Our Story
I was just about ready to hit pause on finding love in DC. Then I met Bailey.
After a series of bad dates, I called my parents and told them that I was ready to stop dating for a while. Maybe I’d just get a dog. However, something led me back onto Hinge, a dating app, late one night.
I don’t know if it was fate, but I finally saw someone whose profile truly was unlike the others - one that focused on passions. When I noticed that this girl had even camped on top of a volcano, my interest was literally peaked (pun absolutely intended). I responded to her prompt on my favorite passions and put my phone away for the night.
When I awoke the next day, she responded, and off we went - texting back and forth for weeks - until I worked up the courage to ask her to join me for a “reverse dinner date.” We’d start with gelato at Pitango (always dessert first) and have dinner at Daikaya Izakaya.
I took a swig of whiskey and got on the metro, dressed in my finest peacoat, a sweater, jeans, and chelsea boots. Seeing her outside the gelato shop, we awkwardly hugged and went inside - but butterflies were certainly there.
The conversation was slow at first, but by dinner - filled with small plates like chicken karaage and grilled octopus - our conversation was flowing.
What kind of animal would you be? What’s your favorite color? And then, the all important - where’s the best mac and cheese in DC?
We were equally foodie-ish, nerdy about all the right things, equally weird, and equally smitten (in my opinion). I couldn’t get enough of her.
Many more carefully planned dates later (bowling and a mac and cheese taste test, a long conversation on the back of the Lincoln Memorial, a picnic and hike in Rock Creek Park, etc.), she single handedly reinvigorated my faith in the DC dating scene and in finding love. So much so that I would propose to her in DC four and a half years later.
Throughout our relationship, we've moved in together, survived “unprecedented times,” a year of long distance, lived abroad together, travelled together (splitting who gets the window seat, of course), and now started a family with our first puppy…
Michael from all those years ago wouldn’t have believed where we are now. I can’t wait to see where we end up.
Bailey - here’s to all the adventures and life to come. Thank you for helping me realize that DC does, in fact, have a dating scene worth a darn. Even more, here’s to realizing the remarkably amazing benefits of giving things one final shot.
His story…
Her story…
I met Michael just after I had moved back to DC for grad school after spending three years in East Africa. He was the first (and last!) person I went on a date with in the US.
We first connected over our passions - which is when I knew he was someone I had to meet - and then over macaroni and cheese.
On our first date, Michael and I debated where you could get the best mac and cheese. He argued that Dukes Grocery (a local DC restaurant) had the best, while I insisted that Panera was better. Even though he thought that was a “red flag,” he asked me on a second date, where he organized a taste test for us.
That evening, he picked up an order of Panera mac and cheese to go and met me at Dukes, where we ordered their gourmet white truffle mac and cheese. Over good food, and even better conversation, we eventually both agreed that Panera was the winner! From that moment onward, he would become fondly known amongst my friends as “mac and cheese boy.”
Later that night, even though temperatures were just above freezing, we sat outside on a swing and talked until early into the morning. I dove right into the hard questions, and he didn’t shy away — even when I asked him “what do you think happens after we die?”
Fast forward several more artfully curated and well-planned dates, I was falling head over heels for this guy. It wasn’t long until I accidentally blurted that I loved him one day. Luckily, he reciprocated.
As we continued to get to know one another, we were continuously awed by how similar we were and how much we had in common. Even though Michael is a sports fanatic, and I only recently figured out how downs work in football, we constantly joked that we were the same person.
Over the next few years we weathered a pandemic together, stayed madly in love through a year of long-distance, lived abroad together, travelled the world, and adopted a puppy. It was been a wild ride, but it is just the beginning! I am so excited for next steps in our journey and for all the adventures to come as a married couple!
Over the years
Early 1995
Before we even met, we were clearly more alike than we could ever have imagined.
Can you guess who is who?!
October 23, 2019
We matched on the dating app, Hinge!
Responding to Bailey’s question asking about passions, Michael sent Bailey a very, very, very long list including things like college sports, cooking, and French culture —just to name a few.
November 2, 2019
We had our first date!
We met at Pitango (a gelato shop) for a “reverse dinner date” and ended the night talking about the best mac and cheese in the city while having fun small plates and drinks at Daikaya Izakaya in Chinatown. This would inspire the infamous mac and cheese date taste test just a week later :)
November 30, 2019
It became official!
