Noel and Sylvia's Home Page

There is nothing quite like the moment when a relationship turns romantic.
I am lucky enough to be a headhunter. I met Noel in an interview, as I was searching for the Director of MIS, for the esteemed Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, a very large and conservative law firm.

This position was giving me great angst because I was having trouble finding SOMEONE with the technically diverse (read: technically impossible) background they were looking for. At the time I was fairly new to that search firm, and I was basically desperate for a candidate. Well, one day the angels were smiling on me and in walks Noel, with the perfect background and a great sense of humor. Thinking back on it all, it’s no wonder we are getting married. As my great friend and colleague Alexa Alvarez will attest, there is nothing quite like meeting THE PERFECT CANDIDATE. And he really was.

I was so very happy to know Noel in the beginning, I kept the channel of communication WIDE OPEN between us. He had my attention 100%. When he emailed me about interview scheduling, I would jump to that reply key. His references were complete, I could recite his resume history without looking, and I was well aware he had more than one opportunity on the table so I wanted to keep him happy. I knew he was single, REALLY cute, and we got along REALLY well, but that was not my focus for this strangely energetic Canadian.

In less than a week Noel called to tell me he had accepted an alternate position at Chiron and was turning down Pillsbury. Slowly, after I hung up, I came to the realization that Noel was no longer "my candidate" he was fair game—a single, employed, technically astute professional, with a strong resume, and I had done his references myself. The day was looking up.

Drinks turned to dinner, dinner turned to day trips, and suddenly I was falling in love. From that first date my sense of time was thrown out the window. My weekends were awhirl with re-learning my homeland through the eyes of a resident alien. I entered the land of in love dementia where every moment was spent either with Noel, thinking about Noel, or talking about Noel. After a while even the unusually flashy Camaro he was driving seemed strangely endearing. (Thank Heavens it’s gone but still…) I slowly began to learn a TON about Canada, and realized that I needed this hyper and spontaneous man around me all the time.