For me, this session was borne from a bout of frustration. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with these two lovely and amazing ladies pictured below – it had everything to do with the crummy Calgary weather that just would not stop. Anyone who has lived in Calgary is familiar with 6-8 month winters, where the snow and cold seems to hang around for longer than desired. I feel winter wouldn’t be such a big deal, but when the province over is experiencing their first bloom and you look outside your window to blowing snow, it is extremely frustrating. It started with a photo a friend posted on Instagram (who also happens to live in Vancouver) of a beautiful clear skyline view of the city, with no snow in sight. I decided to ask Malloreigh, whom I’ve known from high school, about coming to visit to escape the winter for a few days, and she was very kind to invite me to the home of her and Allie. The following days were spent admiring the lush green landscape of Vancouver, and enjoying being by the ocean. I also had the fortune of photographing Malloreigh and Allie, who are two wonderful and genuine ladies, and I’m so thankful for their hospitality and their time.
How did you two meet?
Allie: “Malloreigh and I met the old fashioned way: the internet. Malloreigh messaged me first, and I spend an entire day drafting my one paragraph response. We met on a rainy, rainy Thursday and walked and talked until Malloreigh’s vegan oxfords soaked through. I don’t think either of us really knew what we thought of the other at first, but we were both definitely intrigued.”
Malloreigh: “Allie’s profile was funny and clever and well-written. We spent our first date talking and walking for hours in the pouring rain, and our fascination for each other at that first meeting really set the stage for the rest of our relationship.”
What brings you two together, and what do you enjoy spending time doing together?
Malloreigh: “We both think the other is hilarious and we just really enjoy our time together. I think Allie is the smartest and most likeable person. Plus, we’re equally vain, which is vital, in my opinion. We like to play video games together and I’m just now, two years in, getting her to play board games. We like eating and drinking and riding bikes together. We have the same lifestyle and ideals, which I think is important for a compatible relationship. Life’s just better with Allie around.”
Allie: “Ditto with the life’s just better with the other around thing. I’m glad Malloreigh brought up how it’s taken me two years to get into playing board games with her, because I think it speaks to a fundamental part of how we improve each other’s lives: we don’t force it. I know I might never attend her fancy beer club and she might never play on my soccer team, but I know there is no one other person with whom I’d rather dance, share food, laugh, drive 13 hours in one day, watch Netflix, fly in a plane, swim in the ocean, or unload the dishwasher.”
Describe an event or memory that was significant about one another, and how your feelings or thoughts may have changed/grew as a result.
Allie: “I knew I loved Malloreigh when she described her parents to me one evening on her back deck. It wasn’t her parents that made the description fantastic (though they are great), it was the details she chose as significant–like that her parents are the exact same size or that her father is an accountant with an earring and her mother collects clocks.
A lot of people are intelligent and observant, but I knew then that Malloreigh is special because not everyone uses those traits to create meaning and beauty in their lives. She is a collector of little unremembered acts of kindness and of love, and I really look forward to being with her always.”
Malloreigh: “I realized I loved Allie when it was almost too late! I had been casually dating for a long time before we met, and so I didn’t commit to her right away. It wasn’t until she kissed someone else and I was surprised by how incredibly jealous I was that I knew that I couldn’t be casual with Allie. She isn’t a casual person – for her, everything is significant and special; everything is part of the narrative of her life. It’s like she’s always observing her life to make it a story, to tell it in a funny, captivating, interesting way – and this made her precious to me. I knew, when I felt that jealousy, that I wanted us to be part of each other’s stories. I couldn’t be a footnote in her story of falling in love with someone else.”
One final note, they write: “Also, we just happen to have the same last name and we were both reading Vonnegut’s short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House when we met. That seems important, right?”
♥
