Our story begins when a hobbled Mei on crutches moved into her new apartment next door in Venice. A mutual friend (special thanks to Joe!) came to help her with the heavy lifting. Being that her place was in the building next to mine, I was invited to come meet the new neighbor and somehow got suckered into helping her move. That's the story anyways, I actually wanted to help once I saw how friendly, funny, and gorgeous she was. We didn’t see each other again until a month later when we went to a pier concert. I was sprawled out taking up all of the room on the communal blanket when she arrived. Mei thought I must be pretty confident, but really I'm just extremely inflexible. We got to talking and I realized that I really liked this girl. I walked back with her and we talked some more. I realized that I wanted that to keep happening. Eventually, I was seeing if her light was on. If it was I would text or tap on the window to see if she'd come hang out with me. When she asked me to help her edit her mission story for her charitable jewelry line, I knew it was all over. I was so incredibly impressed with her and what she stood for, and this was all on top of already thinking she was beautiful and funny and cool. So, it was quite clear to me what needed to happen. Mei, on the other hand, was not so immediately convinced. That was no deterrent to me. After hanging out a few times, we went to happy hour at Lula and she told me how nice it was that she had a new friend in the area. This was it. I couldn't let that slide and drift into the dreaded "friend zone.” That wasn't happening on my watch, so I told her straight away: "I'm not sure what you think this is, but I'm putting the moves on you. I want to make that clear." I told her that if she wasn't ready for a relationship that I would wait, because I knew that she was worth it. But I also knew that I felt so sure of her and so sure that we could be truly great that I wasn't going to give up till I made it happen.

I met Chris the day I moved into my apartment in Venice. I had just gotten out of a relationship & broken my ankle, struggling to get around on crutches. I was pretty much a clumsy & emotionally vulnerable mess. My dear friend Joe offered to help move me in. When I arrived, there was Joe ready to roll & this other guy in pointy leather wingtips & dress clothes. Joe introduced me to Chris. I looked at his outfit and thought “Hm. A little overdressed for the occasion but I’ll take it!” & handed him a shoebox. Although I wasn't in the mindset of meeting anyone, there was something about him that peeked my interest & struck a chemical chord. Maybe it was his perfectly coiffed hair or his signature Chris Courtney laugh. Maybe it was his friendly & happy energy or his kind eyes. But I noticed after that day, a part of me was secretly hoping we’d run into each other again. A month later we did thanks to May! I walked to meet May & her friends at the Pier & there was Chris, sprawled out on the crowded beach blanket like he owned the place. I was like “Damn! This guy’s got swag!” On the way back I insisted they ride their bikes home. But Chris wasn’t having it & walked me home with bike in tow. The next day, he invited me to coffee. Little did I know, he didn’t actually like coffee & was just using it as an excuse to hang out. Like two peas in a pod, we became fast friends. I didn’t think much of it & was just really grateful to have made such a great new friend. It wasn’t until one day at HH that Chris said he wanted to be more than friends. It made me nervous because I didn’t want things to change. I enjoyed our time together & didn’t want to ruin our friendship. So I told him I was taking a year off dating to focus on myself. Chris presumptuously asked if that was my way of asking him to wait. To which I said “Absolutely not." And that’s when he said the words that turned my world upside down - “Because if you are, I will.” And just like that it was game over for me.

