The night was Friday, August 3rd (or technically Saturday August 4th at 2am)...

The year was 2021, in the summer just as covid restrictions had started to let up in Los Angeles. Emo Nite, an event where a DJ plays pop/punk music such as Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy (you know, the classics) was throwing its first Emo Nite event since covid.

Matty debated whether he should go that night, tired from a long work week. Luckily, his roommate George convinced him to go. Matty stood in a giant line drinking as he waited to go in. Matty got in around 1am, moshed, and then headed out the door...

Sunny met up with her friends in the giant Emo Nite line, just recovering from covid the previous week. Her journey differed from Matty's as her friend Vincent had been saving a spot since 4pm that day, so she got into the event around 8pm. Sunny danced and sang along to emo songs, often at the front of the stage hyping the crowd up. Eventually, the event closed and she started to make her way outside of the venue...

That's when Matty locked eyes with Sunny. They proceeded outside where Sunny chatted with her friends and commented on how there was a guy staring at her. She proceeded to start a convo and BOOM...our love story began ~~~

Shortly after that fateful encounter, Matty was convinced Sunny was the girl for him. He was determined to make it official like a referee whistle. He picked out a nice restaurant that would become one of Sunny's favorites - Bestia. He then picked a date that Sunny would be less of a fan of - her birthday.

In his defense, doubling up on special days ensures he'll never forget when they made it official but in actuality they both consider the night they met as the real "anniversary".

Almost forgot to mention that Matty chose an activity for the date. Before dinner, Sunny and Matty smashed some junk (sorry, Whoopi)!

After a whirlwind 6 months of being in each other's lives our fearless couple decide to kick things up a notch. Some say taking a trip to Chile to hike the mountains of Patagonia is just as a taxing on a relationship as a visit to Ikea, they weren't wrong. Luckily, with some great friends by their side, they were able to make light work out of some massive hikes and took in some of best sights the world has to offer.

At this point in our story, the couple is feeling confident. Rarely does a day go by without them at least seeing one another. They're getting real comfortable with the situation they find themselves in so you know what that means? Kick it up another notch of course.

Sunny was living in an apartment in West Hollywood with two other roommates at the time, one of whom was planning on moving out. This made for a ripe opportunity to raise the stakes of the relationship and see if they could handle actually living together - spoiler alert, it went pretty well!

But wait, there's more! Shortly after moving in, they're wonderful landlord decided that it was time to put the squeeze on his tenants and raise the rent. One of the roommates of Sunny and Matty's West Hollywood abode decided that the unjust price hike was too much to bear and the couple was left with no choice but to venture off on their own.

This was a particularly stressful period as the couple learned how absolutely cut throat the L.A. rental market is. Thankfully though, they eventually found a lovely little apartment in the heart of Culver City that was both walkable for Sunny and close to Matty's work.

Fast forward a year and the couple settle into a nice little rhythm. They enjoy spending as much time together as humanly possible. Trying new restaurants together, singing karaoke with friends, slothing about in their apartment, you know just generally enjoying the hell out of life.

They take another international trip together like the seasoned pros they are - this time to Germany for Oktoberfest. They have a blast slurpin' up brats, brews and most importantly the culture (pictured)

Another year goes by and Matty is surer than ever that Sunny is the one. He hatches a plan to propose to Sunny in way that's thoughtful, genuine, and surprising. He starts by taking Sunny ring shopping in January. He does this for two reasons; for one thing it ensures that Sunny gets exactly what she wants (which at this point Matty has learned is very important), but it also is early enough in the year that Matty is sure Sunny will forget.

Just to be sure though, Matty starts signaling to Sunny that he is planning to propose during their upcoming Eurotrip. You sly devil, Matty. The trouble came when it was time to bring together the actual proposal. Matty doesn't want to admit how many iterations the plan went through but needlessly to say he stressed about it more than any good natured but simple boy should.

In the end, they both agree that the proposal and the subsequent celebration with all their friends and family turned out exactly like it should have for the two of them.

Now that the couple was happily engaged they could enjoy the splendors of Europe as mutual fiances and Matty didn't have to shoulder the burden of carrying around a secret engagement ring internationally. As an added bonus, Sunny got to take the engagement photos she truly deserved that also make for killer wedding website fodder.

I'm just a humble narrator but I believe this was a very special trip for our couple. They both made some truly incredible memories togetether but it also served as a catalyst to take some big steps together emotionally as they reflected on themselves individually and as a couple. I for one can't wait to see what they get up to next.