Carissa and Connor met the old-fashioned way - OKCupid. In May 2014, Carissa messaged a handsome man while tipsy in Las Vegas. Connor wrote back, using the word "charming" no less than four times in his response. Despite this, she wrote to him again and after messaging back and forth for a few weeks, they said hello face to face for the first time on June 6, 2014: D-Day. Meeting in the shadow of Stanford White's classical arch and pillars in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza, they enjoyed a long walk through Prospect Park. Carissa noted that Connor was attentive and a good listener - except when he freaked out upon coming across the Camperdown Elm Tree - a famous arboreal feature of the Park that Connor had never seen. Connor could not help but immediately notice Carissa's obvious beauty but by the end of the night he saw much more than her single dimple and smiling eyes. She was mature and responsible (probably moreso than him), kind-hearted and good-natured, and just as gently misanthropic as Connor. Most importantly, she actually laughed at all of his jokes, no matter how terrible, and it wasn't even laughing to be polite. She seemed to actually enjoy the stupid jokes. They both realized they had found a like-minded, similarly different person, they wanted to get to know.

Dead Horse Bay is the site of both a historical miracle and ecological disaster. It's also one of Connor and Carissa's favorite date spots. Named for the rendering facilities that once lined the shore, one can still find discarded animal bones once used in everything from paper-making to JELLO. In the 1950s it was used as a dumping ground for demolished homes and much of their contents that were cleared to make way for a highway in South Brooklyn. Connor and Carissa have spent many hours there, sifting through the sand to discover bottles, toys, shoes, and other remnants of a world long past. It was here on June 17, 2018, where after 4 years of terrible jokes, bar visits, bottle digging, antique shopping and dog walking Connor asked Carissa to join their lives into one. She said yes.

Date nights may consist of a fancy cocktail and expensive appetizers or a glass of boxed wine and a frozen pizza. Neither is any better than the other as long as you get to do it with the person you love.