One of my favorite things about Mei is that she is adventurous. I love nothing more than a good adventure, and I’ve found the perfect exploring partner in her. Whether we are just roaming around appreciating our town like tourists (or as we like to call it Urban Hiking), finding all the hot spots in Rio from the locals, or bonding with a group of probable Yakuza in Tokyo, Mei has a thirst for adventure that is extremely exhilarating and infectious. She’ll happily speak broken Portuguese to Brazilian locals (even though she’s terrible at it… haha) because she knows the experience will be richer if she puts herself out there. That kind of spirit spills over to benefit all aspects of her life. From her mission driven business, to her giving relationships with friends, to her questioning intellectual endeavors, her open mind and audacious spirit are two of things that I love the most about Mei because my life is more exciting and full thanks to those parts of her. Most of all, I love her humongous heart. She's an incredibly caring and giving friend, always willing to go out of her way for the people she cares about. She gives off a radiance that people pick up on and they can tell instantly that she's genuine and that they want to do good by her (I'm one of those people). She makes people feel at home the minute they meet her. I feel like no matter where we go, we're going to get along with everyone, and that's because Mei is so naturally accepting, sincere, caring, calming, friendly, sweet, and funny that everything else is just easy. It's so nice for me because all I have to do is look devilishly handsome and we're good! Watching her interact with people, from her closest friends to random strangers just makes me excited for the future. I know she's going to be a positive force in my life forever, and she's going to be an incredibly warm, thoughtful, loving, and well prepared mother to the future coolest kids in the world!

My favorite thing about Chris is his impeccable wit, his towering height, & the fact that he's probably the smartest person walking the face of the Earth. He's the best scientist I’ve ever met (sorry other scientists at this wedding), & he gives the best back rubs. It's fun to be with someone where you just know that he's better than basically everyone that you're walking past on the street. & when I say better, I mean in every possible way. Better at being tall, better at math, better at being humble, better at whatever other people think their best things are, better at being a parent even though he isn't even one yet, better at knowing good music, better at making up what my favorite thing about him is, better at things he hasn't even tried yet, & better at making me feel like the most important thing in the world, because that's what I am to him. He loves me a ton & he wants me to know it everyday. My actual favorite thing about Chris is that he never takes anything too seriously (as made evident by the above) & he’ll do silly things like that just because life is too short not to. I love how open-minded he is & how he’s always down for an adventure. I love how he always goes into any situation with the intention of making it a happier place. I love how quickly & easily he’s become friends with my friends & family. I love how positive, happy, optimistic, joyful, genuine, friendly, funny, down to earth, & full of life he is. He never fails to look on the bright side of things. He’s brought so much joy & laughter into my world & is truly the sunshine of my life. I have never met anyone with as big a heart as Chris. He truly loves all living creatures & always chooses to see the good in everyone. His capacity to love & empathize with people from all walks of life blows me away. I love how every moment with Chris is the happiest moment of my life. He’s my favorite person. Life. Love. Happiness. The point of it all. He gets it. That’s my favorite thing about Chris.

On their first official date, Chris took Mei to Moonshadows and she had miso glazed black cod. She loved it, so Chris told her that if she sticks with him, he can make it anytime, no problem. She told Chris that if he could make that dish she'd marry him. He took that completely literally, so keep that in mind. Chris worked with Mei's relatives in Seattle, Singer and Susan, to design the ring. They are incredibly talented jewelers as well, it runs in the family, and it's a good thing because the ring had to be perfect. There is a fair amount of pressure involved when designing a ring for a jewelry designer... But luckily, Chris was in very good hands, and the ring turned out absolutely beautiful. As soon as Chris found out the ring was just about finished, he booked tickets to Seattle telling Mei that they would take a New Years trip up there to visit her old stomping grounds! She had no idea that there was also a ring waiting for her (except for Nicole's floating the thought out there... haha). Chris and Mei had a very busy holiday season, and Mei almost decided that she wanted to push the trip to Seattle back a bit and just have a low-key New Years. Chris could not have disagreed more, and told her that one day they'd look back and laugh about her not wanting to go on the trip. Chris rented an AirBnb, so he could cook the meal he had been waiting so long to perfect for Mei. Waking up super early, Chris went to the grocery store and prepped everything over the first two days while Mei was still asleep. When she came out of the shower on day 3, she had candles, champagne and her favorite dish waiting for her. She started tearing up a tiny bit when she saw it, but when Chris went down on a knee it was full on chin quivering sobbing, which made Chris lose it instantly too. This made it tough to get the words out, but eventually he did, and it was the best feeling in the world. The rest of the day was a huge celebration and the best NYE ever!