Sometimes a walk on the beach can change your whole life and in 2007, I took plenty of them.
It was then that the sea first spoke to me.

Ok, so maybe that's a whimsical exaggeration, but in a sense it did. More accurately though, it was probably the first time that I listened.

I spent more time on the shore that summer than I had in my whole life. It was that summer that I became fully aware of the positive impact the sea had on my psyche.

I found every excuse to be close to the shore where my mind felt at ease. I was addicted to the tranquility and dreaded being at home, away from the soothing sound that could drift me off o sleep. It wasn't long before I started incorporating sea inspired shades in my home in hopes to recreate that very stillness and peace that I was so easily able to achieve along the shore. 

Without that summer's discovery, perhaps SeaPaint would never have been born. In fact, SeaPaint was created with the stillness of the shore in mind.

Our initial five shades were calm and perfectly coastal, just like my happy place. 

In 2008 a long term friend joined me in one of my walks.

A few weeks later, he helped me with some car trouble. To repay him, I finally agreed to the one date he'd been begging me for. One date. That's it. Seemed harmless and fair.

Jose was one of those guy friends I had sworn off dating. He was genuinely a nice guy and I had a reputation for getting bored of them rather quickly. He was one of those guys that you liked well enough to not set him up for a messy ending. I respected his decency, but I wasn't ready to ruin a friendship over something that could ultimately be nothing. 
What if he fell hard and I fell hardly at all? I'd feel awful and there would go our cozy little friendship. 
Despite our existing friendship, he had been requesting a date for over a year at this point, and I'm not sure what made me agree to the "just one" but oddly enough, one would be enough. 

We started off the date in historic Downtown Melbourne. Which sounds quaint, but in the evening it's mostly just a pub crawl. During the day it's a charming and somewhat romantic setting.
Small local shops and eateries. Adorable really.

In the evening however, it's a bar scene, lined with our buzzed locals. Either way it's a fun time. 

Once we parked, I hopped out. Jose stopped me and popped the trunk of his car. He cheekily pulls out a bottle of Patron and offers me a shot. I politely decline.

No way was I doing shots of tequila. I knew how that would end.

This is a one and done remember?

By the time we made our last stop in downtown, I had forgotten all about that. 

Hours later, we end up on the chilly beach.

When he offered me to snuggle between his legs to keep me warm,  I didn't say no. With my bback pressed in between hid thighs, I knew right then and there that one way or another, our friendship was over.

Between the calming effects of the shore and his stupid little smirk, I began to fall under a little sea spell. That Night, we stayed out till nearly 5 in the morning, neither one of us wanting to go home. 

A week later on January 3rd (1-3) we decided we actually liked each other completely sober too. 13 months later on February 13th, Jose asked me to marry him.  

Less than year later, we got married at the very same beach.

If only I'd known then, that that was just the beginning... to something incredibly magical.