Welcome to the 3rd person narrative of our love and friendship, written by an unpaid intern named Cori Doherbell:

Fall. 2017. Connor settles in his first of many apartments in the Chinatown area of San Francisco. Tori believes this phase of his life was filled with aimless weekend nights drinking with friends at nearby Irish pubs, searching for the one who would give him more chores to do on weekends. (Is she wrong?) He had to patiently wait 3 more years until that special person would arrive on the West Coast.

Summer. 2020. PEAK COVID. Enter loneliness, solidarity, and lots and lots of Netflix. This was a difficult time for the world, and certainly not an optimal time to make major life changes. Well in June of 2020, Tori graduated with her MFA from Ohio State, and landed a job in Petaluma, CA - 30 miles north of San Francisco. She moved without knowing what her apartment looked like, if her job would last longer than a year (yay contract jobs), and without knowing a single soul.

What a time to be social, right? WRONG. The world was shut down and meeting new friends or starting relationships was tough, but dating apps enabled a style of dating similar to that of ordering a meal or shopping on Amazon (sadly without public reviews or testimonials). Connor and Tori ‘swiped’ right on Saturday, August 8th, 2020 with the help of false advertising his roommates’ dog in a photo. After the initial conversation of uncomfortable questions, minor small talk, and intricate deep dives - they decided to meet in the quaint, sea-side town of Sausalito, CA on Thursday, August 20th, 2020 for their first date! They went to Bar Bocce where they gracefully ate pizza and beer. (Pure romance right there.)

But in all honesty, it was a great first date. It was 3 hours of engagement (see that word choice there…engagement….cause we are engaged…) with conversation, laughs, and an awkward ending of do we kiss or not because of COVID. It took Tori a whopping 5 minutes after it ended to begin over-analyzing the first date, with zero patience for events to play out - she needed answers and sent the following: “I think I’m in love with you”. Just kidding. She said, “Thank you so much for this evening! I am a terrible read on situations, so I don’t know how that went for you but I had a blast honestly. If you want to do it again I’m up for it, but no pressure either!!” (This is so Tori right?) Giving you total control to deny her and rip her to shreds with her insecurities. Classic.

Regardless, Connor had a FANTASTIC TIME and they started dating where Connor would show her the city-life of San Francisco that he’d been able to discover for the past 3 years, and she would get to explore with him the North Bay area of Petaluma and wine country Sonoma and Napa. They dedicated weekends to make the long distance work, 30 miles of perilous Highway 101 driving couldn’t keep these love birds apart (just on weekdays).

Over time, they grew together in their adventurous state of going on hikes in National Parks, traveling to their friends and families who lived ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE NATION HOW RUDE, and also celebrating their friends who all decided to get married in 2022. (You all better show up to ours damnit..).

TIME FOR ENGAGEMENT: (oooo…the part you’ve all really been waiting for!) Connor and Tori had often discussed their desire to marry each other (I mean why wouldn’t they? They’re great communicators and truly love each other…and Tori loves planning years in advance). Well since 2021 Connor had been telling her that by the end of 2022, that they would become fiances (not fiancés, but fiances) in order to maintain Tori’s Gantt Chart of life events. So being the thoughtful human that he is, he decided to wait until December 22nd, 2022 (surprisingly hitting a deadline in advance by, 9 days) to pop that question y’all!

For context, when Tori and Connor moved in together in August of 2022, they decided that Thursday nights would be ‘date nights’. This way, at least one night a week would be designated for them to spend quality time together and catch up on the challenges and successes of their work weeks, social lives, and on their own relationship. Then, they were set to leave on Friday, December 23rd, 2022 to go to the Grand Cayman Islands for Christmas with the Doherty family! So, in his mischievous brain, he thought that Thursday, December 22nd would be a perfect ‘date night’ to throw her off the engagement scent, since she probably thought it would be happening on a tropical, international beach destination.

So on Thursday, December 22nd, 2022, he took her back to Sausalito, CA (the town they first met in for their first date) and proposed to her on the Bay side with holiday twinkle lights, a private moment, and many many tears. Tori was in such shock that she couldn’t believe he really wanted to marry her of all people, so when he asked her to marry him, she replied first with, “Are you sure?!?!” To which he hesitated INDEFINITELY and then replied yes and she obviously quickly said yes thereafter. So the question remains undetermined, who asked who?!

From there, he told her they would be going to Bar Bocce (aahhhhh the first date site!) to celebrate, and when they got there and walked in, all of their California friends who were still in town before the holidays were there to celebrate them!

Therefore, we are proud to present to you CONNOR AND TORI! The dream couple with the truest of loves!!! Congrats for making it this far in reading our story.

Not the end, but the beginning.