It's hard to know if we would've met if each of our plans hadn't been put on hold in the midst of 2020’s global pandemic. Both being in the design school (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati meant cycling through semesters of school to internships, but being on different rotations, we were haunting the same spots at different times. Emily's summer internship in New York was cancelled, and Jack's summer semester was online, so we found ourselves with more time on our hands than we were accustomed to. So naturally, we get on Hinge. Leading up to our first date we each did our due diligence to research who we were about to meet, and realized we were nearly in the same friend circles, but somehow never came in contact with one another. We even theorized Jack had ordered coffee from Emily at some point at her cafe job. Getting to know each other looked more like an Austenian courtship - long walks outdoors, sharing a meal on the porch swing as the sun went down, Emily made a pie just to lure Jack in to visit her work, and restless periods apart writing letters (texts) when the plague (Covid-19) ravaged our homes. Life continued and in the meantime we really couldn’t find anything we were not crazy about in each other. Jack graduated and moved up to Buffalo to be a Toy Designer at Fisher Price, and Emily made it out to New York for her final internship, beginning what would become three years of long distance. Emily reconnected with old daap friends, Codie and Callie, thanks to the shared connection of Jack that would go on to become her roommates and best friends to both of us. We would go back and forth to Buffalo and the city when we could, and found towns in between us along the train line for weekend meet ups. Some of our favorite memories are from times spent in Troy, Beacon, The Finger Lakes, Hunter Mountain, and more. Although long distance was a challenge, it really solidified our team spirit for one another. Each of us could independently discover who we wanted to become, and who we wanted to become always included the other person. In 2024, Jack made the move down to be with Emily in Brooklyn and time flew once not counting the days until we would be reunited. Through adjustments to our new reality, we reveled in no longer experiencing the sinking feeling that came on the Sunday morning when the train departure loomed overhead. In the Spring of 2025, we planned a weekend to explore more of the Catskills which we had only seen on a cabin trip with friends. On Saturday morning, we got up and went on a hike to Plattekills Falls before lunch at Phoenicia Diner. Jack proposed at the base of the waterfall that we had entirely to ourselves. After a celebratory lunch at Phoenicia Diner, Emily noticed on the website that they did weddings. So now, we are excited to share with you one of our favorite pockets of our favorite state.