New York is always a good idea

Long story short, we were set up by a mutual friend playing 'matchmaker' at a charity event in New York City which was followed up by a series of candlelit dinner dates, leading to a lasting love and our engagement. Just kidding. We met, on what the older generations call, 'the internet'. Actually, it was a smartphone application the kids these days use called Bumble, where you fling through hundreds and thousands of profile pictures of people of your desired age, location, and other qualifications (i.e. looks). Each picture is usually followed by an under-the-breath statement of "no way in Hell" or "hmmmm... maybe" or even a hearty chuckle and "you gotta see this person" while handing your phone to a friend. Eventually, my profile slid across Stephanie's screen with the information "Brandon, 28, Brooklyn, NY" and no other imaginative or alluring descriptors. Yet, Stephanie was blown away enough to swipe right - meaning she 'liked' me - which sent a notification that she was a potential match. I took a glance at her profile and saw her long flowing locks, her location, and her height of 5'9" (which is a lie, she's 5'10"). Now, all I had to do was wait. The interesting thing with Bumble - old timers, you aren't going to believe the audacity of this - is that the woman has to reach out first (scary, I know). Well, she eventually did reach out in that strict 24 hour time period before a match disappears on the application with the seductive, spine-tingling line of "Hey, how's it going?". And, we were off. Shortly thereafter, we had our first date in a midtown NYC bar where we drank too much tequila and I was later chastised for not giving her a kiss after the date. The next two weeks followed with an overdose of text messages through the Mets-Royals World Series and my food poisoning on a work trip to Argentina. Over four years later, including a year in NYC, two years in Los Angeles, and yet another move to Boston.... here we are.