The old fashion way, at a bar. Madison was accompanying her mother, Jen and Dominic was with his father, Frank. The Running Shop and Hops, a local bar in downtown Morgan Hill was the backdrop. Upon arriving, Jen, who was stone cold sober, in attempt to just sit down, fell off her bar stool and into Dominic. Naturally this sparked up conversation between the four. The line up was awkward with Jen sitting between Dominic and Madison, talking over Dom's head to Frank which had Dominic leaned over the bar, crossed armed and looking at Madison. He smiled an unforgettable smile at Madison and said "Hi!". Madison awkwardly said "Hi" back starting up dulling conversation. Fed up with trying to talk or even hear Madison over her mother’s conversation with Frank, Dominic shot up, looked Jen in the eye and commanded "ME HERE, YOU THERE" and switched seats with Jen. The rest of the night progressed on filled with booze, bar hopping, good conversation, and some much needed belly laughs. At the end of the night Dominic asked Madison for her number only to then find out she was already in a relationship! But to soften the blow to his ego of not getting her number, Madison added him to her Facebook page and told him, he could talk with her there. And well, as you can see.. Dominic ended up getting Madison's number a few weeks later and completely stole her heart.

We constantly bicker about when our first date was. Was it here or was it there? Well, Maddie compromised and we now say it was the day we went to the beach: Madison was having a hard day filled with anxious thoughts of one thing to the next. Talking it out with Dominic, he seized his opportunity and said, "I know the perfect cure." Dominic took the day off work, picked her up and drove to Sea Cliff beach near Santa Cruz, CA. The day was perfect, from the absence of people to the weather being absolutely stunning, it was by all counts the perfect California beach day. Dominic's love of the water is well known, especially the ocean (or Lake Tahoe) while Madison is deeply terrified of pretty much any body of water, a fact not know at the time by Dominic. After watching the ocean and laying in the sand listening to the waves, Dominic wrote nervously but optimistically in the sand, "I like you a lot". Still playing way too hard to get, Madison nervously laughed, erased it and wrote "Thank you". Strike one. Unknown to Madison at the time, Dominic wanted to crawl under the nearest rock and die of embarrassment. Thinking it was banishment to the friend zone after that, Dominic had almost given up the pursuit of Madison. But, not quite ready to throw in the towel, Dominic took another attempt and convinced Madison to take a walk up to the water, only to then learn of her phobia. Strike two for Dommie. Still not ready to put the day out of its misery, he threw a final hail mary. He took Madison by the hand, looked her in the eye and asked "do you trust me?". Before Madison could answer, Dominic walked her further into the ocean and up to her waist, the furthest she had ever been! Madison letting her guard down, clung to Dominic and for the first time, felt at ease by the ocean and affection for Dominic. To finish the day, they ate a late lunch at the last surviving Snow White Drive-In. Another first for Madison. She then held his hand all the way home, never letting go.