Smarty Sweetheart Story

Love stories. They come in all shapes and sizes. Smarties, we are opening the vault and sharing ours with you. Happy Valentine’s Day! XXOO ~ Team Smarty

Jen P. & Randy

My love story began in 11th grade. Yep, we were high school sweethearts. Randy and I were at a summer pool party and we didn’t really know each other. Unbeknownst to me, Randy noticed that I was the only girl at the party wearing a bikini, which clearly caught his eye:-) He swam up to me and we hung out for hours. We started dating soon after and did the high school sweetheart thing for a while. But once we both hit college, he in Michigan and me in Florida, we quickly realized that we needed to spread our wings and enjoy the college experience with no long-distance strings attached. We did have each other on drunk dial so we kept in touch periodically throughout college. We didn’t really get serious until a few years after college and we started the long-distance dating gig. This was pre-cell phones, pre-social media and pre-FACE TIME!! I feel like a dinosaur just typing this. One day, Randy sent me a package to my work, which I hated (my average college grades landed me as a Store Manager at Toys R Us as my first job out of college – I haven’t stepped foot in that store since becoming a mom:-). The package included a 4-month AAA Trip Tix map that had us starting at his house in Michigan and took us through our favorite national parks across the country, up to Alaska, down the California coast and into New Mexico and ending in a scuba trip in the Caribbean. I was in shock and the first thing I said was “you know I will run out of money in one month?” His response: “I’ve been looking for someone just like you to go on this trip.” He had me at “hello, let’s quit our jobs and travel.” We were so ahead of our time…#weinventedthegapyear

Cheryl & John

We met the way all great love meets – before a frat party freshmen year at UNC – Chapel Hill. I happened to be dating one of his frat bros and was going to the party with said-bro, but due to a series of (very fortunate) events that involved an ice storm, my roommate’s tailbone, and a trip to Student Health, I got delayed and my date ended up being too inebriated to pick me up (so classy!). So, a cute pledge brother with DD duties that night ended up swinging by my dorm to take me to the party. That same cute pledge just happened to be in my geography class the next morning, and, lucky for me, he was reeeaaaalllly good at geography. He loved my overalls, and I loved his eyelashes. Match made in {the Southern part of blue} heaven.

I love that we met in college pre-cell phone, pre-text and pre-social media. I love that we “grew up” together and are figuring out this adult thing together. And, I really love that there’s never a question in the house about who we’re rooting for come March Madness. Makes life so much simpler.

This is one of my fave early pics of us because not only does show where we came from, but it SCREAMS Gen X (best generation eva!). Gap khaki shorts, a worn-in hat, Air Jordan taped to cinder block walls, empty Busch cans, and an answering machine. All surrounding a nasty college couch. Pretty sure DMB, Hootie, or Counting Crows is playing in the background. Simply perfection.

Jenni & Chris

Chris and I grew up less than a mile apart. We knew each other. Our families were friends. We were just at two different places in our lives growing up. Flash forward ten years and the timing was just right. I was living on Sullivan’s Island, SC at that time. My life was perfect. I was dating, working at an art gallery, and living on the beach. I decided to go home (VB, FL) for a weekend to visit my parents and that is when it happened. I broke all my rules. Never date a guy from my home town. This was not supposed to happen. He was not part of my plan.

Okay, I am ahead of myself.

During my visit, I decided to join some friends at the local watering hole and there he was…. His smile caught my attention RIGHT away (still to this day, when he smiles at me from across the room I melt). Apparently, I caught his attention, too (it was like love at first sight – not really, because we already knew each other). He came over to me and we closed the bar talking. At that point, he had asked for my phone number. I don’t exactly remember why, but, I told him that my parent’s phone number was listed (pre-CELL phone days). Little did I know, my parents had unlisted their phone number. Unaware of his dilemma, I assumed he just wasn’t going to call. I was disappointed; however, I was just visiting for the weekend. He got crafty and made some calls (I think he ended up calling my Uncle) It was almost time for me to head back and that is when he called (lucky him, because I was ready to hit the road). From that point on we were inseparable. My little perfect life in SC was blown up. I extended my trip to FL indefinitely….17 years later, here we are.

Jen V. & Derek

I was an RA (resident assistant) my senior year of college at Ball State University (Go Cards!) My hall was a co-ed/upperclassman floor and Derek lived on my floor. The first day I met him I thought he was going to be the one giving me the most trouble, as he stood in the lounge doorway, with crossed arms, one foot out the door – during my first-floor meeting. We eventually became friends – so much so that he called poison control on me when I drank too much cough syrup with codeine – but that’s a story for another time! After Halloween that year we started dating and kept dating as I graduated the following summer and got my first job, while he finished his Landscape Architecture degree. He got offered a job in the very southern city of Charlotte and I really saw our relationship going somewhere so I said “why not?” and moved with him. Four years later he asked me to marry him and the rest is history!

Mai-Lis & Chris

Chris and I met while both working for the same IT company. We were seated in two different buildings that were connected by a doorway. I sat with the IT consultants and Chris sat with the sales people. Typically, my position was based out of the Long Island office.

