08.14.2021

In late May 2015, we matched on the dating app, Hinge, and after a few messages back and forth, we made plans to meet up. On June 3, 2015, we finally met at the Board Room in DuPont Circle in Washington, DC and had a nice evening playing Battleship and Guess Who. After a few hours, we parted ways with intentions to meet again but week after week, our schedules weren't matching up and soon enough, our efforts to see each other again fizzled. Four months later, on the way to a Halloween party, I accidentally sent a SnapChat video of my unicorn costume to Russell. I was embarrassed since we hadn't spoken but to my surprise, I received an immediate response back. Finally, on November 18, we met for a long-overdue second date and have been going on dates ever since.

Every month, we take turns planning out a 'surprise' date for the other person. April was Russell's month and he hyped it up quite a bit -- telling me to get a new outfit for the occasion and to be ready by 10:00 AM. I thought we might be going on some fancy brunch cruise downtown but when our Uber dropped us off in front of the lake, I kept thinking, "Boats don't pick up people right here. Where are all of the people?". Ignoring my confusion, I asked Russell if we could stop and take a picture of the skyline since it was such a nice day and he suggested he grab a photo of me looking out at the water. When I turned around, he was down on one knee. He gave a wonderful speech, which apparently, I kept interrupting to say 'yes' over and over again (I must've blacked out because I don't recall this at all!). Sure enough, Russell outdid himself and shortly after, a photographer, who had been 'hidden' on the beach to capture the moment, revealed herself to take a few more shots of us.