Ever wonder how we met? Well, so do we. We can't pinpoint the exact moment, but one moment definitely stands out.
It was a random weekday in fall 2000. Some of Dee's friends were dating some of the guys in Jeff's fraternity, and they brought her over to the frat house hang out. Jeff emerged from his room, likely wearing a Maple Leafs jersey and black puffy vest and met Dee, who was definitely wearing hoop earrings and a "Jenny From the Block"-inspired outfit. Our eyes locked, but we didn't actually speak to each other. Until we became friends on ICQ and MSN Messenger. Romantic, right?
After many days chatting online and nights hanging out at The Brunswick House, The Madison, TONIC and Helium, we realized it wasn't really meant to be. Jeff was with someone else, and he set Dee up with one of his frat brothers.
Clearly neither of those worked out. So we decided to have their first "date" at The Bedford Academy. However, SOMEONE didn't show up. This was the time before cell phones, so Dee spent quite a few beers commiserating with the bartender. But Dee knew exactly where he was and marched over to The Brunny. The rest is history.
Fast forward, things became official sometime in 2002. We moved in together in 2005, when Jeff's lease was up and Dee's roommate moved out. Were we ready to live together? Probably not. But we were thrown into an amazing 4 years living on top of Harbord Bakery, full of challah and bagels, The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm marathons, rooftop hangouts (until the skylight incident), epic house parties DJ-ed by friends, cooking experiments and part 1 of their life together, which included weekly trips to Lee's Palace/The Horseshoe Tavern/The Docks/ACC/Mod Club to see every concert listed on rotate.com.
Then Dee moved to New York in 2009. Thus began 7 years of long distance: United, Air Canada and Porter Airlines became our most visited websites, we found the quickest ways to get to and from the airport, learned how to pack months of missed good and bad times together into long weekends, and met up wherever in the US or Canada Dee was on fieldwork or Jeff was on a baseball trip. We continued to quote Seinfeld and Dumb and Dumber, go to every single concert we could and check in on Foursquare to every restaurant and bar in the East Village and Williamsburg.
Our lives for the past 14 years have been an unpredictable adventure full of questions, LOTS OF QUESTIONS: "How long have you been together?", "Where are you guys going to live?", "When is Jeff/Dee coming to visit again?", "How come Dee has had so many different haircuts?", "Where did Jeff's Maple Leafs jersey go?", "Is there a restaurant that you haven't been to?", and of course, "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET MARRIED?!?"
WELL, AT LEAST WE CAN ANSWER THAT LAST QUESTION FOR CERTAIN: OCTOBER 8, 2016.
In the meantime, flip through our photo history. Note the disproportionate number of selfies and the questionable sartorial choices.
We can't wait to celebrate with all of you!
