Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was going to her company's holiday party. She didn't like parties. She never knew quite what to say or to do. Luckily someone or some multiple someones convinced her she should go. For had she not gone, she wouldn't have shared a dinner table with a girl and a boy. Had she not gone, she wouldn't have seen how that boy looked at that girl. And she definitely wouldn't have captured with her camera how that boy looked at that girl.
 
Other than that look and that moment caught forever, there's nothing extraordinary about this company holiday party. It started with the girl having a Cosmopolitan dumped down her dress (she's a magnet for others' spilled alcohol). It involved matching Tequila shots to keep a sales person occupied and away from the CEO. So you see... It was your average, every day, typical office party.
 
The other moment that mattered - where this love story truly starts - occurred quietly, in between rounds of shots, outside staring off at the San Francisco Bay. In that moment, with her guard down, the girl wished with all her heart for someone to look at her the way that boy looked at that girl.
 
And just as Jiminy Cricket told Pinocchio,
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
 
the stars began working to bring a boy to this girl.
 
Some of you may remember this night or hearing about this night. The office party was The 2006 GroundWork Holiday Party (and yes it was January 2007). This night was the first time Eden met Steve (told you the story started with a different boy). And yes, you guessed it - that girl (the other girl in the story) was Ames. That night with a wish and a whole lot of Tequila, a beautiful friendship with Ames (aka Diva) and Steve (aka Oznog) took root.

Flash forward eight months (August 2007). The two girls no longer work together and their friendship is quickly deepening. The girl travels from the far and distant South Bay up to The City for the other's (and the other girl's brother-from-another-mother's) birthday party.
 
Trumpets sound and horns blare. Girl meets boy. Come on admit it... this was what you were waiting for. And...
 
you can breathe again - that's all that happens.
 
Girl meets boy. Boy meets girl. They sit at opposite ends of the table. Girl is still quiet and not too sure what to say or to do. Before the clock strikes twelve... you know why, or should I let the Fairy Godmother explain? "On the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before." So before anything can happen - the girl was warned about the vodkas - she rides back to the South Bay.
 
That night the stars shook their heads wondering what it would take to bring this girl and this boy together.
 
For most, this night was another potluck celebration. It was hosted at The House of Treats, and midway (ok probably more like a quarter of the way) through invaded by hordes of zombies. Eden met many future family members for the first time this night - Leslie, Andy, Massive Bri, Opal, Mella, Nina, Karen, Dennis, Roland, and many more.

No, not with boy. Not yet. No, here is where she falls in love with The City. Skip forward to the next chapter if you so desire.
 
Flash forward six months. During this period the other girl has worked tirelessly to extract the girl from the South Bay and get her to The City. Drum roll... the perfect opportunity - Eternal Spring (February 2008). The girl is presented with an event where she can hide behind her camera and capture amazing fashion and a Diva setting the catwalk afire. Eden meets Scatha and Sekani for the first time. She re-meets (or as photos reveal she sorta stalked) Karen and Dennis. Girl really doesn't know what to say or to do.
 
Forward another couple of months to Alice in Wonderland at Stern Grove (June 2008). Eden hangs out with a contingent of The Dustfish (Corby, Esther, Liz, Moni, Sekani, Ty, and more) and learns there's no such thing as a water-downed/light pour at a Dustfish bar. Unfortunately mojitos, foil an opportunity for girl and boy to meet. Eden scouts locations for an engagement shoot with Ames and Steve - she's safe to wield a camera but keys are another matter - and misses the boy at Steve's barbecue.
 
The stars wonder if they'll go supernova before the girl gets a clue.
 
Trumpets sound and horns blare again. Fire erupts!
 
No... NOT because girl meets boy and boy meets girl for the Second time. Come on now... this is a story not a Disney movie with cheesy fireworks - that would just be silly movie theatrics. There's fire because it's The Crucible's Fire Arts Festival (July 2008).
 
Girl thinks boy is interesting. Girl stops hiding behind camera.
 
A day later, girl tries to get boy's information by inquiring about hiring software developers. (Yeah girl has no clue.)
 
Unfortunately, too many in the family are software developers. And two boys at The Crucible that night worked for Go-Go-Gadget company. Fail.
 
The stars are rolling on the floor laughing (ROTFL) - they can't believe girl and boy keep missing each other.
 
August 2008: Girl finds job in East Bay and returns from exile to Freedom, CA (way south of Santa Cruz, CA for those who've never heard of this sleepy farming town). Summer fades to autumn (October 2008). With a belly full of Italian goodness and red wine, the girl ponders what it would be like to live in The City.
 
