When Shari relocated to Sacramento, her parents encouraged her to look into JDate. At the same time, Andy’s friends signed him up for JDate as he had just relocated to Sacramento for work.

Andy sent an initial email to Shari on April 19, 2009.  Shari read the email, thought it was awful, lacked imagination, and was just a “pickup email.” Andy still believes it was a “normal” email from a “normal” guy. Five months later, on September 29, 2009, Shari decided to look through old emails and came across Andy’s. She decided not to be so quick to judge this time and emailed him back. Since then, she has repeatedly told Andy that she decided to take a “leap of faith.” Unfortunately, Andy was not signed up for emails and did not respond until June 16, 2010! Shari saw the email come in, but waited another 11 days (until 6/27/10) to sign up again and respond.

Over a year after the first email, Andy and Shari finally set a date for dinner: June 3, 2010.  This was then followed by another date on the 4th of July, and a couple more that same week. After that first week, they both decided to sign off of JDate for good. A year later they relocated to Chicago.

Their Engagement Story:

Andy and Shari had been dating for three years. Shari’s birthday arrived and with that, Andy’s mom invited her to lunch at the Art Institute of Chicago to see the new impressionist exhibit. This was her favorite place in the city. Andy complained about not being able to have a free day to enjoy the beautiful weather outside.

When the day for the lunch date arrived, they took a nice walk to the museum. Andy said his mom was running late for lunch, which was the norm. Andy and Shari sat down in the outdoor restaurant and ordered iced teas. Andy excused himself to run to the restroom. It was at this point that Andy went to get the ring from his brother in the bathroom. He knew that if Shari saw something in his pocket, she would be onto him. In the meantime, Shari texted her Mom, “I wish you were here with me.” Her mom responded, “I do too!”

Andy returned to the table and said to Shari, “Let’s go take a ‘selfie’ over by the fountain and put it on Instagram!” Shari thought this was odd, but would never turn down a photo opportunity! They stood up and went and took a couple of shots and then they reviewed them. Andy then took Shari’s hand, looked at her, and said how great the pictures were. She could sense it in his eyes and she said, “Oh no, right now?” and Andy responded, “Yes, right now.” He bent down on his knee and told Shari that it was now his turn to take a leap of faith and make the best decision of his life. After Andy proposed, they took a seat and the server brought over champagne. Shari and Andy were sitting, going over everything that had just happened when Shari asked where Andy’s mom was; he said it was just a ploy and she was not coming. However, after just a few minutes had passed, Andy suddenly turned Shari around to be surprised by both of their families. Shari’s family had come out from California to surprise her! Plus, every moment – starting from when they entered the museum to the proposal and champagne to being surprised by all of their family members – had been caught by a hidden photographer hired by Andy.  The evening was followed by a family dinner at their favorite restaurant and an engagement party with friends that night at the W Hotel. Andy even ordered Shari’s favorite cupcakes from Crumbs to be delivered.

Thank you!

Shari and Andy
Chicago, Illinois