Simone is the middle girl of three; she was raised in a loving, vibrant home and her immediate/extended family means the world to her. She has a strong passion for experiencing all that life has to offer and enjoys travel, yoga, music, life-long learning, and watching all kinds of sports. Simone has been lucky enough to have traveled all over the globe, including a stint as a teacher in Dubai. She moved to the US not knowing a single soul from the other side of the globe — Adelaide, South Australia. Simone is grateful to have built meaningful friendships throughout the different phases of her story so far and has been shaped by the love and acceptance those in her life have generously showered her with. She is now a User Experience Research and Design director at Wayfair after a winding career path. Joe grew up in a suburb of Syracuse, a city in Upstate New York, and has strong familial ties to Buffalo, New York. He has been Bills Mafia/Buffalo sports diehard from birth when his father put a Buffalo Bills player plushie in his hospital crib to help identify him from the other babies. Joe has played ice hockey since a young age, coached by his father, while sharing a green thumb with his mother. Taking a cue from his mother, Joe is always looking for an excuse to explore new experiences. Anything from WWE wrestling (explicitly not a cue from his mother), to a Shania Twain concert, or a performance at the ballet with his fiancée, he's down to try. He too works at Wayfair as a Senior Product Designer, helping to design the website and app customer experience. Things started in 2016 where they both made a big jump in their lives, Simone moving to the United States, and Joe leaving Upstate New York, to both start working at Partners HealthCare in a health technology group. At work, they quickly became friends and bonded over shared interests in technology, sports, world events, and similarities in family backgrounds (both carry some Polish genes, if the -ski and -cz didn't give it away). Eventually they found themselves working together again at Wayfair (Joe recruited Simone and landed himself a sizable referral bonus that Simone made him spend, in part, on farewell drinks as she departed her former company!) and became even closer over time. Over the past 7 years Simone and Joe have developed a deep and lasting bond, built on a foundation of mutual respect and friendship. They learn and grow together every single day and are each other's trusted advisors and confidants. They make each other laugh, they hold each other through pain and sorrow, and they inspire each other to continue to grow into their best selves each and every day. Simone and Joe feel so incredibly grateful to have found their other halves - the person who complements their respective strengths and areas of opportunities. Knowing not everyone from Simone's Australian family would be able to make the trip over to the US for a wedding, Joe waited until the perfect opportunity during a warm, Australian, Christmas day visit last year with her family to finally make his proposal. He cheerfully returned to the United States with a happy fiancée on his arm. We're so excited for everyone to join us to celebrate our wedding and all the support you all have given us along our paths to this moment. See you soon!