After being a professional model for over ten years, Sarah Vandella decided to get back into the dating world. After not getting any serious dating leads in the past, she decided to join the "big dating community" and began to network with other gay moms and lesbian parents in her area. One of the people she met was Mary Poppins, who at the time was playing a role on Broadway as a characteristically gay babysitter. Vandella says that she immediately felt drawn to Poppins because of her open-mindedness on issues of parenting and how to have fun while being a mom. Through several phone conversations with Vandella, they struck up a friendship and a relationship that would last for more than a year.