Alison and John first met in the spring of 2018 at a chaotic apartment crawl while they were both attending Penn State University. They were introduced by two mutual friends and bonded over their quick wit and innate ability to notice the things that other people don’t.

John liked Alison and Alison liked John. All it took was a small nudge – a little "does your friend like my friend?" – but anybody that knows the two of them knows that they would have gotten there on their own. That spring was highlighted by their first unofficial date at an impromptu Easter Mass (accompanied by friends), then their first official date at Faccia Luna (unaccompanied by friends).

Conveniently, Alison’s internship brought her to Pittsburgh (John’s home city), and they spent their first summer together there before he attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh. In the fall of 2018, Alison went back to Penn State to finish her senior year, which began four years of long distance. Throughout this, they each dedicated time and effort to building their relationship by traveling back and forth between the three P’s: Pittsburgh, Penn State, and Philadelphia (Alison’s home city).

Long distance was FINALLY over when John moved to Philadelphia in November of 2022. They moved in together on Rodman Street, where they adopted Hera, the queen of Wag Days. Now the three of them live in East Passyunk, where they enjoy frequenting Rival Bros Coffee, going on hikes (one of which led to their beautiful engagement), and chasing after bikes and skateboards….

Okay, fine. The last one is just Hera.