In November 2020 Cat and Cory matched on the dating app Hinge and started a conversation. After some small talk they decided to meet in person for the first time at Lindey’s Lakehouse for drinks in the east bank of the Flats section of downtown Cleveland the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 28th at 6pm. As Cat was getting ready to leave Highland Heights to meet Cory downtown, her dog Chase somehow escaped his outdoor leash and was nowhere to be found. It was dark out and there was no way Cat was going to meet Cory in time, so she sent him a text letting him know about the situation and pushed back the date to 6:30. Cat immediately got into her car and drove down the block to search for Chase. She luckily found him around the corner and Chase jumped into her car and they went back home. Cat arrived at Lindey’s a few minutes early and found a window seat on the back side of the bar, and Cory arrived a few minutes later after spending the prior hours playing online poker and listening to an old Billy Joel concert in the background on his living room TV. After introducing and ordering a drink with the server (Margharita for Cat and Stella for Cory), they talked for hours and were the last ones to leave the restaurant at 10pm closing time. Cory walked Cat up the block where she was visiting some friends that night, and they hugged goodbye. The next day Cory texted Cat asking if she wanted to grab dinner the following week and she agreed. They went to 17 River Grille in Chagrin Falls for their second date, a place they now live a few blocks from and frequent often – it is their favorite restaurant in town. Anyway, a second date led to a third and then a fourth and then a fifth, and the rest was history. Fast forward to Cat’s 29th birthday weekend on a snowy day in early January 2025, Cat and Cory showed up to have a “birthday” brunch at Sapphire Creek (yes, the wedding venue). Cory had made plans with the staff the day before to, upon arrival, take Cat and Cory downstairs to a private room for the unexpected proposal. Plans went smoothly that next afternoon and a photographer and heart shaped petals were waiting in a private area of the ground floor of Sapphire. Cory proposed and Cat said yes!