Another wish goes out to the stars. This wish goes out from behind a somewhat unsteady camera while stalking the other girl and boy underneath the North Beach stars. No longer a wish for just someone to look at her the way that boy looked at that girl. Now a wish for happiness and a life filled with passion just like theirs.
 
The stars call in reinforcements - that boy and that girl. And you know? When Ames and Steve get their minds set on something, results will be achieved! Even, if only to get the crazed papparazi to stop stalking them!
 
Months pass. Girl routinely circles the bay - from South Bay to East Bay to The City to South Bay - at least a couple times a week. Girl begins looking for a new place to live - one NOT in the South Bay. East Bay is briefly considered. Multiple happy hours in The City occur, wisdom of living a cab ride away from drinking slowly sinks in (girl might be getting a clue).
 
2009 rings in a shared birthday celebration. Friends gather for a Moroccan dinner complete with belly dancing. Carefully planned seating quickly gets shuffled with too many tables between girl and boy. Party continues at Shine, then heads back to The Mission (Andy's place), and wraps up with The Superbowl at The Den - Ames and Steve's place. Some point during the festivities, the girl squees in delight upon discovering the boy is single. By the time the party leaves The Mission, the girl has enlisted reinforcements. Massive Bri - in addition to Ames and Steve - is now on the case. Girl now lives in The City - girl and boy are destined to find each other.

Some of the details and events between the shared birthday celebration and another friend's birthday celebration are a little hazy. There were dinners at Emmy's Spaghetti Shack followed by pool and more happy hours at The Broken Record. The boy routinely escorts the girl to her car. Girl likes talking with the boy and enjoys his company.
 
One night the boy is not there. The other boy escorts the girl to her car. And clues her in. The other girl and the other boy have been arranging for the boy to routinely escort her. Light goes on!
 
A last minute planning meeting for BaconCamp SF is held at the 21st Amendment. The team sojourns for the evening and the girl is convinced to join them at a friend's Pizza and Fernet Birthday Party in The Mission. The girl finally meets Icka and Josh. Decisions are made and a few friends, as well as the boy, are drafted into service as the girl's minions for BaconCamp the following day.
 
And girl misses her chance.
 
Girl doesn't think about where tasks require minions to be. She inadvertently places the entire event between her and the boy! And with that the First Annual BaconCamp SF is over - another opportunity missed.
 
The other girl and boy drop the girl back at her place and invite her to join them at a friend's birthday BBQ. The girl is somewhat noncomittal when they drive off - it's been a long day (all of which was spent on her feet). She actually goes as far as changing into sweats and sitting down with the SpriteKat.
 
But... unlike in the past, the girl rallies. She also makes the decision NOT to grab a cab but to DRIVE to the Sunset. (You'll find out why this is important in a little bit.)
 
The girl meets Irina, Tom Parker, and Ramon. She carries on conversations and wolfs down a yummy burger. Maybe she's being discreet, more likely not, but she watches for the boy to arrive and when he does waits for a chance to talk to him.
 
Armed with the knowledge that her friends have been playing matchmaker, the girl gathers up her courage. She finds a moment when the boy is by himself and asks him to be her date to the other girl and other boy's wedding.
 
Girl drives boy back to his place in The Mission and heads home. And like the girl had to wait, so you must as well.
 
One hint though... After she got home and checked the Interwebs, she discovered that he had just followed her on Twitter. Squees and bounces may have ensued. Once she calmed down some, girl followed boy.

A date was set for dinner. A restaurant in the Mission - Limon - was decided upon. A plan was hatched. The girl would take BART from where she worked to 16 Street Mission BART station.
 
A brief aside. Now while the girl had been living in the City for almost three months by this point and commuting to Walnut Creek daily (to an office right across the street from the Pleasant Hill BART station) she'd never yet taken BART. She'd taken BART years ago from Fremont to Oakland City Center and had a few bad experiences. She's also slightly claustrophobic and had been having nightmares about the train stopping in the Transbay Tube. She'd been actively resisting commuting via BART.
 
But... the girl hates to be late for anything and used to strive to arrive 10 minutes early to everything. She knew that traffic could be iffy and she didn't want to be late for dinner. So the girl commuted to work via BART for the very first time.
 
Okay, back to the story.
 
The girl rode up the escalator to street level. She was nervous; she had butterflies in her stomach. What if he wasn't there? What would they talk about?
 
