It was a cool November evening in 2020 when Casey and Emily were winding down after Hilary Shor's first post Covid birthday party. The party had been so fabulous that Casey had drifted off to sleep on Hilary's couch. Finally Casey awakens and minutes later, Hilary's former trainer walks in with a gift. Casey thought this was very sweet of him to bring a gift. "What a thoughtful guy," she thought. At the time Casey was still working in talent management and on the side, was studying for her NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) Certification. She felt major imposter syndrome toward Anthony who was already a well established trainer. Yet still he took a genuine interest in Casey who was just starting (or thinking about starting) her fitness career. He was so sincere in his encouragement after just meeting her, which Casey soon learned is how he treats everyone, not just because he thought she looked reeeally cute after waking up from her nap. Rewinding, before the moment Casey and Anthony met in person, Hilary and Emily had played direct matchmaker: "we think you and our trainer would get along, since you're both into fitness." They showed Anthony Casey's instagram to which he replied, "eh she's a little young for me." They showed Casey Anthony's instagram to which she replied (you guessed it), "eh he's a little old for me." But when Casey and Anthony met in person, they both agreed in that moment the age was the last thing on their minds. Who knew, it turns out humans ARE more than their social media!

A few months down the road, Anthony runs into Emily in Brentwood. They were both working at homes across the street from one another and happened to be walking to their cars at the same time. As they were walking away, Anthony thought of Casey, and said to Emily, "by the way, how's your friend Casey doing?" A few days later, Casey receives a DM (direct message) on Instagram from Anthony. She didn't realize it had been sent a few days prior and apologized for the late response. At the time she had built up @awholelottahealth to 3,000 followers. He responded, "I understand, you must get hundreds of DMs having 3,000 followers." Reading this back it may appear sarcastic as she was certainly not getting hundreds of DMs and simply didn't see the message in "Requests" but to Casey, one of the most endearing things about this interaction was that he was utterly serious. He remained encouraging of her from the start. Anthony asked if she liked wine and if she wanted to grab a drink on Friday (two days before Valentine's Day). "Bold," she thought, but after a call with Emily and Hilary, she decided to go through with it. Madi and Maddie (Casey's roommates at the time) watched with Roxy from the balcony as the two went on their way to have the first of many, many conversations. ❤️