We met in the infinite abyss of the NYC dating app pool. One fateful day in early January 2022, I "liked" a picture of Brad's sweet smile, and he struck up a conversation about music. After a couple of exchanges, he asked to meet for drinks, but I was in Florida with family for a few days. Upon my return, Brad asked me out again, but I had arrived home to discover no heat in my apartment and an unresponsive landlord, which prompted an evacuation to stay with family in New Jersey for an undetermined amount of time. Brad, determined as all hell, continued to check in about my arrival back to the city. After one brief Covid scare on my part, we finally set a first date for 1/28/2022. Did Brad ever think that I just didn't want to go out with him? Thankfully not. The bar we met at was too loud, but curious to ask more questions, I agreed to move locations. Brad tested positive for Covid two days after our first date, which meant a second date would have to be delayed at least two weeks. After several check-ins, we were ready to get a second date on the books. The week of 2/13/22 was looking pretty busy for me when I boldly offered my only availability, Valentine's Day, but reassured Brad that there wasn't any pressure to celebrate the "holiday." Brad agreed without hesitation, so we met for drinks again. As conversation carried on, hunger struck, and we marched into the nearest Italian restaurant, decked out in balloons and roses, nearly empty for reasons we were going to ignore, for dinner and wine. By the end of the night, Brad asked me to be his Valentine, and I happily obliged. Being in a mid-distance relationship (the commute from the Upper East Side to Bushwick is no joke), the pace of our initial dates took a while to pick up, until we found ourselves inseparable every weekend, and we made things official that Spring. Fast forward to today, we're living together in Brooklyn, with our baby dog, Susie. We can't wait to tie the knot later this year!