Anna’s dating profile on Hinge had a video of her dancing to Kesha (your love is my drug, to be exact), so Josh’s first message challenged her to a dance-off. Anna agreed (when does she ever turn down a competition?), and a few days later we hopped on FaceTime to face down. We talked effortlessly for hours before the battle began.

Then it was time. Josh issued the challenge so he got to (had to) dance first. Anna chose: “Ride Wit Me” by Nelly, the early aughts classic. Josh danced his heart out and left it all on the floor (as anyone who’s been to a wedding with him would know). It was a pretty solid performance, but Anna knew she could top it. Josh revealed her song: “Umbrella” by Rihanna. Without missing a beat (pun intended), Anna disappeared off camera before re-appearing, an umbrella in hand. “Think it would be bad luck to open this inside during the dance?” she asked. “Nah, I’m not superstitious,” replied Josh. Anna then danced up a (rain)storm and won the night.

It rained for our next five dates.

Our first in-person date was supposed to be watching the sunset with pizza and ice cream at Brooklyn Bridge Park, but we were rained out. Josh had a "back up plan" for dinner at a nice wine bar (LaLou), but didn't make a reservation (whoops) and it was full. So we wandered down Vanderbilt until we found a random Thai restaurant with room for two. The food was fine, the conversation sublime. We then ignored the frigid weather (40 degrees in late May) to get ice cream from Ample Hills before making it back to LaLou for one last drink. We shared a first kiss under an umbrella.

Skipping ahead a few pages (and let’s ditch the chapters)

We eventually made it to Brooklyn Bridge Park for pizza and ice cream. In summer 2021, as soon as we were “officially” dating, Anna went home to Colorado to spend a month with her family. (In classic Anna style, she gave Josh a “relationship contract” the day before she left. Josh was amused but took it seriously. Anna’s mom was mortified). The first day Anna got back, Josh took her on a surprise date to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We got delicious tacos for lunch, then took a nap in the grass before getting into a furious ping pong battle (Josh lost the first game but came back to win best of 3, much to Anna’s dismay), followed by pizza and ice cream as the sun set behind Manhattan. That day, Josh started seriously thinking that Anna could be the person he spends the rest of his life with.

Two years (and many more surprise dates) later, we moved to Fort Greene, just a few minutes walk from the site of our first kiss. We frequent our first date block regularly for Ample Hills and our favorite dinner spots (including LaLou, but not the Thai place), sometimes with our puppy Astra tagging along.