In December 2019, Kata traveled from her home in Boston to Saint Paul so she could visit family for the holidays. Paolo was off from his job as a teacher for winter break, living in Eden Prairie with his parents. Both of them decided to try and find a date on Hinge (a dating app) during the holidays. Kata wanted a "practice date" after her breakup a few months prior; Paolo knew this was likely the one time before summer when he would have time to date. They matched and exchanged exactly three messages (precise text approximated): Kata: Hey, how are you? Paolo: I'm doing all right today! How about you? Kata: I'm well! Want to go on a date? Paolo, who was with friends, was immediately skeptical and asked someone how this could possibly be a scam. His friends said it was weird, but probably not anything to be worried about. So, they set a date for that Saturday at Wild Rumpus Books. Spoiler alert: Paolo went to the date, but Kata didn't. He showed up, waited for about 30 minutes, and then decided to go home. He thought about unmatching the sketchy woman who stood him up, but decided against it. On Sunday, Kata reached out to apologize, letting Paolo know that she had a different date on Friday that went terribly, and it turned her off from going on another one. Still, she acknowledged she should have reached out and ended her apology text with: "I hope you find what you're looking for on here." Paolo says he remembers the moment when he realized he could either not respond or reply. He decided to answer, saying, "That date sounds terrible. Want to talk about it?" They had their first actual date on December 31st, 2019, meeting for brunch at Bon Vie, a restaurant Kata grew up going to. Brunch turned into a trip to a local bookstore, where they showed each other their favorite books. The bookstore turned into a board game cafe, where Kata discovered that any game Paolo doesn't win is poorly designed and any game he does win is an excellently designed board game. The board game cafe turned into a parting kiss in Paolo's car and a promise to meet up later that night at a New Year's Eve party, where Paolo met most of Kata's friends. The day turned into a week of nonstop hanging out, which led to long-distance dating, moving in together during lockdown, adopting a dog, buying a house, and now, getting married.