Sometimes the best loves stories happen completely by being in the right place at the right time. In 2014, I was having dinner with my friend Alyia and made a joke about how she should go on a blind date with my friend Ben (who I worked with). Apparently neither trusted that I understood their dating taste, because they literally stared at each other multiple times before realizing who each other were. Luckily they eventually figured it out, had the best date ever & the rest is history!
Alyia and Ben are some of the funniest people I’ve ever met; their ability to crack each other up with a random inside joke or funny voice is a huge part of their attraction to each other. When we were all roommates I would hear Alyia’s extremely recognizable laugh from the other room constantly, when her and Ben had time to relax at home.
Alyia and I met our freshman year at Mills College, located in the same dorm hall. It was a running joke that while 95% of the dorms were single occupant, somehow she managed to get one of the double dorms. Thus created a beautiful tradition of our friend group moving dorm to dorm for weekly movie nights & Drag Race viewings.
Ben and I worked at the WORST restaurant together in Oakland, where I hosted and Ben did like ten people’s jobs. He was one of my only sources of entertainment on a slow Monday night shift & I was truly crushed when he got a way better job and abandoned me. I was very happy to adopt him into what started as Alyia and my apartment!
Fun fact about Alyia: she owns the raddest collection of neon & bold lip colors I’ve ever seen! Smurf Blue is my fave on her.
Fun fact about Ben: One time I cut my finger off with a soup can lid (I know, it’s ridiculous) and Ben in all his former EMT glory wrapped my hand up and drove me to not one but two urgent care centers. The battle wound always reminds me of my favorite Floridian.
Alyia & Ben, I am so excited for the journey of your love and can’t wait to celebrate y’all tying the knot on someone’s private island!
-Kai