Our story started with Studio Ghibli. As we casually chatted online about which of the studio's animated movies were our favorites and why, we felt a spark. Soon afterward, Dan took me on our first date at the Art Institute of Chicago. We quickly realized we were just two "kids at heart" who felt completely comfortable being our goofy, nerdy, and authentic selves in each other's company. Since then, we've made the city of Chicago our home, and have lived in its Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. And we've forged a little family by adopting four cats: Ollie (our very first cat, who now resides amongst the stars), Ghoul, Juniper, and Zephyr. We've also traveled to at least 25 U.S. states and 2 foreign countries together... and counting! Some of our most memorable trips have occurred around Halloween, our favorite holiday. We're particularly fond of the year-round haunts in Salem, Massachusetts, and we go back there every few years to join in the spooky festivities. One of our family "traditions" is giving each other gifts on Christmas Eve morning. On Christmas Eve morning in 2023, Dan had an extra gift to give me: an engagement proposal. Drawing from the floriography for May (the month when we first met in 2016), Dan gifted me a journal with gold flowers on it. Inside the journal was a heartfelt message of love accompanied by a hand-drawn lily of the valley (one of my favorite flowers). And, thus, the next chapter of our lives together officially began! We're excited to see where our love story goes from here. And we're so grateful for all of the family and friends supporting us as we start a new chapter in it - getting married!