We met via a dating app, and had about one month of “real world dating” before the pandemic shut everything down. Let’s recap some of our first dates... First date, Dave and Buster’s (an arcade bar) on February 15th Her story: I was impressed by Anthony’s attentiveness the day before our first date- Valentine’s Day, and the day that he was out with friends celebrating someone’s birthday. Despite clearly having an excuse to not text me all day, I was flattered that Anthony took the time to keep our conversation going. On our first date we had some late lunch/ early dinner and then I proceeded to kick Anthony’s butt at nearly every game we played. He denies that he lost to me THAT many times, but the only games he bested me at were basketball and air hockey. I won’t take the time to list all the games I won... At the end of the date, Anthony walked me to my car where we said goodnight. When I returned home from the date, I remember telling my cousin (and roommate at the time) Rebecca how that was EXACTLY how I expected a successful first date to feel. His story: I still remember walking into the Dave and Busters and seeing Tori for the first time. That moment is burned into my brain, sometimes you can tell when meeting someone just how incredible they are. I proposed an arcade bar for our first date thinking it would be fun to go back and forth in some of the classics, little did I realize that I was about to get schooled for most of the evening as Tori racked up victory after victory! To give her credit, she is gracious in victory and didn’t gloat too much. It didn’t take long to realize that this girl was special, and I was absolutely interested in a second date. I invited her over to dinner later that week and my heart leapt when she agreed! I love to host and cook for people and getting a chance to show Tori a good evening was an honor I wasn’t going to take lightly 😊 Second date, Anthony cooks dinner Her story: I was pleasantly surprised with Anthony’s initiative as he suggested we do dinner at his place for our second date. I arrived at Anthony’s, and he greeted me in a nice outfit layered with his Oregon Ducks apron. We chatted as he cooked dinner, insisting that I was not to lift a finger to help. I carefully studied his technique in the kitchen, and quickly realized that he held his own. Not really needing timers, just relying on his instinctive abilities surely passed on by his Nonna and mom. So, I had a guy who can cook; sounded good to me! Dinner went well, with conversation flowing easily (and a delicious family recipe). I remember after dinner Anthony shared a photo album of the time he and his dad hiked to the Everest base camp. It was quite an impressive story. All in all, a great second date! His story: Tuesday, February 18th – 6:00 PM The Menu: - Sicilian style pan-fried chicken breast - Roasted asparagus with olive oil and rosemary - Roasted potatoes I don’t believe we had any wine that night since it was a Tuesday, but I had a bottle of Oregon pinot just in case! The conversation flowed all night and time slipped away as we got to know each other. I was blown away by Tori, she was exceptionally kind, incredibly brilliant, and damn good looking too! She is absolutely the type of girl you write home about, and I knew we could have something special. We continued seeing each other regularly, having some other dates downtown at the Franklin Institute and Reading Terminal Market and going out to dinner. After our 4th date everything shut down in March 2020, and our dates became a blur of dinner and a movie, hikes, and other simple things we could do. But we couldn't have been locked down with anyone better!

His Story: Tori had introduced me to the Finger Lakes region of western New York early in our relationship, we had been up there many times for wine weekends and a wedding earlier in the year. It is one of our favorite spots, but we hadn’t spent any time up there with just the two of us. I knew I wanted to propose on a trip we could take together, and the Finger Lakes is so beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn for the season. I chose Dr. Konstantin Frank because its tasting room had an incredible view of Keuka Lake. The period leading up to the proposal all blurred together, I didn’t prepare anything specific to say. I knew I wouldn’t remember and just wanted to tell Tori how much I love her and how amazing it is to be together. Hearing her say yes made me the happiest man in the world and I cannot wait to share the future together! Her Story: I was so excited for our quiet trip to the Finger Lakes! (I'm now realizing 2.5 years into our relationship that I definitely want to prioritize these trips that are "just the two of us" because they make our relationship that much stronger.) Anyway, back to the good stuff... We started our day at Dr. Konstantine Frank (lovingly referred to as Dr. Frank by my family). It was early November, the air was crisp, and the leaves were perfectly at their peak color. We had a great tasting, decided on a couple bottles of wine to bring home, and went out to the deck overlooking the lake with a couple glasses of wine to enjoy the last bit of sunlight. Anthony had certainly been... off... the whole time we were at Dr. Frank. (I could tell he was nervous!) After some small talk on the deck with our view (and the hospitality coordinator convincing another couple that she had something interesting for them inside- go Holly!), Anthony turned the conversation toward things he loved about me. I honestly couldn't tell you much of what was said because my mind went blank. But the next thing I knew, Anthony was asking me to marry him and I of course said yes!