We met through mutual friends in Kalamazoo, Michigan at a Halloween party in 2009. Throughout the entire party we somehow kept gravitating towards one another and striking up conversations sharing interests in music and the pumpkin dip that I made. Sidenote: Erik was sure to tell me numerous times that he does not like pumpkin or cinnamon but that he liked the dip I made, so I took that as a compliment... but also figured that could be his way of flirting too. At the end of the party Erik looked at me and said, “Get ahold of me somehow” before walking out the door. Later that day, I did a search on Facebook and sent Erik a friend request. Our first date was the following Wednesday at J Gardella’s Tavern where I picked him up for our date! LOL! Through some ups and downs, we haven’t been able to leave each other’s side and are ready for our next adventure. Oh, yeah, and have not been to another Halloween party since.

Erik and I were in Austin, Texas for the Austin City Limits Music Festival and on our first full day we made the trip to the Hope Outdoor Gallery which is an outdoor location where street artists go to display their art. From the top you get a pretty amazing view of the downtown. It was hot but I was excited to get to the top and kick off the start of our 3-day adventure in Austin. Erik stopped halfway up because he wanted to get his camera out and get some pictures. I found out afterwards the ring was also in his camera bag. As we were standing at the top Erik turns to me and starts talking and honestly I blanked out and just started saying “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said “Yes!!” and immediately started crying. Thank goodness for sunglasses! People nearby started cheering and came up and congratulated us. When we left the graffiti park, we spent the drive to the Kimpton Van Zandt calling and texting our closest family and friends and then put the phones away when we got to ACL! So it seemed only right to take the party back to Austin and celebrate with you!