He could barely make eye contact as she handed over the shiny name tag. It was his first networking event, and by chance, she was running the show. He was nervous, and yet, he knew right away that there was something comforting about this girl — she was at once beautiful and familiar.
They hit it off, and for months, they hung out with new friends from the startup world. They drove around the Bay Area together, talking for hours even when the destination had arrived.
It wasn't long until they were dining on their first date at The French Laundry, cooing over the white truffle polenta and impossibly sweet uni. Their shared interests in photography, food, and technology transformed into a rare mixture of love and friendship. They were inseparable.
You could say it was love at first spoonful.
Over the next three years, they journeyed through life together. Both of them worked hard in the Web 2.0 startup world, while photographing their culinary adventures along the way. He loved to build products, and she loved to influence people to use them.
They grew some of their closest friendships through board game nights. He decided this was the perfect venue to pop the question. After considering a number of games, he decided the best game to spell out his marriage proposal was Bananagrams. He carefully planned out what to spell out in his proposal and went through multiple iterations. On August 7, 2010, he used the tiles to discreetly spell out "Joey Marry Me". She was totally surprised, and said yes!