A guy walked into a bar…
MAY 2022
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. They ended up at the bar of Spruce for a burger. 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…
JUL 2022
It was July, and Michelle was driving into San Francisco on a Sunday for a work event. She got a text from “Ali met at Spruce who Swims”, asking if she was still swimming. She was in fact swimming that afternoon following her event, and Ali decided he’d join her. They jumped in for a cove lap. Michelle was impressed to learn that Ali had just raced Trans Tahoe 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 we parted with a hug, and plan to see each other again soon. The first official date, a week or so following, we went to Spruce together for a bar sit. Ali fed Michelle a fry. Michelle ordered several glasses of wine for an official ‘wine tasting’. The night ended with a half bottle of Billecart rose and a Spruce cookie, and when Ali fed Michelle that cookie, the deal was sealed with a kiss. We were officially more than friends.
The meaning of life is to give life meaning
The last three years
Early dates for us included running Muir Beach (that was in fact our second date, when Ali notably whipped out the remains of the Spruce cookie mid-way through the run), a day on the Sonoma Coast during apple season, evenings bar sits in SF, 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 - where she lived for many years - and decided to invite 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 sooner, and when Michelle landed back to SFO, 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 - and 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 settled into Ali’s spot. In retrospect, that is when our life together began to settle in. That winter, our Sunday check-in tradition began: going to Dogpatch Saloon most Sunday evenings to journal and 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); a move to Sausalito; Michelle joining Ali on his Trans Tahoe 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. Less noteworthy but quite sacred were our early morning wake ups and coffee time; no alarm Sundays; weekly Sahil Bloom newsletters; date night bar sits; our community events (Persian New Year, Cava & Calligraphy); sunrise swims… and of course, our weekly check-ins. Then, during our 3rd ‘us season’ of December 2024, Ali surprised Michelle with a joyful Christmas Eve proposal while swimming in the Bay. 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. We are excited to have you part of it!