Patrick and Ella met in the Fall of 2016 while earning their Master's degrees at California College of the Arts, when Patrick answered an open call for artworks to install in the gallery Ella was curating. At their first meeting she recognized him as the good looking guy she always made eye contact with between classes, so when he walked towards her to introduce himself, she eagerly exclaimed: "Oh, it's you!" to which Patrick, ever the professional, responded, "Um, do I know you?" Patrick may not have noticed Ella prior to their first meeting, but he made every meeting after count, stretching 10 minute encounters into hours. It took a Christmas party (mistletoe probably) for both of them to admit their crushes, and from then on they continued to discover all they both appreciated in life: Berlin (of course), art exhibitions, cooking food and finding delicious things to eat around town (and eventually the world), beautiful home and furniture design, spending time in nature, frozen drinks on the beach, Italian pop music, cheesy Television, classical records, traveling (especially a roadtrip), karaoke, the band (but also the food) Meatloaf, visiting old Churches, frequenting flea and food markets, Ana Mendieta, and, of course, playing cards, especially the Sicilian card game Scopa. They used their 18+ months of loving long distance (between the US and Berlin) to travel: from Blacks BBQ in Texas to camping in a car trunk in Akureyri, Iceland. From Tulum, Mexico to pool tables in Portland, Oregon. From Navajo Mountain, Utah to fish markets in Sicily, pizzerias in Patrick's home town Queens to the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Finally, in the Fall of 2019 they settled together in Berlin, their family expanded by one little dog: Raisin Hell. Late that fall Patrick packed up the car and drove Ella and Raisin from Berlin to Vals, Switzerland, where, in front of a fireplace at Hotel 7132 surrounded by snow-covered Alps, he got down on one knee and asked Ella to marry him.

"We met in grad school, we were long distance for over a year, we reunited in Berlin, we’re getting married and we have a dog named Raisin Hell."