We’re leveling up!

March 2020 was unforgettable for everyone, and it is where our story begins. One Saturday evening, I received a message on an app called Hinge from a guy with a sweet and goofy smile. "Great beer! Have you had any Belgian Quads?" From there, our conversation about craft beer and brewing began, and soon Dan learned that although he could brew, he had a lot more to learn about styles and theory of brewing from me. The day we planned our first date turned out to be the day COVID hit hard and everything shut down. This was a blessing in disguise (gave Dan an excuse not to eat Thai food, hah). It forced us to rely on the old fashioned way of getting to know someone new- the phone! We spent the next several weeks talking on the phone, texting, and video chatting for nearly 8-9 hours every day. Our geek flags raised high as we quickly bonded over old school video games, Lord of the Rings (extended editions, of course), Harry Potter, Marvel, and music. On April 19th, we had our first official date at a park by my house, both of us nervous to meet in person after more than a month of being on screens. I was determined to give him a nice birthday picnic. After a breathtakingly long walk (literally, Dan could not breathe or talk much) and picnic snacks, we planned to meet up again the following weekend. I shared with him some of my craft beer collection as we played video games, watched Marvel, and listened to music for the next two days. As I was leaving, I stood in the driveway, and awkwardly proceeded to ask, "So, are you my boyfriend now?" He smiled a goofy smile and nodded. Ever since, we've been sharing a mutual love of craft beer and all things nerdy. Our love (and beer) have been brewing ever since.

It was a grey and chilly Wednesday at the end of April. After weeks of careful planning and plotting, with crumbs dropped here and there about needing parts for things at work and having a car acting up on and off, I thought nothing of it when Dan called me as I was leaving school to tell me that he had to run to King of Prussia to pick up those parts he needed for work. Unfortunately, though, his car wouldn't start when he was leaving the shop to get back. I sighed, knowing we had a trip to Pittsburgh planned and that of course car trouble would happen, especially after such a stressful week of work. I offered to drive straight there, braving rush hour traffic to pick him up, but he insisted that my parents would pick him up and to meet me at their house. Once I arrived, after an hour of rain and traffic, we wanted nothing more than some food and a good beer. We decided to go to Gypsy Blu for dinner, having the place to ourselves for a little while. As we were leaving, it began to downpour, so we rushed across the street to Forest & Main, and shared a beer as we waited for the rain to subside. As luck would have it, we had the whole place to ourselves except for the bearded bartender and a man named Pete. I noticed immediately that one of our favorite bands was playing. Both were good company for the next hour or so until the rain cleared. Dan asked if I was still up for taking a walk around my favorite trail to see the sunset. He had been leading on for the last several days how much he had been wanting to take a walk and he was definitely not going to miss out on a walk that evening. We went to my favorite trail, a place I was craving to be for a few weeks, my favorite spot to take walks, run, and take pictures of the sunset. When we got there, the sky was streaked with watercolor blues and golds. The smell of fresh honeysuckle danced along the cool evening air as we walked along the trail, joking around and reflecting on our day so far. At a certain point, Dan stopped me to look at the sunset. He was disappointed that the sunset wasn't as colorful and vibrant as he had hoped, which didn’t bother me in the least. "But this is a lovely sunset," I replied, "I've seen many sunsets here and each of them is special in its own way." At that, he said, "You know what else is special? You!" and he knelt down and asked, simply, "Will you marry me?" At this point, it finally dawned on me that his car was not in fact broken, and he did not need any parts for work, and it was all a big plot to draw me to my favorite spot. Before answering, with a half-smile and big sigh of relief, I asked him if his car was actually broken, and he said no. "Thank God," I laughed, then remembered to answer his question. "Yes, I will marry you". “Happy Fiancee Day!” he exclaimed, and that's when I realized it was in fact “Boyfriend Day”. (I definitely forgot what date it was after the chaos of the day). And, in less than one year, we will be leveling up from fiance to Husband and Wife.

We are so excited to share our special day with you! We are working on the finer details and invitations with more specifics will follow in the future! Stay tuned!