When Sarah’s brother Dan committed to play basketball at Chapman University, he likely didn’t realize how much that decision would go on to impact his family’s lives. For several years, Dan spent nearly every day with his teammate, Sean, on and off the court. Sean’s Chapman graduation happened to be the same day as Dan’s 21st birthday party, so after enjoying a celebratory lunch with his family, he skated to the Orange train station where he caught the next Amtrak down to San Juan Capistrano to join in the famed Aguilar Family festivities. Though Sean and Sarah had met in passing after basketball games, this was the first opportunity they’d had to converse. Amazingly, the two have never really stopped talking since….

When Sarah started at USC in Fall 2010, Sean moved home to Northern California while waiting to hear from dental schools. During the first week of school, Sean called Sarah to ask if she was free that weekend—the USC School of Dentistry (which shares the undergraduate campus) wanted him to start on Monday. They spent the next four years together enjoying all that USC and LA have to offer, from football games to frat parties (both undergrad and dental, of course), wonderful weather to wonderful friends. Sean decided to pursue a specialty certificate in Periodontics at the Baylor College of Dentistry at Texas A&M in Dallas. Meanwhile, Sarah was going through what she refers to as her “quarter-life crisis” – one in which she realized she was not ready to enroll in Physical Therapy school, and that she wasn’t sure what to do next. She was working at a campus involvement fair to recruit student coaches for her after-school sports program, when she started chatting with a gentleman that worked for Teach For America. The final deadline to apply for the program was the next day, but he thought she would be a great fit and should try, so she did. Fast-forward a month, and Sarah accepted an invitation to join the 2014 Teach For America Corps for two years in Dallas, exactly where Sean would be….

Although leaving the only homes they’d ever known in California was extremely difficult, creating a life in Texas turned out to be a TON of fun, particularly because Sarah and Sean met some of the world’s most excellent people during their three years in Dallas. Being in the center of the country made it easy to explore Middle America and places they might not have sought out otherwise, really providing the foundation for their love of traveling together. Road trips to Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and New Mexico were charming but did remind them why they love their hometowns ;). Sarah and Sean also had the opportunity to add several stamps to their passports with international travel to Switzerland, Amsterdam, France and Canada. While in Dallas, Sarah taught high school Physics, Environmental Science, and Hospitality classes; coached basketball and softball; earned her Master of Education from Southern Methodist University; and fell so in love with cycling that she started working at a spin studio in the mornings before school. Sean earned a second Masters degree along with his Specialty Certificate of Periodontology, got his work published several times, and worked on designing Sarah the perfect ring...

As much as they adored their lives in Texas, Sarah and Sean knew California was where their hearts (read: families) were. In trying to determine the next best place to land, Napa marked off the most boxes in terms of logic and potential for happiness: Sean was able to purchase a practice in a town where he is the only full-time periodontist, and Sarah secured a job at a high-end winery that makes her smile every time she thinks of it. Their transition was relatively seamless, and they are incredibly grateful for the friends they’ve made and the experiences they’ve had since arriving. Travel remains a priority and has led to recent trips to Mexico, Spain, France, Andorra and Guatemala. While they may not be entirely sure where they’ll end up down the road, Napa has definitely become home for now.

Over the almost decade since they've met, Sarah and Sean have been fortunate to not only live in several (very) different cities, but to also travel to a variety of places around the world. Their shared love of adventure paired with their desire to be productive members of society keeps them excited, entertained, and enamored with each other. No matter what chapter you may have entered, Sarah and Sean thank you for being a part of their story!

At one point, Sean had dreams of an exotic proposal abroad, perhaps Santorini or Paris, or maybe on an outdoor excursion at the top of Half Dome. After really thinking through the possibilities, he figured that finding someone to capture the moment abroad or in nature might be challenging, and from dating a millennial, he learned to question that if a moment can’t be shared on Instagram, did it really happen? Sarah and Sean had attended the International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico the year before, and wanted to ride a hot air balloon ever since; Sean fell in love with the idea of proposing on a hot air balloon over the beautiful Napa Valley on a crisp fall morning, and booked a ride for two on October 14th, 2017. Assuming (and hoping) Sarah would say “yes,” he made reservations for a celebratory brunch that would include 20 close family and friends, followed by a day of wine tasting throughout Napa. As flights, hotels and road trip plans began to solidify, it seemed everything was falling into place. The weekend before the planned proposal, Sean was nervously tying up last minute details before the busy workweek ahead. Late Sunday evening, Sarah and Sean wanted to get some fresh air, and went hiking in Timberhill Park to watch the sunset. While beautiful, they were surprised by unusual, extremely powerful gusts of wind; just a few hours later, the largest and most damaging set of fires in Napa and Sonoma county history erupted around the town. The area they hiked just several hours earlier was incinerated. Most schools and businesses were closed and the majority of Napa evacuated for the better part of two weeks. The air quality was so poor, residents were advised to not step foot outside; understandably so, all of Sean’s reservations were cancelled and he had to make the heartbreaking decision to tell traveling guests the October 14th proposal was off.

On Saturday December 2nd, Sarah slept in a little later than usual and had to rush out the door with wet hair and no makeup to get to work at Far Niente on time. She was also recovering from a corneal ulcer that limited her vision and required her to wear glasses rather than contacts. At approximately, 9:05am (five minutes into her work day) Sarah was requested to help grab some glassware from down by the pond; although this was not a typical request, Sarah obliged and started the trek down to the gardens. Sean was hiding behind a grove of poplar trees at the base of a bridge over the pond, and as Sarah approached, he stepped into the walkway. There was a happy but bewildered embrace, followed by a slow shuffling to the crest of the bridge (well, accidentally just beyond) where Sean dropped to one knee and asked Sarah to marry him. Once Sarah agreed to Sean’s request 😉, she caught on that she wasn’t actually working that day and Sean disclosed that he had a full itinerary planned. They arrived at Archetype in St. Helena to the aforementioned group of close friends and family members waiting to surprise and further congratulate the newly engaged couple. After the lovely brunch, a party bus proceeded to shuttle the group to Alpha Omega Winery and then St. Supéry Estate for wine tastings. Several hours of great wine and memory-making later, the bus arrived at Far Niente for the final surprise of the night – the winery had shut down an hour early to welcome the group for a special food-pairing experience. The Far Niente chef coordinated fabulous seasonal dishes to complement a selection of the Far Niente family of wines, with each pairing presented and enjoyed in various rooms throughout the historic stone building. The entire proposal and festivities were an incredibly special way to begin the engagement period, and now Sarah and Sean are counting down the days until the wedding!