It all started in July 2017, at a work party in D.C. to welcome new employees at The Washington Post. Anaïs was one of the new hires, and Nick was one of the employees asked by HR to help welcome the group at a baseball game and happy hour after. Their paths crossed briefly in the summer of 2017, but Nick left The Washington Post a few weeks later. It wasn’t until a year later that fate stepped in. In the summer of 2018, both were invited by a mutual friend to a World Cup viewing party. Neither realized it was being hosted by the Croatian Embassy at a Georgetown bar—and they soon discovered they were the only two people there who weren’t drunk or Croatian. Naturally, they caught up and got to know each other more. As it turned out, they had each shown up earlier, seen the chaotic crowd, left… and then returned—at the exact same time, two hours later. When Nick arrived, fresh off his bike, he broke the ice immediately by swaying his hips and announcing, “I’m airing out my swamp ass,” thanks to the soupy 90-degree D.C. humidity. Anaïs laughed and felt immediately at ease. A week later, Nick texted to ask her out. After chatting about dream cars, he suggested they test drive sports cars for their first date. But when the day rolled around, it poured rain, so they swapped engines for dumplings and headed to Bob’s Shanghai 66—home to some of the best soup dumplings in the DMV. Since that day, they’ve built a life full of adventure, love, and partnership—moving cross-country twice, adopting two dogs (RIP Cora, forever in our hearts), weathering a pandemic, supporting each other through family health challenges, and cheering each other on through career highs and big transitions. Now, after eight years together, they’re best friends, teammates, and soon-to-be husband and wife and (hopefully) parents in the near future. They feel endlessly grateful for the life they’ve built and can’t wait to spend the rest of it exploring the world, laughing often, and continuing to foster an incredible community.