One fateful night in December of 2016, Alexandria was lying on her bed in El Dorado Hills, California scrolling through Bumble. Yes, Bumble. She came across Leandro’s profile and thought to herself, “Wow. This guy really likes to throw up a lot of peace signs.” But despite the excessive use of this pose in his pictures, something told her to swipe right. MATCH! She immediately messaged him and the conversation started flowing. Leandro shared that he was from the San Fransisco Bay Area visiting Sacramento for business and suggested they grab a drink the next time she was in the city. But oh no, Alexandria knew the probability of that happening was low. She had to act fast. So she proposed they meet the following night, his last night in town. And that they did. Now for those of you who don’t know, Alexandria is almost always late and Leandro is ALWAYS early. But for their first “meet up” (as she refused to call it a date), Alexandria made sure to show up 10 minutes before in order to secure the perfect spot at the Tank House bar. Leandro, on the other hand, showed up 15 minutes late stumbling in all sorts of flustered. Don’t worry though, he regained his cool quickly. From there on, they spent the night talking about everything from family, friends, work, travel, hobbies, and so on. Alexandria pretended to know all the 49er facts Leandro was quizzing her on and Leandro acted as if he knew all the music Alexandria was rambling about. What was supposed to be one drink ended in 6 hours of bar hopping and lots of laughs. Leandro realized very quickly that he had, in his words, “found someone very special”. And although Alexandria also knew Leandro was truly one-of-a-kind, sometimes she can be a bit stubborn and continuously turned down a second date with him for the next 3 months. It wasn’t until he asked her to be his Valentine that she agreed (mainly because she had never had one before) to meet him in the city for a date. They met at the SF Museum of Modern Art. He nervously handed her a card and she proudly handed him a stack of CD mix tapes she burned for him. Sparks flew and, as they say in the movies, the rest is history.

Leandro knew for a long time that he wanted to marry Alexandria. The plan was to propose in Spain in the fall of 2020, but life had other ideas. With Covid, Leandro knew this wasn’t a possibility so instead he waited patiently. Once things settled down, Leandro jumped back on the proposal train. In July of 2021, he snuck away to ask both Antonio and Addie for their only daughter's hand in marriage by offering to bring them his favorite cookies. (Who turns down cookies? No one.) They were overjoyed. But there was one issue. Alexandria had never told him what kind of ring she wanted. So Leandro started asking questions. He even made it a point to tell her that it would probably be a good two years before he began to even think about proposing. This got Alexandria thinking. Soon her and her mom visited a jewelry store in El Dorado Hills to look at some options. It was here that she found her style. After this, Alexandria waited a few days to tell Leandro about her experience. Finally, a break for Leandro. A sliver of information he could use and he ran with it, never bringing up proposing again. He soon met with the jeweler, designed the ring and placed the order. One night in August 2021, while Leandro and Alexandria were watching the show Ted Lasso (the Christmas episode) he had an idea. “Want to go to London for Christmas this year?” Alexandria was stunned, but didn’t need much convincing. And if you’re flying 5,000 miles across the world, you try to cover as much ground as possible. “What if we stop in Paris while we’re there?” (Who says no to Paris? No one.) Soon the trip was set. Leandro planned the entire proposal to a tee. Things, however, didn’t go exactly to plan. When they landed in Paris, Alexandria started to feel a tickle in her throat, but assumed it was just exhaustion. The next day was THE big day. That morning Leandro called down for breakfast, but quickly realized Alexandria was not well. In fact, she had a full blown cold. She was determined to power through though. They spent the day enjoying the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower and exploring the city, but the busy afternoon eventually took a toll on Alexandria and she was in need of a nap. While she rested, Leandro strolled the streets of Paris alone wondering whether he was actually going to be able to propose that night. He returned to the room to find her still in bed. Now the panic set in. Leandro began reaching out to a few friends who knew the plan and they convinced him to stay the course. Rain or shine, he had to do it. After a lot of convincing and even more Dayquil, Leandro was able to get Alexandria out of bed. The goal was to at least get ready so they could take a few photos from the balcony with the view of the Eiffel Tower in the background since it was going to be the only clear night. Alexandria, seeing how badly he wanted these pictures, forced herself to get it together. While she got ready, Leandro set the stage. He even ordered a bottle of champagne as a “prop” for the photoshoot. When she was finally done, Leandro asked her to stand on the balcony so he could position his camera. Now if anyone has ever been to Paris in the winter, you know how cold it is. Leandro first instructed her to stand to her left. Then a little more to the right. Then left again, before Alexandria blurted out, “HuRrY uP! i’M fReEzInG!!!!” Clearly, she had no idea what was about to happen. Thankfully, Leandro finally had her in frame. He walked over, got down on one knee and asked her to turn around. She turned, saw him kneeling with a ring and said, “Wait. This isn’t real.” She wasn’t shocked, or in awe, or crying or screaming. She was just purely confused. “This isn’t real. This isn't real. Is this REAL? Is this FOR REAL??” She repeated over and over before finally realizing this was indeed real. And as we all know now, she said, “YES!” Because who could say no to spending the rest of your life with the person you love? No one.