She looked up and saw the boy. He was right there waiting for her. Their eyes met and the butterflies flew away.
 
They exchanged pleasantries and headed off to the restaurant. The boy began alerting the girl as to which streets and which sides of the street were best to avoid as they walked. (The boy scored points for caring about the girl's safety.) At the restaurant they discovered it was closed for renovations. Oops. Luckily they were in the Mission where good food abounds. The boy suggested The Corner. (The boy scored points for being able to roll with an unexpected change in plans.)
 
Of they went to the new spot. The Corner had music blaring loudly through its speakers. They quickly retreated and found Weird Fish.
 
While totally not planned, the boy had taken the girl to one of the few restaurants in the city where she could eat dessert. (The boy scored points for this.) He quickly told her it was just coincidence, he hadn't been aware of the availability of vegan desserts. (The points the boy initially scored tripled - the girl loves honesty.)
 
It was still early when they finished dinner so they headed off to Little Baobab for a drink. (Note that this bar was less than a block away from where the boy was living at the time. The girl didn't know about the proximity and the boy never mentioned it. The boy scored points weeks later when the girl found out.)
 
Drinks finished, plans made for dinner the following week, the boy escorted the girl back to 16 Street Mission BART station. Girl caught train home and texted that she'd made it home safely and had a lovely time.
 
See? Just a dinner. But the girl's and boy's first, and everyone's got to start somewhere. The date it started? It was March 25th 2009.
 
Yes I know you want us to get to the good stuff. But you'll have to wait. The first kiss (not "The First Kiss" that kiss gets its own chapter) didn't happen quickly. The first awkward kiss didn't happen until Thursday April 23rd 2009. So in the telling of Our Story the girl and boy still have a month to go.

Sometimes a story is best told directly by one of the actors - not retold but raw from the heart. This is one of those times. You see the girl and boy had been sharing dinners together for a month and a half. Sure there were the casual, awkward kisses good night. And well we won't bore you with those details here. Suffice it to say after each date, the girl would lament to the other girl that they were just friends. The other girl and the other boy knew better and told the girl to go for what she wanted. The Kiss is the result.
 
From the girl's journal, May 7th, 2009:
 
Last night felt like a scene out of a movie. No not the type where girl discovers true love only to have him die or vice versa (City of Angels, Nights in Rodanthe, Message in a Bottle, etc.). I mean the type where girl gets the unexpected.
 
So imagine a girl who still knows nothing about guys, getting enough nerve to actually ssk the guy she's interested in if he's interested back. Yeah... the girl's not waiting and not avoiding the question and hoping by avoiding the question she gets the answer she wants. In this scene the girl - incredibly nervous and tongue-tied - does the unexpected, asks the guy if he's interested in her as a friend or maybe more.
 
Now let's set the scene. Boy and girl are in the kitchen, each standing on the opposite side of the counter when girl asks boy (imagine girl completely tripping over her words). Turns out boy is just as nervous as girl. Boy doesn't reply with a straight answer immediately, he's trying to see what girl is thinking. Girl replies why he turned his head when she thought he'd try and kiss her. Boy replies that he wasn't sure she was interested because she didn't kiss him back the first time. Boy tells girl he can't read her. Girl replies she can't read him either. (Good thing one of their friends can read both of them and creates opportunities for the two to end up by themselves.) Boy and girl end up kissing over the counter. Boy asks girl if she felt anything. Girl replies um yes, you? Boy replies with another kiss.
 
Now I'm sure I've seen a scene like this out of a movie. What took me by surprise wasn't that it reminded me of a movie. What surprised me was that I asked the question I really didn't want an answer to (always assume I'll get a negative answer) and instead I got the answer I hoped for and more.
 
May 6th, 2009 was the night that the girl and boy stopped dating with a little 'd' and started dating with a big 'D.'

A group of friends gathered in Guernville to send off two couples in style. Before dinner one night, a friend asks the boy when he's going to ask the girl to marry him. (No the boy doesn't ask the girl that question just yet. You mustn't get ahead of the story.)
 
The girl's heart leapt into her throat, unsure what the boy would say. Without a second hesistation, the boy answered, "Well I'll have to ask her to be my girlfriend first."
 
The next day after lunch when the boy and girl are by themselves, the boy asks. Specfically, the boy asks, "Will you be my girlfriend?" The girl reponds immediately, "Yes," hugging him and giving him a kiss. She then asks her own question. "Will you be my boyfriend?" To which the boy responds, "Yes."