Over some beers and baked brie, Michael officially asked Bailey to be his girlfriend as we watched the LSU v. Texas A&M football game at Bailey’s apartment.
December 31, 2019
Michael flew out to Colorado to surprise Bailey for New Year’s Eve. She got to show him around Boulder and Denver and he met her family for the first time.
January 25, 2020
We got all dressed up for the Washington Mardi Gras ball, where Bailey learned about Louisiana culture and the craziness that is Mardi Gras! She also met Michael’s parents for the first time.
March 7-13, 2020
Bailey visits Louisiana!
Together, we explored all the key spots for food in New Orleans and Bailey got to see where Michael grew up in Baton Rouge!
March 14, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic “started” the day we flew back to DC from Louisiana. This was the first true test of our relationship! But ultimately, we felt so lucky we had met before it all started so we could get through it together.
August 8, 2020
Five months into the pandemic and nine months into dating, we moved in together! Our dads came to help us move in. Over pizza after a very long day, Bailey’s dad, Peter, (in)famously toasted: “Here’s to a one year lease!”
Seems like we’ve lasted quite a bit longer than that… ;)
Oct-December, 2020
We spent our first holidays together carving pumpkins for Halloween, cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for two, and making gingerbread houses in matching Christmas PJs.
October 17, 2021
Bailey moved to Cambodia for a Fellowship with the UN World Food Programme, kicking off a year of long-distance. Still, we found plenty of ways to keep the romance alive through virtual cooking dates, movie nights, Valentine’s Day flowers, and lots and lots of WhatsApp calls.
August 23, 2022
After nearly a full year apart, Michael quit his job, packed his bags, and moved to Cambodia! After Michael landed a new remote gig, we spent the next year exploring the country, enjoying lots of amazing food and making some great friends.
After weathering a pandemic, a year apart, and an international move - we knew for sure this was the real deal (though we both would say we already knew)!
September 2022
The best part about living in Cambodia was all the travel opportunities it gave us!
To kick off our adventures, we spent several weeks exploring the temples and trying food in Thailand before stopping off in Singapore to walk amongst the supertrees and try a Singapore Sling.
We loved both so much, went back again multiple times over the next year, including to our good friend’s wedding in Phuket!
June 2023
Bailey was invited to a conference at WFP’s headquarters in Rome. We took advantage of the opportunity and spent a week in Italy together exploring the monuments (including the Trevi Fountain, or “the Fountain of Lovers”), eating the most incredible food, and taking an excursion to the countryside for a wine tour.
We stopped in Germany for a pretzel and beer on the way back to Cambodia, checking another country off our lists!
September 2023
With our time in Cambodia winding down and Bailey’s parents both being in Europe at the same time, we closed out a year of amazing travel spending a week on Bailey’s dad’s sailboat in Greece where we explored the Ionian Sea and the archeological site of Delphi; visiting her mom in Annecy, France where we ate delicious fondue and picnicked by the lake; and checking out Geneva, Switzerland.
October 7, 2023
Back to the US!
In October, we packed our bags, said goodbye to Cambodia, and moved back to DC. Bailey got a great job with Action Against Hunger (which took her away to Ethiopia for two months one day later) and Michael continued working remotely with World Vision International (the job he started after moving to Cambodia).
December 2023
We spent our first official Christmas together at Michael’s house with family in Louisiana. Then, we had a belated Christmas and New Years’ Celebration with Bailey’s family in Colorado.
April 14, 2024
We got engaged!!
After a cheese-board picnic in the park (one of our favorite activities), Michael proposed to Bailey. She was completely surprised — which was a feat, since Michael is terrible with secrets — and said yes multiple times!
That afternoon, we celebrated with gelato at Pitango, the spot where we first met four and a half years earlier.
June 8, 2024
Two became three when we welcomed Louie to the family! With many sleepless nights, puppy bites, and trips to the vet, raising a puppy together has been the latest (and greatest) test of our relationship.
July 26-August 3 2024
With our birthdays are just six days apart (!!) we rung in a new decade by celebrating our 30th birthdays together on the beach in Tulum, Mexico (and crossed yet another country off Michael’s list!)
