The year was 2016; the Chicago Cubs had just won the world series, Pokémon Go was all the rage, Harambe had stolen our hearts and Kendall Lee Dolbec had bidden farewell to New York to pursue new adventures in Dublin. Kendall, an adventurous soul who lived for travel, was no stranger to Dublin, where she had spent manys a sociable evening taxing the definition of the phrase ‘Study Abroad’ some years prior. It was at Google where she met Paul, a shy and serious Dublin native, who disapproved of many things (with office romances chief among them!). They whiled away the time with the polite conversation of the day (digital media trends, YouTube rate-cards, and ‘Big 6’ Media agencies) until chance would see them attend a Thanksgiving dinner where, under watchful eyes of knowing friends (and to the sounds of the Proclaimers’ ‘500 Miles’), sparks flew!

Three years, ten countries, two apartments, one house, and six thousand throw-pillows later, Kendall made her intentions clear (luring Paul to a jeweller under the pretense of visiting Starbucks). The signs were all there, and all Paul needed was a ring - and a plan! Once every 426 years, under a harvest moon, and when the year is a leap-year, the extended Dolbec-Reger clans find themselves in something broadly resembling close proximity, and if Paul knew one thing about Kendall, it was that family was important. And so, with the help of a clandestine group of co-conspirators, it was decided that a visit to Seattle over the holidays would be the perfect opportunity to ask the all-important question. Now, Kendall’s 29th birthday was marked by her making the most ‘rookie’ of mistakes in responding so positively to her scavenger-hunt themed birthday surprise that Paul couldn’t help but rework the concept, time and again. Faced with a need to keep Kendall distracted in Seattle while coordinating the surprise family gathering, Paul sent her on the ‘Seattle Selfie Challenge’! And so it was that, after visits to Seattle’s arboretum, aquarium, food markets and Space Needle (not forgetting an inadvertent detour to Puget Sounds Whale Watching), Kendall found herself at Kerry Park, a location that featured prominently in her favourite movie (whose name Paul happily remembered). And there, with family and friends waiting just out of sight, and souvenir Storyful coffee mug still in hand, she said “Yes” to the most important question Paul has ever asked her.