After nearly a month of exchanging (very longwinded - mostly on my part) messages on OkCupid, I finally got the courage to give Michael my phone number. I was nervous, yet excited. After a couple days I still hadn’t heard from him and I was beginning to feel discouraged. After a week he finally reached out to say he had been ‘very busy’ and asked if I wanted to go out with him. We made plans to meet up midweek at The Third Man in Alphabet City. Google accurately describes the bar as a “moody, rustic-chic, cocktail spot.” Sitting at work all day with Kelly, Liz and Yasmine, I was incredibly anxious. It was probably Kelly that suggested some white wine to take the edge off. One glass led to two and I quickly lost track of time. I grabbed my bag and the book I was reading at the time - Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut - and rushed out. I was about a 20 minute walk from the bar. I speed walked and called either my mom or Lauren for a pep talk along the way. I texted Michael to let him know I was running a little late and he said he was there waiting at the bar. I jokingly asked him how I would be able to identify him and he pointed out he was sitting in a near empty bar and only two other women were there. Easy enough. I finally arrived at the bar and in a huff, threw my bag and my book (it didn’t fit in my purse, so I was carrying it around on its own - I’ve been told this can come off as pretentious) on the bar-top and profusely apologized for my tardiness. Michael will tell you I proceeded to talk the entire time - hardly allowing him to get a word in. This is probably true. We definitely spoke a lot about our mutual love and adoration for the Boston Celtics and music. I remember on his profile he left the ‘music’ section blank and this terrified me. Fortunately I quickly came to realize he had great taste. The date lasted almost three hours and afterwards I texted Lauren and said he was very “calm and handsome.”

I had been in New York twenty-five days when I made arrangements to meet in person with the cute girl I had been talking to on Ok Cupid. We made plans to meet at one of her favorite bars in New York. Early on a hot summer evening I hopped in a cab to Third Man, a darkly lit cabinesque cocktail spot. I arrived early and sat at the bar. I knew immediately that we had similar taste, which was a good sign. After sitting in the bar nearly alone for a while I kept checking the door to see when she would walk in. My phone buzzed and it was her, she was nervous about finding me, to which I reassured her by letting her know I was the only one there. A few minutes later she walked in wearing a cute summer dress fitting for the hot and sunny summer evening. Her smile was warm and her energy was lovely, if a bit nervous. She sat down next to me at the bar and plopped down a huge book – short stories by Kurt Vonnegut. For the next 45 mins I was silent, Lysee was not. I learned early on about my future wife’s gift of conversation. She told me all about her family, her New York story, the fact that she barely had a drink until a couple years ago, and of course about Kurt Vonnegut and how he has made her increasingly scared of government and big brother.

I was totally smitten to sit and listen to her. I had waited to order a drink until she arrived and didn’t have a chance to bring up ordering one. We sat drinkless in conversation until the bartender finally found an opening to ask. We ordered one round of cocktails which would become two (or 3?), now more comfortable with each other, and became friends. Loosened up a little I shared with her stories about my family and the life I had just left in Boston. I proved to her that I did in fact like music, which she was apparently worried about based on my dating profile. We shared a cab back uptown some time later. As we drove through my new city together I felt at home for the first time. My apartment was the first stop. I hugged her goodbye feeling confident I would see her again…. some things you don’t need to rush.

Michael and I have a tradition of going to Beacon, NY every year for our anniversary and staying at the Roundhouse. Beacon is a beautiful small town about 2 hours north of the city along the Hudson River. The Metro-North lets you off at the edge of town and you walk through Main Street about half a mile to get to the Roundhouse hotel - an incredible former textile mill that sits on a waterfall. Along the way, we stop at our favorite record store, vintage shop and chocolate shop. Michael had called the hotel in advance and got us upgraded to a room that overlooks the waterfall. We had a dinner reservation a couple hours later in the hotel restaurant. We decided to lounge in the room before dinner and I turned the TV on and landed on the movie Inception. I was pretty lost in the movie, but noticed Michael kept getting up to look out the window. After an hour or so, Michael suggested we go take a walk. But at this point, I really wanted to see how the movie ended. (Truth be told - I had seen it before…) Once the movie ended, we got dressed for dinner and decided to take a walk before our reservation. We ended up on a bench by the waterfall watching a wedding take place across the water. As many of you may know, I am obsessed with wedding food, specifically appetizers. I decided to look up the suggested wedding menu for The Roundhouse hotel. I proceeded to read off every single appetizer offering in detail.. there were about 30 options! Michael is sitting next to me, not nearly as excited by wedding hor d’oeuvres as I am, and proceeds to reach into his jacket. I thought he was kidding and slapped his hand away, going back to reading about a roasted tomato soup shooter and fresh ricotta with local honey drizzle.

