Margaret and Nino met at a transitional time in their lives. Margaret was sleeping on her friend’s couch and getting her life in Chicago together after moving back from Vietnam. Nino had recently moved into a new apartment and was working as a line cook at one of his first professional restaurant jobs. Their relationship started like many restaurant romances – Nino working on the line, and Margaret working at the host stand up front. They started chatting on Facebook messenger (a true sign that this was 2015) and met for brunch. When they were making plans, like a true romantic, Nino asked, “You have a car, right? Lol.” And so, Margaret picked up Nino. They had tacos at Big Star and coffee at Wormhole. In hindsight, the fact that Nino took a free whiskey shot at three in the afternoon with Margaret was the first sign that he liked her. It’s hard to encapsulate a nine-year relationship into a few paragraphs. For many years, Sunday was their day off together. After a late Saturday night shift, Nino would ride his bike over to Margaret’s apartment in Logan Square, and Sundays included some variation of the following routine: oat milk lattes, bunch with Margaret’s roommates, errands, and meandering around Wicker Park. Life got busier as their goals grew. Margaret started graduate school in 2017, and in 2019, they got their sweet, needy, energetic dog, Bruno (and moved in with Maddie!). In 2020, the pandemic hit, and they navigated and supported each other during lockdown while Nino experienced major shifts in his industry as an executive chef. There are too many memories to count over the years, but some favorites are: late nights in Logan Square and Ukrainian Village with friends; their trip to Arizona and first time visiting the Grand Canyon; visits to LA and Orange County to spend time with family; trips to Florida to swim in salt water (where they were “attacked” by a manatee, according to Nino); and Christmases with Margaret’s family every year. Throughout those years, they’ve been so lucky to continue to grow together and be surrounded by family and friends – many friends of whom have witnessed their relationship since day one. Now, their days off mostly involve relaxing or working on their house, visiting friends, cooking, catching up with family, and many trips to the park and beach with Bruno. As we look to the future, we are so excited to finally celebrate our marriage and the love and life we’ve built together with you all.