She liked him a latte.
A smitten Starbucks barista found love in the cashier line after she laid eyes on one lucky fella and etched her number on his holiday cappuccino cup.
Now, they’re married.
Samantha Hildebrandt, now 26, was working part-time at the cafe chain while in college, only ever greeting her future hubby, Robbie Hildebrandt, in passing.
However, one day in 2016, he struck up a conversation, asking her about her Thanksgiving break.
“I was so happy. I think our conversation gave me the confidence to pursue him, so I wrote my number on his coffee cup,” Samantha, from Ocean City, New Jersey, told Kennedy News.
“I wrote my number with a sharpie and he texted me that night. The rest is history.”
The couple met by chance in a Starbucks that Robbie frequented. Eric Hance/Kennedy News
The couple tied the knot in 2021. Kennedy News and Media
Samantha and Robbie always exchanged a casual “hi” and “bye” when she made his coffee. Kennedy News and Media
She feels “very lucky” that Robbie — who she now calls the love of her life — happened to see her cell scrawled on the paper cup, otherwise “I don’t know if we’d be together today.”
“I felt so excited and hopeful for the future,” she said. “I just felt like it was the start of something amazing, I had a feeling about that.”
Robbie, now 33, took her to a nice Italian restaurant for their first date, and Samantha recalls feeling “loved” and “cared for” immediately.
“The first proper date was very cute, I felt special. I’d never once been taken on a date and been treated that way,” she explained.
Five years after their “fated” meet-cute in 2016, the couple said “I brew,” tying the knot in an intimate ceremony.
They even incorporated their unlikely meeting, displaying a mason jar full of coffee beans labeled “the perfect blend.”
Later that day after Samantha penned her number on his cup, Robbie sent her a text. Kennedy News and Media
The pair’s unlikely meet-cute blossomed into a relationship. Kennedy News and Media
“We balance each other out perfectly, he’s very mellow and the voice of reason,” said Samantha, who co-parents their fur baby, the couple’s beloved cat.
“He balances me out so well, I’m very thankful for him.”
Now, Samantha hopes their story will give other couples a confidence boost and “encourage other women to shoot their shot.”
“You’ve got to go for it, take chances in life and be confident because you never know,” she said.
