From Friend-zone to End-zone: A NorCal Love Story

"You know you've found the right one when snuggle time, play time, and arguments all end the same way, with laughter and a kiss." - Paul

How they met....

Adrianna and Paul met in the Fall of 2010. Adrianna was new at work and Paul was friends with the co-workers who later became some of Adrianna's closest friends. Over the next six years, they maintained an ongoing friendship, sharing successes with one another and supporting each other through less-than-successful attempts at finding love.

The timing on when it happened is debatable but at some point, Adrianna stopped trying to set him up with her friends and had an "omg, I love Josh" moment. For both of them, this realization came with a new uncertainty about how to act around each other. Things got awkward.

In March 2016, the awkwardness subsided and something romantic began. Adrianna knew Paul liked whiskey, so she told him about a Whiskies of the World event happening in San Francisco. He interpreted it as an invitation and despite the $140 price tag, he suggested they get dressed up to attend the event. With no interest in whiskey but a strong interest in Paul, Adrianna did what any girl would do with an invitation to an event she wasn't interested in — she enthusiastically agreed to go. They had a great time and have been enjoying each other's company ever since.

"I love the ways he loves me every single day - not only with words but with a helping hand when I'm in a hurry, clean dishes, a hot breakfast, or even just with a little touch." - Adrianna

The Proposal

We took a trip to New Orleans to celebrate our second dating anniversary. Paul's only plans for the proposal were to do it on this trip and that he wanted to do it when it felt right.

We had an anniversary dinner reservations at Brennan's on our first night, so after nervously carrying the ring around in his camera bag all day, he finally decided to ditch the camera bag and take the ring with him in his shirt pocket.

I had no idea.

Dinner was going extra great because Paul had been jokingly requesting a picture of Alfonso Ribeiro whenever he made reservations somewhere. This was the first place to honor the request with a printout that said "Happy Anniversary! Love, Carlton."

We were cracking up and having a good time, when Paul got all lovey dovey on me about how much he loves me. This didn't feel too far out of the ordinary and plus, we were celebrating our anniversary... Then, he took the ring out of his pocket and with tears in his eyes, asks "so, will you marry me?" I sat there with my hands on my mouth, surprised/shocked/wondering if this was happening before saying ... yes!

We hugged, we kissed, and cried happy tears. On the down side, he proposed right before my bread pudding (that I couldn't wait to have) showed up on the table and I was so distracted that I didn't really eat it. It was worth it, though :)