Wine-ing about a new hobby

Ryan and I both have our share of hobbies.  He's outdoorsy in a woods/mountain/camping kind of way and I'm outdoorsy in a beach/boats/crabbing kind of way.  We both love sports, dancing, and music.  He watches an Oscar Best Picture movie every week with his friends, I watch Real Housewives and Dallas.  And while, for the most part, our hobbies come together well and we each are happy to give each other's hobby a try, we recently accidentally stumbled upon a new hobby both of us can now claim as ours.

On a recent visit to Connecticut for the Sacred Heart University Discovery Gala (which Ryan and I attended because I'm the President of the Alumni Association) we had some time to kill on a beautiful day so we decided a great way to see some hidden parts of Connecticut (and get a little tipsy) was through the Connecticut Wine Trail.

That day we checked out three wineries, Jones Winery, McLaughlin Vineyards, and DiGrazia Vineyards. All were within a really short distance from the Fairfield, Connecticut vicinity.  Jones' property was beautiful, with it's older farm machinery, collection of pick up trucks, beautiful red barn, and farm houses.  The wine tasting room was great and the wine pourers were well-versed in their selection of wines.  We wound up purchasing two bottles each of two types of wine that stood out to us: Beacon Light - a red which we both agreed we enjoyed the story behind it.  (Apparently the vineyards are now on an old airfield and that particular beacon was the one that would guide the aircraft home.) and Strawberry Serenade - a sparkling strawberry wine that was very exciting on the tongue.

On our way to the next winery, we came across a hidden gem - a llama farm!  Llamas are my favorite animal! I just can't resist them and how stupid they look.  We turned around, pulled off the road, and spent about 40 minutes talking to a whole bunch of llamas.  We had some good laughs as the llamas were engaged in some llama llovin' but when they were done they were happy to show us some llove too.  I'm not sure Ryan knew what he was getting into when I told him llamas are my favorite animal.  I don't think he realized just how much I like them but it seems like he's found a new appreciation for them as well as it was his idea to try to kiss them.

 When Ryan could finally pry me away from the llamas (and after I couldn't figure out a way to get one of them home with us - sure they could stick their head out my sunroof but where would I keep him in my 1 bedroom apartment?)  we went on to our second winery, McLaughlin.  This one is a little off the beaten path, as there's a pretty long drive down a dirt road to finally get to the tasting place.  While the grounds were very nice, we were not at all impressed with the wine offerings.  They seemed bitter.  And they were served in a stemless glass, which we are not fans of. The young girl who assisted us was not very friendly and seemed to rush us through our tasting without offering much information on what we were actually consuming.   It was here that we decided we would make it a point to only buy wines that are something different or have a good story.  We took more away from being in the town of Sandy Hook, Connecticut and seeing how it was recovering after the community's tragic school shooting.  One thing is for certain, that community has bonded together and it is not letting that terrible event define the town's spirit.

 Our final stop on this wine trail for the day was a little ways away and was a quaint house rather than a large vineyard.  Digrazia's warm tasting room combined with the knowledgeable wine pourers who, I'd assume were a couple and familiarly connected to the wine itself, made the experience very enjoyable.  We tasted so many wines (they even threw in an additional wine tasting for the same price) that it was hard to make up our minds on which we wanted.  I can't remember the one of the bottles we purchased but the other was a delicious pomegranate based wine called Paragran that was absolutely perfect for a crisp day.  I would love to go back and try the Wild Blue, a blueberry wine, but they were completely sold out that day.

On another trip to New England, this time to Vermont, we found another unexpected gem called Why Not Wine in Hoosick, New York.  This little shop of local New York wines is, as of right now, my favorite of the wineries we have been to.  The woman behind the counter was a lot of fun and took care of us even though we walked in after hours.  The wine was like candy, and we are definitely sweet, fruity wine people.  She nailed our tastes perfectly and this too was a hard decision on which to buy.  We walked out with five bottles, most of which have already been consumed, but a trip in the next few weeks will definitely include a stop in to restock for the summer.

We are looking forward to visiting all of the 26 wineries of the Connecticut Wine Trail very soon and discovering some in our own state too!

