Two kids trying to make it…

The Origin Story

When Elizabeth and Levi met during freshman orientation at The Ohio State University in 2012, Levi made the first move by insisting to walk together for their foreign language tests. When Levi went into his Spanish exam, Elizabeth ran out of the foreign language building rather than speak a word of French. Luckily, when classes started and they were living on the same floor of the Taylor Tower dormitory, his attempts to capture Elizabeth’s attention were better received. After some clumsy dates, including the use of a Hungry Howie’s pizza coupon, they became official on January 19th, 2013.

They became “brothers” together as a part of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and shocked their new community when they revealed they had been dating since before the rush process. During their first year, they quickly found embarrassing ways to support each other. Levi was the first person to ask for toilet paper during Elizabeth’s first 2am shift working at the Taylor Tower front desk, and Elizabeth was the one of few audience members for Levi’s jazz ensemble performances. Throughout college, they followed each other to South campus for posh dorm life and back to North campus for less posh off-campus housing, and then to Out-R-Inn every Thursday night.

Immediately after college, they spent one year traveling up and down Route 71 between Cincinnati, where Levi worked for Deloitte, and Columbus, where Elizabeth worked at Accenture. After not enjoying being so far apart, Levi moved back to Columbus so they could explore the city’s food scene whenever they weren’t hunched over their laptops. During those two years, they both expanded their pallets sampling cuy (AKA guinea pig) in Peru and conch in Grand Cayman, and Levi finally erased Elizabeth’s concerns that Levi would never get over his fear of sushi. Now they’re both a couple of apex predators.

After those years in Columbus, the time had come. Elizabeth had been eyeing New York since high school and she caved to the city’s siren call. Elizabeth drove 95 miles an hour in a 10-foot box truck to Midtown East. Levi rode with no belongings, choosing a semi-nomadic life for 9 months. New York was huge and confusing but it let them both continue to play and pretend not to be adults for a little longer. If Levi had not signed a 12-month lease in February 2020, they might have found themselves back in Ohio permanently as a result of COVID-19. But the pain of spending unreasonable rent on empty apartments brought them back. They had the opportunity to “learn” New York as it was relearning itself. Levi then doubled down on NYC by committing to an MBA at Columbia starting in 2021, delaying any decision-making on moving away or getting married a little longer. “We’ll get married in three years,” Elizabeth would repeat for the 4th year in a row.

In October 2023, after over ten years together, Levi sat Elizabeth down and said “If you want to get married anytime soon, we need to actually do this thing,“ and then Elizabeth’s 2024 New Year’s Resolution was to be engaged.

On a bright Saturday morning in August 2024, Elizabeth woke up with a terrible cold and a strong desire to secure a tennis court reservation for 11am. Levi walked her to coffee and then Central Park to get the reservation. They tried Absolute Bagels near the Columbia campus (for the first and last time, since the famous spot closed only weeks later). While Elizabeth played tennis, Levi coordinated. Elizabeth was set to meet friends for drinks at 5pm in Nolita, if she survived her cold. Levi brought Panera soup and bread before going to “bop around the city.” He promised he would meet Elizabeth and her friends later in the evening, in an attempt to encourage her to still go. She needed to be in Nolita at 5pm, hell or high water. The parents had already landed in Queens.

As Elizabeth walked towards the restaurant where she was supposedly meeting her friends, Levi intervened and led her to the gate of the Elizabeth Street Garden. Elizabeth asked “Are you really about to do this in public?” and Levi said “Yes.” Levi had some questions of his own and luckily Elizabeth said “Yes,” too.