Get stoked!

Fate brought Val and Rafi together when they both decided to work for the UCLA Orientation program. Rafi first noticed Val's incredible singing voice, which she flaunted in the Orientation's Cabaret show. Rafi made his big break into the program when he was picked to be a "cup boy" for the show's rendition of Anna Kendrick's "Cups." Luckily, Val was slated to sing at the same time that Rafi was slinging his cups. Sparks were flying as the echo of Rafi's plastic cup harmonized with Val's effortless performance. Rafi knew that he had to act fast. Deep in his fratty phase, Rafi invited Val to a host of horrible events, like a Fireball-themed dance (like Fireball, the liquor) and a "formal" in Palm Springs (a disgusting display of college frattiness that is anything but formal). These experiences scared Val off for about a year, until Rafi tracked her back down again and asked her out on a (real) date. The two discovered that when they're not surrounded by frat bros, they actually had a pretty good connection. The two became inseparable.

Val and Rafi built a strong connection in their UCLA days, but their bond was soon to be tested by the dreaded, all-too-familiar grim reaper of love: long distance. Rafi was off to Colorado to spend a year as a naive AmeriCorps volunteer in a charter school, while Val set her sights on finishing the MCAT so she could fulfill her wanderlust traveling and volunteering in Southeast Asia before applying to medical school. The two were several time zones apart, with completely different lives. How did they keep it together? FaceTime helped. Val visited Colorado and lived the ski bunny life for a couple weeks. After about a year of long distance the two eventually moved closer to each other in the Bay Area. Val moved to Oakland to do research at UCSF, and Rafi moved to Palo Alto to become a teacher.

Val ended up moving to a house in Oakland with 3 of her best friends. They called their new home, "The Palace." Val schemed to find a way to sneak Rafi in as a roommate, and she succeeded when she convinced Rafi to interview for a position at Oakland International, a high school just down the street. Rafi got the job and moved into Val's room, officially becoming the fifth princess of The Palace. To their surprise, Val and Rafi had no problem sharing their closet sized room. While Val continued her research and took on the daunting medical school application process, Rafi drowned in the physical and emotional exhaustion of first-year teaching. But their relationship didn't suffer: the good times of The Palace and support from all the princesses only made their bond stronger. Spring roll nights, Oakland First Fridays, and weekend jogs around Lake Merritt kept this couple full of happy memories and hilarious stories.

Things were going well for Val and Rafi -- too well. Val decided to test their relationship one last time: she decided to move to New York City, where she could get lost in the hustle and bustle of the big city and finally get herself a "New York slice." She also started medical school there. Rafi, now completely emotionally dependent on Val, followed suit just a year later. No surprise there. After a two-week road trip across the country, the two built a New York City life together, making East Coast friends and snuggling into their cozy studio in the Bronx. The arrival of COVID gave Val and Rafi's relationship one last push, moving them into a blistering sprint towards trapping each other in a permanent domestic contract. Val incepted the idea of engagement into Rafi's mind, and then pretended to be surprised when he got her the exact ring she wanted. In true pandemic fashion, the two were married online on 11/11/21 (because Val needed contact lenses and Rafi needed those tax benefits). They didn't really tell anyone, much to the confusion of their loved ones and friends. Then, the two got married AGAIN a year later, this time with their families present at the Fong family cabin in Lake Tahoe. But this couple is still not satisfied. Three pandemic waves, two minimonies, and one foster fail later, they want to get married one last time: this time, with all of the people they care about. And an open bar.