1) How did you meet and fall in love?
We met in San Francisco, when we were both in grad school. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and moved across the country to pursue my grad school career. I was looking for roommates to live with in San Francisco and I stumbled upon an email from Ian asking to join and live with him and other grad school people that he had gathered. I accepted and we became housemates in 2018.
We would start talking and spend hours just getting to know each other. There were a lot of nights that we would have conversations that lasted until midnight and we would never realize that time flew by. That was when I knew we had something really special going on.
2) Tell us about your proposal?
Ian totally surprised me! We started off the day by going to Pikes Place Market, where we got coffee and explored the market together. Ian bought me flowers, and comic books (nerdy, I know, but I love it). Later in the day he took me to the Space Needle, on what I thought was a spur of the moment trip. But when we drove up it was clear that Ian had something planned. They greeted us at the door, and we got a private elevator to the top of the Space Needle. We got a table and a bottle of champagne, and were able to take in the views of the whole city and just had the loveliest time talking and sharing each other's company. I really thought he was going to propose there, and was almost a bit let down when it didn't happen.
After we took in the views at the space needle Ian took me across the street, to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. It's a beautiful glass museum, and one of the first places we visited after we moved here together, so it's a special place for us. We walked and talked and toured the museum, and we eventually made our way outside to their glass garden, where beautiful glass art pieces are used to compliment the natural environment.
While we were in the garden, Ian took me aside, and started saying sweet things to me. He talked about our past, and talked about all the adventures that we've been on together. He also talked about some of the hard times we’ve had. But in the end he said that what we had is special, and beautiful, and that he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Then he took the ring out of his pocket, got down on one knee, and asked the question. I was so excited, and so happy it was overwhelming. I started crying immediately, and he had to ask me twice before I was able to say yes. Then he took my hand, and slipped the ring onto my finger, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Once it was on my finger I heard clapping, and we both turned around to see that a small crowd had formed. It was so sweet, everyone there was so excited for us, and wanted to congratulate me. Some kind person offered to take a couple pictures of us, which I'll always appreciate. After that we called both our families to let them know the good news!
2) Tell us about your Nolan and Vada engagement ring and why you chose it?
My engagement ring is a beautiful Iris design with 1.70 ct blue sapphire, and 18k yellow gold. I was always inspired by Princess Diana’s sapphire ring and I knew that was the stone I wanted for my engagement ring. Once I saw Nolan and Vada’s beautiful sapphire ring designs I knew it was the ring of my dreams and sent hints to my boyfriend (now fiancé). Also we had talked a lot about the ring, because we wanted the ring to be ethically sourced, so that eliminated quite a few companies straight away.