How we got together – Told by Karri

 
I was working as the Event Planner for the Los Angeles Opera when my Supervisor started telling me that I had to meet her friend Scott.  Having never gone on a blind date, I refused.  Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months of pestering me to meet this friend.  I was even told that one of the reasons she hired me was because her Supervisor thought I would be perfect for her friend!  I finally gave in – but insisted it had to be a group setting.  The plan was set for my coworkers and I to go to The Tam O’Shanter after work on November 7th for some drinks.  When Lisa (my friend I made go with me) and I arrived, I noticed that the coworkers had set it up so Scott and I were sitting a seat apart with someone in between us.  Now I knew I was there to meet Scott, but didn’t think Scott knew that is why I was there.  Apparently, Scott thought the same thing about me!  Neither of us knew this was a real setup.  So the whole time at the Tam was spent sharing glances and occasionally screaming a hello at each other.  Lisa and Scott started talking about work and Scott gave Lisa his card.  So obviously I thought he didn’t like me.  The gang then decided to go to another bar so we could sit and talk.  We went to the Smokehouse and this time they got the seating right, I was literally pushed into a chair next to Scott.  The only problem with this place – the very loud band we were sitting in front of, we couldn’t hear a thing.  Scott and I spent the whole night screaming into each other’s ears talking about our favorite TV shows and movies among other things.  When the night was over everyone left and I still didn’t have Scott’s number or anything.
 

It took a couple of days but Scott finally sent me an email and we set up our first date for November 17th at a place we both loved called “Ernie’s Mexican Restaurant .”  Can you tell how fancy we are?  We spent the whole dinner getting to know each other and talking about all the things they had in common.  How many people do you know have a love of “My So Called Life,” “True Romance” and “The Simpsons”?  After dinner we decided to go to a bar up the street to talk some more but when we got there, it was closed (at 8:00 p.m.!)  We then thought we would walk to Mo’s Restaurant up the street and sit at their bar.  It was like one of those moments you see in a movie where the couple is walking and talking and no one else is around and it really moves the plot along.  To our dismay and confusion, Mo’s was closed too!  After that we decided to give up and call it a night. 
 
The next day the emails were flying fast a furious between us.  We set up a time to go out the following evening and wound up sitting at a bar; talking for 3 hours about everything you shouldn’t talk about on a second date – Religion, Kids, etc.!  At the end of that date both of us drove home giggling the entire way out of happiness – we knew we were in love with each other.  While things were great between us, my supervisor became very jealous and bitter of the blooming relationship (even though she is the one that put us together and I never mentioned Scott at work).  She stopped talking to me at work.  She started making little comments here and there.  Things were getting worse and worse.  Another one of my coworkers invited all of us individually to go to a holiday party she was throwing (she was also a friend of Scott’s).  I told Scott we should not go because of how my Supervisor was behaving but Scott assured me it would be fine.  At the party my Supervisor (and remember Scott’s good friend) would not speak with us, even though we tried and she kept giving us dirty looks.  After awhile my Supervisor had Scott sit next to her and basically went off on him in the middle of a party because she said “Karri isn’t good enough for you.  You will be disappointed in her family.” She went on and on.  Mind you, she had never even spoken with my family before.  Scott came back over and told me everything which really upset me.  Wanting to leave but not wanting to offend the hostess of the party, we stayed and ate dinner.  After dinner my Supervisor once again pulled Scott aside into the kitchen and yelled some more.  After that, we left.  The next day I found out from my coworker that my Supervisor said things like “Karri is disrespecting his religion by bringing him to the party” amongst other things.  Remember, Scott and I were invited separately to this party.  So this went on for another eight months, the whole time I never mentioned Scott at work (unless specifically asked a question) nor talked to him on the phone just so there would be no conflicts.  Keeping business, business.  One day in May, an incident occurred that forced me to go in and confront my Supervisor and it ended in me finally quitting the Opera.  Scott was more important to me than any job.
 
Although it was a very hard time to be out of work, especially since Scott and I were set to move in with each other in June, it was a great test of our ability to stand by each other during the hardest of times.  Scott and I had a great time setting up our new home together.  We both agreed that we had never felt this happy or comfortable with another person ever.  It felt like the most normal thing in the world to be living together.  In July I was offered an opportunity to return to Warner Bros. in the DVD department where I had worked five years prior and I took it.
 

On October 9th, Scott said he was taking me out for a day of fun and relaxation but I couldn’t know any of the details.  We left and headed towards Twains, our normal breakfast spot.  Unfortunately, they were closed because someone was filming there so Scott suggested we find a place near where he was taking me for the day.  We headed East and wound up driving around Pasadena/San Marino for a half an hour because we couldn’t find a breakfast restaurant anywhere which is funny since there are a ton of places to eat in that area!  Finally we drove into old town and found a great place called Russell’s but it was packed.  We wound up having to wait for a table.  At one point I went to hook my finger on Scott’s pocket and he jumped and said “you can’t go in there!”  My heart sank.  I thought “oh my god, he’s got a ring in there, I’ve ruined my moment.”  Scott said “I have a little surprise for you for later but you can’t have it right now.  Its nothing big, just something I got you.”  I decided to act like I believed him and go on with the breakfast, which by the way was great.  If you ever go to Russell’s, order the hash brown potato dish.  After breakfast we headed to our destination which turned out to be The Huntington Gardens.  If you have never been there before, it’s amazingly beautiful.  We walked around the desert gardens and I suggested we go to the Lily Pad Pond because I had never been there.  Turns out that would be the spot that Scott had picked to propose to me at.  He sat me on a bench, got down on his knees and said “You know I love you…”  Then I lost the ability to hear.  I seriously have no idea what he said after that.  It was like my brain shut off.  I started crying and apparently kept saying “are you serious?”  I asked Scott later if I said yes and he said I did.  Even though there were hints about what was going to happen, in that moment I was in complete and total shock.  Two couples happened to wander by a bit after and asked if we just got engaged and took our picture for us.
 

After that we decided to walk around the rest of the gardens by ourselves to enjoy the moment before making all the calls.  I think I told every person I saw that we just got engaged.  After our walk we sat under a huge, beautiful tree and made some calls to our family.  I got to hear all about how Scott drove down to my parent’s house on Thursday afternoon without my knowing to ask for their permission.  It was just a perfect, beautiful day and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

 

 
After the gardens we went home and made more calls and watched the Dodger game (playoffs baby)!  Later that night, Scott took me to a restaurant called ORSO which was lovely and we had a great dinner.  Then we called my friend Ally (who lives in our building and is my Maid of Honor) to ask if she wanted to go get some desert with us and she said yes so we went over there and shocked her by showing her the ring.  She screamed – we had some champagne - it was such a fun moment.  Ally, Quentin (Ally’s boyfriend), Scott and I then went to Marie Calendars to have some sugar free pie to celebrate!  

 

 
On Sunday we finally got to have breakfast at Twains and Ashlee Simpson was there.  That is funny to no one but Scott and I (inside joke) but has to be said.  We then headed to Best Buy and Michaels where I proceeded to buy every scrapbooking thing I could that had wedding on it!  After that we got to go see some of Scott’s friends and tell them the news before heading to the Dodger playoffs!  Yeah, we lost but we had so much fun at the game and were on such a high that it didn’t matter!