Our Love Story- How we met

Erin and Ian

By: Erin Ziering

One of the questions I get asked the most about Ian is how we met. Let me tell you a little story….

I was a cardiac nurse in Ohio and was offered an amazing opportunity as a travel nurse. I came from a hard working family and we didn’t have a lot of opportunities to travel as children. This seemed like the perfect plan! A free journey to see the country. My first offer was to Los Angeles, California. I hadn’t even visited west of the state of Ohio at this point in my life. It was such an exciting offer. I packed up my life in a suitcase, my dog Oscar in a bag, and headed west. During my first year in Los Angeles I spent a lot of time meeting interesting people and trying to figure out which side of town I wanted to live on. I eventually ended up in Hollywood, close to the hospital I was working at. I learned that traffic in Los Angeles was a nightmare.

One September Day, I was having a girls weekend at my apartment and we decided to go across the street to the Roosevelt Hotel Pool. It was a big pool party, full of models in heels and other interesting characters. We came completely unprepared in simple black bikinis, flip flops and cut off jean shorts. My girlfriends and I sat at a cabana and Ian was across from us. When we got up to go to the bar a group of guys came to talk to us. Suddenly, Ian appeared and introduced himself to the other guys. (He followed me to the bar!) He then looked right at me and asked if he could speak to me. I turned towards him and asked if I could buy him a drink. I was more than happy to get away from the other guys. They were not my type and Ian was incredibly handsome. I think Ian was shocked that I actually offered to buy him a drink instead of him asking first! When I asked what he would like he said a Red Bull and Vodka. I said no way! It was such an unhealthy drink and as a cardiac nurse I knew the dangers of mixing those two! I was surprised he still kept talking to me after that. He quickly ordered something else and asked if I was free to come to his Labor Day Party that night. I immediately responded that I was busy. There was no way I wanted to sound like I didn’t have any holiday plans or that I wanted to rush over to his house. I didn’t want to seem desperate. I ended up spending the evening alone with my dog.

I was glad I did. Since I told him I couldn’t make it he asked me out to lunch the next day. We had alone time. We had a long lunch where we couldn’t stop talking. Three hours later we ended our lunch and on the elevator to our cars he stole his first kiss! Since then we have never been apart. After 8 days together Ian told me he loved me. I knew I felt the same way. We spent the next few months together every day. I accompanied him on his work trips and we always had so much fun. We were so happy.

On December 27th (after asking my father first) he proposed in what is now our home. I went to see him after a 12 hour work day in the hospital. It was a rough shift and I was starving. I was a mess. I had on dirty scrubs and a side ponytail. When I walked through the door he was dressed up and holding flowers.  He had decorated the house with what looked like arts and crafts. I kept thinking about how hungry I was. He then turned the lights off and turned on some twinkle lights.  I could see his project was a solar system! (I still had no clue he was proposing) I was thinking about how impressed I was with his artistic ability, then I realized what was going on. He got on one knee and told me he saw our love written in the stars. He had a beautiful diamond ring. Exactly what I dreamed of. I said YES YES YES! (He then took me to dinner for Sushi, so yes I ate too) We told all our friends and family and started talking about wedding dates at dinner. It was only 3 months after we met. It was insane and we were in love.

Follow along for details about our wedding coming next week and the rest of Our Lo