We first met at Pearl Paint where Jaymes was working at the time. After becoming fast friends, we would plan late night meet ups where I'd sneak out to meet him in his car. We'd laugh and talk until the sun came up and I'd sneak back in the house. One night we were talking about restaurants in NYC and I brought up my family's restaurant Pino's (which had since closed). As fate would have it, years before we ever met, Jaymes and his family had actually visited the restaurant and even met my grandfather. His parents even had the signed baseball card he had given to them that day. It seemed as though the stars had aligned to have us be in each others lives!

After falling out of touch for a few years, we reconnected over a birthday text. It wasn't long before we were texting and calling nonstop and decided to meet up for an impromptu belated birthday dinner. Jaymes was cool and calm (and handsome as ever), I was a nervous wreck and looking like a mess (I was traveling the next day so all my cute clothes were packed). It had been years since we'd seen each other in person and a long time since I had been on a date but after some nervous chatter on my side, we wound up having an amazing dinner at Peking Duck House in China Town. To finish up the night, we took a drive to a gorgeous overlook of the NYC skyline and had our first kiss. The rest is history!

We decided to play hooky from work one Friday and take a trip to the Bronx Zoo. We both love animals and with how gorgeous it was out, we couldn't pass up a beautiful day like that. The zoo was basically empty, all of the animals were up and active, it was a blast! It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. My favorite part was going through the butterfly house* (see below for butterfly backstory if you don't already know it). We had planned on going to a friend's birthday dinner that evening straight from the zoo so we were already dressed nicely (also to impress the lions). On the way back over the bridge, Jaymes got a phone call saying the reservations got pushed an hour so we had a little time to kill. He suggested stopping at a nearby park that had beautiful views, so we headed to Ross' Docks to finish off our day. As we sat on the bench, he remembered he "left his keys in the car" (he actually did) and went to go grab them. When he came back, he pulled me to the side near the water and told me how much he loves me, and how he wants to spend his life with me. He finished his speech with "I asked your mom, your uncle, your grandpa but there was one person I couldn't ask..." He handed me a white box and when I opened it, LIVE BUTTERFLIES flew out! I was so overwhelmed that I started crying immediately. He got down on one knee and I couldn't speak so I just nodded and kissed him. After a few seconds I realized he had hired one of our friends to sneak around and take pictures of the whole thing. It was so special and a moment I'll never forget. *Butterfly Backstory: A couple of years ago, my grandmother passed away. We were extremely close and it was heartbreaking. Long story short, since her passing, there has been an abundance of butterfly references and significant happenings so my family and I believe that that is her way of sticking around.