April 26th, 2018 Brian stepped into Woodstock’s Pizza in Davis, CA to create a promotional video for his semi-pro soccer team because they were sponsored by the restaurant. After filming for a bit he had one final scene to shoot - an interview with the general manager. Little did he know, the general manager had no interest in being filmed and was nowhere to be found. But the video needed to get done, so who was it going to be? Everyone in the restaurant knew just the person for the job and volunteered someone else to film the video saying “Oh, Irene will do it”. It was through this lucky change of plans that Brian and Irene met, and with an observable chemistry about them, they rocked that interview and had their first conversation recorded on camera. May 26th, 2018 About a month later, after the promotional video had been posted and Facebook friend requests had been sent, Brian came back to Woodstock’s Pizza for a post-game meet and greet. Brian and Irene had been messaging throughout the day and making half-plans to link up. Trying to play it cool, Irene dropped a subtle message to see if Brian was in the restaurant (knowing full-well that he was having already seen him across the room). Brian immediately responded and told her to come join him with the team. After a quick pep talk and some encouragement, Irene confidently joined Brian at the table with a dozen soccer guys that she didn’t know and pulled up a seat across from Brian. They were fixated on each other, and slowly everyone else at the table left as they continued their conversation for 6 hours. June 1st, 2018 After another week or so passed, they made plans to see each other again. Brian recalls feeling unusually comfortable with Irene, giving her a call as he left to pick her up rather than sending a more appropriate text. When he arrived at the apartment, Irene skipped into the front seat of the car and they took off as the song “Kiss Somebody” played on the radio. Foreshadowing much? As they walked around the Arboretum in Davis and caught a sunset from the parking structure, neither of them knew if it was a date. But on the walk back to the car Brian found the right moment to give Irene a kiss, their last first kiss, to officially seal the day as their first date. Irene made more plans for them much later, hours later that night, and she proceeded to keep Brian entertained back at her apartment by pulling out her joke books and doing card tricks. When it was time for the second part of the date, Brian and Irene snuck onto the roof of the Death Star, an iconic building on the UC Davis campus. On the roof under the stars Irene pulled out some meat and cheese, a bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider, and a speaker. Brian chose to put on Frank Sinatra, which he didn’t realize was one of Irene’s favorites, and asked her to dance. Throughout the night they shared moments that were special, romantic, and felt like home. And ever since then… Irene and Brian have been inseparable. They spent a summer in Davis together, entered into a long-distance relationship that they maintained for a year, reunited in San Diego until they moved in together, weathered a pandemic, shifted careers and found a home in North County. They’ve hosted countless events and game nights, driven up and down California too many times, have laughed until they cried and cried until they laughed. They are excitedly looking forward to starting a family and life together built around the experiences and values they share.