Now it's time for a party!

FEBRUARY 2015 -- Elissa, a starving actress from Jersey, got her first New York bartending job at the seafood restaurant, City Crab. On her second training shift, she met Brian (the seasoned bartender with very attractive facial hair), who told her, "If she had time to lean, she had time to clean." Upon hearing that, Elissa's first thought was, "What a dork, does this guy have OCD?" Her second was, "My mom would definitely approve." Now the story could have ended there, since both Elissa and Brian were off the market at this point, but of course, it doesn't. As the months rolled on, Brian constantly poked fun at Elissa with his dry (or as she put it, "he's kind of a d*ck") sense of humor, critiquing her mixology abilities and judging her whiskey choices. He'd rip on her at karaoke when she couldn't sing the lyrics to the songs she picked out (in her defense, Travelin' Band is a lot faster when you're a couple cocktails in), and couldn't stop laughing when he heard she was 2 hours late to work one morning after they stayed out till 5am. [Now in hindsight, she's sure he must have been flirting]. But it wasn't until Thanksgiving, that things took a romantic turn. Brian was home in Massachusetts for the holiday, and Elissa's sister, Becca had just given birth to her daughter, Lilah, about 25 minutes from where Brian grew up (coincidence? We think not). At about 8pm, Brian's family was napping from turkey overload, and Becca's new family member was taking a little longer in the hospital than planned, so Brian took a trip to South Boston where Elissa, her parents, and her younger sister, Sam, were just hanging around playing board games. Before Elissa could sneak out without her family meeting him, Sam opened the door, yelled, "Are you Brian? Get in here!" And he walked with an entire Thanksgiving dinner waiting for Elissa. They then proceeded to kick her family's butt in Head's Up, he taught her how to play Keno at the local townie bar, and the rest is history.

JUNE 27, 2019 -- Elissa's 30th birthday. They made the plan weeks before to take their two dogs, Dezzy and Cissy, for a walk in Fort Tryon Park and drink Aperol Spritzes. Elissa thought she had planned out the best day ever. Brian however, knew he could one up her. So they walked with 2 dogs, a blanket and cooler to find the perfect spot. Now, Brian had hurt his foot a few days prior kicking a sack of potatoes (email Elissa if you want the details about that one) and Elissa was worried about him, so every time they'd reach a patch of grass or a nice little lookout, she'd ask if it they should set up camp. But Brian would say, let's just keep walking. Now, if you know Brian, you know he loves to sit, so this should have tipped Elissa off, but she remained blissfully unaware, until they got to the main vista, overlooking the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge, and Brian let out a small cry (Brian thinks it was more manly with expletives, but this way sounds more dramatic) and dropped down to grab his foot. By this time they'd walked far enough and Elissa demands to carry the cooler so Brian doesn't make his injury worse. All of a sudden she's down on her knees trying to reorganize their luggage, the dogs are crying and pulling, the June heat is rising, and amidst all the chaos, Brian blurts out, "Would you just do me a favor and hold this for a second." ...And then she sees it. He's referring to a box with the most beautiful ring in it. He went on to say a bunch of amazing and super mature things and she said, "YES!!!!!" after he reminded her to answer, because she was so blown away she was speechless (I know, first time that's ever happened in her whole life). "It was Grammy's ring," He told her later, and Elissa knew having the heirloom of such a legendary matriarch was a real honor. "You know, I had a Grammy too," she said.