Our first date was at a karaoke bar in Pasadena, CA. It was Phillip's first time going to this particular bar. but since Jessica grew up in the area, she knew this particular place all too well. A few songs in, Jessica recognized some familiar faces she had gone to high school with sitting a few tables away. Jokingly, she said - "Alright, if anyone asks, we're newlyweds & we just came back from our beautiful honeymoon". Phillip, being the prankster he is, was MORE than happy to play along. The date turned into a night of role playing - and pretty soon the entire bar was congratulating us. We even started dedicating the karaoke songs we were singing to each other on the mic. Needless to say... this little game started to feel undeniably natural and in no time at all, we weren't pretending anymore. We shared our first kiss on the dance floor, and the rest was history. It's a night we will never forget, and here we are... just a little more than three years later and about to turn that little game we played into reality!

It was our two-year dating anniversary and Phillip took me to a beautiful dinner at our favorite restaurant. After dinner, Phillip told me he had a surprise. An Uber came to pick us up and whisked us away to where we had our first date - Barney's Beanery. Before going inside, Phillip pulled a box out of a bag and told me to stand facing the street and to open the box. Inside the box was an old school tape recorder, headphones and a note. The note read "PLAY ME". I put on the headphones and pressed play on the recorder. I heard Phillip's voice, singing a song that he had once dedicated to me. Once the song was over, Phillip's voice said, "I know you're probably wondering what's going on... but on the count of 3, I want you to turn around." Once the countdown was up, I turned around.. and there was Phillip, standing with multiple note cards in his hand. Each card read a different song lyric from "our" song.. and the last one said, "You can take the headphones off, now." With tears in my eyes, I took off the headphones as Phillip got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. After saying yes, we went inside the bar, where there was a Sam Adams & a Redbull-Vodka waiting for us... the same cocktails we ordered on that first date.