He puts the "Prize" in Surprise

Ryan and I are both very competitive, whether it's about our college basketball teams, playing Super Mario Bros. Wii, bowling, carnival games, or iPad trivia games, our blood definitely gets pumping and our competitive sides show.  I've managed to win a lot of these competitions over the past few months (much to Ryan's dismay - in fact, last night he said "I've lost games to you and my 8 year old niece lately. What's wrong with me?" )  But one way I can't compete with Ryan is with surprises - he is full of them, and they're always really good.

Don't get me wrong...I've pulled some off.  Nothing says "Surprise!" like an iPhone 5 being dropped on your head in the morning when you're still sleeping or an iPad on a bare foot when you're kissing goodbye.  (Sorry, RyGuy.)  I've even pulled off some less painful ones when I kidnapped him and brought him to St. James Gate for the first time and later booked a night in Vermont for us.  But Ryan's surprises are so much better than mine (not to mention, less painful.)

Of course I've already written about our first date, which is still marked on my calendar as "Adventure with Ryan" because, instead of asking me out, he asked to take me "on an adventure."  It certainly has been an adventure and still is. 

One day I was at the CCafe and was utterly bored without him there (this was before we were official.)  I went, hung out at the end of the bar, and spent the whole time texting Ryan about his trip to Vermont.  I thought he was still up there since there had been a pretty significant snowstorm and I had cancelled my trip to New England that weekend.  As I was just about to walk out and as one of our favorite songs to dance to came on, Ryan walks in, grabs my hand, and pulls me out onto the dance floor before I could even register what was happening.  I was so happy he was there!

Valentine's Day, which he told you about earlier, was very nice.  I surprised him with a broken  finger and he surprised me by wearing a red shirt to match my red dress, took me to the Straight No Chaser concert, gave me a beautiful Claddagh heart necklace and roses, and took me out for a wonderful dinner.  But my favorite surprise of that night was slow dancing with him in my living room to "Lady in Red".  After I had gone on for days about how "I don't care what we do on Valentine's Day, I just want a reason to wear my red dress" he made sure I was able to.  "Lady in Red" has always been my song.  Sure, now that I work for a blue school I wear a lot more blue but growing up and to all my college events I have always worn red.  It's my favorite color, and thus it's one of my favorite songs.  Since I first heard the song I dreamed of finding a guy who just knew that was my song and who would want to dance with me to it, and he made that dream come true in my living room that night.

Another surprise I received was when we were attempting a new dance, the "Travelling Cha Cha."  We had almost perfected it when I spun the wrong way and his elbow moved the right way and my nose met his forearm.  Ouch.  That was the night Ryan saw what I looked like with a beer bottle on my face to ice it down.  He felt really bad about hurting me, and I decided to capitalize on his guilt and got to tease him about the time he elbowed me in the nose for the rest of the month (he put a deadline on my nose jokes.)  I'd make him kiss my nose whenever I saw him that month to help it get better (even though it really only hurt for a few days), and that reminded me of the Colbie Caillat song "Bubbly" where she says, "When you kiss my nose, the feeling shows."  Well, one day this early spring he told me he was kidnapping me after work and was all concerned about the time and traffic.  We had dinner at a nice brewery near Rutgers and then walked to our surprise which turned out to be a Colbie Caillat concert at the State Theater  We had 3rd row seats and she was amazing! She is stunning in person and an incredible singer with such fun positive vibes in her music.  

Then there was the time he got us tickets to a Mets game.  I am a San Diego Padres fan and the only time they were playing in this area this year was for the first few opening games. In San Diego that would be great because it's always 72 degrees and sunny but in Queens it is still very possible for the mercury to climb above 28 degrees in the first week of April.  Luckily, I think out loud a lot when I'm around Ryan and was, in great detail, telling him what I was going to pack to bring to work that day to change into and be warm at the game.  I'm not sure if it was when I got to the part about a down jacket or another pair of long johns when he finally confessed that our seats were in the Hyundai Championship Club!  This club is an indoor and outdoor seating area with a private, all-you-can-eat buffet and bar! I was so happy to leave some layers at home that night and enjoy a ballgame from the luxurious surroundings of Citifield's Hyundai Club. We did try to brave an inning or two in the outside seats but, man, that wind blows cold in Flushing (which explains why the Padres lost so badly!)

