Chris and Jennie met in 2012, their sophomore year of college at Illinois Wesleyan University. As History majors, they both took the same seminar class, History 290, and happened to be sitting next to each other the day their professor made the seats permanent for the entire semester.

Jennie and Chris soon realized they had much more in common. They were both members of their respective Greek music organizations and had many mutual friends in the music department. They lived only two houses down from each other, and began seeing each other outside of class at events like SAI's Waffle Wednesday.

For the rest of their college careers, Chris and Jennie's friendship grew. They both had feelings for each other but the timing never seemed right. Finally, 7 months after graduating, at a celebration for Jennie's 23rd birthday, Chris asked her to be his girlfriend. They dated from afar for almost three years, while Jennie lived in Chicago and Liverpool, England, and Chris lived in New York City, Bologna, Italy, and Washington, DC. Finally, in October 2017, Jennie got a job in Washington, DC and they were able to live in the same time zone for the first time.

Chris and Jennie got engaged on August 25, 2018. Jennie knew that a proposal was imminent, but had no idea when or where it might happen. She didn't even know that Chris had managed to hide the ring in their apartment for over 2 months!

The big moment happened at the Hillwood Estate in Washington, DC. This property was once the home of the Post cereal heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post, an avid collector of French and Russian decorative arts and antiques. The home is now a museum of Mrs. Post's collections and features extensive formal gardens, including a Japanese garden, a replica Russian dacha, and the current special exhibit of Faberge creations.

Chris and Jennie planned to take a picnic to the estate, and Chris managed to sneak the ring into the picnic bag while Jennie was getting ready. After arriving at the estate and watching an intro video, Chris suggested taking a walk through the grounds. When they reached the Rose Garden, they were totally alone, and Chris began talking about how he wanted to be with Jennie for the rest of his life. Jennie realized what was happening and was so surprised! Chris got down on one knee and said, "Jennifer Black, will you marry me?" Jennie said yes, of course!

Jennie and Chris then set up their picnic on the lawn of the mansion and enjoyed their lunch. Afterward, they walked through the rest of the gardens, and finished their afternoon with a docent-led tour through the mansion. It was a perfect day for these two history lovers!

#TataraIsTheNewBlack