While we grew up just 10 minutes from each other, we didn't meet until the week before starting 9th grade at Watchung Hills Regional High School. One of my friends (shoutout Hannah!) had made some new friends through fall sports and made the questionable decision to introduce them to the Watchung boys. While my friends pretended to not know the answers to Disney: Scene It, I spent the entire night trying to make the curly-haired soccer girl laugh. To this day, Nicole swears she wore her favorite purple shirt but I promise you she was wearing white... After that first night, our paths did not cross for another year. Breaking all sorts of stereotypes, Nicole was in a higher math level than me, so the first class we had together was AP European History in 10th grade. We became friends as the year went on and Nicole outperformed me on every single test ~except~ the AP Exam, which some might say was the only one that mattered (this did not work on my mother). In our junior year, we were placed in the same honors Physics class. During the first month of school, Nicole was asked if she wanted to move up to AP Physics while I was asked to please face forward and stop talking to Jack. Junior year, because of her September birthday, Nicole got her driver's license early and would graciously drive me to get Chipotle. I insisted on paying for her food in return for driving and suddenly we were on a date! In March 2015, I asked Nicole to junior prom by giving her a teddy bear and holding up a sign made 100% by her friends (thanks Lauren!). About a year later and countless ice cream dates, summer night karaoke drives, heated Pixar debates, and Gossip Girl episodes later, I sent Nicole on a scavenger hunt with her friends and waited at the end of it with a similar-looking sign but much larger-sized teddy bear asking her to senior prom.

True to our nerdy roots, Nicole attended the University of Michigan while I went off to Notre Dame. Being three and a half hours apart did not stop us from sharing our favorite parts of college with each other, from Barn Dance & the Big House to Disco Roll & Football Teams That Don't Cheat. We still had our summer night drives together while we were home from school, and Nicole began inviting me down to her Jersey Shore house. I quickly learned that if I wanted any chance at a future with Nicole, I needed to get much, much better at beach volleyball. While I became a regular at Resort 88, Nicole became a regular at the mahjong table. Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Chinese New Year, I had to accept that someone other than my Ah-ma could give me a run for my money. After college and COVID, I moved into Manhattan while Nicole moved to Hoboken. We learned how to be adults together, with Nicole sharing cooking tips and me sharing funny instagram reels. We've been lucky to travel to all sorts of amazing places including Anguilla, Saint Lucia, Portugal, Egypt, Amalfi, and our favorite, Aruba. Nicole has seen Ted's hour-by-hour sightseeing itineraries firsthand, and I've gotten to witness Mario walk laps in the airplane aisle to "get his steps in" and we've both stuck around! I moved to Hoboken during the summer of 2024, where we mostly live in harmony until one of us beats the other in a board game. We love to cook (despite our laundry list of allergies), play pickleball (despite losing often), and convincing each other to read our favorite books (despite much different tastes).

10 years after that initial prom-posal, Timmy was ready to ask the next big question. As a call-back to the way he asked me to senior prom, Timmy sent me on a scavenger hunt, with clues and riddles that sent me around Hoboken leading to the final location where he was waiting with a ring (which is fabulously gorgeous). The adventure started at the end of Kelsey's birthday brunch, when the girls decided we wanted dessert to celebrate Kelsey. Instead of bringing dessert menus, the waiter arrived with a printed note which explained the what was going on and included my first clue. I was initially very confused by the strange dessert menu, but once I figured out what was happening I was very excited and ready to get started. (PS: Kelsey was involved in planning the whole thing, so no birthday thunder was stolen) From there, Kelsey was my trusted travel companion for the day as we made our way around Hoboken. The clues took us to our favorite ice cream place, our favorite bar, the shop that displayed my art once, and a local coffee shop. To get from place to place, I solved riddles, made jigsaw puzzles, and solved a homemade connections puzzle. As an additional fun surprise, at each location there was a a friend or two waiting with my next purple envelope, which made the journey extra special. For one clue, I had to call some of my long-distance besties to get information to help me solve the puzzle. Finally, the last clue led home, where Timmy decorated the apartment beautifully with rose petals, candles, and flowers leading through our apartment and up to the roof. We shared a special moment alone on the roof and then joined some friends and family downstairs to celebrate. It was a magical day I still have trouble believing was real!