P: I’m sure we’ve both been asked countless times how we met each other. I wanted each of us to write a separate “how we met” blog posts, there was only one problem… Mel thought it was overdone and a little dumb… So here we are now doing this Mel’s way… (And for what it’s worth, I will actually say that this is a much more creative way of telling our story…)

How did we get here?

M: I know he’s trying to rouse up a reaction out of me so I’ll bite my tongue. Ready, honey?

P: Let’s do this. So how did we meet? When did you fall in love with me??

M: There there, cowboy, keep your chaps on. I’ll admit, I first found Pete’s blog while I was searching for information on Alinea. I don’t actually remember what I tweeted him but soon after, he began to respond to pretty much everything that I shot out into social media-sphere.

P: Whoa, not so fast there! I knew of your blog and I even tried out one of your recipes for a dinner party that I hosted (it rocked!!). But I only shot you a comment here and there up until you held a contest giving away the “ad hoc at Home” cookbook. I commented, retweeted you everyday and still did not win!! I think you said that, somehow, I was disqualified – I thought it was because I was American, so I went out and bought my own ad hoc cookbook. But I know that we were definitely facebook friends before then. I remember getting a friend request from you on facebook saying how you don’t usually add your readers to your personal facebook account, but for some reason wanted to add me. That was the first time you put a big smile on my face… :)

What colour do we bleed?

M: Aww babes :) See, on the internet, I have readers, peepers, and creepers. My readers are those that are genuinely interested in my content and engage in relevant conversations with me. Peepers are always trying to find out more about my personal life, beyond the Fury persona. Creepers are those that try to make physical contact. I was very appreciative of Pete because he’s always been a supportive and thought-provoking reader… the kind that propelled me to continue what I was doing. It wasn’t long until I wanted to know more about his personal life and we soon became mutual peepers over Facebook.

To be completely honest, the one thing in his profile that prompted me to message him was that he believes in God. In fact, the first thing I ever messaged him was to ask whether he’s a Christian.

P: Ah yes, how can I forget that message? I think that was the topic that transcended us our relationship from blogger buddies to friends who have never met. I remember we would message each other about what we learned at church on Sunday and share with each other what God was doing in our lives. While we were both at very different places it is pretty clear to me now that God was doing some amazing things during those times in both our lives. Looking back at that time, it’s pretty crazy how many different social media outlets we used to keep in touch with each other. Besides twitter and facebook, I can honestly say that Mel’s pretty much the only consistent commenter on my blog – something I cannot say the same about her blog… How did you spot me from all your loyal fanboys anyways??

Food Nerds :p

M: I’ll profess, I kept my guard up. Just when Pete was getting really excited about his true passions, starting a food blog, and spilled details about his potential career changes, I left on a trip, only to return to a post-vacation depression + birthday. It’s been a tough year for me and I felt unaccomplished and dissatisfied with my progress in life. I wrote a long post that I’ve now password protected, to which Pete still refers to as “the wrecking ball”. On that day, I knew that Pete was much more than a fanboy. He sent me wise words of comfort unlike any I’ve heard before. He thanked me for my honesty, commended me for taking risks to pursue my passions, and encouraged me to “celebrate the journey that have made you who you are”. Those words hit hard and deep for me. I’ve suppressed my true passions for a long time and felt guilty of not achieving society’s prescription of success so the things that Pete shared really resonated with me.

To which I replied following thanks, “You are most exceedingly sweet, sincere, and precious :)”.

P: You forgot to mention that in that same message you told me that you were going to leave/deactivate facebook for a bit because you needed a break – without giving me a chance to even say goodbye!!

Fast forward a few months when the next domino fell on a most random Sunday when I was dealing with some personal issues in my life and I get a “how was your Sunday?” message from Mel. I sent her the “Reader’s Digest” version via email the next day to which she promptly sent me a quick SMS asking me if I was OK as she was heading out the door – that made her feel a lot closer to me than a friend in another country.

M: Despite our distance, we still took time to share about what God’s teaching us as He worked in our lives. Looking back, it’s no coincidence that we were both about to plunge into new chapters in our lives, with Pete’s career change and my decision to start Vancouver Food Tour. We supported each other from afar, not realizing how much impact each message of encouragement would have.

P: When I decided that it was finally time for me to move on from my career as a trader – I blogged about it and Mel left me a very encouraging comment and signed “Love, one of your biggest fans” at the end. “Who is this girl? And how is it possible that she’s still single??” I often find myself asking… It was also during this time that I had plans to take a trip just to celebrate the ending of an era in my life. I was torn in between going back to Chicago or taking a visit up to the Pacific Northwest (it should be noted that both of those places have amazing food). Needless to say, I ended up taking a trip to the Pacific NW with my buddy Kev.

M: A little secret that I didn’t tell Pete til’ we started dating is I’ve mentioned him to Mich in passing before. I told her about an odd connection I had with a boy online that I had a lot in common with. I vividly recall thinking, “wow, this guy gets me” when Pete did something (food-nerdily) remarkable: sous vide eggs. I explained that it’s a shame he lives in Texas because I’d love to meet him, and we even coined him “Sous Vide Boy”. One Sunday, I told Mich… SVB is visiting Vancouver and she agreed to accompany me to meet him.

P: I remember Kev and I researching all these different things to do and places to eat in Seattle, but when it came to what to do in Vancouver… I just smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it, I have a food blogger friend in Vancouver that just started a food tour business. I’m sure she’ll take good care of us.” And that is when we finally met in person for the first time…

Our very first picture together... :)

M: That Friday night, Michelle and I grabbed our routine bottle of vino at a winebar, except this time, we were expecting guests. Pete and Kev walked in, we exchanged stiff hugs, and small-talked for a bit. We decided to meet up the next day and it was, needless to say, a whirlwind of munching and sipping. During the entire trip, we were chaperoned by our friends. That is, until the last few hours of his trip when all of them ditched us. As we cupped our hands over our bubble teas and shared openly about our “real lives” within physical proximity, a sense of sadness came over me. Pete and I’ve been friends for a while now but this trip confirmed that 1) he’s definitely not a creeper and 2) we make really really good friends. But alas, the reality of distance stood between us.

P: It would be quite the understatement for me to say that Mel had made an impression in my mind. While we can’t ignore the distance (and not to mention the 49th parallel) that separates us – the funny thing is that, I’ve always told Mel from the very beginning that I had a feeling that we would be really good friends (if not BFFs) if we were a lot closer to each other. I remember watching Mel drive away that night feeling so sad after having a taste of what it’d be like to be friends and then not knowing if I’d ever see her (and her cute smile) again. Either way, those first few days that we got to spend together was definitely something that I’d never forget…

P&M: We don’t mean to be melodramatic but it was a sad scene to behold. Since you’re here, you already know that we made it through the initial bumps. While we do not necessarily endorse long distance relationships because of its level of technical difficulty, we’re thoroughly enjoying every moment of it and are thankful of how it hastened us to know each other in a true and meaningful way.

Our countless iChats

We invite you to follow our unconventional and often hilarious journey that’s filled with remarkable food, amazing friends and family, passion-driven misadventures, and the love and grace of our saviour Jesus Christ.

Our first date would be a good place to start…