After weeks of trying to figure out who this mysterious friend request on Facebook was, I finally accepted, realizing he was the cute drummer in my friend's boyfriend's band. A few weeks later, we sat across from each other at the table at a party. It was there on December 8th 2012 that we met, celebrating our mutual friend Natty's birthday at Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. The host was asking the waiter to split the bill, and was explaining that there were two couples, and a few singles at the end. Our friend Natty took this as an opportunity to exclaim, "Hey Natalie, Phyle's single," to which I looked up from my menu only to find him staring back. In embarrassment I hid my face behind my menu. After receiving our food, we realized not only had we ordered the same IPA, but the same dish, pulled pork. It was at this moment I knew he was the one!

On December 8th, 2017, the five year anniversary of the day we met, we made plans to go out after work in the city to celebrate. Unfortunately, by the end of the work day, I was feeling under the weather, but because of the occasion, I decided to tough it out. After a long evening of drinking and eating, we decided to head home. Steps away from the subway entrance Phil asked if I would walk with him because he wasn't feeling well and needed fresh air. Tired and freezing, I refused and continued down to the subway platform, not knowing he had intended on proposing during that walk. When we got on the train, he looked defeated, placing his head in his hands. I mistook this for him being ill, and assured him we'd be home soon, and passed out on his shoulder. When we got to our stop, he abruptly woke me up. In a haze, I followed him from the train to the car. He walked passed the block where the car was parked in another attempt to propose, but I spotted the car and bolted towards it, and away from him. He stood across the street asking me to come over, but again I refused and argued that I was freezing and wanted to go home. When he finally came over to me, I, frustrated, sick, drunk, and cold, tried wrestling the keys from out of his pocket. He then reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a small velvet box and got on his knee. My eyes opened in horror, that he was proposing at the moment I was behaving so badly. All I could see was a blurry twinkling object and him looking up at me. In embarrassment and shock I stepped away from him and told him to get into the car. He got up off his knee and we quietly and uncomfortably found our way home. The next morning, when I woke up, I remembered what had happened and a feeling of deep regret washed over me. Luckily, later that morning, he asked me while we watched Charlie Brown's Christmas in our pjs. I immediately burst into tears, apologized and accepted.

May 2018, we took a trip upstate with friends to view a wedding venue we found online. We loved it and decided to book for August of 2019. Apparently, with the excitement of our wedding, we got ahead of ourselves, because a month later I found out I was pregnant. It turns out I conceived the very same weekend we booked Burlap and Beams. We decided to continue on with wedding planning despite the unexpected gift. We also decided to buy a home since our Yonkers apartment wouldn't quite fit a new member of the family. We purchased our home in Wappingers Falls, NY in October of 2018. We moved in after some light renovations in December, and on February 17th, 2019 we welcomed Liam James Sullivan into the world. We have never been more in love! Liam is the light of our lives, and we couldn't be happier or more excited for this next chapter.