Alan and Scarlett Longstreet on Weathering Love, Marriage and Kids (2024)

Their love story begins with leaving Michigan and moving in together after just four dates. Then they got tattoos they could easily come to regret. Thankfully, there's no remorse.

"We were crazy, wild, and young," says Fox 2 Detroit meteorologist Alan Longstreet. "And, as if the move wasn't stupid enough, we went and got our names tattooed on each other a couple months later."

Now, 12 years and three kids later, Alan, 36, and his wife Scarlett Longstreet, 34, a content creator with a significant social media following, find themselves navigating a relationship consumed by parenting.

Despite the difficulties, they're embracing the rocky journey that took them from barely knowing each other to becoming a power couple living, working, and raising three young girls in metro Detroit.

After meeting through mutual friends, the pair had their first date in April 2010. It was a month before college graduation. Alan was studying meteorology at Central Michigan University, and Scarlett was about to earn a bachelor's in psychology from Indiana University South Bend. They picked a restaurant in Grand Rapids because it was a good halfway point — 90 minutes for Alan and under two hours for Scarlett.

When they got there, Alan parallel parked Scarlett’s car, then they shared several small plates and a few pitchers of Sangria at San Chez Bistro. After dinner they walked to Founders Brewing Co. to meet up with Alan’s older sister.

"I guess between the Sangria, being in the city he grew up in, and having his sister for support, Alan felt quite comfortable and decided to smoke a cigarette or two. Despite my aversion to tobacco, and a first date that morphed into me third wheeling a brother-sister hangout, I was enamored enough by his intelligence and humor to want to see him again," Scarlett says.

Alan recalls an evening of easy conversation and fun. He knew immediately that he wanted to see her again. After the date, he says he spent “way too long strategizing” with his sister about when he should text Scarlett and what he should say.

By July, Alan and Scarlett were living together in West Virginia, where Alan had accepted a position as a meteorologist with a local television station. Scarlett, still unsure of her career path, got a job managing an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

Had the couple known each other longer, Scarlett says they would have likely cultivated a long-distance relationship instead of immediately moving out of state together. However, not wanting to be in a long-distance relationship with someone she just met, she moved with him.

After a year and a half in West Virginia, Alan started his current position as a weatherman in Detroit. But, shortly after the move in 2012, the couple broke up because, according to Scarlett, the pressure Alan felt from his career leap into a larger television market made her feel like he was cold and emotionally unavailable.

Scarlett then moved to Bridgman, the small town in southwest Michigan where she grew up. She worked as a bartender and taught psychology at a community college while taking classes toward a master's degree in social work.

Meanwhile, Alan reignited his high school passion for being on stage.

"What do you do when you break up? You either cry for a month or you do something. I did something. I buried my sorrow and auditioned at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak," he says.

Alan describes his career as a meteorologist as the perfect way to combine his interests in science and performing. Plus, he jokes, pursuing a career in meteorology was more realistic than moving to Hollywood and becoming an actor.

While Alan was burying his sorrows with acting, Scarlett was enjoying her time in Bridgman, which she describes as “the quintessential everyone-knows-everything-about-your-life kind of town.” “But what's really nice about my town is that it's on Lake Michigan,” she says. “So it's absolutely beautiful. I spent every summer of my childhood, all day, every day on that beach."

While it sounds like an idyllic upbringing, it wasn't.

"My parents were both addicts. With that came a lot of strife in their relationship and a lot of instability in my childhood," she says.

When Scarlett was in middle school, her father was arrested for breaking into a neighbor's house.

"The fallout from that was so embarrassing. Many parents treated me as an extension of my father's and my mother's poor choices. That also compounded with the grief of having parents who loved me very much but could not emotionally care for me or financially provide for me," says Scarlett, who left home at 16.

Her father passed away from a drug overdose in 2018, and her mother has been sober for several years.

After the breakup in 2012, Scarlett's time in Bridgman was short-lived because the couple rebuilt the foundation of what they now describe as a solid, loving relationship.

In May 2013, Alan proposed at the top of the rugged dunes of Warren Dunes State Park, overlooking Lake Michigan.

Once engaged, Scarlett rejoined Alan in the Detroit area, and in 2014 they married at a resort in Mexico, surrounded by family and friends.

Ironically, both say they share little in common but feel it's hardly a deterrent in their relationship.

"She loves music. I prefer podcasts. She has an exquisite palette. I microwave my eggs," Alan says.

"In terms of hobbies and interests, we don't align on much, but our values are the same. Our politics are the same. We see the world in a similar way, and that's really important to me. We may not have a lot in common, but he really has such a strong character that it makes me a better person in a way because I want to be like that too, and it pushes me," Scarlett says.

Scarlet says she was drawn to Alan’s charisma, intelligence, and humor. Plus, she loves how he gives others the benefit of the doubt, never assuming the worst in anyone.

Alan adds, “I found her to be a delightfully funny writer. Super witty and quick, a lot to like there. Her blindingly good looks didn't hurt.”

The couple is on the same page when it comes to parenting their three young girls.

When their oldest daughter, Holiday, now 7, was born, Scarlett was bartending at One-Eyed Betty’s in Ferndale. She stayed there until 2018 when she got pregnant with their now 4-year-old twins, Goldie and Wyatt. She also began blogging about marriage and parenthood around the time Holiday was born.

Now, instead of blogging, she interacts with her followers through Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, sharing thoughts about marriage and motherhood along with her passion for pop culture on Instagram — @scarlettlongstreet — and on Twitter —@Scarlettposner. Her musings can also be found on Facebook at I'm That Wife: Marriage & Motherhood and @imthatwife on Instagram.

She's also back in school, working toward a master's in educational psychology in an online program at Eastern Michigan University.

Alan didn't have to move to California for the opportunity to appear on the big screen and eventually landed a few roles through his earlier involvement at Stagecrafters. His most notable film would have been Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), where he played a news anchor. Unfortunately, the footage was cut.

He also landed a leading role in Kid Brother, an award-winning 2017 indie film made in Detroit and streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. He had smaller parts in Buzzard (2014) and New Money (2017) — Michigan-made films found on Amazon Prime — and also in Pinbox (2021) and A Holiday I Do (not yet released).

Alan’s schedule has him up at 2:30 a.m. and home by noon, making it challenging for the couple to find alone time, but allowing him to play an active role in raising their girls.

When the Longstreets aren't working (or studying), family time includes outdoor activities. As frequent park-goers, their favorites include Garbutt Park in Ferndale, Heritage Park in Farmington Hills, and Belle Isle in Detroit.

Scarlett says she takes time to pursue her own interests, too, exploring the Detroit restaurant scene with friends and taking daily walks. Alan says he doesn't devote much time to hobbies and interests, although he works out daily (noting that the gym offers two hours of free childcare). He also loves the outdoors and frequently spends time outside with his daughters.

As a couple, time together involves agreeing on a show or a movie they both like or a very rare dinner out. The fun, Alan says, is when they can joke and laugh together.

"When we are laughing, all is right in the world. When we do this and put the stresses of parenthood out of our minds for a minute, that's the magic. It would be false to characterize our relationship as all fun and playful. It's fun and playful when we're at our best. It's just those moments are kind of sucked up by those kids for now."