Our Story
I’ll be honest. It took a global pandemic and the loss of my cat, Peggy, to finally be ready for this. I dated in my 30s. I dated a lot. It was never that serious and I wasn’t especially bothered by that. Afterall, I was and still am an independent lady. But 2020 came and Peggy, my perfect little companion, died of cancer. I was heartbroken and alone and more than anything I wished someone had known her the way I had. I wanted someone to share the remembering with me.
So, I started dating again, more seriously this time. It took a minute and several forgettable dates, but then… I met Phil.
Our first date was at The Sherman, my first date spot because I could walk there. Phil lived all the way over in Glendale, and yet he obliged.
Our connection was instant. He was the cheeseburger to my French fry (yes, a Taylor Swift reference, if you know you know).
A few things I love about Phil:
He makes me laugh. So much.
He is a great dad.
He is adventurous and says yes to most of my ideas.
He is kind.
He loves music and shares that world with me.
Things moved quickly, because we are old and we really really liked each other. He met my cats. I met his. We traveled––to San Francisco, New York, Mexico, Asheville, Chicago, and so on. He and his two cats moved in with me and my two cats. Yes, we have four cats.
It took us a really long time to find each other, but we did and I think we’re better for it. I can’t imagine not marrying this man.
If you ask Stef…
Our story began in 2023 when I met Stefanie through an iPhone app that was designed to be deleted. We spent countless nights texting about everything and nothing at all. Our first date took place at a bar called the Sherman (RIP), and from that moment on, we were inseparable.
Our first trip together was to San Francisco, where Stefanie would famously (at least in this house) declare to her friends, “Let’s just see how San Francisco goes.”
Smash cut to 1 year, an apartment in Los Angeles, and 12 travel adventures later, we found ourselves engaged in Palm Springs after taking a gondola to the top of a dark mountain.
Stefanie, or Stefana as her 94 year old grandmother would say, is the most beautiful, thoughtful, sensitive, funny, and confident person I’ve been lucky enough to exist at the same time as. A world without Stefanie Anne Motte doesn’t make sense to me.
If you ask Phil…
So here we are, eternally grateful to celebrate our love, in the city we love, surrounded by all of you.