“I have zero ‘gay-dar’,“ Kimmie Michie laughs. ”I can’t tell when people are interested. I’m usually the last one to get it.”

Fortunately for Kimmie, Christy Sanders didn’t suffer from the same misfortune.

“It was instant love for me,“ Christy said. ”She was sitting on the floor of the den, but the thing that struck me was that she was crying.”

It was the night of the Black and White Party and a mutual friend threw a soiree, inadvertently providing the ladies the opportunity to meet.

Kimmie, however, wasn’t in the partying mood.

“She was upset, and I wanted to hug her and fix it,” said Christy. But she only admired Kimmie from afar. “I was with someone, and so was she. It was very taboo.”

Over time, they both became single again, and the once-forbidden mutual attraction flowered. Soon, the pair began to date.

“I was in love and willing to do anything,“ says Christy.

A commitment to one another also meant a commitment to supporting each other’s dreams.

Christy sat for hours in the “smokehole” of Kimmie’s newly opened restaurant, watching her new love hard at work.

“Kimmie’s a very serious chef and the fastest chopper you’ve ever seen,” explains Christy.

However, proximity to one that is skilled does not a skill make.

“Anytime she picks up a knife,“ Kimmie says, ”I’m like, ‘please, don’t cut your hand off!’”

To Kimmie, what Christy lacks in culinary agility, she makes up for with her entertainment expertise.

“I will be in the kitchen,” Kimmie explains, “and she’s out there dealing with the people—something I am terrible at.”

A self-proclaimed “life of the party,” Christy is thrilled to oblige. “I don’t do anything half-assed,“ she says.

After five years of cooking and entertaining from their separate homes, the couple decided it was time to buy a house together.

“This is unusual for ‘our people.’ Most move in together after a few weeks,“ said Christy. ”But Kim was really firm that we were going to wait before we set up house together. So, we waited.”

Once the plans were in motion to buy a house, it didn’t take long to make a decision. They bought the very first house they looked at.

“The first time that we saw that house, Kim said, ‘This is it.’“ Christy remembers. ”I said that we needed to look at five more houses. But every house we looked at, we’d pull up to the curb and she would say, ‘I hate it.’”

The ‘Kimmie-approved’ house has now become a home, and the two have been happily entertaining and cooking in it for the last ten years.

Pictured: Christy Sanders (left) and Kimmie Michio (right). Photo by Rebekah Greiman.

This article was originally posted December 5, 2010