A guy walked into a bar…
On an evening in May 2022, Ali & his friend Sarah, who was soon moving to Montana, were doing one of their goodbye to San Francisco dinners. Ready for a good burger, they ended up at the bar of Spruce.
On that same evening, Michelle was visiting RAEN accounts in the city and, journal in hand, set out to spend the evening journaling with a glass of wine. She ended up at the bar of Spruce.
When Ali & Sarah walked in, just a seat down from Michelle, Spruce’s bread service was the icebreaker, which gave way to a long, fun conversation about energy, wine, travel, bay swimming, running and Crossfit - just to name a few of the highlights. Needless to say, there was a lot in common for this trio of new friends. Numbers were exchanged, with a promise to do fitness and food together soon.
A couple months later…
It was July (📆) and Michelle was driving into San Francisco on a Sunday for a work event. A message from “Ali met at Spruce who Swims” popped up, “Hi! Happy Sunday! You’ve been swimming much in Aquatic Park recently?”. She was in fact swimming that afternoon following her event, and in a moment of bravery, invited Ali to join her. They jumped in for a cove lap. Michelle was impressed to learn that Ali had just raced TransTahoe with his buddies the day before; Ali was impressed to watch Michelle speed ahead in the water. After the swim, Ali asked Michelle if she wanted to go for a beer. We went to Tipsy Pig for what we now call the “vibe check” and one beer turned to two, and by the end of the afternoon, we parted with a hug and a plan to see each other again soon.
About a week later, we had our first official date, back at the bar of Spruce. Ali fed Michelle a fry. Michelle ordered several glasses of wine for their first official ‘wine tasting’. The night ended with a half bottle of Billecart Rosé and a Spruce cookie, and when Ali fed Michelle that cookie, the deal was sealed with a kiss. We were officially more than friends.
Our second date was a Muir Beach run - this is when Ali notably surprised Michelle with the remains of the Spruce cookie mid-way through the run, and when we discovered we both eat the whole apple… core and all. Other early dates included a day on the Sonoma Coast during apple season, evenings bar sits, and working out through Bay swims or weekend Crossfit together.
In November, Michelle had a trip planned to visit her close friends in Mendoza, Argentina, and invited Ali to join her for part of it. He came along, and the trip was nothing short of epic for them both. Ali came back a couple days sooner and when Michelle landed back to SF, he picked her up at the airport and took her to Dogpatch Saloon for her first time for a cozy ‘welcome home’ cocktail. We made festive December plans to enjoy the holiday season in the city and made the first of our monthly shared notes (“Dynamite December”) - a tradition we still practice monthly. Many of our December plans that year are now rituals we keep (Gluewein and cookies; cocktail and Christmas tree at the Fairmont; one Christmas movie - just one).
It was a stormy, wet winter, and driving from Sebastopol to Potrero Hill was getting conveniently dangerous. So Michelle packed up a bag and Atlas and they settled into Ali’s spot. That winter, our Sunday check-in tradition began: going to Dogpatch Saloon every Sunday evening to journal, share how we felt about the week before and ahead, and simply create a space to check-in with ourselves, and each other.
More notable moments include Ali saying “I love you” for the first time after an April dip in Tahoe (little did he know, Michelle accidentally said it first - in Spanish - the morning before); Michelle joining Ali on his TransTahoe tradition; our 6 week journey to Italy and Bulgaria (thank you Vito, Alyssa, Jay, Amelia!)…. and winging an in-house Crossfit competition and Escape from Alcatraz triathlon the weekend after said 6 week trip.
And, settling into home, were our sacred rituals of early morning coffee, no alarm Sundays, and community events like Persian New Year Picnics and Cava and Calligraphy, our pool & Bay swims, and much more.
Then, during our 3rd ‘us season’ of December 2024, Ali surprised Michelle with an epic Christmas Eve proposal while swimming in the Bay (yes, while treading water, overlooking Alcatraz and the bridge, and yes, a rainbow appeared for us following).
This 4th December season for us will be marked with extra joy as we become husband and wife, doing all of those ‘us’ things that have become the foundation of our relationship over the last 3 years. As you have been part of this - our story - we can’t wait to celebrate with you!