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It was an unseasonably muggy day for mid-May in Pittsburgh when Allie and Steve met for the first time at Gristhouse (hands down the best brewery in tahn). It was their dogs, Stella and Georgie, who found each other first, but it was not love at first sight. To calm the pups down, they took a couple laps around the block before re-entering the brewery. Hours go by, beers are consumed and the conversation flowed (Allie had finally met someone who talked as much as she did). Minutes turned into hours and the hours turned into dinner time, so Steve invited Allie (and Stella, of course) back to his place for a cookout with his roommates. Little did Allie know that she’d be walking into a backyard of more than just roommates...there were siblings, girlfriends, fiances, and even other pups. Allie met nearly every important person in Steve’s life with the exception of immediate family. No pressure. Roughly 10 hours later, it was time to wrap up not only the longest first date of their respective lives but the very last first date they would ever have. Unbeknownst to Allie and Steve, ten hours of getting to know one another would turn into a lifetime of hours to cherish together.

It was a humid day in Pittsburgh and I was in line at my favorite brewery with my dog, Georgie. About halfway to the front, I hear Georgie and another dog “interacting” and a pretty blonde girl in big sunglasses say “hey.” We talked casually until I got my drink and I mentioned that since Georgie wasn’t acting his best that I was going to settle in an unoccupied corner of the brewery. Allie and Stella followed us. Georgie and Stella love each other now, but we had to force them to coexist that afternoon. At some point around dinner I had to leave for a cookout with friends at my place. We have people over all the time, and I really enjoyed their company, so I invited Allie and Stella. To my surprise, they came and really hit it off with everyone there. Even more of a surprise is that they stayed until the crowd started thinning. I walked them to Allie’s car and she kept postponing getting in. After a few minutes, I gave her our first kiss. She thanked me for kissing her and it capped off my longest, best, last first date.

It was just your ordinary Thursday when Allie and Steve had planned to go out for happy hour after work. Work was insane for both, Steve was getting into the thick of football season and the couple wanted to enjoy a night out. Allie was returning from a day trip to Cleveland for client meetings and rather than go straight to happy hour, she asked Steve to meet up a little later than planned (after two and a half hours in the car, the last thing Allie wanted to do was get back in the car and sit in parkway traffic). About one hour later Allie picked up Steve from the office but rather than go straight to Gristhouse, Steve wanted to take a detour to the North Shore to check out an “art installation.” It was sort-of on the way and Allie thought nothing of it because Steve’s coworker Bob had recommended it (and that was a very typical thing for Bob to say). Roughly ten minutes into this “hunt” for the art installation, Allie starts to get short with Steve “are you sure it’s even here,” “did Bob say what it looked like,” etc. (keep in mind she had had a long day and beer was on the mind- it was also getting increasingly hot and anyone who knows Allie knows she doesn’t like to be hot). Steve finally calls it quits and says they must have missed the installation, that it must have already been taken down, so he initiates the walk back to the car. Not even ten steps and Steve all of a sudden sees it! Allie shouts “where” and Steve says “turn back here,” so she does only to find him down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He asks, she says “are you sure” and he asks again, and she says “are you really sure?” He asks once more, she says yes. They hug. They kiss. She cries, he lets out a sigh of relief, and then they decide it’s time for a beer.

It was Thursday, August 1, 2019. I had the ring and the plan. I was going to ask Allie to marry me on the North Shore before taking her to our favorite brewery, where we met, after work. I also invited family and friends in the Pittsburgh area to meet us at the brewery. Yes or no, I was drinking. The work day started to near the end and Allie was driving home from Ohio. I told her to pick me up downtown and we’ll have a few beers for a date night. My buddies at work, who are all married, laughed and had fun at my expense as I was insanely nervous. Allie asked if she could postpone for an hour so she could rest before going out. I said yes and prayed that this would all work out. About this time, it dawned on me that I didn’t have a plan for the actual proposal. My buddy Bob said to blame him for something dumb, so I came up with this pop art display by the stadiums where Allie liked to ride her bike. When she picked me up I was thrilled that she had clothes on that she wouldn’t mind being pictured in, and I was trying to not give away how anxious I was. We got the North Shore and we finally found a break in joggers and other passerbys. Before she got too upset at Bob for sending us on a wild goosechase, I popped the question. She said yes and we called her parents and then met up with the surprise guests at the brewery.