It was the day before New Year's Eve, when the Magic City brought Sari and Nate together... Trying to save her energy for NYE, Sari was planning to lay low when one of her friends, Nicole, dragged her out to a "chill bowling night with some cool guys from Maryland" (YEAH RIGHT). Meanwhile, Nate would typically be laying low, but his oldest friend Jordan was in town and the boys were ready for a big night out along with his roommates, Adam (his brother) and Tyler. So they turned to Mr. 305 DJ TZ aka Tyler, to plan an epic night. Tyler invited his female coworker to "Basement," a bowling alley/club in the Miami Beach Edition Hotel. Luckily, that friend brought Nicole & Sari with her and the two groups shared a bowling lane for the night. Sari arrived in a turtleneck and knee-high Prada boots with zero intention on bowling. Nate arrived in jeans, a t-shirt and Vans sneakers ready to strike. And strike he did ;). Nate immediately had his eye's on Sari and made it a point to try to talk to her as much as possible. Sari noticed those baby blue eyes, that smile, and that Jewish Chai necklace, but played hard to get of course. Next thing you know, boots were OFF, goofy bowling shoes were ON, and like a cliche movie scene, Nate was teaching Sari how to bowl! He got lucky that night...NO, not that kind of lucky LOL...but he did actually score the best bowling game of his life and looked like a pro doing it! So naturally, they transitioned down the hall to the club to celebrate. Hours of dancing went by and before they knew it, it was 4am (so much for Sari's chill night). Just as the Ubers arrived, they exchanged numbers and went home with that special feeling. The next morning Adam was on the phone catching up with their parents, filling them in on the fun night out and jokingly added "Oh by the way, I think Nate met his wife last night!" (Crazy right!?) Sari and Nate texted the next day and have spoken every day since... need we say more? The rest is history <3.

THE PRELUDE Let’s take it back to early March 2020, before the world shut down. I called Tio Rafi aka Sari’s Uncle aka The Diamond Master to start the ring process. Although things still seemed normal, he explained that the diamond industry had shut down worldwide and no new inventory would be coming anytime soon… Not what you want to hear on your first call. Am I right? He told me to be patient and the right diamond will come along eventually. So I trusted him and four months later, just a few weeks before my planned proposal, I got the call... “I FOUND THE DIAMOND!” After seeing my long awaited Israeli stone in person, it was ready to be made into a ring. Fast forward to August 28th, 2020, it was my dad’s birthday and one day before my planned proposal on our little boat. Of course, 1 day before the big day, I had neither the boat nor the ring in-hand. That’s the good ole Shapiro boy planning for ya! So my dad, brothers, and I planned a morning adventure to get the boat from the shop and scoop the ring all before my dad’s birthday party. Among all the craziness, this was one of the most special moments of my life. THE DAY OF We planned a family boat day for my dad’s birthday which was the perfect opportunity for a cover up. Like most guys, I barely slept all night, anxious as could be. 11 am finally rolled around and Sari and I walked to our boat slip to “pick up our families.” As we turned out of the marina and into the open bay, I put on one of our favorite songs and asked Sari to take the wheel. As she drove, I reached for the ring in my backpack, got on one knee, and asked her to turn around… The next thing I remember, she said YES and we were hugging, crying, and drinking champagne! We waved to the drone and off we went to meet our families at the Libbin's. As we arrived to the dock, both of our families greeted us with cheers and a surprise engagement lunch. The day turned out better than either of us ever imagined. Mission accomplished! - Nate