A mutual friend knew that we were both single and gave us each other's number. After texting each other for a couple of weeks we felt comfortable with meeting in person. We decided to meet at a Starbucks in Liberty Station (San Diego) at 5pm on a Friday night. I (Febrina) arrived first and Chris came 10 minutes late (haha!). At first I felt a little shy and awkward so we decided to walk around Liberty Station and ended up going into an art exhibit we walked by. This was an annual exhibit which had a different theme every year. This year the theme must have been 'horses' because every piece of art had a horse incorporated in it. (This became an inside joke for us that true art must contain a horse!) Minutes later we got hungry and went to a restaurant next door called 'Solare'. The conversation picked up and we hit it off. We talked about school, work, friends and future goals. I realized that Chris is a funny and easy going guy. I wanted to extend the date so I invited Chris to an ice skating rink across the street. I wasn't a very good skater so Chris helped me out a lot! By the end of the night I realized it was the best first date ever and now we go back and recreate our first date every year on our anniversary.

Every year for our anniversary we go to Liberty Station and recreate our first date. We start at Starbucks, then head to a nearby art exhibit, go to our favorite restaurant (Solare) and finish with ice skating at an outdoor ice skating rink. This year was our 2nd anniversary and I (Chris) had something special in mind. I arranged for a lab mate (who Febrina had never met before and is a part time photographer) to hang out by the ice skating rink and pretend to take pictures of the surrounding. When we walked by I asked him to take a picture of us and as he did I got down on one knee and proposed in front of a beautiful water fountain. I was so nervous that when I took the ring out of my pocket I didn't think to make sure it was right side up so when I opened the box the ring was upside down (Oops!). Febrina didn't mind and said Yes anyway!