I look back over at him and see him pull out a small black box from his jacket. I was immediately overwhelmed with complete and total shock and broke down in full hysterics. I cried on his shoulder inconsolably for what seemed like twenty minutes - unable to come up for air. I was so, so, so completely shocked. I had no idea in the world this was coming! Michael and I spoke openly of getting married, but we had no timetable in mind - or so I thought. I finally came up for air and realized I had not answered his question yet. I said yes as he slid the most beautiful, perfectly-me ring onto my finger. Then I realized I needed to call my parents (and everyone I knew) to tell them the good news! I glanced at my phone and saw I had no service, so I started running - actually sprinting - back to the hotel so I could get on wifi to FaceTime my family. In hindsight, I realize I probably looked like a crime victim - running out of the woods crying with mascara streaming all over my face and a bearded man lurking about 30-feet behind me trying to catch up. Bemom was the first person I told, then I got ahold of my parents. My mom said, “Congratulations! Now pass the phone to Michael”. I shift the phone to show Michael’s face and Gail says, “So have you thought about a date…?”

We had went to the Roundhouse the past two summers at the same time to celebrate our anniversary of dating, there was nothing out of the ordinary about me planning a weekend getaway upstate in mid June. The Roundhouse is a beautiful hotel in a repurposed textile mill in the quaint town of Beacon NY. As always we walked from the train station through town to the far end of Main St where the hotel is located. It’s always a little tiring, which is why Lysee must have insisted on laying on the comfortable hotel bed watching Inception. I looked out the window across the river to the bench where I was planning to propose once I was able to convince my potential fiancé to go for a walk, or Inception (run time of 2 hours and 28 mins) ended. I cringed a little each time someone approached the proposal site and glanced at the bench. If the AC hadn’t been cranking I would probably be drenched in sweat. Finally Inception ended and it was out the door. I had gone into the bathroom during a particularly dramatic moment of the movie and moved the ring box from my weekender bag to the pocket of my denim jacket - the package was in place.

As we walked down the road and looped around the hotel and the river, we passed a bride and groom taking wedding photos before entering the reception happening on site. As if I wasn’t nervous enough, this put my heart into overdrive and made my stomach flip. We walked down the familiar train tacks to the wooded area next to the river. It is a calm spot with a single bench that overlooks a waterfall toppling over a dam that is lit up at night. Across the river we watched as the wedding rehearsal began (nerves!) and we started talking about weddings. You would think it was the perfect bridge conversation, but it just made it harder. There wasn’t an exact plan; I just thought it would come naturally. Trying to find a way to ask, I stood up and turned to her and awkwardly asked her to take a photo of me. I took one of her. I sat down as ordered- she wanted to talk about what appetizers they were possibly having at the wedding across the way. Somewhere between talking about crostini and charcuterie I stopped her and pulled out the ring. She told me to stop, briefly thinking I was kidding, and then it happened…. She broke down sobbing and gasping for air. I was able to put the ring on and get a “yes” from her before we exchanged a long kiss. Moments later, unable to FaceTime her mother due to the lack of WiFi, she ran full speed with mascara and tears falling down her face to the hotel. I ran behind her looking like a serial killer whose victim had escaped. We made it back without anyone tackling me. Over the next hour we called friends and family sharing the news, and pushed back our dinner reservations because we had both lost our appetite. Later that evening we shared wine in the beautiful on site restaurant, but barely touched the food. It turns out even happy nerves can do that to you. I wasn’t worried, knowing we have a whole life of amazing meals together ahead of us.