HOW WE FIRST MET: From Fern's perspective: It was a warm weekday evening (I believe Thursday) and she was looking forward to getting off work. As a young single gal (26 at the time) living in the quiet city of Napa and working in Vallejo, there was not much of a social life. She was looking forward to attending her first, but not last, happy hour at the Bubble Lounge in SF. Thanks to her cousin who is quite the socialite, Fern was able to meet a lot of people. She was talking and laughing with a nice guy (even though she didn't understand his humor) when this knockout walked through the doors of Bubble Lounge. She tried to stop talking to the nice guy in hopes that the knockout she dubbed "Pretty Frank" would know she was not taken...she was available as ever! Luckily, they had a chance to talk and clicked right away.
In the midst of their great conversations, she had to cut it short to catch the BART train. The abrupt departure left quite an impression on Pretty Frank. In her mind, she had to catch BART. In his mind, she was playing hard to get.
The second time we met was when I hosted a "Pimp Your Friend Night". The idea was to bring a single friend you want to pimp out to other singles. In the midst of the party "Pretty Frank" showed up. She excitedly told her girlfriend, there's the guy I was telling you about. Her response "He is pretty!"
As the night went on, we talked and before he left, he asked for my phone number. I politely replied, "I don't know if I can give you my phone number," His response, "You don't have to, it was listed on the evite."
From Frank's perspective (summarized by Fern): That day was a good day as he had just gotten a haircut and a good shave. He went to another happy hour (one of many in his lifetime) at Bubble Lounge. As he walked through the door, he noticed a girl sitting on the couch wearing a striped t-shirt and thought..interesting fashion but otherwise quite attractive. He swooped in as she was talking to his friend and wanted to grab her attention. He learned that she had just moved from LA to Napa (Asian girl in Napa?) and is the cousin of the host. She also asked very interesting questions...he can tell she was a curious and spunky one.
As they talked, her questions became more and more bold and personal. Somehow they clicked. Just as it was getting more interesting, she gave the excuse that she had to leave and take BART. All I got was a "It was nice meeting you" line. And she left. He knew that was not going to be the last time he saw her.
During the "Pimp Your Friend" event, Frank recalls Fern was dancing with him and showing him all her moves. She was literally dancing around him while he just stood there admiring her dancing skills. He definitely was hooked. He had to get her number. Even though she resisted, he was sly and told her that he already had it.
Coming together: After several months of daily 5 hour phone conversations (that caused Fern to develop a rash on her face due to holding the phone too long next to her face), they became a couple. After several years, Frank decided to bite the bullet and asked Fern to be his soul mate for life. Fern, excited, said yes, even before he was done asking the question.
Staying together: We married on May 22, 2010. After nearly 2 years of bliss, we are still laughing at the fact that although meant to help other friends that night, Fern ended up pimping herself.