Justin and I were bound to meet. Our very good mutual friend, Christine, held a number of gatherings at various different times throughout our twenties. She has been one of my best friends since high school and a friend of Justin’s since their college days at Seton Hill. I can’t count the number of times I visited Seton Hill, where Justin was most likely a fellow patron at the bars and parties visited. Our paths, she is confident, surely crossed. I know of one specific time where I was introduced to Justin at a holiday party years after our college days. It wasn’t quite our time yet then, but he was someone who sparked my interest and someone I couldn’t seem to forget.
Fast forward to Justin’s 30th birthday and we are on the hotel Monaco rooftop together. Except it wasn’t his party, it was Christine’s! (we always laugh that we met on his birthday – making his birthday celebration even more special to us!) Finally, Justin and I were both single at the same time and in the same place! Like a true gentleman, Justin walked me to my car (parked at the Mellon garage) that night – at our friend’s request – so I wouldn’t have to walk into the dark garage alone! Each of us, separately that evening after the party, texted Christine wanting to know more about the other! Still, it wasn’t QUITE yet our time!
3 months later and we are seated at the same table as guests at Christine’s wedding! What Justin didn’t know at the time was, I was fully aware of this seating arrangement. As I mentioned, Justin was someone I just couldn’t seem to forget. So naturally, I asked Christine if he would be there. In somewhat of a set-up, Christine assured me Justin would be at the wedding as a guest without a date and instructed me to limit my plus one to my sister only! By the end of the night, we were posted up at the bar with one another and ended the evening with a kiss. The rest is history!
What we have come to realize since then is how much Pittsburgh means to us and our relationship and how the Mellon garage now plays a role in our love story. Upon meeting officially (as I mentioned earlier), Justin walked me to the Mellon garage and on the day he proposed he was sure to have us park there before dinner. Little did Kristi know, when she had us meet for these photos, that the Mellon garage couldn’t have been a more perfect meeting spot for us!
Justin proposed on December 19th of 2019 where we drove around the city that helped us fall in love! We stopped in the north shore where we had our first date and then made our way to the strip district where we had our first kiss. Justin got down on one knee in the streets of our favorite city and proposed in the silence that December evening – in the exact spot where he first kissed me. We continued the celebration over at Eddie V’s that night and further over the next couple of weeks as the holiday festivities commenced! We look forward to 2021 where we will be married at the PPG wintergarden with all of our treasured family and friends – in the heart of our favorite city! This will always be the one encounter in our life that will never be repeated. A love like this happens but once in a lifetime and we feel so lucky to have found one another!
