Brian and I met at W.B Mason in the fall of 2007, where we worked in the marketing department together. We were both dating other people at the time so our friendship didn’t really kick off until the end of that year, but we were among the few who consistently took lunch at the height of busy catalog season. Not our finest moment as dedicated employees I’ll admit, but it was over lunch with our mutual friends Louis, Scott, and Anna that we really got to know each other and become friends. Brian’s inappropriate sense of humor in the workplace is something I think we all miss on the job!
here’s a shot of us altogether:
back row: Scott, Arlene, Kristin, Pat, Bri, Wendy
front row: Jani, Meghan, Louis and Anna
In hindsight I should have realized that Brian might like me a bit more than just a friend. There were the iced coffees he brought me unasked. The projects he’d come to me to chat about and the numerous desk-side visits that increased A LOT after my breakup with a longtime bf and we were both single. And finally… there was the rum cake he made me from scratch on my 23rd birthday. I just thought he was a friendly guy. Who baked.
Early on we connected a lot over food. It was amazing having this hilarious guy around who was so into food. Our first “real” date was at Mare in the North End in Boston, but I think it was our first trip to NYC’s Pio Pio for Peruvian fare that really clinched things. My friend Lauren approved of him immediately when she saw how supportive he was of my sopping “green sauce” up with bits of french fry at this meal:
We discovered Poet’s Walk together on that first trip actually and have been in love with, and exploring, NYC ever since. 
Brian even selected Poet’s Walk to propose in December of 2010. You can read about that here, or here for my side and here for his. 
Since that meal at Pio Pio, we’ve changed jobs, moved, traveled to Italy together, dined our way through most of Boston, repeatedly returned to our favorite spots in NYC, shared a number of bottles of vino together and with friends, visited DC with Brian’s family as well as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, taken multiple trips up to York, Ogunquit and Wells, Maine with my family, hosted “friendsgiving” twice, honeymooned in Hawaii, and enthusiastically celebrated each Christmas season with everyone we love.
……..the first photo ever taken of us together, at Tia’s in Boston:
Married with Style 
Love this picture and blog!… mmm look at that trifle 🙂
that trifle was delicious, good job! I think we’re overdue for a W.B. get together, no? …or a trifle party, I’m flexible!
i still remember the phone call i got after that weekend you both worked on a saturday…
Laughing now thinking of the 1st time Brian came to the house….he hadn’t shut off the ignition before M. Howley was out the door. She knew I hadn’t met him and she wasn’t taking any chances…..”how do you spell your last name?”…”how long have you known Wendy?”…”where is your family from?” “how long have you lived in the area?” “where…exactly..will you be taking her this evening?” She did everything but pluck a strand of hair for DNA testing!….ran into the house to copy his license plate..I think she took a picture from the living room window! I was REALLY impressed with his calm demeanor throughout the interrogation…”who the hell is this woman?” he must have been thinking!
A real eye-opener for me was when he delivered a grocery bag of your “favorites”…a certain ice cream, I think a jar of pickles??….and other special treats on a particularly difficult day. You two might as well have been the only two people in the room because you were in your own little world together. That’s when I knew Brian was “not the average bear!” Your sensitivity to each other was remarkable even then.