We met where any other young twenty somethings would meet, the dance floor! To set the scene, it was New Year’s Eve at a random event space in lower Manhattan. It was early in the evening, but we had both been to the bar a few times at that point and were having ourselves a great time dancing and hanging out with our respective friend groups. It wasn't until later in the evening, we locked eyes and started talking while we danced around to whatever EDM mash-up was popular at the time. It was from that point on, we knew this dance floor meet up would turn into something special!

It was to the day that we met four years later that Jon got down on one knee while we looked out on the Manhattan skyline. We were still in the thick of the pandemic so we opted for a more low key New Year’s Eve. We decided to do dinner just the two of us. As new parents of little puppy, this was a big deal and the first time we were leaving him at home alone. While we waited for our Uber, I could tell Jon was clearly nervous and was even sweating a bit from his forehead. I said to him, "Are you okay?! We're just going to dinner. Eli will be okay." He brushed it off and I didn't think too much into it. We pulled up to the Liberty State Park, which to Jon's advantage I had never been to, and got out of the car. I was a bit clueless as to where exactly we had to go to find the restaurant. He turns to me, "Oh no, I just realized I got the reservation wrong, it's not for another 15 minutes. Want to take a walk by the water while we wait?" Confused, I said "okay" and we started down a dimly lit path. We walked slowly making small talk about how pretty the skyline look, until we turned a corner. From afar, I could see a collection of lights on the path ahead, but was still not sure what we were walking to. As we walked closer, it became clear: candles laid out in a heart and Marry Me sign written out in lights. I began sobbing immediately while Jon got down on one knee and recited his lines (apparently this was the part he was nervous about even though I could register anything he said!) and asked me to marry me. I said "Yes!" and we embraced under the Manhattan skyline, a nod to where we met those four years ago. Eventually we made it to that dinner reservation and celebrated the rest of the night (via FaceTime) with friends and family.