We met in ballroom dance class at UC Santa Barbara in 2004. Kara was looking for a fun hobby. Andrew was looking to meet girls. (He had a pretty good shot. The ratio was 2:1.)

When we signed up for the ballroom competition team, Kara needed a ride to dance practice. After a sweaty night of dance practice, Andrew suggested that we stop to get a Slurpee at the nearby 7-11. Andrew stopped Kara when she reached for the small cup and insisted, nay, demanded that she get the super-big-god-help-you-if-you-get-this-one-on-a-road-trip-if-your-dad-is-driving-gulp size. She reluctantly filled the container with the pina colada flavored Slurpee and grabbed a purple straw while Andrew (always the gentleman) paid.

Kara insists that it was a PINK straw. Andrew insists that it was actually purple. Pink. Purple. Pink. Purple. This was our conversation all the way until Andrew dropped Kara off in front of her place in Isla Vista, California in late February, 2004.

And that is the true story of how Kara and Andrew met and fell in love.

Nine happy years down the road, it was time to take the next step. Kara had been hinting less-and-less subtlely for past two years, and Andrew knew he had to propose. And he knew that with that big of a build-up, it had to be AMAZING.

One day, after she got home from work, Kara got a call from her friend Kim, asking her to come downtown. After some shopping, Kara got a text message from Andrew with a link that led her to a Facebook app. After signing in, Kara discovered that Andrew had planned a scavenger hunt proposal. Kara dragged Kim along to each of the different locations the app prompted her to, and the two of them text-bombed everyone they knew to get the number of Facebook “like”s required for each step, while Andrew sat in a Starbucks with his laptop, hovering over the “send” button to activate the next step. Eventually, we met up in the Sunken Garden at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and Andrew asked the question Kara had been waiting to hear!

Santa Barbara has a variety of boutique hotels to choose from. Unfortunately, most are too small or simply don’t offer room blocks. Here are a few recommendations, but feel free to look for other accommodations if you prefer. We recommend making your reservations early to get the best deal!