Good news! NJ has officially lifted all COVID-related restrictions. So get ready to party this 4th of July -- no masks, no distancing, just love.

Anthony and Claire lived only about a mile apart from one another, but because they were technically in different towns, they never attended the same school. So while they did have some mutual friends, and had heard each other's names before, they didn't officially meet until the beginning of junior year of high school when their two best friends were working at the same daycare. Anthony's first memory of Claire is when she and her friend dropped off Taco Bell at his window late one night. Claire's first memory of Anthony is when the two were introduced at the local Woodbridge Street Fair that the couple still attends every year. They bonded quickly and intensely and were officially a couple only a few months later that December.

On the 10 year anniversary of their first date, Anthony and Claire went into the city to have dinner and see the tree. They shared a romantic meal of red wine, gnocchi, and tiramisu in a tiny Italian restaurant in the East Village. Then, because the weather was cold and wet, they ordered a car uptown to Rockefeller Center. Anthony has a habit of asking strangers to take their picture just about everywhere they go, so Claire didn't think twice when he did the same on this night. But instead of hitting their normal pose, Anthony got down on one knee and proposed. The rest is mostly a blur for Claire--she doesn't remember what he said, or if there was ever an official "Will you marry me?" / "Yes." (Anthony insists that there was). But from there on, they were engaged. They went into the nearby FAO Schwarz and bought a ceramic tree so they would always have a token to remember that night. Then they had a blissful walk back to Penn Station, and train ride home to reflect on the fact that after all these years, they would finally officially soon be husband and wife.