His Story I met Gabby on Hinge and we had our first date a week later at Cafe Coyote on October 28th, 2022. Before the night ended, I invited Gabby to come over the next day to help me make Taiwanese popcorn chicken (recipe courtesy of Mintra). I knew Gabby loves her dog and that they came as a package and so I told her she could bring her dog along with her. Before I knew it, Gabby asked if I had any plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. When I said no, she invited me to spend Thanksgiving dinner at her place with her family. The day before Thanksgiving, Gabby asked if she could introduce me to her parents as her boyfriend. The rest is history. Her Story It had been 3 years of dating on and off until I decided to finally try finding my person on an online dating app called Hinge. Immediately, I was attracted to John and loved his outgoing profile pictures. I thought we had a lot in common and so I did what any girl would do and swiped right. Instantly we became a match and we started exchanging messages. John was very communicative and he prioritized me easily beating out his competition. He would talk to me over the phone without hesitation and I couldn't resist his Vietnamese accent. He asked me out on a date and being the San Diegan that I am, I had to take him to Cafe Coyote to expand his taste for Mexican foodies. On our first date, the first thing I said to John when I found him was, 'Wow, you're really cute!' I made food recommendations for appetizers and entrees and to my surprise, he ordered ALL of them. It was the most food I ever had on a first date. Like a gentleman, he paid for our meal and drinks. We didn't want the night to end so we toured around Old Town as it was decorated in all the Dias de los Muertos decor. We grabbed one more round of drinks at a bar across the street from the restaurant. We got FREE jello shots and then John invited me to make fried chicken with him the next day. He said I could bring my dog Athena over too! I couldn't say no. He walked me to my car, he let me keep the three to go boxes with leftovers, and we said good night. The next day, I'm in my car driving down the street to John's apartment and he sends me a photo. It's a picture of a made shift dog bed for Athena! I was so impressed by his thoughtfulness that I knew he was a keeper. He FaceTimed his Mom upon our arrival to tell her that he got a dog named Athena! Of course she didn't believe him, but John knew from that day forward, he'd do everything in his power to keep us a part of his life. P.S. Thank goodness I knew how to fry chicken because John was a bit rusty with his cooking back then.