Kate and Riley were both undergrads at the University of New Hampshire when they met, but interestingly, they didn’t first cross paths while on campus. Instead, fate brought them together on December 28, 2019, during UNH’s winter break, at a "stunning" dive bar about 20 minutes off-campus in downtown Portsmouth, NH: TJ's Food and Spirits. The evening they met, Riley had just undergone labrum and AC joint surgery following his football season and was rocking an eye-catching shoulder immobilizer sling. Both were tagging along as “plus ones” with mutual friends who already knew each other, which made Kate and Riley the two semi-strangers in the group. As the night began, Kate overheard someone mention that Riley had just turned 21. Not knowing many others at the bar, she then glanced over and saw him posted up in the corner with his massive shoulder sling. It was clear to her that he didn’t stand a chance of elbowing his way through the packed bar crowd to order himself a drink, so Kate decided to take matters into her own hands. She walked over, introduced herself, and offered to buy him a celebratory birthday drink at the bar and bring it back over to his corner seat. We know… a very bold, resourceful, and perhaps some would say, heroic(?) move on her end! You may wonder at this point in the story: what was Riley’s drink of choice? We’re glad you asked. Riley kindly requested a bottom-shelf Vodka Redbull (a diabolical combo that immediately made Kate gag.) From that moment on, everything instantly clicked between them. Talking felt easy, effortless, and oddly familiar, like they had known each other far before this lifetime. It was comfortable, full of laughter, and felt like two old friends simply picking up where they left off. They spent the entire night talking in that corner, and just before the evening ended, Riley’s older brother, Sean, swooped in to make sure Riley got Kate’s number- the ultimate wingman move. They’ve been together ever since. Now, over five and a half years later, Kate and Riley have grown through just about every major “adulting” milestone side by side. They graduated college together, launched their professional careers, navigated the kickoff of financial independence, ran the Cambridge, MA Half Marathon together, called Boston home for two and a half years, and also started their own little family by bringing the sweetest Red Fox Labrador, Sullivan (better known as Sully), into their lives. They’ll both confidently tell you that Sully is their soul dog. After their time in Boston, Kate and Riley found their way back to where it all began: Portsmouth, NH, where they now live and continue building their dream life together, one day (and dog walk) at a time.