Sam and Paulomi met at Wake Forest University, with mutual interest first sparking at Winston-Salem’s finest bar, the Last Resort. After some meddling on the part of Sam’s big sister Sarah, and to Sam’s surprise, Paulomi found herself meeting most of Sam’s family and high school friends before they had even started dating. Fast forward to New Years Eve 2016, Paulomi convinced her parents to allow her friend Sam to stay at their home so he could celebrate with her friends in Philly. After an eloquent ask to officially date as the New Year’s ball dropped, Sam was reintroduced to Paulomi’s parents the next day as her boyfriend.

After graduation, Paulomi and Sam moved to Charlotte, NC and Arlington, VA, for their respective jobs. The next 3 years of long distance were filled with many 7-hour drives after work, long calls and a lot of cooking the same meal and eating “together” over FaceTime. In 2020, when the world had hit pause, Paulomi took the chance to move up to Virginia. Since then, the couple adopted two very cute kittens and have determined that Sam most definitely will not be the disciplinarian for any future kids.

On December 18, 2021, Sam and Paulomi headed to a riverside restaurant in Old Town, Alexandria, VA like they might do on any regular weekend. Sam seemed eager to get ice cream after dinner and despite the chilly temperature, Paulomi did not need any convincing. As they walked on a quiet path alongside the water, Sam surprised Paulomi with something better than ice cream - a ring and a promise to be short distance for the rest of their lives.