Our Story
How We Met
We first met in our junior year of college, back in 2011, through a mutual friend who was having a 21st birthday party. We did not talk very much, but we kept going to the same parties with friends. Soon enough we started talking more at the parties.
How did it all begin?
Have you heard of a Date and a Fifth party?
As stated on Urban Dictionary: “Its a type of party in which everyone must come with a date and a 750 ML bottle of hard alcohol (fifth). However, you must stay zip tied to your date until the two of you finish the entire bottle together. This usually leads to a shit show and everyone gets hammered. It’s also convenient because the people throwing the party don’t need to buy alcohol other than for themselves. Invented at Santa Clara University.”
Alicia’s house was hosting a Date and a Fifth Party in honor of Valentine’s day coming up in February of 2012. Alicia took action into her own hands and went over to the “tall guy” house for a party she knew they were having. She knew she would find someone to be her date even if it was just as a friend. Her mom was not as optimistic and thought her childhood dog could go as her date…
The guys at the house all knew of the event coming up, and Alicia and Patrick began talking about the pending event. They were in the middle of a communal drinking game:
Patrick: I would like to go, but I do not have a date yet.
Alicia: Neither do I… and I live there, so I definitely need to find one. You can be my date.
Patrick: Yeah, that would be cool.
Alicia: Ok, so you will be my date. Do you have a preference for a fifth of alcohol?
Patrick: I don’t drink hard alcohol, it typically makes me sick
Alicia: *Begins to panic about her date choice
They continue to play Mordor, or Rage cage, or flip cup. They forgot which game they were playing at the time of said conversation.
To end the night, they exchanged phone numbers and Alicia decidedly put a heart next to her name in Patrick’s phone so he would not forget about the Date and a Fifth party. Just in case…
Patrick texted Alicia the next day to play laser tag and finish off the keg from the party the day before. The laser tag and keg finishing never did happen as planned, but Patrick still picked her up in his 66’ Mustang to hangout and watch a TV show. They watched the show “Sparticus” while Alicia tried not to fall asleep sitting in the office desk chair of his room. Alicia then demanded they watch something much better the following day at her house. They watched “Dan in Real Life.”
Before the date and a fifth party they spent a lot of time together, and realized they had a lot more in common than previously thought. By the time the party rolled around it started to feel like they were on the verge of a relationship. This was not the ideal timing as graduation was looming in four months.
The Proposal
Knowing he would never be able to surprise Alicia, Patrick had to surprise himself…
The ring was purchased two months prior to the actual proposal; the perfect day to propose takes time. He had a great idea to get a dog tag for May stating “Will you Marry my Dad” with the reverse side saying “Love Patrick.” He decidedly bought the dog tag shortly after the ring, so he can be ready any time the perfect opportunity arrived. However, there were no additional plans for the proposal since surprising Alicia has always proven close to impossible. After all, he had to surprise himself so Alicia would actually be surprised.
Now does everyone remember the 2017 fires in Napa? Alicia and Patrick were in the thick of it. They had bags packed in case of an emergency evacuation and were on lockdown to avoid the smoke. Patrick’s emergency bag contained the ring and the dog tag (along with other essentials and valuables)… because even in the wake of a fire one must be ready for the perfect proposal. On a Saturday, a week after the fires started, Patrick was expecting to go to work at 6AM. Instead, the team was called out because wind direction had changed and the air quality worsened. This left Patrick and Alicia with a free Saturday during harvest, plus they were awake at 5AM. Due to the terrible air quality and desire to get out of town for the day, Alicia said, “Let’s go to Monterey! We keep meaning to go there, and today will be lovely.” Added bonus… no smoke.
Patrick immediately started researching all the pretty places in Monterey and Caramel while Alicia got things ready. Alicia had the idea of just figuring it out when they got there (typical); meanwhile, Patrick was trying the plan the proposal for that day. She actually had no idea. Patrick suggested they bring their emergency bags in case they could not get back to Napa. Thus, the ring and dog tag were packed in the car and they were off to Monterey. There were many locations Patrick thought would work, but it was not until the very end of the day at sunset when they sat down on Carmel beach with a bottle of wine where the perfect opportunity arose.
Patrick put the dog tag on May while at Carmel beach. Alicia was too distracted by the wine, wine glasses in the sand, and the pretty sunset to even notice he had put a new tag on May. A couple of times Alicia took May’s tennis ball and threw it in the ocean to have her run after it. May happily chased after the ball and went straight into the ocean. All the while Patrick is getting anxious, nervous, and a little frustrated that Alicia had not seen the ring or tag yet. After over 30 minutes of May running around and Alicia not seeing the tag or ring Patrick had to say something.
Patrick: “May, go, show mommy, your new dog tag.”
Alicia: *Only noticing and reading the dog tag* “Are you serious?”
Patrick: “Will you marry me?” *On one knee* “Wait, did you not see the ring?”
Alicia: *Finally sees the ring that had been attached to May the whole time* “Yes!”
