When a car began to park in his apartment garage, that had a Jamaican ornament hanging from its rear-view mirror, Giancarlo took notice. He had to find out who it belonged to. So one day as he was driving out, he finally saw someone walking to the car. And on her way to her car, Chantal was stopped by a young man asking if she was Jamaican. Chantal did not hear what he said his name was, even though she asked him to repeat twice. The conversation was short lived, "see you later!" said Chantal as she rushed off to go get food. Fast forward six months, and she did in fact see him later. They both happened to reach home from work at the same time. They both parked their cars and made their way to the door. After Giancarlo held open the second of three doors, to their apartment hallway, and Chantal said thank you twice, she figured she had to break the awkward tension. So before the third door and third thank you, she finally built up the courage to ask him if he was Jamaican. It was an engaging conversation and Chantal made sure to get his name this time. The two exchanged numbers and became friends.

After a few of weeks of hanging out, Giancarlo wondered how he would ask Chantal on a date to a nice restaurant. Unknown to him, Covid-19 would soon hit the US and his plans would be ruined. After two weeks of lockdown however, he realized Covid was here to stay. He had to take matters into his own hands to make his intentions clear. El restaurante Giancarlo was born (in his studio apartment). On the menu... rice & peas, fried plantains, salmon and seaweed snacks on the side (he remembered Chantal loved them). He even googled how to make heart shaped napkins for beautiful décor. But Chantal didn't want the master chef to do all the work, so she decided to pitch in and make some jerk shrimp pasta and curry chickpeas. It was then that he realized, this would be the start of something amazing.

Being the adventure seeker that Chantal is, Giancarlo knew he could get her to plan an engagement trip without her realizing it. He mentioned they should do a hike and it was an immediate yes from Chantal. They ended up hiking to the highest point in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, with a difficulty rating of 4.25 out of 5. They flew one hour to Odessa and drove 3 hours to the border of Texas & New Mexico. They started at 6:30 a.m., with their headlights and backpacks of food and water. It took 6 hours to make the entire 8.5 mile journey, up and down, which involved a terror filled snake sighting. At 8,750 feet high, in front of a breath taking scene, Giancarlo got down on one knee. All the body aches Chantal felt were definitely worth it, after hiking one of the most strenuous and dangerous trails in Texas.