One night when I was feeling particularly exhausted by a long day of phone calls at work, I was napping on my couch.  I hadn't heard from Ryan in a while but I was okay with that as I was peacefully relaxing in my quiet apartment.  All of a sudden my phone starting blowing up with calls and texts from a mutual friend of ours who happens to call me quite regularly.  Since we had already spoken that day, I ignored the call, and the texts.  In the meantime I received a simultaneous text from Ryan and knock on my door. No one knocks on my door because I have a private staircase I only share with my downstairs neighbor.  People don't just show up unannounced.  Well, most people, not Ryan! There he was at 10pm wearing his pajamas and a smile just to come see me.  I was so freaked out at first by the late night knock but he calmed me down.

Ryan always keeps me on my toes, and I try to keep my electronic devices off of his.  Just another reason why the fun times keep coming.  Don't worry, I've got a surprise of my own in the works as I write this...if I can only figure which device to drop where next!

Crazy little thing called Love. And broken fingers.

February Review

Ok, let me take a stab at this blogging activity though I don't think I could top my girlfriend's writing style with the dashing touch of humor she imparts in her version of the stories.

My girlfriend and my dog winking on Super Bowl Sunday. Can you tell them apart?

February 3rd - Super Bowl Sunday- After being asked by family and friends if I would throw (what has now become traditional) a Super Bowl party in my mom's basement, I of course knew I had to and thought this was a good, not-so-hectic time to bring Cheryl into my world of growing up in North Jersey.  I took her on my usual route from Bernardsville to Hackettstown going on nice back country roads into Mendham, Chester and eventually my hometown Long Valley while pointing out various meaningful landmarks along the way which I catch myself doing again and again as if she wasn't in the car the first time.  Brought her to the house I grew up in and to one of my favorite local spots, Long Valley Pub & Brewery, where we picked up Buffalo Wings for the game to accompany Cheryl's delicious homemade Buffalo Chicken Dip and Guacamole, both of which were the highlight foods of the evening.  I had a blast having some of my best friends and family members -- and now my new beautiful girlfriend -- watching the game, laughing at commercials and of course commenting on the memorable 20 minute stadium blackout.  It was rather an uneventful but fun evening and went pretty smoothly and later on we decided to go "Facebook official".  I must admit that one memory that sticks out about this night for me is the fact that Cheryl and I picked up just about all supplies for the party that -- this year -- I nonchalantly threw together, from no place better than... Walmart!  It was at this point that it became crystal clear to me that Cheryl and I were from two different universes of New Jersey.  She said she's been to Walmart a handful of times in her life while when I lived in Hackettstown, you went to Walmart a handful of times in a weekend!

Taken at Dublin Pub -- one of my favorites of Cheryl

February 6th - We took a day off and had all these great plans to get up bright and early and head into the great city of New York for a day of fun activities.  Well, things didn't quite turn out that way -- the great city we ended up going to was... Morristown, NJ! Nothing wrong with that, Morristown is a great place.  We ended up having a nice lunch at Dublin Pub (where one of my favorite, if not THE favorite, photo of Cheryl was taken)  Given that it was February, it was still cold but just warm enough for us to take a quick stroll after lunch through "the Green" (see page background picture).  We didn't really have any plans that day but I did mention to Cheryl that I had a burning desire to start cooking steaks at home which led to our brilliant idea: why not check out what cast iron skillets Bed Bath & Beyond has  and Cheryl lovingly gave me her 20% off discount to use towards it (See appropriate Old School reference)  Remember those fun activities of us exploring the great city of New York I told you about in the beginning of this paragraph?  I know Cheryl is still waiting for me to cook her that steak on that skillet she gave up her coupon for.


February 12th - Cheryl breaks her finger by, as she likes to put it, "taking the short way down the stairs"..  Ut-oh, Valentine's Day is right around the corner!

