It's important for Lily to mention that she firmly believes the universe conspired for her and Andy to meet (and for those familiar with Andy's scientifically sound perspectives, he considers the following to be a happy coincidence). The first time Lily arrived at Astoria, Queens to move into her first NYC apartment, she and her roommate got lost. By the time the two had walked up to what they believed was the door to their building, Lily realized they were on the completely opposite block. Seven months later, she would learn that very door led to Andy's place. ***************** On an early November evening in 2015, Lily aimlessly swiped on Tinder while feeling the routine hopelessness that arises while trying to find love online. Suddenly, she became intrigued by the profile of “Andy”, an attractive man in black & white posing pensively in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. An unusually high quality photo on a usually low quality app made Lily feel hopeful that Andy’s commitment to creating a nice profile was a reflection of his character. She swiped right and smiled as her screen lit up: it was a match. After several weeks of light banter and intermittent texting, Lily decided it was time to take action and asked Andy if he would ever take her to one of the coffeeshops he had raved about. The two of them decided to meet for dinner on Friday, January 8th at The Kickshaw, a hip Astoria spot where one could eat "the best grilled cheese of your life", according to Andy. Andy couldn't help but shout, "YOU'RE SO CUTE!" and ask Lily for a hug upon meeting her outside of their designated meeting spot. Although his bright blue puffy coat always kept him warm in the harsh New York winters, he instantly felt warmer when seeing Lily for the first time. When learning almost immediately that they had both walked from their homes on 48th street, Andy felt excited by the possibilities of living just a block away from the girl he was interested in. As they swapped stories of their upbringings across Michigan and Greece, they both recognized how much they enjoyed each other's company. Conversation and laughs flowed easily despite their short and quirky date, including Lily not taking off her winter coat (its zipper was broken) and downing roughly 100 glasses of water (she was nervous). When they parted ways at the intersection of their blocks, they both sensed it would not be for the last time. A few days later, the two ventured to the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium for a space show. Andy was thrilled to share a special corner of his universe with Lily, who sincerely laughed at his nerdy astronomy jokes about old stars. Unfortunately, Andy's excitement dissolved into disheartenment when the space show turned out to be a grueling 90 minute lecture on a researcher's extensive publications. Yet Lily remained adamant on staying, even while thinking how she'd understand Russian better than what was being said. Determined to redeem himself, Andy wooed Lily with his knowledge of the constellations and Greek mythology over Shake Shack. Lily was totally sold, infatuated with his genius brain and kind, playful energy he never stopped exuding. Two dates eventually turned into daily walks to each other's apartments, and Lily fell even harder for Andy's compassion, selflessness, and goofiness. Likewise, Andy felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have met such a smart, loving, funny, and deeply committed person to doing whatever she can to make the world a better place. Over seven years later and thousands of treks up and down 48th street, worldly travels, graduations, celebrations, and moves across the city and country, the two of them have never looked back, their love continuing to grow as wide and endless as the Milky Way. Lily and Andy couldn't be more grateful to have found one another, and cannot wait to celebrate with you all, the very people who are reflected in so much of who they are as a couple.