Summer 2024

In June 2024, Ellie traveled to New York for the Fancy Food Show. She invited Bart to meet her and her two coworkers (one of whom, Lin, happens to now be her soon-to-be sister-in-law). Bart made the trek from New Jersey in 100-degree weather on the sweaty subway to meet them, and somehow still showed up with beers already waiting for everyone. He immediately confessed to having just dried his sweaty head under a bathroom hand dryer. And somehow, that honesty worked - they spent the night laughing like old friends.

They had such a great night that they ended up hanging out again the next evening at Chelsea Market. It felt weirdly effortless, like they’d known each other for years. The following morning, Ellie had a 7 a.m. flight back to Seattle. Bart set his alarm for 4 a.m. so he could text her goodbye and wrote a sweet message about how he’d love to take her on a proper date the next time he found himself in Seattle (he’d never been to the West Coast at this point.)

When she got home, Ellie didn’t expect they’d keep talking, but a few days later, she ordered some candy Bart had recommended and sent him a photo of it when it arrived. After that, they talked every single day on FaceTime for hours and hours. Most days they’d start around 5 p.m. Seattle time and stay up talking until midnight or 1 a.m. Bart would stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. his time just so they could keep the conversation going.

They talked about everything; their philosophies, their traumas, their hopes for life, their values! They were completely honest and vulnerable from day one. They fell in love over the phone, before they had even kissed in real life. 

Towards the end of July, Bart asked Ellie to be his girlfriend, and she immediately asked him to fly out. He came to Seattle in August, planning to stay for a week, and ended up staying for a month. Then he came back again in late September and extended his trip again. Everything was working so smoothly that Ellie finally asked if he’d ever consider moving to Seattle. Without hesitation, Bart said yes.