In honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to share the story about how I met my eternal Valentine, Matthew! The blog is named partially after him, so it only seems fitting that I finally share this story! I honestly can’t believe I’ve never done a post about this!
The Real Story Behind How Matthew & I Met
So Matthew and I met way back in 2008. {We like to say soulmate in ’08 since it rhymes!} Anyway, my friend Alice who graduated from Berkeley started telling me about these two brothers she knew and worked with. She was like “Ok, you have to meet this guy Matthew. He’s super nice and I think you would really like him. He’s actually perfect for you!” We were supposed to hang out in February, on the Friday before the long President’s Day weekend. It was planned as a very casual thing where a bunch of us were going to get together in SF, not even a set-up. Alice planned the whole thing since she was, and is, a very social girl. She’s all about getting the troops rallied for a night out and documenting it, which I so appreciate! At the last minute Matthew canceled so he didn’t end up making it. Piqued my interest a tad, and now I know that is so Matthew to not want to go out on a Friday night. At the end of a long work week, sometimes you just want to hang out at home. Totally understandable, right?
A few weeks later Alice planned another night out in San Francisco with friends and said, “Matthew is going to be there. You have to come!” I was determined! I was thinking I had to meet this guy that she thought was so perfect for me. It was March 8th, 2008 and it was a surprisingly warm day in Berkeley. So warm, in fact, that my friends and I decided to lay out on the roof of our house while studying. It was a bit warmer than we thought because we totally got sunburned. At least I did. I was beet red! My friends were exhausted, especially after being out in the sun, but I was still determined to go into SF. I somehow was able to convince them and we drove into the city. I was wearing a tank top tucked into a black pencil skirt with a wide patent leather belt and these green Mary Jane heels. Oh yeah, and a lobster red tan! Not a good look, but luckilly it was dark out!
We got to this club called The Mighty and found a table to sit at. The girls were just hanging out and talking and I kept looking to see Alice and this guy Matthew. I knew they were probably driving up together since they lived down in Palo Alto/Silicone Valley.
Then, as I’m looking around, I see this guy over at the bar. He was drop-dead gorgeous, dark hair, tall and was wearing a striped shirt with a skinny tie. He also had a little stubble on his face which was so my type. All my friends knew I liked the “scruffers.” My thought was, “I don’t care who this Matthew guy is. I want to meet THAT guy!” And then, he walked over.
I remember Alice introducing him and he went around and shook everyone’s hand. I was in the middle of the booth and had to stand up to lean across to shake his hand. It was this moment where we locked eyes and it felt so intense. I just remember having this “Oh my gosh. This is my guy!” feeling. I had goosebumps and I felt this spark from just looking into his eyes and shaking his hand.
We all ended up getting up, going to get drinks, and dancing. We were in a circle all chatting and Matthew was next to me and he started asking me the most random basic questions like “What’s your major?” lol! It definitely isn’t that random to think of it now but I remember thinking it was so funny that he asked me my major. It actually became an inside joke “Sooo… what’s your major?”
He asked me if I wanted something to drink and I said I’d love some water so we went over to the bar. I was kind of in front of him waiting to catch the bartender’s attention, and I think he might have touched my hair. I was like, “Wait is this so weird?” Later I found out that he had an extra drink on an empty stomach because he was nervous to meet me and YES HE DID TOUCH MY HAIR! I’ll have to do another post from Matthew’s perspective about what was running through his head, but he was definitely crushing 😉
I wanted to stay but my friends were feeling so exhausted from our day in the sun so we ended up saying goodbye kind of earlier than I would have liked. He asked me if he could take me to coffee sometime and I was like “Yeah that would be great!” thinking “UM HECK YES!” in my head! I gave him my number and then he kissed me on the cheek which I thought was silly at the time, but it was so sweet and so Matthew. Two days later he texted for a coffee date, which ended up being a tea date where I was convinced he didn’t like me/it wasn’t going to work out because he was planning to move to Argentina. Well I guess we know that didn’t happen!
I wish I could go back and just watch the story of us meeting again. To whisper to myself, “This is him. This is your soulmate. In 12 years you’ll be married, living in Orange County and have a dog and two babies together. Life is going to be so beautiful – enjoy every moment.” But of course, I had to live it all without knowing what was going to happen. It’s more fun this way! I’m so lucky to have met Matthew but I’m honestly convinced we were destined to be together. God had a plan that involved us meeting – whether in Northern California or Southern California. He’s my person and I just feel so lucky to go through life with him by my side. It’s maybe a little crazy to think that I started my blog in 2009, when we had only been dating a little over a year and a half, but I just knew. I wanted to document our relationship and I only hoped and wished for all that was to come. I know there are still so many wonderful things to look forward to in the years ahead!
I LOVE to hear how people met their special someones! If you want to share, I would be so happy to read! These are the stories I live for!! I’m a big romantic if you couldn’t tell!
Some of my favorite posts with Matthew:
10 Things You Might Not Know About Me and Matthew {some old funny photos here!}
The Proposal Story told by Matthew {and my version with photos from that night}
Announcing our Pregnancy with Augustine
Announcing our Pregnancy with Corinna
xox
