In Bed with NYC’s Most Adorable Couple

R’el Dade and Marcus Lloyd are one ridiculously adorable couple. The two models moved to New York City six years ago from Texas to pursue their dream in the industry. Last year, they started a blog that combines their shared passion for photography, restaurants and great decor: This is The Place I Was Telling You About. Refinery Times got cozy with the stylish, goal-oriented, still very much-in-love pair.

Refinery: How did you meet and how long have you been dating?

R’el: We met in 2006 when we were both modeling for a Giorgio Armani show in Dallas. I was a teenager. My mom dropped me off, and I spotted this guy. I called my mother and told her that there’s this hot guy here, and he could take me home. My mom spoke with our agents, who vouched for him. We bonded over Death Cab for Cutie. I plugged in my auxiliary cord, and we’ve been friends ever since.

Marcus: But then we started dating.

R: We started dating when I moved to New York. We were friends for three years first. He moved to New York right after I met him, and he’s the one who convinced me to come to the city. When I came here, he was the only person I knew. We started hanging out a lot, and then we started dating. We’ve been together for six-and-a-half years now.

Refinery: What made you start blogging together?

R: I wanted to start a fashion blog with my sister. She lives in Dallas and goes to school so it was difficult, but we tried anyway. Marcus was taking all of the pictures. My sister wasn’t participating as much as we wanted her to, so we thought let’s do something together. Why don’t we do something that we love instead of spending our time on something that seems forced?

Refinery: Where did the name “This is The Place I Was Telling You About” come from?

M: The name was stashed in our notes. It was supposed to be the name of the fashion boutique shop we open up when we move back to Dallas some day.

Refinery: How do you plan content for the blog?

M: Every Sunday we have a meeting to map out our week.

R: And then we just go. We try to have one coffee or food shot a day.

M: It’s good to have some kind of structure for the week. Monday we’ll head to Brooklyn and hang out there all day. We’ll stop by Toby’s, one of our favorite restaurants for avocado toast and coffee, and a bakery.If either of us has a casting during the week, we’ll plan to meet up in that neighborhood and do some exploring. Sunday night is for chilling, watching shows and planning.

R: We have our meeting while watching HBO’s Shameless, actually! The other night I had chicken wings, and I was just going to town during our meeting.

Refinery: Where has been your favorite trip together?

R: We went to Playa del Carmen for a birthday party last year, and decided we might as well extend the trip and go to Tulum. After partying really hard in Playa del Carmen, we drove an hour to Tulum and stayed there for two days. I wish we had stayed for two weeks. It’s definitely been our best trip so far. We had clay massages and relaxed on the beach. We stayed in this really cute hut with no internet. We disconnected from everything, and it was just the two of us. It was perfect.

M: We walked the streets barefoot. It was so chill and relaxed.

Refinery: Important question: who gets the window seat?

R: Marcus! He never lets me get the window seat. Even if I have it on my ticket. He’s always like, “No, no, I get the window seat.”

M: Riding bitch is just not a good look. It’s really painful.

Refinery: Any tips on traveling together?

M: Wake up early. Try to map out the trip as much as possible—especially if you’re trying to do photo shoots. We like to really dig deep into cities.

R: We have an itinerary before we leave. We’re going to Nashville soon, and we have 14 restaurants lined up already.

M: It’s a soft itinerary, and we are definitely flexible.

R: Sometimes I find myself getting overwhelmed with all of the things that we want to do, but then I remember, let’s make sure we have fun and enjoy.

Refinery: What do you love most about each other?

M: I’m going to go first. R’el is super caring and passionate. She picks up on those feelings I lack sometimes. She’s always thinking about other people. She brings the emotion and the feeling.

R: Marcus is super funny. He’s also really creative. Sometimes I’ll be over a situation, and he’ll always push me. He’s very encouraging. Every morning he says, “We can do this! We can do this!” We have this new ritual now where in the morning, we tell each other our goals and what we want for the day.

Refinery: What was the best date you have been on?

M: Our best date would be when we went to Homestead On The Roof restaurant in Chicago. We felt like we had actually escaped for a minute. The food was incredible, and so was the service.

R: For me, it was Valentine’s Day four years ago. I was working in Los Angeles, and I took a redeye to New York and got back in the middle of the night. When I got to the apartment,, Marcus ran a bath for me. There were candles, and he made food. It was almost three in the morning and all I could think was “this is really, really nice.”

M: It was so cheesy!

R: It was kind of perfect, though.