We had our first date on a Friday evening after work in August 2016, at a bar in San Francisco called the Churchill. Nick had just moved to Oakland about two months earlier, and Katie had been in San Francisco about a year longer than that. Neither of us knew what to expect, but Nick was taken in by Katie’s warmth and pretty blue eyes and we hit it off from the start. Nick had some questions about Katie's political beliefs due to her job in business consulting, but decided to give her a chance. One thing led to another, and we ended up at a place in the Mission District auspiciously called the Make Out Room, where we talked, danced, and people-watched until we shut the bar down. We think Katie even hugged Nick night one… very out of character to show that much emotion. We both wanted to see each other again, but Katie was going to be traveling for work during the week, and her family was going to be visiting the next weekend. So, we broke one of the rules of dating and decided to meet again two days later, on Sunday. Nick just told Katie to wear comfortable shoes and bring a layer, and we walked from Katie’s apartment in Pacific Heights to Golden Gate Park, and then to a surprise picnic on Strawberry Hill. Katie knew then that his "magnetic" charm had pulled her in. The next weekend, Nick met Katie’s sister, Allie, and their “crazy” aunt Laurie and uncle Greg. Nick has felt like family ever since. For the next year and a half, Nick and Katie traveled back and forth across the Bay to see each other as often as we could, but the commutes of an hour or more and suitcases were getting old. The next logical step was to find an apartment to rent where we could move in together… and instead we took the plunge and decided to buy our own place. We moved into our new condo in Jack London, Oakland, in May 2018, where we have been living together happily ever after with our family of plants, including "Bennie" the Benjamin Ficus and "Pedro" the Palm.

It was Katie’s birthday weekend in March 2019. That Friday, Katie had a meeting all morning, and we were going to head up to wine country that afternoon to visit a couple of our favorite wineries. Nick had taken the day off of work, and little did Katie know that when she left him at home in his pajamas, Nick jumped into action to pull off his plan. After picking up her engagement ring and making arrangements with the winery, he called Katie’s parents, Chuck and Maureen, quoting Beatlejuice: “I've come for your daughter, Chuck!” Chuck responded (probably with an internal monologue of... finally... but in reality a more heartfelt response) with yes and some advice on the success factors of a happy marriage. That afternoon, traffic was worse than Nick had planned for, and he was sweating bullets as he tried to get us to the winery on time. Katie wondered why Nick was stressing so much over what was supposedly just a trip to pick up some wine. Our first stop was Inman Family Winery, one of the places we visited on our first out-of-town trip together, which has remained one of our favorites. We were the only two in the tasting room, and the owner, Kathleen, walked us through their latest wines. As soon as she poured one of their sparkling wines, Nick realized the moment was upon him... and started to get nervous. Nick started talking about our journey together, and the role this particular place, Inman, had played. Katie wondered why all of a sudden Nick seemed to be getting very sentimental. When Kathleen left the room, Nick got down on one knee, and looked up at Katie who suddenly appeared like she was twenty feet above him, sitting in the tall bar stool. Nick asked Katie to marry him, and she said yes. We celebrated by going to Iron Horse Winery, another of our favorites, to drink sparkling and toast our new engagement. The next day, we gathered with some of our closest local friends for Katie’s birthday dinner, which doubled as an engagement debut.