Our First Date

shop the post

I am getting super personal on the blog today with my husband, because today is the 7th anniversary of our first date! I can't believe that it's been seven years since I first laid eyes on Torrance in person and immediately became smitten with him. So much has happened since then - Reign, Miss USA, Renly and Daenerys (our cats), so much international travel, our engagement, our wedding, our marriage, buying our first home, living abroad, creating/running this site and successful business together - and I wouldn't change any of it for anything. Some of you are already familiar with the story of how we met (for those who don't know, check out my post on it here). To sum up, we met via Twitter in May 2010. I am a huge history nerd, and so I began watching the show The Tudors back in 2007 religiously. In the fourth season, which aired in 2010, Torrance made his debut in the premiere episode. Back then, Twitter was really the only social media platform (besides Facebook) to communicate, and Torrance did a search on The Tudors to see who was watching (as actors typically do). He noticed my tweets mentioning I was watching the show, and so he began to follow me. I was both shocked and giddy to see Torrance was now following me on Twitter, as of course I knew who he was and I was honored he was now following me. After the shock wore off, I followed him back and we struck up conversations via direct message to each other. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12865,12862"] [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12864,12863"] After a few months of flirtatious messages and getting to know each other online, Torrance mentioned he was headed to LA for a little bit. Hold on, let me back up. When he mentioned he was headed to LA and asked me if it would be possible for me to meet up with him and go out to dinner, I was out to eat with my dad and stepmom. When I read that message, I gasped out loud. They both laughed hysterically (and feared for my safety a bit) as I pretty much ran into the street and danced, shouting "HE ASKED ME OUT!" Coincidentally, I was also headed to LA the following week (I was living with my dad in San Francisco at the time) to hunt for my new apartment and meet up with my new modeling agency. We planned on connecting when we were both in the City of Angels and so we exchanged phone numbers. Clearly, Torrance was stalking me because he saw on my Twitter account a photo I posted of from when I drove past Six Flags Magic Mountain. He knew I was on my way to LA. He immediately texted me asking if I was free that evening (my first evening in LA after a six hour drive from my dad's house) and that he wanted to take me to a sushi restaurant in Larchmont Village. Since I was super anxious to meet him, I said yes (despite being exhausted) and immediately began counting the hours until we would finally meet in person. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12857,12856"] [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12858,12859"] It's funny to look back on our first date, because this could have totally been an episode of Catfish. I was taking a huge risk in meeting someone online in person, and I know my dad was a bit skeptical. But when Tor texted me that he was downstairs waiting to drive me to our date (yes, he was adamant about picking me up), I ran down the steps with my heart fluttering with the sensation of a million butterflies. When I turned the corner and saw Torrance standing by the car waiting to open the door for me, I had a feeling I have only ever felt once in my life and it was at that moment. I felt a sense of excitement, admiration, trust, and giddiness. I will never forget seeing him standing there with the biggest grin on his shaved face, wearing a graphic tee under a sharp blazer, as he opened the door to bring me to our first date. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12872,12871"] Our sushi date lasted hours. We laughed so much and shared all kinds of stories. It felt like I had known him for ages. We had so much in common, and I felt like myself with him. I felt comfortable, happy, and I felt I didn't need to hide anything. The sushi restaurant was closing, but we didn't want our first date to end. We headed to a cafe in LA that we knew would be open late, and we continued our conversations as we shared a chocolate soufflé (now that's what we eat every year on our anniversary of our first date). We talked a lot about history, as I am a big reader of history books and he starred in The Tudors. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12870,12869"] Our first date went so well, it ended just after 3 am. He drove me home and asked to see me again the next day if I wasn't busy. I had an agency meeting and a few castings, but I knew I wanted to see him again. But we didn't just see each other the next day... we saw each other the next day, and the next day, and the next day until our first date ended up lasting 8 straight days! We couldn't get enough of each other from the start, and on our second day of hanging out, he was already introducing me to his friends. From the very beginning, I knew he was going to be someone very special in my life. I am such a girly-girl and really wanted to believe in love at first sight. Until then, I had never experienced that. I thought it only happened in movies. But on that warm July evening in 2010, I felt it. It's indescribable. I was smitten with him right away, and I knew in my gut he would be in my life for a long time to come. I think I knew all along that that was the night I had met my future husband. I wish I could explain it more to you all, but the feeling in my heart was so indescribable. It felt like fate. It felt meant to be. And I will spend the rest of my life with this man because that's what was written for us. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="12867,12866"] Reflecting back on the last 7 years is one of my favorite things to do. I love that from the very beginning, everything has felt completely natural. We both get to be our goofy selves. I love his nerd-iness when it comes to tech and he loves my nerd-iness when it comes to history. We both share a love of politics (though I tend to keep politics off my social media; can't say the same for Tor though!), we both share a love of food, we both share a love of travel and adventure, we both share a love for books, we both share a love for European style, and of course we both share a love for cats. I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and despite many years of kids in school teasing me for my obsession with history, it's because of history that I met the man who has my heart. Flash forward seven years, and we are now happily married settling into our own home together and running The A List. Thanks to my love of history (and using Twitter), I met my soulmate. Happy 7 years together, my love. I cannot wait to see where life takes us next, because living life with you is my absolute favorite and I couldn't imagine living my life any other way. I love you. Alyssa Campanella Torrance Coombs The A List blog First Date