February 13th & 14th

Our first Valentine's - The Grain House

Valentine's Day - I struggled a bit about what to do for Valentine's Day and what I came up with was that for dinner I would take Cheryl back to The Grain House -- the place that we both consider to be our first significant dinner date.  However, this wasn't your typical Valentine's Day, especially given the broken finger. The comedy in this is that while we were in Morristown on the 6th (prior to the broken finger incident) we passed by the Mayo Performance Arts Center (MPAC) and noticed that Straight No Chaser were playing on February 13th and Cheryl mentioned having liked the a capella group. I made a mental note and bought tickets as part of a Valentine's Day surprise.  Seating options were limited since I got tickets late.  But since I wanted to make it a surprise, I told Cheryl (prior to the broken finger) to keep February 13th clear because my sister wanted us to go bowling with us.  The funny thing is even after she broke the finger, I stuck to the bowling plan and so did she (she's a trouper!).  "Eh, I broke the left pinky, who needs a left pinky when you bowl righty anyways?" was her thinking. She still insisted on bringing her bowling ball and I thought well this could be a funny twist so we loaded the bowling ball into the car when I picked her up and off to Morristown we went for dinner before bowling.  Before dinner, I took Cheryl by the MPAC and said, "I have a surprise for you. We're not going bowling, we're going to see Straight No Chaser".  We had a delicious meal at Millie's Old World Meatballs and Pizza and went to the show.  The seats we ended up with were against a back wall which was convenient cause Cheryl was able to keep her arm raised on the back of my chair (or on my shoulder) to help reduce the swelling of her pinky.  We watched most of the show with what might have looked like Cheryl giving me bunny ears the whole time.  And yes, her bowling ball was still in the back of my car.


Cheryl gets sick - February was a rough month for Cheryl but she definitely got through it like a champ.  After breaking her finger, one night she gets deathly ill with fevers and inflammation of the throat.  I took her to the emergency care the next morning when it became clear she needed antibiotics to help reduce the swelling in her throat.  Feeling helpless in the emergency room with her while she was getting pricked by needles, I thought I should offer her to find her something soft to eat.  As she's getting drugged up with the good stuff, I nonchalantly asked her, "Do you want me to get you a banana?"  Apparently this was a hilarious question.  I didn't think there was anything particularly strange about it but looking back on it now I guess it was a little out of the blue.  Just a little.  So... I played it safe and ended up getting water for her instead.  We left the emergency care and went straight to the pharmacy where I got a kick out of watching Ms. Zombie traverse the aisles almost motionlessly except for her feet moving as if they were on auto-pilot.

The other fond memory I have during Cheryl's visit to hell and back was coming to check in on her either later that night or the next night.  I walk in the door and there she is laying on the couch, in a hoodie with blankets and wearing ... EARMUFFS. INDOORS!  I don't know that I'll ever have a chance to see that sight again but it is forever burnt into my memory as one of the funniest, yet cutest things I've seen.  It was then I knew this relationship was gonna be a fun adventure.

St. Patrick's Day Week in a Weekend

While I don't have any Irish in me, I probably celebrated St. Patrick's Day more this year then any O'Brien, O'Malley,  Kelly, or Houlihan you'll ever meet.

Ryan wasn't kidding when he said he loves St. Patrick's Day.  I was happy to oblige and be a part of it (and prove to his mom that this dziewczyna could hang.)

So buckle up, (slowly) pour yourself a Guinness, and relive the week's worth of events in three different states in our 48 hour weekend:

Friday Night:

Part 1 - Irish Dinner, St. James' Gate, Maplewood, NJ - I brought Ryan back to St. James' Gate - a place a kidnapped him and surprised him with when we first started dating.  With its authentic atmosphere,  Guinness on the menu as an appetizer, and creamy Mac N Cheese, it's hard to resist when kicking of St. Patrick's Day Weekend.  We met some folks involved in the Newark Parade, talked Seton Hall basketball, and coated our stomach to prepare for the weekend ahead.

Before I go on to the next part, later in this weekend we had reservations to stay at a hotel in the Poconos with a fireplace in the room.  Before we left for the trip, we needed to find some firewood for the fireplace.  According to Ryan, the country boy, you buy firewood at ShopRite, so we found the closest ShopRite to St. James.  The bulks of wood at ShopRite were a bit much and a bit costly for our brief stay so we went where all the country folk go to fetch some kindling: Walmart.  Being a pretty typical man (or so I was learning) Ryan wanted to build the biggest, baddest fire the Ramada Limited in Tannersville, PA, had ever seen, or so it would seem, as $2.99 at Walmart gets you enough wood to keep Smokey the Bear up at night.

