinner in the city. We arrived at the same hot pot place as our first date and it was really suspicious how adamant Charlie wanted to eat here, especially since he was recovering from the stomach flu earlier in the week. Dinner was brief since neither of us were prepared to eat at an all you can eat and my curiosity only grew when we headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge after dinner instead of going home. We hung out at the same look out point, this time talking about random things and unwinding from the work day. He then started talking about how we both have grown so much since we were first at this spot 4 years ago. Next thing I know, he was on his knees, ring in hand, and nervously stumbling through his proposal. Obviously we got engaged that night (I mean.. you're on our wedding website lol)! The story... does not end there. We spent the rest of the night getting congratulatory text and calls from friends and family. We were both excited and elated and could barely sleep a wink, but we finally did around midnight. Around 2am, I woke up, ran to the bathroom and threw up our entire dinner. Thus began the next 36 hours of hell. Apparently, I got Charlie's stomach flu virus and the hot pot did NOTHING to help. We even joked about how the moment we got engaged, it would mean we shared EVERYTHING (including stomach bugs) and how we were quickly being tested on sticking by each other through sickness and health. Though it was an unfortunate turn of events, it highlighted how we could still be our silly selves even during crappy times. To this day, we still have not / have any cravings to eat hot pot. We are excited to start this new chapter of our lives together and can't wait to celebrate with you at our wedding!

chowby is chow, ma fan hat, bad taste in cereal, doesnt know how to appreciate tripe. and shes weird for putting egg in her sauce, but i guess shes not too weird and i can keep her forever as long as she not too chow.