One night Rosemary wandered in to the record store where Manny was working and was introduced through their mutual friend (who had been trying to set them up for years but Rosemary was always hesitant). That same night Rosemary’s friend insisted she and Manny had been flirting and had to go on a date with him. “Fine, I’ll ask him out just to prove to you that this won’t go anywhere.” She added him on Facebook and they set a date.

They agreed to get dinner at Kruger’s, a local pizza place. Manny was 15 mins late. As they ordered they discovered both loved pineapple on pizza and had similar other quirks. They talked and talked until Rosemary realized the waiters were putting chairs on tables and they were the very last in the restaurant. As they promptly left, Manny held the door open for her and Rosemary swore her heart skipped a beat. He walked her to her car and both awkwardly hugged, too scared to initiate a kiss. Rosemary watched Manny walk away and realized to herself, “he took the leftover pizza, dammit”.

After 5 years together and 6 months into a pandemic, Rosemary and Manny finally moved into their first apartment in Somerville, MA. They worked from home together in peace and Rosemary taught Manny almost all he knows about cooking, but they kept thinking about their next adventure…

After months of hunting, they found the perfect apartment in Washington Heights, NYC. Moved out of their 3rd floor walk up Somerville apartment and drove 4 hours to New York City to start their next adventure. They sold their car 2 days later and explored the city every weekend. Finally they felt settled enough to adopt a dog and named her Jasmine.

Almost a full year in New York, and 7 months of dog parenting, Rosemary and Manny needed a vacation. They packed up all their camping gear and drove upstate to a cozy glamping site on a river. On the second night after a steak dinner (and 2 repeats of Manny’s proposal playlist), Manny got down on one knee. Rosemary cried and kept asking "are you serious?" but ultimately said yes!