How We Met- A Love Story
We love to reminisce. Sitting around and sharing some of our most beloved memories is one of our favorite things to do. It’s also really helpful because some of us (cough, cough Jesse) have terrible memories, so it becomes a way to remember all the amazingly fun adventures we’ve had. It’s like experiencing the memories all over again for the first time sometimes. Bless her heart.
So this week, we wanted to take the opportunity to reminisce and remember how it all started: how we met. We thought you might enjoy this too, because it will give you some insight into how this friendship began and how the true adventures of a ginger and a blonde came to be. Everyone perceives situations and experiences differently, so we thought it might be fun for each of us to share our individual interpretation and viewpoint on the fateful evening that got this whole thing poppin’.
Ashley: Ed and I had lived in Charleston for a little over a year when we met the other half to our wolfpack. We had been in a small group with them @ Coastal and I had seen Jesse sing on stage a few times, but we never really had any conversations. I was working from home, only interacted with Ed on a daily basis, and rarely went out to meet new people. I wasn’t exactly a good time Sally at that time of my life. In fact, some may have called me an awkward hermit.
Tyler had invited Ed to his birthday dinner (which Ed was thrilled about). I, on the other hand, immediately began to panic- human interaction for a whole dinner? So Ed and I made a plan that we’d have a codeword if things went downhill or we realized these people were into some weird stuff. We met up at Taco Boy for a group dinner with Tyler, his friend Wax, Jesse, and Amanda (to be honest Ed and I had a drink or two beforehand to loosen up- you know, first date jitters) and ordered some more drinks and the conversation was soon flowing. I realized Jesse was hilarious and not at all the intimidating girl on stage I thought she was. Sure, she could sing like an angel, but she was also super easy to talk to and had jokes for days. Ed loosened up and was having great conversation with the boys. Tyler always jokes he knows Ed was a keeper when Ed drank his beer in under a few seconds (when you know, you know). We didn’t need to use our codeword to bail and ended up going out after dinner to dance off the margaritas and tacos. I was so excited to find out we met a couple that also loves to get their dance on and make total fools of themselves.
Long story short, we were all slightly over-served. The boys created a game to flick random people in the ear and points are awarded if you “get away with it”. Well, Ed being the instigator he is, encouraged Tyler to go at the biggest dude there. The dude wasn’t into it, but once Tyler and his newfound sidekick Ed explained the game to him, he thought it was hilarious. However, his “sidechick” did not. She wanted to let us know what losers we were and how immature the game was (what?!!?) and how “successful” he (the man who got flicked in the ear) was. Favorite quote of the night that we still use to this day, “HE WENT TO THE CITADEL”. Like that means he is above an ear flick. C’mon girl. Anyway, she got feisty- so feisty she went to swing at Amanda, and Tyler would have none of that. I wish I was wearing a Go-Pro during this moment, but Tyler in one CLEAN swoop completely knocked a drink out of sidechick’s hand. It was AMAZING. She really should’ve been thanking him; homegirl needed no more booze. Next thing I know, Tyler and Amanda are being escorted out of the club, Ed is telling the bouncer he’s calling crime stoppers, Jesse is getting more drinks for the group, and I’m just taking it all in thinking “I have found my people”.
Ed and I went home that night and probably did some more awkward dancing and high-fiving that we finally found one of our first couple friends where both the husband and wife were cool (if you’re a grown adult- you know how hard this is to find). Jesse text me the next day (duh we exchanged numbers the night before probably while bonding over our love for tequila) apologizing for their behavior and how the night escalated. I quickly shut that down. It was an EPIC first friend date. So really guys, Tyler is the one who facilitated this whole friendship by inviting this awkward, quiet married couple to his birthday party. The fun hasn’t stopped since; from Greece to Boca to the Dominican to simple game nights at home- one thing is for certain, this wolfpack knows how to have a party and BE the party.
