Pi Day
2022
Brendan and I spent our first anniversary without much fuss. My mom had my sister drop off a delicious pie and ice cream, and we had dinner with Brendan’s family, since his cousin JP was visiting for the week. We bought an indoor hydroponic garden as a gift for ourselves, and we celebrated with brunch at Azitra the next Sunday we had free. Azitra was amazing, a pre-fixe 3 course meal with each dish better than the last! I had the chaat of the day (indian street food — mashed and spiced avocado mixed with pakora?), shahi paneer, and chai. Brendan had the vegetable pakora, butter chicken, and gulab jamun. We knew the food would be great because they had catered our friends, Matt & Aditi’s, wedding, but we were still blown away. They even brought out a slice of mango cheesecake after dessert to celebrate our anniversary!
2021
Brendan and I met on March 14, 2015 (AKA 3.14.15, the ultimate Pi day) at a combined party for Cameron’s birthday and Tomer leaving for Europe. We flirted the entire night, while he taught me how to play “Cheers Governor” and we shared a chair for “Drunk Jenga”. He made the whole table laugh when he magicked beers into existence by pulling them out of his sweatshirt and when my sister and I left around 3am to walk back to my apartment, he ran outside and made sure he got my number.
Our first date was Waffle House, Cup A Joe, and the movie “Chappie” at Mission Valley Theater the next Wednesday but we’ve always counted Pi day as our day. So when Brendan and I decided to officially tie the knot in early 2021, we immediately chose March 14th. After brainstorming locations, we ended up with Washington, DC because neither of us are religious and DC has an option to self-solemnize (where we act as our own officiants), perfect for what we had in mind as well as staying safe from Covid-19.
We’d both had our eyes on rings made of meteorite since we’d discovered them in mid-2020 and we jumped at a chance sale at Jewelry By Johan to order the ones we loved. Brendan’s ring has four parts: Gibeon meteorite, crushed dinosaur bone (gembone), and green elder boxwood inlays all sandwiched between sandblasted titanium, and mine has two: Gibeon meteorite with an off-center stripe of crushed blue opal. We applied for our marriage license that same weekend, and had verified our information with the clerk and received the license, ready to sign, by early February. We booked an AirBNB near Truxton Circle and a short photoshoot for the afternoon of the 14th, planning to sign the papers in the morning. Everything fell into place, and we enjoyed ribbing each other for the next few months about marrying each other.
Excitement mounted when our rings arrived in early March. Somehow, we’d managed to keep the secret from both of our families. Not for fear of disapproval, but because we knew they all would want to be there to support us — something we couldn’t risk with the ongoing pandemic. Both of us are sorry that our loved ones weren’t there with us, but we look forward to many years of celebrating our marriage with them in the future!
We started the weekend off right with a stop at Potomac Point Winery on the way up to DC, where we each got a tasting flight and shared a cheeseboard designed to be paired with red wine. After checking in to our AirBNB, we made reservations for an escape room off 7th street and enjoyed the last of the sunlight walking around the National Mall and Washington Monument.
On Saturday, we visited two more wineries after we learned that all of the Smithsonians had recently re-closed due to Covid-19. We started with a tasting flight at Paradise Springs Winery just outside of DC and managed to grab a picnic table outside to enjoy our wine. The day continued with a tour of the Winery at Bull Run, a Civil War battle site that has been reclaimed into a winery with plenty of ghost stories. We finished the day at the National Harbor, taking a turn on the Capital Wheel just as the sun set.
We slept in Sunday and got ready together before heading to Georgetown Waterfront Park around noon, about half an hour before we would meet our photographer, Natalia. Brendan and I each said some words, and we put on our rings next to the river. The next forty-five minutes were a whirlwind of photos as Natalia led us around Georgetown, snapping pictures all the while. We made it back to the AirBNB with plenty of time before dinner for cake (chocolate with buttercream frosting from Publix), champagne, and paper signing. Supper was a delicious pre-fixe affair on Convivial’s patio! Brendan had french onion soup, beef bourguignon, and a poached pear while I opted for a mixed greens salad, coq au vin in a champagne cream sauce, and toffee pudding. Each of us had a glass of vin chaud (mulled wine) that reminded us of Paris.
We left Washington, DC on March 15th, driving first to Norfolk to tell my parents the good news before going back home to Cary to tell Brendan’s mom and the rest of his family.
Like any relationship, Brendan and I have had our share of ups and downs. We’ve had Pi days where we spent the whole day together hiking and laughing, and Pi days where we weren’t even talking. But each year, we’ve gotten stronger and more sure of ourselves and we’re excited to see where this new chapter in life leads us!
Our next big adventure: choosing what our surname should be! Let us know if you have ideas.