Selfie of Jack-Peter and I from when they were 16 and 17-years old.

1. We met when we were pre-teens.

Jack-Peter and I met through my neighbor Richard, who introduced me to Jack-Peter. They went to school together and were best friends growing up, so Jack-Peter would spend the summers at Richard’s house for weeks. We grew up getting to know each other through tickle fights, hide-and-seek, pool parties, and movies - you know, the typical teenage things, haha.

2. We have spoken almost everyday since meeting.

Unless my memory is failing me, haha, we spoke as much as possible. We started speaking on MySpace, we even added each other to our top friends list, haha. Then we transitioned to Facebook, and started flirting. You may be able to see some of those cringe-worthy posts if you go deep into our timelines, haha, him and I still laugh about those. Finally, we both got phones and unlimited data, and, well, the rest was history. We texted throughout our days, and gave each other shy little phone calls to say good night or if we were having a bad day.

3. We dated other people before becoming official.

We have always liked each other since day one, but never admitted it until a couple years later because we were so timid and scared. We think it was best that we waited off and dated other people first to grow from those relationships. It’s kind of funny, but we actually spoke about our relationship problems with one another and helped each other through them. What we learned, we have applied to our own relationship. We can’t say it has been easy, but it has been very rewarding.

4. We always knew there was something special about one another.

Call it what you will, but I personally always felt like I knew Jack-Peter since the beginning. Something in me wanted to protect him and show him love. I always knew that I would play a significant role in his life, and him in mine. He’s always been there for me, and I for him. It was this instant mutual understanding, though we’re complete opposites, we couldn’t stop wanting to be together in some way.

The hour after our wedding ceremony at the Aria!

5. We got married as teens!

Crazy, right? In the moment, it just made sense, and it still does today. It honestly happened in the spur of the moment, but we knew we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives, so why not now? We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it felt so right. Our “honeymoon” phase didn’t happen, our first year of newlyweds was the most difficult year to date. We thought we weren’t going to make it, but through many conversations and being vulnerable, we fought through it all. Honestly, it was just a lot of disagreements on different values, religion, and social issues, but now we agree on almost everything. Both him and I have shown one another fresh perspectives on many things and have grown a lot since then. It just takes an open-mind, respect, and communication. Did you take note of that? That is part of the secret to our relationship.

In our first home, probably the first month Joel and Ellie met. This picture still perfectly depicts how they are today, aha!

6. We don’t have any kids yet, just fur babies for now.

When we first got married, we agreed that we’d wait to have kids five years into our marriage. Guess what? It has been nine years, hahah, and we have zero kids. We are actually really enjoying our time together and are very pre-occupied with our newest baby - our fashion house. Add to that, two fur babies at home, Ellie (8-year old Italian Greyhound) and Joel (8-year old Great Dane), yeah, we’re going to wait a little longer, but have agreed that if we’re blessed with a child, we will happily accept them. I would personally like to have at least one child before turning thirty, just because it reduces several health risks in regards to cancer. (Don’t quote me, it’s what doctors say, haha). But in the case of bearing children, their names are ready. If we have a girl, her name shall be Genevieve Rose Guior, and if we have a boy, I personally think his name will be Valentine Alan Guior. Unless upon meeting them, we feel like these names aren’t fitting, this is what we have so far!

Pictured with Monina and my dad, Victor, from a Christmas Party a couple years ago. Photo courtesy of Jack-Peter Guior (@GuiorPhotography).

(I have to give a shoutout to Monina Guior (aka Monona Rider), our third pup, who we put down on Valentine's Day this year. She was the sweetest most loyal, loving, and grumpy old lady. She lived to be 18 years old and was a beautiful light brown poodle. I miss her to pieces, and wanted to honor her life being mentioned here.)

7. We absolutely love The Office with Steve Carrell. (Spoiler Alert)

It’s so silly and raw, the humor is unlike anything else without any restrictions. Every single character draws out a different personality in Jack and I, they’re just so relatable, especially Jim and Pam, of course. Their relationship always makes us tear up, it tends to draw us back to all of our “firsts” - when we first fell in love, when we first got married, when we first argued...it’s just our go-to show for whenever we’re working in our atelier or just need some background noise. It’s the first show we ever watched together, and possibly the last.

8. We always kiss each other good night.

Yup, this is entirely true. For every single day of being married for nine years, we have always kissed each other good night. We finally broke our streak a couple years ago, when Jack-Peter went to my older brother’s bachelor party in Denver, Colorado. It felt so strange and empty, it made me love nights with Jack-Peter that much more. Also, an important note about this, Jack-Peter makes it a point to never go to sleep mad at each other, something my parents also taught me. I can be a stubborn person, so I’m sure it was instilled in me for a reason. 

9. We always prepare each other’s toothbrush.

Whether it be morning or night, whoever goes to brush their teeth first, takes care of the other person’s toothbrush, too. This means wetting it and adding toothpaste, haha, it’s very simple, but we both love the gesture so much. Now that we have separate sinks, we have separate toothpastes instead of just sharing one, so I joke there’s a wedge growing between us and Jack-Peter just laughs it off, haha.

Picture of Jack-Peter and Flor de Liz on a NYC subway train. Photo courtesy of Miguel Cortes (@iammiguelcortes).

10. We are complete opposites, merging into one.

He likes it cold, I like it warm. I like loud music, he doesn’t. He loves coffee, I love tea. His favorite is classic rap, mine is urban Latino. He’s goofy, I’m serious. He’s an extrovert, I’m an introvert. I’m yin, he’s yang. I’m a Gemini, he’s a Capricorn. I’m air, he’s earth. He’s a realist, I’m a dreamer (though some would call it being a visionary, haha). You get the point, the list goes on and on. In many ways, I push him (sometimes a little too hard) to do his best possible, and he brings me down to reality. Both him and I compliment one another and find mutual respect for each other. I believe this is why our first year was so tough, we were forcing one another to be someone we weren’t. We’ve learned to give one another space and trust, but to be honest, we love being together as much as possible, aha. That doesn’t mean that we interact with one another 24/7, as many would think, it just means that we’re either in each other’s presence doing our own thing or bonding.

11. We try to laugh as much as possible.

Whether it be at dumb, corny jokes, silly things we do, or memes we find online, we try to not take ourselves so seriously. Laughing is a natural medicine often overlooked, but Jack and I love to make each other laugh. When it’s just him and I alone, I become extremely goofy, haha, it’s so bad sometimes. The faces he makes when I say or do things are priceless, hahaha, I wish I could take a picture of him every time he reacts. He gets me with his cliché puns that I absolutely love and that silly behavior he does to get me to laugh, hahaha, he knows just how to get to me and I’ll forever be thankful.

If you're reading this, I love you, baby! Thanks for being my partner in life and in the business, it's been one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Cheers to us, our love, health, and happiness!