Fall 2011 I had just moved to Philadelphia and adjusting to the city life from tiny Vermont. With all of my new city adventures I started to prowl for some man meat. I started the arduous task of blind dating via Okcupid. After a string of REALLY bad dates I was about to throw in the towel and give into my future life of a cat lady. I had one last date lined up to meet up at Dave and Busters. I didn't want to be rude but this didn't sound like fun. I hate spending money of games and I am significantly handicapped when it comes to any activities involving eye/hand coordination such as arcade games. Minutes before meeting any blind date potential I have the instinct to bail but am too chicken to do it. I intended to have a drink and bail so that I could enjoy an evening of grocery shopping and cooking. Little did I know that I would meet a guy who actually looked like his profile picture. Plus this guy could hold a conversation and was well mannered. It was almost too good to be true. One beer turned into a couple of hours of shuffleboard (which Nate taught me) some nachos and a Raven's game. 4 hours later Nate walked me to my car, we shared an awkward kiss and I went home happy.
After that night more dates occurred and I knew I must have hit the jackpot, boyfriend gold. He made me flan in his toaster oven (that's not sexual innuendo, his apartment didn't have an oven), whenever we walked on the street he would insist on walking on the side closest to the street so I was further away from the cars, and the first night I crashed at his place I fell asleep in his bed fully clothed and woke up fully clothed as little spoon. I can't say that happened during all of our other sleepovers... wink wink. I was getting antsy for him to pop the question, the "will you be my girlfriend?" question. Sounds strange but I think that a guy needs to formally ask, you can't just assume that you're an item. You need to clarify between a relationship and a bed buddy. My brother-in-law thinks I'm nuts. And then the magic happened. Nate invited me to his apartment to meet his buddy who was in town for the weekend. I guess the excitement of the night before wore him out because Greg pretty much slept the whole night on the sofa. Nate wanted to go for a walk to a local park near his place. I'll paint a picture. It's a cold crisp night, there's a full moon and a bridge over a small pond. Nate pulls out his rico suave moves says (there is some debate over the next line) I hear Nate say " I want you to be my girlfriend" I take this as the question I've been waiting for. YES!!!!! Nate on the other hand says he was making a statement, there was no question to answer. I like my version better. To celebrate the 2 of us played beer pong in the backyard and have been having fun ever since.