Let's Party!

Jenny and Patrick met at, surprise, a work happy hour. Jenny arrived a little late (as usual) and Patrick spent the first hour trying to pry her eyes off the Dodger game with minimal success. After the “Dodge boys” had locked-up a win, she relaxed a little and the conversation took off. The ending of Game of Thrones? Terrible. Patrick’s Shark Tank ideas? Unfortunately pitched that week. Absurd first date stories? That’s dating in LA, baby. But by some stroke of luck, the Washington Nationals were playing the Dodgers a week later, and Patrick knew that was his in. “Would you want to go to the Nationals/Dodgers game with me?” he asked. “Of course,” she said, convinced he was full of it. A week later, they went on the most expensive first date of either of their lives. The Nats won off a grand-slam in the 7th, and went on to win the World Series (Patrick is lucky he made it out of that year). A few months later, they decided to introduce each other to their respective friends. First, on a boat celebrating the 4th of July, Patrick’s friend poked “So when are you all going to make it official?” and so it was, with Jenny’s friend’s seal of approval over her and Patrick’s shared defense of The Office against a very misinformed stranger at Pink Taco (RIP). Cue Covid. Lockdowns, friend bubbles, etc. It wasn’t the early relationship bliss they’d envisioned, but it did one thing: knocked down any potential walls or boundaries. Weekends together, cooking together, Survivor-bingeing together, lots of days (and nights) in sweatpants, they just clicked. And then came the biggest step: traveling together. In November of 2020, Jenny and Patrick ventured to Maui. Through slips on muddy hikes, a torturous night on the squeakiest bed in existence, snorkeling with turtles, and beautiful sunset dinners, their bond grew stronger. They saw each other’s quirks play out in real-time, and loved them; Jenny with all her planning and prepping grounds Patrick in reality, and Patrick pushes Jenny outside her comfort zone and into spontaneity. Oh, and they both caught Covid, how romantic! On a particularly shitty workday, Jenny was desperate for an escape and found it in the form of a cheap international flight to Barcelona. On a whim, with nine months to plan, they were off to Spain where they inhaled cafe con leche every morning, fell in love with Gaudi’s architecture, discovered Jenny’s vodka allergy at Ernest Hemingway’s old haunt, and learned Patrick has trouble walking on cobblestones after imbibing for the World Cup. Some say his ankle is still askew to this very day. When considering the next world destination on the bucket list, Japan was the obvious answer, with plenty for Jenny to meticulously plan. To his credit, Patrick too was planning behind the scenes. Before they left, Patrick had to make the next step official, so he dragged Jenny to the beach “to let Kula get one last fun day in before we leave for two weeks.” He hid a ring under his hat, and nervously asked Jenny if she could retrieve said hat. By the grace of God, she did so without protest, exposing the ring and turning around to Patrick on one knee. To celebrate, they flew off to Japan. Between omakase, city hopping, hot springs, making friends with fellow travelers, finding hidden gems, and witnessing firsthand how much the Japanese love Shohei Ohtani, they fell in love with the country and deeper in love with each other. So what’s up next? Well, of course marriage (that’s where you all come in). Then Costa Rica. A house. Kids. Who knows, but we’re grateful you’ve been apart of our story along the way, and can’t wait to celebrate the start of the rest of our forever with you.