Cheers to a Unique Love Story at Santacon!
In a delightful twist of fate, two strangers found love at Santacon.
Mike Krall and Rosalie Gandarillas crossed paths at a lively event in Manhattan back in 2021 and now, they’ve tied the knot.
The couple, both 26, first met at the Beer Authority in Times Square, which marked the final stop of a festive bar crawl while donning Christmas-themed attire.
Gandarillas recalls wearing a “not-so-great dress from Target” and using Krall’s “Santa Claus with a Jack” sweater as an icebreaker.
“I told him, ‘I like your tacky sweater,’” she reminisced. “Before I knew it, we were chatting away.”
As they talked, they discovered they shared more than just a taste for quirky outfits. Amid the fun chaos, hints of Christmas magic flickered between them.
“He mentioned being one of five kids, and I was like, ‘So am I!’. And then he casually said, ‘My birthday’s in August.’ I thought, ‘Wait, me too!'” Gandarillas shared, laughing at the serendipity.
“At one point, I asked him, ‘Who told you that about me?’ He just replied, ‘No one. I’m just talking about you!’
Gandarillas’ sisters snapped photos of their first conversation and kiss, quickly whisking her away to Applebee’s. Krall seized the moment to ask for her number.
Once they separated, Gandarillas couldn’t contain her excitement, exclaiming to his friends, “Oh my god, he’s amazing.”
They retorted, “You’ll never see him again.”
With 190 miles between them—Gandarillas in Farmingville, Long Island, and Krall in Manasquan, New Jersey—that seemed possible.
However, on her train ride home, Gandarillas received a text from Krall. And from that moment, she said, “Not a day went by without a message.”
“We just clicked,” Krall noted. “I mean, we barely even saw each other.”
Gandarillas detailed the lengthy trips between them. “It was about an hour and a half train ride from New Jersey to Penn Station and then another hour and a half to Ronkonkoma, plus driving to and from,” she explained.
Krall was thinking, “She’s great, but it’s a four-hour journey.”
They made a habit of FaceTiming and watching movies together online, hitting play at the same time—even if one of them had to dash for a snack, leading to some paused moments.
Finally, ten months later, they decided to meet in person again, planning a trip to a Mets game after meeting at Penn Station.
“His train got delayed. I thought, ‘Oh no, he’s not coming.’ But when he did show up, my heart was racing—I was so nervous,” Gandarillas remembered, laughing about her Apple Watch’s suggestion that she was exercising.
After they started dating, both decided to pursue teaching careers, enrolling in the NYC Teaching Fellows teacher certification program.
Now living together in Fresh Meadows, they teach high school in Queens.
“I feel a bit guilty saying it, but we really did change our lives to be together,” Gandarillas admitted.
The couple celebrated their engagement at Beer Authority, where it all began, and are looking forward to tying the knot at St. Patrick’s Cathedral next year. They’ve also been invited to this year’s Santacon opening ceremony on December 13.
“The Santa will give a special shout-out to celebrate our love story,” the event organizers mentioned.
Santacon draws in around 30,000 attendees across 25 bars, and the couple feels that fate played a huge role in their meeting.
“Santacon is wild with so many people. It’s pretty special that we found each other there,” Gandarillas said.
