Syd's account We met at Jake and his sister's wine bar Cru while Syd was in town for a weekend. Jake introduced himself and proceeded to stalk Syd on the Interweb until discovering her well hidden Facebook account and sent a friend request. This led Syd to associate Jake as the "creepy bartender at Cru". Fast forward a few months and Syd found herself at Cru planning her best friend Amanda's birthday party. Jake graciously offered to host a Champagne toast at Cru after the festivities and so Syd felt like she had to invite him to the party. At the event after a few too many cocktails Jake told Syd he liked her and asked her out. Syd still unsure of Jake's "creepy" status took some convincing by her sister Rachael who talked her into it. Thankfully, Syd said yes and one date turned into an inseparable summer and the rest as they say is history. Syd no longer thinks Jake is creepy.

I was making a drink, entertaining a few guests at the bar, when I had this sudden feeling I was being watched.. I glanced towards the door to find a group of young ladies, one of whom’s gaze was fixated on yours truly. They sat down at a table towards the back of the bar, ordered a round of Cosmopolitans--extra cranberry--and went about their evening in peace. Lo and behold, only a few days later the same group of ladies returned and bellied up to the bar. I was reaching for the cranberry when Syd said they weren't there for a drink, but instead to ask me to join them at a friends going away party over the weekend. It seemed like an odd invitation; after all, we’d just met. But, I like a good party, so why not? I arrived at the party fashionably late. Everyone was hammered. You’d have thought the party started 8 hours earlier. I went to grab a beer when I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around to see Syd with a beer in her hand: “Here”, she says, “I grabbed you a drink. Let's play beer pong.” From that point forward she was attached to my hip. I excused myself from our game to grab a beverage and ask Amanda if she’d like to finish the night at Cru with some Champagne. She agreed, rounded us all up for a group photo, and we were on our way. We arrived at Cru, made the toast, and the drinks continued to flow. Syd and I shared a moment at the no longer in use Touch Tunes at Cru, played some music, and had an all-around good time. As the evening was winding down, Rachael pulled me aside and said that I should ask Syd out. She also mentioned (as did many of Syd’s other, very close personal friends) that she would likely play hard-to-get for a few weeks. So I played the game, drank a few beers, and waited patiently until sometime later that month. We had dinner. Then coffee. And, luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait three weeks to see her again.