First Date

Allie: We went to Kampai sushi in the central west end. We were kind of on the line of being friends but awkwardly both liking each other. After dinner we went to Brennan's and there was an interesting group there. We had some drinks and jokes at the expense of the people at the party. I think we both knew at that point we
were going to be more than friends.

Steven: We went and got sushi at Kampai in the Central West End. I wasn't sure if it was technically a date or not but rolled with it. After we went to a local bar to have a few more drinks. There was an interesting situation and conversation about that situation about some of the people there. I was nervous at dinner but after things felt natural and it felt like we had hung out for years.

The Proposal

Allie: It was my birthday weekend which I sometimes make a big deal out of :). He is terrible at keeping secrets from me about gifts so he kept trying to throw me off and giving fake hints leading up to my birthday. We had bought our first house a couple months before and absolutely loved hanging out there as much as possible (still do!). He was going to cook me dinner and get some good wine. So we ate a great steak and great dessert. Then he told me I had to hide in the bathroom, which I thought was weird but was also 2 glasses of wine in, so I went with it. When I came out there was a huge gift on my bed and I opened it; all that was in there was a card that said proceed downstairs. I got downstairs and there were flowers and twinkly lights on our back porch. He gave me another card that said "happy birthday to my wife" and I started laughing at him telling him he got the wrong one. That is when he asked me. We were both so nervous - we think he forgot to get down on 1 knee but don't remember and he also had to ask me 5 minutes later if I said yes. It was perfectly us!

Steven: I tricked her. A few days before the proposal I hung lights around the inside of the top part of our screened in porch. I didn't really think about what I would say if she asked what those were, but she didn't notice so I lucked out. On her birthday I said we should just stay in and cook and have a quiet evening. After dinner, I told her she had to go upstairs and her present was on the bed. On the bed was a box wrapped up, but inside there was a card and it said this is not your present. I hid flowers in the basement, and while she was up there ran down there and put them outside on the deck, with another card, and turned on the lights. I told her to come down, and she went outside and saw the flowers. I gave her a card that read "Happy Birthday to my wife." She laughed at me and said I got the wrong card, I smiled and popped the question. I think she said yeah, it was a bit intense...