Photos by Felicia Lasala.

I am getting super personal on the blog today with my husband, because today is the 7th anniversary of our first date! I can’t believe that it’s been seven years since I first laid eyes on Torrance in person and immediately became smitten with him. So much has happened since then – Reign, Miss USA, Renly and Daenerys (our cats), so much international travel, our engagement, our wedding, our marriage, buying our first home, living abroad, creating/running this site and successful business together – and I wouldn’t change any of it for anything.

Some of you are already familiar with the story of how we met (for those who don’t know, check out my post on it here). To sum up, we met via Twitter in May 2010. I am a huge history nerd, and so I began watching the show The Tudors back in 2007 religiously. In the fourth season, which aired in 2010, Torrance made his debut in the premiere episode. Back then, Twitter was really the only social media platform (besides Facebook) to communicate, and Torrance did a search on The Tudors to see who was watching (as actors typically do). He noticed my tweets mentioning I was watching the show, and so he began to follow me. I was both shocked and giddy to see Torrance was now following me on Twitter, as of course I knew who he was and I was honored he was now following me. After the shock wore off, I followed him back and we struck up conversations via direct message to each other.

After a few months of flirtatious messages and getting to know each other online, Torrance mentioned he was headed to LA for a little bit. Hold on, let me back up. When he mentioned he was headed to LA and asked me if it would be possible for me to meet up with him and go out to dinner, I was out to eat with my dad and stepmom. When I read that message, I gasped out loud. They both laughed hysterically (and feared for my safety a bit) as I pretty much ran into the street and danced, shouting “HE ASKED ME OUT!” Coincidentally, I was also headed to LA the following week (I was living with my dad in San Francisco at the time) to hunt for my new apartment and meet up with my new modeling agency. We planned on connecting when we were both in the City of Angels and so we exchanged phone numbers. Clearly, Torrance was stalking me because he saw on my Twitter account a photo I posted of from when I drove past Six Flags Magic Mountain. He knew I was on my way to LA. He immediately texted me asking if I was free that evening (my first evening in LA after a six hour drive from my dad’s house) and that he wanted to take me to a sushi restaurant in Larchmont Village. Since I was super anxious to meet him, I said yes (despite being exhausted) and immediately began counting the hours until we would finally meet in person.

