We first met on December 13, 2014 in New York City at SantaCon, the annual Christmas-themed, costumed pub crawl. Even though Mikaela hadn't planned on going to the event, she decided to join her friends at the last minute (even without a properly festive outfit). She definitely hadn't planned on meeting her future husband while he was dressed as Santa, fake white beard and all. Despite having an unexpectedly fun evening together, we didn't keep in touch -- so it was a nice surprise to reconnect in the fall of 2015 at a Halloween party hosted by our mutual friends. (Mikaela's college roommate is married to Chris's childhood friend.) After finally exchanging numbers, we went on our first date a few weeks later on November 14, 2015. Almost five years later, Chris proposed on October 17, 2020, in North Chester, MA - one of Mikaela's (and now Chris's) favorite places.