Jesse: It was our first year in Charleston. We had been in group with Ed and Ashley for several weeks. Tyler played basketball on Monday nights with Ed and had hit it off with him (or so he says). All I knew of Ashley was that she was the quiet (almost mute) wife of Ed in our group. Tyler’s birthday was coming up and he wanted to have dinner and go out. He thought it would be fun to attempt to put a group of people together to come along with us, so he invited a friend, Wax, from work and my friend from work, Amanda. He told me he really wanted to invite Ed and his wife, but wasn’t sure how they felt about going out (and that sort of thing). I said invite them; worse case scenario- they are snooze fests and we have dinner with them and go out on our own afterwards. No harm, no foul.
Lucky for us, they agreed to come. We all met up at Taco Boy (obviously, Tyler’s pick everytime) for dinner. We sat down with that slightly awkward I-only-know-you-a-little conversation going and ordered drinks. The drinks came, and within SECONDS, Ed’s beer was gone. Tyler said this was a defining moment and when he knew Ed might be a forever friend. The guy obviously liked to drink beer. From there, conversation flowed. It was the first time I had really ever heard Ashley speak and all I could think was she was hilarious (and sarcastic like me)! I was so excited to see Tyler having a great time with the guys too, because we all know how hard it is to find a couple where the dudes and chicks both get along. From there, we grabbed a few drinks elsewhere, continuing to have a fantastic time, and then decided to go dance. It became pretty obvious that everyone was coming along for this- we were not sneaking out, like we had originally planned. We had the best time dancing with them and it’s where our first inside joke began- watching “fancy feet” Ed dance to Salt Shaker. After a while, we headed out to the patio to cool off for a bit and, unbeknownst to the ladies, the guys decided to play a fun game where they tried to touch random people’s ears as discreetly as possible. Apparently, if you can do it without the person noticing you get a point. Well Ed dared Tyler to touch this giant of a dude’s ear and Tyler didn’t hesitate to try. He touched and we all bolted to head back inside. Unfortunately, tall dude noticed and, oddly enough, didn’t like randoms touching his ear. I was momma ducking at the front of the line and soon realized no one was behind me anymore. I turned on the stairs I was standing on, and they were all at the bottom (never made it to the stairs), and the giant was talking to Tyler. I felt like I was watching a movie. The guys worked it out pretty quickly- the game was explained and tall fellow was cool with Tyler’s apology. BUT then a girl who obviously wanted to date the tall guy (definitely not his GF, just a wannabe) decided she needed to stick up for her man. As I’m watching, I see this girl telling the whole group how “he went to the Citadel” (we should have known by looking at his very fashionable blazer), and they would never be as good as him. Amanda jumps in to defend the fellas and their dumb game and crazy chick takes a swing at her. Yep, really. Well once she went to hit Amanda, Tyler slapped her drink out of her hand. Sure, my husband wouldn’t hit a lady, but she sure wasn’t gonna talk and act like that and keep her drink. So of course the whole crew got kicked out. Again, I am still standing alone on the stairs. I am not kicked out. The guys were arguing with the bouncer and Ed was sure to tell them he was “going to call Crime Stoppers” because it was absurd that they were kicked out and not the crazy lady. I was sent in to pay the tab. Surprisingly, my crazy crew just walked out the back and came right back in the front and the party carried on.
So that was night one. I was SO mad at Tyler the next day because I was absolutely positive that he had ruined what might have been a wonderful potential friendship with what turned out to be an awesome couple. I was just so embarrassed; they were going to wake up and remember the evening and how trashy the DeRosiers were. But in fact, when I went to send apology text messages to Ashley, she told me no worries, it was an incredibly fun, wild night. So a spark was lit. We continued to send hilariously funny and sarcastic text messages, and we made plans to get together again. I guess you could say we moved pretty fast after that.
To say our friendship has been a blessing to all of us would be an understatement. We have been through some of the best times together, but have also picked each other up when going through the lowest of lows. You haven’t seen it all from this wolfpack yet- there are many more ridiculous, stupid, hilarious moments to come and we promise to document them all.
