About Us / Our Story

About Johnny:

Johnny grew up in sunny San Diego.  He went to high school at Mission Bay and spent all of his spare time skateboarding and surfing.  Not a huge fan of the books, he took some time off after high school to enjoy the surf and sand of southern California J  He eventually decided to go back to school, and put himself through college at local San Diego college, Mesa.  Johnny currently works as the web director for the events division, at Competitor Group.  In his spare time, Johnny enjoys surfing, has picked up cycling, and even runs – when someone is chasing him!!

About Lauren:

Lauren grew up in Duxbury, a small suburb south of Boston, MA on the water.  She went to high school at Duxbury High, and graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in business.  Two weeks after college graduation, Lauren took off on a road trip with two girlfriends – destination San Diego.  Before she left, her mom told her ‘Don’t fall in love with a surfer from California’.  Oops!  Lauren currently works as the expo manger for the events division at Competitor Group.  Lauren enjoys running, cycling and reading in her spare time.

How We Met:

Lauren started working at Competitor Group in the fall of 2004.  She sat around the corner from Johnny, but at the time, she just thought of him as the ‘web guy’.  About a year later, she moved desks to the other side of the building.  She started seeing Johnny in the hall more and more, he was starting to catch her eye.  She took her friend Ben (completely platonic!) to a work Christmas party in December of 2005 and when she left that night, she told Ben, ‘that Johnny guy is kinda cute’.  About a month later in January 2006, Johnny and Lauren found themselves at another work get-together.  They started talking, drinks were flowing…and the rest is history!!  A few lucky coworkers even witnessed our first kiss that night on the Bitter End dance floor in downtown San Diego!

Our Proposal:

We had just gotten back from a work trip to San Antonio in November of 2009 and were looking forward to spending a relaxing weekend at home.  It was also my birthday on Sunday, and we had planned to go out to the Marine Room in La Jolla for dinner that night. 

That morning, we went out to breakfast and spent the afternoon watching football.  Johnny suggested that we try and catch the sunset.  So we hopped in the car, and drove to a spot in La Jolla right before the sun went down.  While we were sitting there, Johnny gave me my birthday card.  As I always do, I read the contents of the card out loud.  The last sentence he wrote was ‘I love you more than anything and have one question for you…’  As I read those words out loud, Johnny got down on one knee in front of me and proposed.  I started crying, and can’t for the life of me remember what he said, it was all a big blur! 

Of course I said yes, and quickly followed up with ‘did you ask my Dad?’  Luckily, he had, and my parents were anxiously awaiting the phone call.  My mom was crying and my dad was happy because he finally found someone who could handle his daughter!