They graduated college (Pat from Lehigh, Kelly from WashU) and moved to Chicago! Him to get his graduate degree from Northwestern and Her to begin her career at PNC.

After realizing there might be more to this than friendship, Pat worked up the nerve to ask Kelly on a date to his favorite spot - Crisp - a small Korean BBQ wings place. Despite Kelly’s non-existent spice tolerance and Pat’s planning abilities (the place closed as they were ordering food), it was the start of something wonderful.

They get engaged!

His Story: The planning of the proposal started many months before the day. The main requirement for me was that it take place in London (Kelly’s absolute favorite place). The plan was to softly suggest the trip idea to Kelly, then let her love of planning take over. It worked perfectly. Her parents were very eager to help, and, over the next months, we all struggled to keep her oblivious to the plans. There were too many near misses to count, but we all somehow made it to London without the surprise ruined. By the time I asked the question, I was as relieved as I was excited.

Her Story: I love London and I couldn’t wait to show Pat the city. My parents needed to be in town for work, so we combined trips! As all of us were walking back from dinner the night before, my dad asks us “Want to have wine and cheese in the park tomorrow?” I immediately respond with a quick yes, because that combination sounds fantastic. Fast forward to the next day, Pat and I are running late (as usual) to meet them in the park, so I’m feeling bad and speed walking to the meeting point. We get to the meeting bench and they aren’t there yet. Yay! We aren’t the late ones! Unbeknownst to me, my parents have been hiding in some bushes for the last half hour, waiting to take pictures. We sit down. Pat’s out of breath due to the jogging, so I get the wine started. After the glasses are poured, Pat puts his arm around me and says “It’s time…”, it’s a blur, and the rest is history!