The year was 2013 and the location was Austin, Texas. What started out as a seemingly normal afternoon would quickly turn into the momentous beginning of something special when the two first met by unexpected chance. Punit, a music aficionado and quintessential millennial, sent a snapchat (when people still used it) of I Wanna Dance with Somebody by the late Whitney Houston to Sonal, a mutual friend, who happened to be studying with Sheena. Sonal then snapped a picture of Sheena back. In that instant, although he truly may have just wanted to dance with somebody, Punit immediately fell in love only to have the photo disappear forever seconds later (stupid Snapchat). However, all hope was not lost as Sonal told Punit that Sheena would be attending her party later that evening and Punit knew this was his chance. Fast forward to the party, Punit and Sheena exchanged awkward looks all evening (if only Whitney Houston had been playing). Finally, Punit worked up the courage to approach her and they totally hit it off. As is tradition with college students, they got hungry after 11pm so Sheena asked Punit if he'd ever tried the Kimchi fries from the Chilantro’s food truck on 6th street. Punit, seeing this as his chance to spend more time with her, coyly lied and asked what Kimchi fries even were. Sheena, a loyal frequenter of Chilantro’s and connoisseur of their kimchi fries, freaked out and insisted that Punit go with her immediately. His plan worked flawlessly and off they went! The rest, as they say, is history.

Under the guise of a “friends trip” to Austin, I unassumingly packed for a day trip to Barton Springs and a dressy outfit for our friend Carolann’s birthday dinner. We spent the day at the pool with our friends, and then split up to get ready for her birthday dinner a few hours later. As I was getting ready, Punit suggested we grab a drink before dinner at The Catherine- a beautiful rooftop bar overlooking downtown Austin. In our painstakingly long and silent Uber, I was convinced Punit was mad at me because I had taken so long to get ready. Naturally, I asked him a million times if everything was okay, and he continued to reassure me it was fine… yet the silence was deafening. Turns out ya boy was nervous (an emotion I had never seen from him ever before, and will probably never witness again)!!! As we walked out onto the rooftop at sunset, I saw a beautiful set up with candles, rose petals, and picture frames- but naturally…I walked past it all and straight towards our friends. Punit pulled me back, dropped down to one knee, and proposed in the city where it all began. After we celebrated with champagne and a few facetime calls to our family, we went to dinner at Olive & June where we had our first official date. We entered the courtyard of the restaurant where so many of our friends and family were waiting to surprise us. It was the sweetest and most touching thought that twenty something of our closest friends and family would make their way to Austin to surprise us!! But the surprises didn’t stop there. A few minutes later, my little sister Nakita popped up in front of me. It was the cherry on top of an already perfect proposal. It was absolutely incredible, exciting, and overwhelmingly perfect. #WorthTheWait