How We Met
Alexa and I met in the city we grew up in – Pittsburgh, PA – at a gay bar that both of us would separately frequent. I was meeting up with a friend from high school one night who introduced me to Alexa. I remember almost not going out that night but forcing myself to get ready and go anyway…and thank God that I did! (Even if I didn’t show up until almost midnight.)
We would all hang out as a group of friends every weekend for a while, but Alexa and I quickly realized the intense, undeniable attraction between the two of us. Fast forward to today and we have accomplished so much together: driving across the country from PA to CA to move to LA and now living in San Diego, two amazing dogs, and a boatload of memories later.
How They Asked
One word: magical. Alexa and I had talked about going on a trip to Europe ever since we met. Being that I am extremely indecisive, I thought nothing of it when she came up with a plan for us to go to Paris, Venice, and Malta this past November. After spending a few days in Paris, our next stop was Venice, Italy. The day before we flew there, everyone was warning us about the worst “Aqua Alta” in 60 years that was currently happening there- but that didn’t stop my amazing girlfriend from still executing the proposal of my/our dreams. Our “plan” for the day was to go sightseeing, visit the Rialto Bridge, and Alexa to take some pictures of me for my Instagram- so I was totally going with the flow when she told me to wear my favorite outfit that I brought.
Running on 3 hours of sleep, jet lag, espresso, and applesauce, we set off to go explore Venice- but don’t let me fool you, I was HANGRY and just so confused as to what the big deal was if we stopped and ate at a cafè real quick before going to see the Rialto Bridge. Little did I know, we were on a strict time schedule. However, I was able to stay sane when Alexa kept reminding me that the forecast for the next day was calling for a huge downpour with extreme flooding and that we only had a couple of hours left of daylight before sunset. Alexa being much better with maps and directions had mapped out some good photo ops “for my Instagram.” She snapped a couple of quick photos on her iPhone and proceeded to lead the way toward the Rialto Bridge, telling me about this “perfect spot for her to take a photo of me.” Next thing I know, she’s grabbing my arm, telling me how happy I’ve made her, all while I’m hearing random clicks of a camera somewhere off in the distance. Talk about a whirlwind of emotions! She got down on one knee and asked me to marry her. My first response…”Are you kidding? This can’t be real! I feel like I’m in a movie! This isn’t actually happening is it?” Then I obviously said “yes”!!!
Our photographer followed us around through the streets of Venice and onto a gondola ride where we took more pictures and celebrated during sunset.
I later found out that Alexa had originally planned out the proposal for Friday, November 15, but due to all of the flooding in Venice she was forced to scramble and re-plan everything to take place just a few hours after us landing in Venice on Thursday, November 14.
Luckily for her, the early sunsets and flooding predictions for the next day forced us to go on our photoshoot/tour without too much complaining from my tired, hungry self. The timing of everything could not have been more perfect- we had a beautiful, sunny day with no rain on our engagement day.
The next day, however, was a whole different story: the town was so flooded we had to wear rain boots up to our thighs to walk through the water to get anywhere. Maybe this may not have been an ideal situation for most people, but for us, it was just another crazy, exciting adventure to add to our list of doing life together- and we couldn’t be happier with that.
