Our Story
One late summer afternoon in 2018, somewhere in the early days of Hinge, in Denver, Colorado, Eileen showed up late to meet Brandon, barreling in with a British accent and an unforgettable first impression.
Our date began at Señor Bear, where we quickly discovered a crisis: chips and salsa were nowhere to be found. Realizing that the success of the date might very well depend on it, Brandon made the executive decision to relocate. We continued the evening at Lola's, a nearby Mexican restaurant, where we found exactly what we were looking for: chips and salsa.
It didn't take long for us to realize how much we had in common, or how much fun we had together. Brandon sealed the deal one night by showing up after Eileen's late gym shift with her favorite Chipotle nachos. From then on, we spent date after date searching for the best nachos in the city. On November 14, 2018, we decided to make things official.
Our relationship quickly grew from simple dates into weekends together, exploring different Colorado towns and spending afternoons at Wibby Brewing. We bonded over our favorite horror, thriller, and mafia flicks, hiked through the mountains, and settled in for hours of football and basketball. After navigating a few months of long distance in 2019 when Brandon relocated to Maryland for work, we moved in together in Denver in early 2020.
One week before the world shut down, Charlie, our soul dog and best friend, joined the family. From the moment he arrived, nothing was quite the same. The three of us became inseparable.
In 2022, we packed up our life in Denver and moved to Long Beach, dreaming of palm trees, ocean air, and warm evenings. California soon became home. We explored our new backyard, found favorite coffee shops, went to games and concerts, vintage shopped, and spent sunny (and occasionally sunburned) days biking along the coast. In 2023, Hazel joined the family, bringing even more love, personality, and chaos to our growing pack.
In 2025, Brandon proposed to Eileen on a beautiful hike in Malibu, with Charlie and Hazel there to help make the moment even more special. It was a pretty perfect day.
Of course, life has its bumps along the way. After unexpectedly losing Charlie in 2026, life felt especially heavy. We navigated the pain together, and eventually, love found us again when Penelope joined the family on Valentine's Day.
These days we look back on that first evening, and the walk between Señor Bear and Lola's, and laugh at the ridiculousness of all of it. None of what came after would have happened without the people who have loved us along the way, and we're so happy to have found our way here, with all of you.