We are postponing due to Covid-19...look out for an invitation for Summer 2022!

It was fortuitous that Jay learned both parallel parking and manners before starting medical school. One day during orientation, Jay drove to school and parallel-parked his car while Mindy happened to be walking next to the space on the sidewalk. It was one of those spaces that is large enough for two cars if they’re both well-parked, but in which rude people sometimes park at the midpoint, excluding the possibility of parking a second car. Well, Jay backed in (as proper parallel-parkers do), and pulled his car all the way forward to leave a second space. Mindy was impressed by Jay’s parallel parking skill (because millennials don’t usually parallel park). However she was especially struck by this unexpected yet considerate behavior. We wouldn’t say the rest is history—however, this left a good first impression upon Mindy, for whom first impressions are so important. They became friends and regularly interacted and hung out among common friend for the fall, but luck had it that they kept accidentally doing things to impress the other. Mindy once hosted a dumpling making party at her apartment and Jay couldn’t get enough—he had a hard time sharing the dumplings with other people. A second test came when Jay got assigned to be Mindy’s Secret-Santa at a gift exchange party. Jay thought he’d assess whether their friendship could continue to flourish by purchasing dark chocolate (and ONLY dark chocolate) for her gift, and see if she shared the same burning passion for dark chocolate. Turns out she did. Jay and Mindy kept crossing paths into the spring of first year medical school. Jay was a little sad because he’d gotten the Christmas-drop (when someone goes home for Christmas and gets dumped). Things weren’t going so well in Mindy’s love-life at the time either. Jay and Mindy kept talking. Jay remembers starting to notice how pretty Mindy was (well he always noticed, but now he could admit it to himself), and her smile, which could light up the lecture hall...

Mindy noticed Jay’s smile too. His quiet smile would distract her while she told her stories to him, and it made her appreciate that he actually listened. They went to immunology reviews—Jay, to better learn the material, and Mindy, to run into Jay (she was too smart to need these review sessions). Mindy kept taking extra detours to the library to find him (Jay always liked to hang out by the plants). She couldn’t help but always notice when Jay walked into lecture in his big blue puffy coat (five minutes late, of course). Then came spring break. Jay embarked on a wild trip across the West with Artie (see groomsmen), that included surfing in San Diego, skiing at Alta, and camping in Southern Utah. Jay “randomly” suggested that they visit Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. This seemed odd, particularly to Jay’s mom (who has resided in and explored Utah’s deserts for 40+ years). Because why take someone to Bryce and Zion when you should visit the Swell, Canyonlands and Arches for Artie’s first trip to Utah’s desert country? Well, it so happened that Mindy’s spring break with her family also happened to include stops in Bryce and Zion, which she casually mentioned to Jay. How fortuitous, to potentially cross paths again, in Southern Utah’s awe-inspiring high desert. Jay and Artie packed the car, and headed south to explore (and to see Mindy). Artie, Jay, and Mindy tromped around Bryce, and climbed up Angel’s Landing with Mindy’s family the next day. In between, they managed to test Jay’s mom’s truck’s resilience to elk, and to share some of Jay’s mom’s fantastic chile verde. (Jay’s mom’s cooking was a sure way to win over this dreamy girl’s heart). Well, it so happened that after this trip, Mindy couldn’t resist Jay anymore. Jay thought he should wait awhile to ask her out (so he didn’t seem desperate), so he waited twenty-four whole hours after they got back from spring break, and then, well, you know the rest.