They met in Irene’s backyard. Irene was in her last semester of grad school and Jared was bartending at Proof Brewing Company. Meeting the love of their life was the last thing on their minds. Irene and her roommate, Adrian, were throwing a birthday party at their house for a mutual friend where Irene and Jared met around the fire pit. Once they started talking, there was an immediate connection, but neither of them realized how strong it was for months. It took a few more parties and random meetings before they figured it out for themselves even though many of their friends saw it from the beginning. Jared finally asked Irene on a date where he cooked salmon and they watched Smokey and the Bandit. From there, they survived a little over a year of long distance with weekly FaceTime date nights, both of them moving to New Orleans and starting new careers, to now starting their lives as Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy!!!