How it all began…
OUR STORY
Briana and Chris met for the first time on April 15, 2021, at the Lower Mills Tavern… kind of. They really met on Hinge after curiously liking one another’s photos. They messaged briefly before exchanging phone numbers and making plans to meet in person at LMT.
When Briana arrived that night, she quickly scanned the restaurant for her date and was surprised to see Chris at a darkly lit table waving her over. She had fallen into the habit of not saving numbers in her phone until after a second date. Now it seems a it was a true turn of fate that she didn’t save Chris’s or the fellow’s (let’s call him Brad) who she thought she was meeting… After a few days of texting the two, she had mixed up who was who and went into LMT looking for a Brad. With her confusion unbeknownst to Chris, she greeted him with a masked smile, slid into the booth, and never spoke to Brad again.
They ordered drinks and exchanged glances over their menus as they searched for something gluten free to share. Chris, reluctant to possibly order the wrong thing, waited for Briana’s suggestions, and they settled on shishito peppers… AND ONLY SHISHITO PEPPERS!
Despite their rumbling tummies their conversation was exciting, fluid, and connected. They bonded over their love for their families, desire for adventure and to travel, their athleticism and natural competitiveness, and about dogs. Their conversation was easy and fun, and distracted them from all the time that had passed. It was nearing their respective bedtime, so they said their goodbyes, went home, and ate everything in their own refrigerators.
They decided to reconvene at the driving range once Chris had ample time to Google what “gluten free” means (research is ongoing). It was on this second date, as they swung their golf sticks, that Chris knew he wanted to date Briana and by the summer, he knew that one day he would marry her.
It was also on this date that Briana thought Chris might kill her. They walked back to his condo where Briana had parked her car. Chris insisted that she come upstairs so he could “show her something” and, after speedily sharing her location with her roommates and warning them of the happenings, she reluctantly went upstairs. To her surprise, Chris had flowers and a gluten filled cupcake to celebrate her birthday which she had tried so hard not to tell him about.
It became evident that Chris was thoughtful, generous, and kind, but still had no idea what gluten free meant.
Briana first imagined their future together while hungover on their third date as Chris pushed her in a shopping cart through the plant section of Home Depot. Still sporting her sunglasses, she sat pointing to plants she knew he couldn’t kill for his condo. Not long after these first few dates, Briana knew Chris was her person.
Since that spring, they have shared many core memories together only reinforcing what Briana already knew— Chris would finally cave, and they would rescue a dog! In March 2022, they adopted their little Shishito Pepper, Tito for short. From the day they met him, Tito flipped their world upside down and “zoomied” his way through their legs and into their hearts!
Being together has been refreshingly easy and felt incredibly natural from the beginning. So, when Chris proposed 15 months later, there was only one thing Briana could say -- “ARE YOU F***ING JOKING RIGHT NOW?” followed by a sobbing “YES!!”
And the rest is history in the making.
