It was a warm summer's day in May 2019 when Takao was standing outside Viale Cambridge waiting for someone named Kaitlin, whom he recently matched with. Kaitlin was across the street frantically buying new tights at Target, as she had ripped hers at work by accident and Nilsa insisted she fix it before the date. With new tights procured, Kaitlin changed and made her way to Viale. They met, and well, the rest is history...actually it's a love story... First Date: May 2019, Dinner and a Comedy Show Proposal: July 2023, Afternoon Tea at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, Canada After we met, we spent the next few months getting to know each other and doing lots of fun activities. If you know us, you know we LOVE a good planned event. We went to the Boston Symphony to see John Williams, we raged at Lady Gaga planetarium night at the Museum of Science, we danced the night away at Cambridge Silent Disco, and we laughed until we cried at Shitfaced Shakespeare. On NYE, we said "I love you" for the first time at Violeta and Rit's apartment, surrounded by friends, champagne and Violeta's impressive plant collection. A few months later, Covid hit and everything changed. We weren't able to see each other for 4 months, until quarantine protocols were more known. We would then see each other for a week or so at a time in order to quarantine and then be separated again for weeks. Takao wasn't even able to meet Nala for a year and a half and Kaitlin graduated with her Master's in Chemistry virtually from Takao's living room (even giving the commencement speech from there). But we made it work and soon enough, we were moving in together. In July 2021, we moved into a small apartment in Cambridge, and started our new life together. Takao and Nala bonded over puzzles, meal-times (of course) and being new remote coworkers (Nala was the perfect background for all P&E Micro meetings). Our family of three was as happy as can be. We discovered our shared love of Disney/Universal trips, wine tastings, and exploring our favorite local spots. In July 2023, Takao brought Kaitlin to Canada under the guise of “picking up his archery bow from a friend in Montreal.” Since we were driving MANY HOURS to pick up the bow Kaitlin insisted they stop in Quebec so that she could see “little Paris” (aka the prettiest street in the world). After an amazing day, we went to Chateau Frontenac for afternoon tea and there Takao proposed with a sustainable emerald ring in a Harry Potter snitch, singing the chorus of Taylor Swift’s love story. Kaitlin said yes, and here we are! Little did Takao know that Chateau Frontenac is known as the Hogwarts of North America, so a proposal there was even more special. Sadly, our sweet Nala Beauty Queen passed October 2023. She was the light of our lives and it took us months to process how she was taken from us so quickly. Our friends gifted us a very special end of life photo shoot, and two of those photos are the ones on your Save the Dates. The rest of the photos can be seen on this website. In March 2024, we adopted two fiesty 5 month old rescues from the same shelter Kaitlin adopted Nala 13 years prior. Poppy and Ponzu keep Nala’s legacy alive and bring joy to us everyday. We will be celebrating our love story and getting MARRIED on January 18, 2025 at Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, MA. We can't wait to see you all on the big day!