After dating for a little over four years, we got engaged during a trip to San Francisco in October 2011, just after a wonderful dinner at Sutro's at the Cliff House, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a great week with lots of sightseeing and special memories.

Since then we have been keeping busy working in Manhattan (Jared as an iPhone Developer at his company Thumb Labs, and I as Senior Program Associate at Homes for the Homeless) and living in Brooklyn. After a year in Williamsburg with the hipsters, we now occupy a small studio in Park Slope, trying not to get run over by unruly children on scooters. Our hard rule, we only eat at a restaurant once, has one exception: Spice Market. We have been at the 5th Avenue Apple store past 11:00 pm for an appointment, regularly go in search of the latest coffee shop mentioned on Twitter, and hope to make the Dyker Heights Christmas Light Show a tradition. All in all, a lot of city fun. 

On July 5th, 2013 we got married at St. Sylvester's Church, and celebrated the occasion with our most dear family and friends. Our courtship officially at a close, our family of two began that day. 

And as can be expected, our story keeps evolving, though out of the same studio apartment! In June of 2013 Jared's company Thumb Labs was aqui-hired by the Behance arm of Adobe Systems, and Jared has seen a great deal of success in his new role. And in September of 2014, I began a new job at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center as a Program Coordinator, working to provide medical and mental health care services to underserved NYC youth. We have softened our "only eat at a restaurant once" rule, largely a result of the phenomenal Crispy Oyster and Bacon Pad Thai at Talde and any/all of the tacos at Calexico, both in Park Slope. We continue to explore NYC and experience all it has to offer, as often as possible. 

2015 was another great year, with lots of little trips (traveling to Philadelphia, D.C. and Virginia, Montauk, Los Angeles & Santa Barbara, Arizona including the Grand Canyon) and continued success in work. Mid-summer I started school again, for a Master's In Teaching, in a bit of a career change (though still working at MSAHC full time for now.) But the most exciting news was the purchase of our own home! We had been looking for a while, and finally came across the right place in late June, and officially closed in early November, and moved in right before Thanksgiving. It has been a lot of hard work, but we love our co-op and are so happy to be permanently settled in Brooklyn.

In 2016 we focused on work and school, with family events woven throughout the year. We also had a couple of great travel highlights. We took a family trip to Italy with the Menghini's in May and travelled to Milan, the Cinque Terre, Florence, Tuscany and Venice. We closed out 2016 with a trip to Chile, where we we toured Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina Del Mar, and the Atacama Desert. We also spent a few days in Chilean Patagonia, which was a truly spectacular place to visit.

We arrived back in Brooklyn shortly after celebrating the New Year, 2017, and found out later that month that we would be expanding our little family by one. We are delighted to share with family and friends that Baby Verdi will arrive in late September.

Though Baby Verdi was due on September 28th, we finally met our son, Emmett Cole, in the early morning of Friday, October 6th. Just a week and a day late he arrived happy and healthy. Since then we have been adjusting to life as a family of three, and it has been truly great.