story started with a little matchmaking magic
from Cassie's Maid of Honor, Alli Valk…
Cassie and Alli were childhood best friends, bonding over countless hours of competitive tennis in Vancouver. Cassie eventually played D1 tennis at UConn, while Alli competed D1 at Portland State.
After college, their paths diverged—Cassie returned to Vancouver, while Alli moved to Newport Beach. It was during a Fourth of July celebration that Alli met Leila, a friend of a colleague.
Alli recalls:
"Well, first of all, when I met Leila, I thought she was literally hilarious, and she said it how it was—but like in a good way. their humors reminded me of each other so much, honestly. And then I thought, ‘Leila is incredible; I want her in my life, and Cassie is obviously amazing—I’ve loved her forever.’ But far away? For some reason, that didn’t matter in my reasoning, and I was like, ‘Fuck it. I don’t care what either of you say—you need to meet.’”
With Alli’s insistence (and some pretty accurate matchmaking instincts), Cassie and Leila began chatting long distance. After a month of getting to know each other, Cassie took a leap and flew to California to meet in person.
What followed was a year of long-distance dating filled with flights, FaceTimes, and weekend (which turned to month long) getaways.
Finally, Leila made the move to Vancouver to pursue software engineering at UBC, and the rest, as they say, is history.
