It was a very boozy “Galentines Day” night sitting at a bar in NYC when Erin’s best friend, Ana, finally convinced her to put herself out there and download Hinge. “It’ll be fun! We’ll create your profile together and laugh at all the weirdos!”, Ana joked. The following morning, Erin saw Joel for the very first time- a bright smile, glasses, and a very cute dog (shoutout Moose!) caught her eye. As she scrolled, she saw a picture of Kanye West (of course) and decided to open conversation with “You look good here!”. Immediately, she received a response of “You look good here too!” on the photo of her Halloween costume dressed as Food Network's Guy Fieri. It was love at first laugh… Joel was enjoying a low-key solo Valentine's day, when his phone sent its most important push notification to date - a new message on Hinge. As he scrolled down the page, a combination of Erin's smile and Joel's background in computer science might have had him believe he was looking at a fake profile (too good to be true, right?) were it not for the amazing Guy Fieri costume photo that you can't help but smile at. The conversation for the next week was constant and free-flowing. Every notification gave Joel butterflies as he learned more about Erin, her kindness, her interests, her sense of humor, and her passions. He had to see her in person, thankfully, she felt the same way. Erin and Joel met soon after they first "matched". A very nervous Joel coming straight from work, (backpack and all), caught eyes with Erin across the crowded bar. As they departed, they shared a kiss. Both in a haze. Erin called her Mom to tell her she had just gone on her “last first date”, and Joel proceeded to get on the wrong train back home. Since then, life for Joel and Erin has only got better. They moved in together, added a crazy dog Frank, and Joel sealed the deal when he proposed to Erin at their favorite restaurant on October 1st, 2021, followed by a very wild surprise party, of course!