Girl meets *right* Boy.

I was reeling from a bad break-up. Acting out, being rebellious, drinking too much and staying out too late. It was the first time I lived by myself... Meaning, no man, no roommates, no dog. Just me. It was dangerous. I was dangerous. And fun. [insert smirk]

But underneath it all I was hurting, and feeling guilty. I had blindsided my boyfriend with a clean break and I felt guilty for hurting him, but mad at him for hurting me first. It was a mess and I didn't feel like dealing with it. So I didn't. I partied. Rebounded with another guy and thought I could might fall in love with him, but don't we all know that song and dance. He left the island, and again I fell into the trap of pining for someone who didn't really exist in my daily life. That's when I finally realized long-distance relationships didn't work for me. They did for years, but I promised myself I would never do it again. If you were leaving or I was leaving, we just couldn't hang out.

Enter Mr. Barrettes. Stage Left.

A girlfriend and I walked into our favorite beach bar (literally ON the beach) and he was sitting there holding holding hands with the bartender, a party friend of mine at the time. I pulled up a stool next to him and we struck up the most natural conversation ever. We were fast friends. He was a man and I was tired of dating boys. I knew I wanted to be in a relationship with someone who already had stuff figured out. I was 27 years old and was over the whole "finding myself" thing.

After that night, Mr. B would keep popping up in places where I was. Gym? Check. Beach BBQ? Check. Karaoke? Check. It wasn't until a few weeks later when it dawned on me that I actually liked him a lot more than 'just friends'. We had our first real date on the beach at sunset with a bottle of champagne. I told him that I wanted our relationship to be a "slow burn". I didn't want a flash-in-the-pan that burned out quickly.

As we spent more and more time together it became clear we wanted the same things out of our lives and more importantly, we were looking in the same direction. Couple that connection with many a night spent on this porch and magical things were bound to happen!

(all photos: Miss Barrettes)