So, many of our friends have been asking the all important question, “how did you two meet?” Well, funny they should ask. We met through pretty unconventional means. Or maybe we were just pioneers in the future of social interaction. At any rate, we can partially thank Facebook, and our good friend Daniela.
HIS VERSION
So, here I am minding my own business on facebook when I get a message out of the blue from this mysterious girl wearing a mask in her profile picture. I have to admit, her picture had caught my attention before, as it kept coming up on my friends list and in the suggestions section.
That very same Friday I invite a bunch of friends to go to Posh, a supper club near Metro Center. My neighbor June, my Line Brother Flavio and Michelle D. and Alexis (of the Barking Dog Salsa Crew fame) come out for dinner. My boy Lino fakes on me. Daniela wants to come out, but she has to rally her girls and wants to make her grand entrance once the dancing starts.
Those that made it there for dinner enjoy their meal, drink wine and enjoy great conversation. After a great meal we make our way to the dance floor. Pretty soon thereafter Daniela, her Line Sister Po and this familiar face come onto the scene. I do a double take and then realize that Daniela’s friend happens to be the person I just exchanged emails with days earlier!
HER VERSION
After seeing his name come up on my Facebook suggestions, I realized we had about 10 friends in common. I jogged my memory a bit, and vaguely remembered meeting him through our paisano Luis Campillo several years ago, on a night out in DC. I concluded that since he wasn’t a complete stranger, I would go ahead and add him to my friends’ list. After he accepted my friend request I browsed his page, and briefly, thought of sending him a message. Since I couldn’t really come up with anything, I opted instead to look for an opportunity to leave a comment on his wall, hoping to piqué his interest. In fact, I think I might have made a comment, under his wall posting about George Michael’s (the legendary NBC4 Sportscaster) passing. Well, that didn’t exactly work =P
The Holidays came and went, and still, we hadn’t really broken the ice, so I decided to just get over my shyness and send him a message. At the very least I could ‘re-introduce’ myself, and ask him about his New Year’s, since he was probably thinking that I had randomly added him. Of course, by now, curiosity was getting the best of me. He was clearly a very handsome, fun-loving (exhibit 1: December’s blizzard pics), family oriented (exhibit 2: Cousin night pics) guy. So that first Monday in January, I went ahead and sent him a message.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The Official Record
Here is a recap of how we met via Facebook:
Hi Jose,
Not sure if you remember me, I think we met years ago on a night out in DC with Luis Campillo and some others. I noticed that we have several more friends in common – DC really IS small – and I thought to drop you a line 🙂 How was your New Years? What’s new in your world?
Jose Contreras January 5 at 3:16pm
Hi Maria Fernanda,
Funny, I saw your profile the other day and was racking my brain trying to remember how we met. It would make sense that it be Luis Campillo. Great guy
My New Years was wonderful! I had dinner with friends in Georgetown, then headed to Columbia Heights for a party at another friend’s house.
How was yours? How did you enjoy our nice little blizzard?
Thanks for saying hi. DC really IS small. Perhaps we will bump into each other sometime. Maybe we can even make it happen on purpose? 😉
-Jose Contreras
New Years was fun! I went out to Muse with a girlfriend, and for the first time, rang in the New Year at a the club. It was like your usual night out on the town with the added pizazz of a masquerade theme. We were definitely worn out the next day, as there was nowhere to sit and rest, so I’d say that was the only downer.
I still can’t believe we got as much snow as we did! I spent all of the blizzard indoors. I was too scared to drive anywhere, since I the night before got caught in the early part of the storm, and had a terrifying experience driving home.
So instead, I baked oatmeal cookies and banana bread, made plenty of hot chocolate, and caught up on movies and tv shows. It was wonderful just watching all the snow come down from the comfort of my living room.
I think that we could make the “on purpose” happen 😉 What do you think?
– Maria
Oh no! What happened the night of the storm? I actually went sledding with some friends. I tried digging my car out the next day. What an adventure!
So you’re a baker? Hmm, that definitely comes in handy when it’s cold out.
Well if you want to bump into me on purpose, I’m planning to be at the Park on Fourteenth tomorrow for the LatinVIP 3 Kings Day celebration. Maybe I’ll bump into you there. If not, I’m sure we can make it happen sometime soon.
Where do you work? I’m working at the Dept of Labor near Capitol Hill. Maybe we’ll randomly bump into each other after work for happy hour sometime, 😉
-Jose
Sledding!? ooh sounds like fun – I haven’t done that since my high school days. My school has THE best double hill for sledding (just ask Daniela). I guess if it can count as sledding, my car did a lot of skidding that first night … my small 2-door car just doesn’t have the traction for all that snow.
I dabble in some baking here and there … I’m hardly a pro, but maybe one day I will get there! Although I’ve made banana bread enough times now that, in my dad’s humble opinion, I make a pretty mean loaf of bread. lol
I wish I could be downtown for happy hour tonight, sounds like it will be a fun event, and I haven’t been to a LatinVIP event in a while. I’m training for a half-marathon that I’m registered for at the end of the month, so I already had planned to hit the gym after work today.
I work for a non-profit in Rockville, so I have to plan my DC happy hours a couple of days in advance to make sure I leave work in time and beat some of the traffic. But there’s never a shortage of happy hours; so if not tonight, maybe we can bump into each other “on purpose” at another 😉
– Maria
So, there you have it!! Enquiring minds wanted to know how we met. Now the official story is out there. No need to check in with Perez Hilton or check the tabloids. The official story is out there for all to see!