It was a hot Friday in August of 2013, when Kelsey decided to reach out to Damon on the online dating site, OkCupid. She had just come off a series of dates with some real duds, and he was reeling from an on-again, off-again long-distance situation that was beyond frustrating. We had each nearly lost hope in the whole prospect of online dating.

 

But we immediately hit it off! We bonded over shared experiences in our high school marching band programs, which shared more than a few different instructional staff. Being the competitive people you likely know us to be, we both ribbed each other’s programs—hers had the far better and bigger marching band, while his had the more renowned winterguard and drumline programs. We also bonded over living back home in the IE, while making it out to LA for work and socializing, where we both knew we had wanted to end up.

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So, within a few days of chatting, we decided to meet for a first date. We met at a cute little Irish pub in Upland, Limericks Tavern, which you should check out if you’re ever in town, as their food is surprisingly great. We got along swimmingly, with Damon being amazed at what Kelsey had to overcome just a few short years prior, and loving the resilience and zest for living life well that it inspired in her; and with Kelsey loving Damon’s passion and ambitions for the future, as well as the way he swept her off her feet with a surprise kiss as we left the bar. Damon immediately locked in a second date, for just a few days later. We love a man who knows what he wants and makes it known.

 

A few silly, fun dates later (bowling, karaoke, etc.), and we became Facebook Official™. Damon brought her along to some UCLA Football tailgates, where her bubbling personality quickly enmeshed herself well into his friend group, many of whom are still among our closest friends today, and are featured in our wedding party. A few short months into that, and we were all out for karaoke at a basement bar in Pasadena, where Damon (perhaps drunkenly) decided to declare his capital-L Love for her via a stirring rendition of, fittingly, The White Stripes’ “Fell In Love With A Girl.”

 

Fast forward to late 2015 and we moved-in together in a cute little apartment in Sherman Oaks. Surprisingly, this didn’t result in us killing one another, and our little family of 3 (Cee Cee, Kelsey’s sweet little dog, had taken to Damon rather quickly) had a home of our own. Within a couple of years, Kelsey had an unbeatable work opportunity that was taking her up to the Bay Area, and so Damon followed her up to an even tinier little apartment in Alameda, where he tried to make a life of performing standup comedy.

 

Things went well there, but they missed home. Luckily(?), COVID-19 struck, murdering Damon’s comedy ambitions, but freeing Kelsey up to work remotely, allowing us to return back home to SoCal. We’ve since settled into a comfy, much roomier pad in Culver City, and on our 11th (yikes!) dating anniversary in August of 2024, Damon (finally!) surprised Kelsey with a sweet hike-and-picnic marriage proposal at the Griffith Observatory, during a beautiful sunset into a serendipitous Supermoon. She said, “Yes!” and the small smattering of tourists who happened to watch all clapped.

 

Ever since then, we’ve been working hard to pay off this very long buildup with one hell of a blowout bash, and we hope you’ll come and help make it a memory that we’ll always cherish as the next big step in our journey together. Yay!