Late one evening, Lydia arrived back from work to her roommates Miles, Bridget, and most importantly Bella (Lydia's feline spirit animal). Upon arrival, Miles informed Lydia that he was officially intervening in her love life and he had someone specific in mind. This, at present, unsuspecting person was Michael. Email introductions were then made, being sure to share our LinkedIn profiles so the whole thing had a very professional, above-the-board feel. The conversing commenced...and hasn't stopped.

After closing down each respective restaurant during dates one and two, it was time for date three. Michael was nervous. Tonight was the night he was officially asking Lydia to "wear his letterman jacket," and he didn't even understand the rules of most Sportsball. He arrived at the carefully chosen location; he was counting on the wooing power of a well-cooked scallop (and the fact that the other half of the restaurant was dedicated to the sale of wine and cheese didn't hurt either). Three scallops down the hatch and Lydia agreed to slip her arms through the cracking leather and dank odor of what what would become much more than a high school romance.

It didn't take too long for Michael and Lydia to decide that cohabitation was a step they were ready take. Not only were they looking forward a plethora of date-nights in with delivery and Netflix, but they also knew that, at the end of the day, there was no one else they wanted to celebrate or decompress with more than each other. So Lydia packed up her things in Des Plaines and Michael packed up his from Andersonville, combining their households at their new place in Logan Square. From Lydia finding Michael's misplaced glasses to Michael finding Lydia's bobby pins EVERYWHERE, it quickly felt like home.

It was one of those cold grey days where it seemed Chicago was reminding us that: winter is coming. Perfect. Exactly the kind of day that one (or many, as it turned out) would escape to the beautiful Garfield Park Conservatory. Mike had a plan; he was going to get down on one knee in front of the waterfall in the fern room. However, that plan was thwarted by an actual pyramid of 16-year-old cheerleaders blocking all views of the waterfall. Improvisation. They found a nice little nook free of guests where Mike could pivot to knee and pop "the question" using all three of Lydia's syllable-heavy surnames. Miraculously, she said "Yes." Yay!