In the fall of 2015 Meghan moved to Dallas from Austin to start her career with Southwest Airlines. She saw dating apps as an opportunity to get to know Dallas a bit better and make some new friends. Brendan had also recently moved to Dallas from Chicago and was working downtown at a tech company. After about a year of swiping right on all the wrong people- they both came across each other on Tinder. Meghan couldn’t tell what he looked like based on his photos, but his bio mentioned he was from Chicago- a city Meghan had recently visited and fallen in love with, so she swiped right! Brendan recalls thinking Meghan was beautiful and thought her bio was funny, so as soon as they matched he struck up a conversation. Brendan consistently messaged Meghan for about a month before asking her out. Meghan was on the phone with her sister, Erynn, when she was driving to meet Brendan for dinner at Wild Salsa. She remembers the exact moment she saw Brendan cross the street in front of her car and immediately exclaimed, “Oh my gosh I see him he is so cute. Like really freaking cute!” They got to know each other over margaritas and Mexican food, Brendan nervously talked a lot, and Meghan forgot where she parked her car (luckily Brendan thought this was really cute and not at all annoying). Meghan was spending her weekends traveling, so the next opportunity that Brendan had, almost a month later, they went out for their second date. Brendan swears this date was when he knew he wanted to be with Meg, and on date three he made it one to remember. He picked Meghan up at her apartment, greeted her with fresh flowers, and surprised her with dinner reservations at The St. Anne. He was sweet and attentive and didn’t even try to make a move. Meghan had no idea guys like this still existed anymore and that’s when it resonated with her that there was something incredibly rare and special about this man. On November 6, 2016 they made it official and never looked back!

In November of 2018, Brendan and I made our annual trip to our favorite city for our anniversary. On our first morning in Chicago, I noticed Brendan was donning a button down shirt and had already dabbed on some cologne. “He never wears cologne at 8AM,” I thought to myself but dismissed it as odd and hopped out of bed to pull the curtains back only to be memorized by Lake Michigan at Christmastime. He had excitement in his eyes as he told me to hurriedly get ready so we’d be on track for our reservation at the Adler Planetarium. We walked a few blocks to grab coffee and a light breakfast before making the long walk. I fan girled over some fallen snow and made him stop to snap a few pictures of my favorite skyline. He then asked me to take my gloves off so he could “warm up my hands”. It seemed strange, but I obliged and we continued the trek. Once we spotted the planetarium he warned that I was not allowed to take my coffee inside and must throw it away even though I hadn’t finished it. Now I know somethings up because Brendan knows me better than to ever ask me to throw away unfinished coffee. He pointed out a perfect spot for a photo by the planetarium with the Chicago skyline in the background. I stood where he pointed and saw in his eyes that this moment was about to be the start of the rest of our lives together. He dropped to a knee, pulled out the daintiest ring box, and asked me the easiest question I’ve ever been asked. I can’t do justice to how magical this moment was, but Brendan, ever the planner, had photographers capturing every sweet second (I’m grateful for this because to be honest I think I blacked out and couldn’t remember if he got down on a knee!) From there the day evolved into lunch at the Signature Room with champagne waiting and an incredible view of the city followed by hot mulled wine at a small German Christmas market. It may have been 30 degrees and windy as heck outside, but it was one of my favorite days ever.