'Twas a crisp fall evening on November 5, 2019. The streets of NYC were bustling with patrons enjoying happy hour drinks after work in midtown east. Erik and Heather had met swiping on Bumble just a mere week before. Heather thought Erik was cute and Erik (28) thought there was absolutely no way she was 33 (Heather wrote this part). Heather was bamboozled into thinking Erik lived in the city, when IN FACT he lived across the ocean in Hoboken, NJ. Erik strategically used his WeWork office as his geolocation. Erik asked Heather to meet him at Sofia Wine bar on east 50th street as he knew he could win her over with his vast knowledge of fine wines (thanks to his undergraduate Cornell elective class). Heather showed up wearing a black leather jacket (as seen in the photo above ^) and heels to conceal her height of 5’2; Erik was in professional work attire as he came directly from his “home” office. The two hit it off over a glass of petite Syrah with a side of pizza (Heather did not have dinner and needed carbs). Heather actually did not think Erik was interested in her for the first 1/3 of the date until Erik learned that she knew how to drive a manual car. Erik recalls the date completely differently and says that he liked her the moment he saw her walk up the front steps as he waited by the front door for her (because he is a gentleman and always knows the correct thing to say). Erik later walked Heather home and asked when he could see her again. The dates continued on as the Barbaresco and Nebbiolo fine wines flowed. After a visit to Tomi Jazz bar, Smith & Wollensky’s Steakhouse, and a pop-up concert in a basement in the LES, Erik finally convinced Heather to see where he really lived in Hoboken. He even offered to cook (i.e. grill her steak). Erik was so enamored with Heather that night, that he lost track of time and the steaks caught on fire. Erik feared he would scare Heather away with his cooking skills. Since Heather can eat anything in any state when hungry she thought the steak was great. Erik then planned a fun outing in the Lower East Side at Gotham Archery where they took an Axes and Knives introductory course. Erik let Heather win by a landslide. They then took their first photo together albeit staged (see photo under wedding website tab “Things To Do"). Months flew by. Covid then arrived in March. Heather quarantined with Erik in her 550 sq ft apartment (with the most beautiful and spacious bathroom). Erik helped Heather with tasks she could not do on her own like change the carbon monoxide detector located on the 12 ft high ceiling by balancing her on his shoulders while climbing a step stool, as well as fixing a giant gouge in the wall due to a picture frame falling off that Heather previously hung herself. Summer arrived and Erik knew the way to really reel Heather in for good. He wanted to adopt Arya, the most beautiful mini Aussie puppy. This absolutely worked. And, the rest is history. <3