It’s funny to look back on our first date, because this could have totally been an episode of Catfish. I was taking a huge risk in meeting someone online in person, and I know my dad was a bit skeptical. But when Tor texted me that he was downstairs waiting to drive me to our date (yes, he was adamant about picking me up), I ran down the steps with my heart fluttering with the sensation of a million butterflies. When I turned the corner and saw Torrance standing by the car waiting to open the door for me, I had a feeling I have only ever felt once in my life and it was at that moment. I felt a sense of excitement, admiration, trust, and giddiness. I will never forget seeing him standing there with the biggest grin on his shaved face, wearing a graphic tee under a sharp blazer, as he opened the door to bring me to our first date.

Our sushi date lasted hours. We laughed so much and shared all kinds of stories. It felt like I had known him for ages. We had so much in common, and I felt like myself with him. I felt comfortable, happy, and I felt I didn’t need to hide anything. The sushi restaurant was closing, but we didn’t want our first date to end. We headed to a cafe in LA that we knew would be open late, and we continued our conversations as we shared a chocolate soufflé (now that’s what we eat every year on our anniversary of our first date). We talked a lot about history, as I am a big reader of history books and he starred in The Tudors.

Our first date went so well, it ended just after 3 am. He drove me home and asked to see me again the next day if I wasn’t busy. I had an agency meeting and a few castings, but I knew I wanted to see him again. But we didn’t just see each other the next day… we saw each other the next day, and the next day, and the next day until our first date ended up lasting 8 straight days! We couldn’t get enough of each other from the start, and on our second day of hanging out, he was already introducing me to his friends. From the very beginning, I knew he was going to be someone very special in my life. I am such a girly-girl and really wanted to believe in love at first sight. Until then, I had never experienced that. I thought it only happened in movies. But on that warm July evening in 2010, I felt it. It’s indescribable. I was smitten with him right away, and I knew in my gut he would be in my life for a long time to come. I think I knew all along that that was the night I had met my future husband. I wish I could explain it more to you all, but the feeling in my heart was so indescribable. It felt like fate. It felt meant to be. And I will spend the rest of my life with this man because that’s what was written for us.

Reflecting back on the last 7 years is one of my favorite things to do. I love that from the very beginning, everything has felt completely natural. We both get to be our goofy selves. I love his nerd-iness when it comes to tech and he loves my nerd-iness when it comes to history. We both share a love of politics (though I tend to keep politics off my social media; can’t say the same for Tor though!), we both share a love of food, we both share a love of travel and adventure, we both share a love for books, we both share a love for European style, and of course we both share a love for cats. I’m a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and despite many years of kids in school teasing me for my obsession with history, it’s because of history that I met the man who has my heart. Flash forward seven years, and we are now happily married settling into our own home together and running The A List.

Thanks to my love of history (and using Twitter), I met my soulmate. Happy 7 years together, my love. I cannot wait to see where life takes us next, because living life with you is my absolute favorite and I couldn’t imagine living my life any other way. I love you.

Alyssa Campanella Torrance Coombs The A List blog First Date

Photos by Felicia Lasala.

Shop the Post

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Issy Wilson

    This post was adorable, I was smiling the whole way through it!
    I’m getting my blog slowly up and running and I just wanted to let you know that your posts inspire me to write my own, thankyou so much <3

  2. Praveena

    I love your love story. I can only dream for this kind of love story.

  3. Camilla

    Aww you are an amazing couple! People can tell how much you two love each other by simply looking at you, and the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about the other.
    Plus, your story is amazing! You were just a fangirl like us and you ended up marrying one of the actors that starred in one of your favorite tv shows! Lesson learned: never stop dreaming.

  4. Francesca

    I got emotional while reading this post! You and Torrance are such a beautiful couple and the story of your first date is like a fairytale. Since I was a child I had been thinking hat there’s someone out there for me and dreaming about love at first sight but my friends usually tell me that it doesn’t exist but you and Torrance are the proof that they’re wrong. I wish you two all the best becuse you deserve it and I hope to live my fairytale too someday x

  5. Christle

    Awwww! Definitely just cried a few happy tears reading about how adorable you two are, and Torrance was such a gentleman on that date! 😀 You both definitely found amazing people to spend your lives with.

