My friend Marshall invited me to Smith’s Olde Bar to see a friend who was the singer in a local band. I went to the bar to grab us some drinks. While I was waiting at the counter, a small girl squirmed her way through the crowd and squeezed in next to me. She was gorgeous and my heart fluttered! We started chatting while we ordered drinks. When my drinks finally came, I stuck around as long as I could continue coming up with anything mildly charming to say, which wasn’t long; she was so beautiful and fun that my brain started to panic and I struggled to find something to say next. So instead of standing there, risk looking like a doofus and torpedoing any interest I may have built, I decided to pull a George Costanza and exit on a high note... so I quickly said, “Ok! I gotta get back to my friends. It was nice meeting you,” with full intentions of finding her inside the show and continuing our conversation once my nerves had reset. I spent the rest of the show, only half-watching the band and chatting with my friends, but mostly craning my neck and looking around the crowd to spot this wonderful girl I just met. I never spotted her and I was bummed that I missed my opportunity. When we left the concert back out to the bar area, I finally saw her again across the room with her friends. She was even prettier than I remembered and I immediately got nervous again. I loitered with my friends from a distance for a few minutes while my brain rationalized all the reasons I shouldn’t walk up to her... “she’s too pretty, she’s not interested or she would have found you, I don’t know what to say first, I won’t know what to say next...” I finally decided to ignore all those fears, start moving my feet in her direction and leave it up to fate. I walked up and said hello. She seemed happy to see me. :) We spent the rest of the night talking. We exchanged numbers, kissed goodnight, and I immediately texted her and set up a date for the next day. We’ve been inseparable ever since.

We met at a concert in Atlanta at Smith's Olde Bar. My co-worker was in the band, so a bunch of us from work went to watch him. I ran into someone I knew outside, and lost sight of my friends, so I decided to make a quick stop at the bar for a drink before heading into the show to find them. It turns out this would be the best decision of my entire life. The bar was really crowded. There was a guy taking up a whole lot of room as he waited to be served at the bar. I actually remember thinking “the nerve of this guy taking up so much room when it’s so crowded!” I figured he had plenty of room to spare so I squeezed my way in next to him. Then he looked at me and I was instantly charmed. It took a while before the bartender took our orders, so we started chatting in the meantime. I liked him right away. I felt a hunch, it’s difficult to articulate, but I just knew there was something special. When Mike got his drink he said "Ok, bye!" and then just walked off! I remember feeling so disappointed that he didn't ask for my number. I had felt a connection with him right away. I knew that was something so rare. And he was so cute! Now he was gone forever. I figured the feeling was not mutual. So I tried my best to shake off my dismay as I realized I'd surely never love again :( But fortunately he found me after the show! I was so giddy with butterflies! I invited him to join our group at the next bar. We spent the rest of the evening talking and getting to know each other. I actually remember picturing us in my mind walking hand-in-hand and thinking to myself, “this guy right here, he makes me feel what I’ve always imagined it’s supposed to feel like.” Turns out I was right. This man turned out to be everything. And the rest is history.