For three months, we worked together over phone and email: I matched consultants to his pre- and post-sale opportunities. All the while, I saw this really handsome guy around the office when I went to the sales building. And he nicknamed me “his girl.”
While on the phone one day, Chris stated that he would come meet me the next time he was in NY. I then said I was in Charlotte and told him to come meet me at my desk. When he arrived at my desk, he looked at me and then looked beyond me while asking where Mai-Lis’ desk was. My heart then started racing: this was the guy I told my mom about, told my friends about, and the guy that I had been quietly stalking in the office. This was Chris?!

When I told him that I was Mai-Lis, he looked surprised and excited. You see, my name throws some people off. People tend to expect someone with dark hair and to be of Asian descent. And I sat with all the foreign consultants.

Chris then discovered my love for chocolate. We started meeting up in the office to split chocolate bars (by the way he never had a sweet tooth before I turned him to the dark side; literally; because I love dark chocolate).

We decided to date quietly at work. Involving all of our coworkers in our new relationship wasn’t what either of us wanted. Over the next several months we thought we were are the down low. It turns out everyone knew the whole time. Guess it was all the shared chocolate bars and occasional lunches together. And instead of emailing him, I delivered any updates in person.
Eighteen years ago, this month, we both connected names to faces. And eighteen years ago, I knew I had found the one before I ever spoke a word to him.

Heather & Andy

Andy and I met through a mutual friend (thanks Jack Murphy!) when we all went out one night for drinks. He was a pediatric resident at Georgetown and I worked for the medical alumni affairs office. At the end of the evening, Andy told me that he and some of the other residents were taking one of their young cancer patients to a movie the following day and invited me to join them. Of course, I couldn’t resist even though it was Valentine’s Day. The next afternoon, Andy called and said that the little boy got a fever so he couldn’t leave the hospital and everyone else cancelled so it was just the two of us—my friends and I found it all a bit suspicious at the time but seven months later we were engaged and this year we will celebrate our 17th year of marriage!

Taylor & Rachel

It was the summer of 1997. I was working for an advertising agency in Greenville, SC.

One lazy summer afternoon, my phone rang. It was one of my buddies who worked on the first floor in the creative department. He said, “Stop what you’re doing and get down here. You’ve GOT to see the girl that’s interviewing for graphic designer position.” In the background another friend yelled out, “You better hurry!” I slammed down the phone and bounded down three flights of stairs.

I hit the bottom floor, rounded the corner into the creative wing, and there she was…Rachel Rosemary King.
You know that scene in Weird Science where the nerds make their dream girl? They plug in their machine, there’s a big bang, and out of the smoke Kelly LeBrock emerges in slow motion. The first time I meet Rachel was kinda like that. (Minus the smoke.) To this day, I swear Rachel was wearing a crop top on her job interview. Rachel says I’m lying, but that’s how I remember it. I’m sticking to it.

Our first encounter wasn’t much. We passed each other in the hall, I slowed down to say hello, and that was it. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for me.

I rounded the corner into the office of my friend who originally called. A few other guys were sitting around talking about the new agency recruit. When I stepped into the office everyone stopped talking, curious about my thoughts. I simply stated, “I’ll get her.” Everyone busted out laughing. As they should have. “I’ll get her.” Such a ridiculous statement. But in the end, I had the last laugh.

Rachel and I will be celebrating our 17th anniversary this April. She’s still smoking…and I’m still a nerd.

Danielle & Giovani

Giovani and I met through a circle of friends. We both previously hung out with a particular music “niche” in the greater Charlotte area. The professional music scene in Charlotte is pretty small, so it was inevitable that we would meet. The funny thing is that in our first conversation, he continued to play with his blackberry (yes, an old cell phone) and totally blew me off. Here’s the thing…I wasn’t interested in him like that…at first. I was an aspiring singer/songwriter and he happened to be a very successful manager in the entertainment industry. Although he wouldn’t give me the time of day at first, he quickly changed his tune…and within minutes found his way to my side, trying to re-spark any flicker of a conversation that he could possibly salvage. We exchanged numbers, but I didn’t think anything more of it than a potential business connection.

Inevitably, he did reach out wanting to connect to “discuss my music”…which turned into our first date. I remember being sick as a dog, but I didn’t want to cancel on him.I remember arriving in Noda, drinking about a bottle of wine (each) at Dolce Vita, splitting a cheese plate and marveling at how he looked at me when I spoke. He was actually listening to me, like, REALLY listening. It honestly threw me off-guard, because that is particularly seldom with millennials. I remember how quickly my perception of him changed, of how business faded away and my genuine interest became learning more about him. After incredible conversation, he took me to The Evening Muse, where I remember trying a local cider while sitting in the front row listening to The Kopecky Family Band. I remember going to Wine-Up and hearing incredible spoken word performances. I remember him dropping me off at home and walking me to my door, like a gentleman.

I remember a brief kiss goodnight, and floating into my one-bedroom apartment replaying the most perfect evening over and over in my head. I remember dreaming about it even after we had been dating for months. I remember writing a song in my mind, for him. I remember how “like” turned into “love”. I remember how it all began and I’m reminded of how it all continues to get better, everyday. Love is like fine wine, it only gets better with time.