Neither of us knew what was in store for us on that sweltering, late summer evening. Claire's bestie Emily insisted on celebrating her third decade on this great, green marble of ours in the most convenient place she could think of... her own home. It just so happened that Claire, too, lived in that same arch-windowed apartment! Before then, Claire and I had passed like ships in the night, but upon my arrival to Emily's self-celebration, we met like... ships that met in the night. When our eyes met for the first time I had the DC Zoo's butterfly enclosure worth of butterflies in my stomach. As the legendary Mike Curry would later retell, I lost my f*cking mind when I saw Claire. Speaking of ships, our next stop that night was a booze cruise around the DC waterfront. I wouldn't have noticed Georgetown pirates commandeering our vessel, as I was so enraptured by that face of hers. Claire and I bantered much too occasionally, until later at the piano bar when we joined forces to convince our dear old friend to take the birthday girl home for sleepy time. It was then that we knew our priorities were tightly aligned. You can rest assured that I wouldn't call it a night without her number saved in my phone.

August 5th started off like any other Thursday; a long day of work at the hospital, a killer Jess Sims Peloton workout, followed by a 30-60 min post-work/workout nap. Ian then texted that he was on his way over and wanted to go out for dinner that evening. When he arrived, I noticed a few things outside the norm for a typical weekday visit; like him having a fresh haircut ( I usually have to remind him), dressed nicely (usually both in sweatpants until the last possible second), and wearing the beautiful Longines watch I bought him for our anniversary. I mentioned each of these details to Ian and then thought nothing more of it. As we were relaxing on the couch before dinner, Ian said he wanted to have a glass of wine on the roof before leaving. I quickly changed for dinner and for some reason had the fleeting thought to throw on the shirt I had worn on our first date. Ian then whisked me off to the roof, where I was met with hundreds of red rose petals covering the walkway leading to a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, Veuve champagne, and a bottle of Nebbiolo, one of our favorite wines. It immediately hit me that this was the moment I had always hoped and dreamed of! Ian turned to me, held my hands tenderly in his, and with tears in his eyes said "Claire, this is the spot that we exchanged I love you's for the first time, and I've only loved you more since then. I can't imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?" I hugged Ian as tightly as I could and exclaimed YES! To my surprise, Ian had orchestrated the surprise with Emily and Vishal, who were hiding behind some HVAC units! They captured the entire proposal on video and camera, with the sun setting over DC's backdrop of monuments. We couldn't wait to cheers with them, call our family and friends, and hungrily rush over to our favorite spot, The Roost, to start our joyous celebration!

Each of you mean so much to us and we couldn't imagine our wedding day without our closest family and friends by our sides. We cannot wait to celebrate our love with all of you! Get ready to dance the night away at this true American slice of Tuscany, Stone Tower Winery.