We met the old fashioned way --- on Hinge. After being pretty fed up with dating apps, I tended to let my "likes" pile up. One night as I was filtering through the same old types of messages, I stopped at a response from "Curl". He had responded to my prompt "Controversial Opinion: Apple jelly is the best type of jelly." His response "Not controversial to me" was pretty unremarkable, but something told me to reply. And am I glad I did. What followed was a conversation that was anything but unremarkable. We talked for a few days and then decided to meet for our first date. On November 27, 2020, we had our first date at Pizza Domenica, which we still revisit every year the day after Thanksgiving to remember our first date. And I guess you could say the rest is history...

We left off with our first date the day after Thanksgiving at Pizza Domenica, a tradition we keep to this day. As time went on, and after the essential "what are we" conversation, it became increasingly apparent that Christina was the one I had to spend the rest of my life with. I suppose at this point I can divulge that I knew this fact earlier than most would like to let on. As our first date had been at "Pizza" Domenica, I thought it only fitting that our first anniversary would have to take place at regular ole Domenica, nestled in the gorgeous Roosevelt Hotel. Now that we'd established a sentimental connection to this location, the seeds were planted for the ideal location for my impending proposal. Great. Now I just need to get her there without her figuring out what's going on. She already knew the proposal was in-bound, she just didn't know exactly when. I was intent on using this to my advantage, so I asked her cousin Katherine to suggest that we visit the Roosevelt to take pictures on the day they lit up their annual Christmas light display (Nov. 29). Katherine was more than happy to invent a fake "cocktail hour" to get us there that fateful Tuesday. We arrived last, after Christina's sister Gabriella, cousin Genevieve and her fiance Tommy, cousin Katherine and her soon-to-be fiance Jake, cousin Liz, and her friend Jessica. After enjoying some less-than-reasonably priced cocktails at the Sazerac Bar, the time had come. We all moseyed out into the lobby to take our pictures. After every other couple had taken theirs, it was time for Christina and I. We posed, and Gen began taking our pictures. I was waiting for everyone else to take their cameras out, so after awkwardly standing there posed for an abnormal amount of time, I said "I think we should take one more." Finally, everyone else took their cameras out as I reached into my pocket, got on one knee, opened the ring box, and blankly stared at Christina. I had planned everything out so well, I had forgotten arguably the most crucial part: actually asking her to marry me. After she exclaimed "oh my God, is this happening?", "this is actually happening right now?", etc, she asked "well are you going to ask me something?!" I rose amid her exclamations of disbelief, and after drawing a blank, snapped back into reality and said "oh yeah! Will you marry me?" I guess I had no doubts as to her answer, and thankfully I was correct. She said yes!