This is the story of boy meets girl. This is the story of girl meets boy. They friendzone each other. A slow burn, a friends-to-lovers trope, a long con. A tale as old as time. We met through mutual friend and absolute legend Tom Erdmann. For 18 months, we split a sourdough pizza at the Mill once a week with a rotating cast of special guests. Eventually the conversation evolved past simply rating the pizza flavor of the week. Willard began inviting Lydia to more and more plans – first Michigan game days where he was smoking meats, then his funky concert schedule, eventually 1:1 bike rides (this was getting serious). Lydia was never sure what to make of him. Why did he seem to run away at the end of a plan instead of say a normal goodbye? Who was this bachelor hosting home made taco tuesdays with his roommates? He hemmed her bridesmaid dresses and acquired her a city bike with no explanation. It was giving... more than friends? Finally, they overlapped one weekend in Tahoe February 2024. Lydia was there for her MBA “TaHaaski” weekend and Willard was living there that season. When he showed up to the MBA house and Lydia introduced him as “just a friend,” her classmates gave her endless grief. “No no, I swear he doesn’t date.” One week later, Lydia was driving them to their first date: a Carmel day trip to escape the endless San Francisco winter rain. Willard packed a picnic for the beach, and they stopped in for tea with her close friend’s mom. At the end of the day, they were ‘no longer seeing other people’ (haha) and decided to give this thing a real shot. Two years and some change later, Willard proposed. It's time to make this official, so we'd love it if you joined us as we become "friends forever" on October 31st.