  6. Nicole

    I actually shed a few tears reading this! I know I’ve said it before, but you two continue to make me believe in love. Thanks so much for sharing these and these photos are GORGEOUS! Love you both xx

  7. Cynthia W.

    Thank you both to let us still believe in love.

  8. Editha

    The story is so romantic. Thanks that you share this with us. I like you both so much and your cats. You are a perfect couple. I wish you both all luck for the rest of your life. ❤️

  9. Nar

    This is too precious! Love love love this!

  10. Stephanie Ray

    Aww thanks for getting so personal! Love you guys so much- enjoy the day 🙂 You are gorgeous!

  11. Franziska

    You guys are so sweet. Happy Anniversary from my heart. You really gave me hope that one day, I might find that special one. Thanks for sharing this story. Lots of love all the way from Munich, Germany.
    Should you ever stop by, give me a call on Instagram or Twitter and I can show you some Hidden Gems in this city. Have a great day, Franzi

  12. Jesaka Guillory

    You two are so amazingly sweet!!! Congrats on 7 yrs 🙂

  13. Shelly

    You and Torrance’s story gives me hope about the future and that love does exist. Thank you for sharing. ❤️❤️

  14. Abeeha Masood

    I feel like crying. This is such an amazing story. Hope every other person is as fortunate and in love as you two. ❤

  15. Abeeha Masood

    I feel like crying. This is such an amazing story. Hope every other person is as fortunate and in love as the two of you. ❤

  16. Abeeha Masood

    You both are perfect together

  17. Lynsey

    Such a gorgeous way to meet. My husband and I met on a blind date nearly 20 years ago. The minute I saw him, that was it, I was smitten and still am. I looked at him and saw forever in his eyes, and I thank my stars every day that he looked into my eyes and saw the same. Love is a beautiful thing.

  18. Kenzie

    This is too cute! Serious couple goals!

  19. Halie

    It’s really awesome to see how well your relationship has preogresssed through the years, especially considering the skepticism surrounding relationships that begin online. I myself have started talking to someone who I happened to meet on Tinder of all places. I’m, of course, being as I’ve never seen him and all I have to judge him by is his word and his Instagram but I’ve got such a good feeling, like I just know with him things could click. I’m also usually the one who is skittish with people online as there are so many cons and lies out there now. I hope to have the fortune you have had. 😊💋

  20. Yarilis Allende

    I feel happy and proud. I like to see people like you inspiring the right and good things in a relationship. I see in both respect, honesty and pure love. I bless you both <3 I wish you a life full of aventures and new positive oportunities.

  21. Christina

    Such an incredible and inspiring story! Thank you so much for sharing, Alyssa. It definitely makes me believe in love at first sight. <3

  22. Natalie

    I love your story! I met my now husband seven years ago in July too (must have been a great month 😊)! I completely understand that feeling you can’t describe in words. It’s something I hope everyone gets to expierence in their life. You two make an adorable couple. You can just see the love in your eyes in all your photos! Happy seven years together!

  23. Erin

    This post had me smiling the entire time while reading it, you two were definitely meant to be 🙂

  24. Siena

    So adorable! my absolute favorite couple, I hope I can find someone like how you found Tor!! Love your blog and have been following you both for years. Keep it up!!

  25. Kristine Ruano

    I love your story. Sometimes it seems that our favorite actors won’t notice our comments in so many that they get, but you are proof that they can.

  26. Aranza M

    Oh my, This was incredibly adorable 💕
    I wish you all the best and many more years to come.

  27. Debby

    I just felt like I was reading the most romantic book ever. I am a strong believer in love at first sight and I hope someday I will experiance it on my own.
    I also think that history is something wonderful, because no matter what happened, I think ehat history shows us, is that we need to carry on, because one day it will pay off.
    Much love to you two from Austria <3

powered by chloédigital