Part 2 - After our errands were run for the latter portion of the weekend, we weren't quite ready to call it a night. We knew we had an early morning the next day so wanted to keep things local.  A new Irish pub called Darby Road just opened up not too far from my apartment and earlier in the day I noticed they had put up a tent and were having a big Irish festival so we decided to check it out.  Surprise was on us! They had two bands, one rock, one Irish, and great food and drinks.  We wound up drinking a few beers and listening to the great music.  Of course Ryan couldn't resist the chance to pull me out onto the dance floor for an East Coast Swing to "Galway Girl".  I swear the band lengthened the song so the crowd, who was in absolute awe of our dancing, could cheer us on for more.  Fully exhausted after the dance, we retired back to our picnic table for another round of beers.  A young waitress came by handing out free raffle tickets for a door prize to be announced later that night. I jokingly said, "We're gonna win this."  Well, sure enough, a few hours later, they pulled our ticket number and we won Devils tickets for later that day!  (Which we had to give to my parents and Ryan's sister and niece since we had more places to go and more celebrating to do!)

Saturday:

Part 3 - No rest for the weary, or slightly hungover...we had to be at Seton Hall University for St. Patrick's Day Mass and breakfast as later that day we'd be representing Seton Hall PIPE (Pirates of Irish Persuasion & Extraction) in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade!

 Part 4 - We headed into the City via ferry so we could do our our thing while we killed time waiting for our step-off time for the parade.  I think we surprised some ferry riders with our silly glasses but we were feeling festive. We made our way into mid-town and went right to one of my favorite Irish bars, Legends.  My friend O'Malley joined us for some lunch where we shared some fish n chips, Guinness grilled cheese, and, of course, some Guinness.  As we left Legends the parade had begun and so did the snow! It was snowing like crazy but put us even more into the spirit.

He's not choking me here, I swear.

Part 5 - We marched in the Parade! After much waiting and lining up between a jazzy high school marching band and the TSA's Official Pipe & Drum Band, we stepped off in our official sashes to make the 50+ block walk up 5th Avenue, past St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Ryan and I got a little too used to walking and waving like the King and Queen of 5th Avenue.  A little wet snow and freezing temperatures didn't slow us down at all! It was so heart-warming and exciting to see and hear the people still standing along 5th Avenue (more than 4 hours into the parade) cheering us on as we walked by! The City was truly alive in a way I hadn't seen it before and I was so happy to share this experience with Ryan.

When we made it to the end of the Parade route Ryan did the impossible and hailed a cab uptown to whisk us back to the 39th Street Ferry Depot to head back across the river.  We had more places to be, and another state to get to.

Part 6 - A quick drive across New Jersey across Route 80 brought us (and our wood) to the Poconos to see one of Ryan's favorite cover bands, Unforgettable Fire (a U2 Cover band whose lead singer goes by the name of Tone-O) at Mount Airy Casino.  After quickly drying off and warming up, we headed out to the show to enjoy cheap beers and good music.  Our glasses, of course, had to be worn.  

After a really late night dinner we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the fireplace and finally warm up.

Sunday:

Part 7 - We woke up the next morning refreshed (and warm) and headed back to Mount Airy for the brunch buffet, which, in true 1970s Poconos style, included a lounge singer right in the middle of the salad bar and pasta station singing hits from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Jackson, Boys II Men, and even threw in a little "Danny Boy" for the sake of St. Patrick.  Before our trip I read online that if you downloaded the Mount Airy app, you'd get $25 in free slot play, and if you sign up for the player's club card, you'd get $10 in slot play.  We cashed in on our freebies and headed for the slots where Ryan turned his free money into $75 and I made my $10 last quite a while.  I then had the idea to cash out, and take our money to the roulette table, where Ryan turned his freebies into enough cash to make up for the cost of the room! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Part 8 - We cashed out and headed back to Jersey, this time to stop at Ryan's mom's St. Patrick's Day party in Hackettstown.  On our way we stopped so I could see the giant M&Ms outside of the MARS headquarters in town.  The house was packed and smelled like delicious corned beef.  We went out on the back deck where Ryan's sister Heather and dog Quinn were hanging out near a fire pit.  Heather said to Ryan, "We need more wood" to which Ryan said unexpectedly, "Oh I've got some in my car"and headed out to the street to retrieve it.  We built up a big fire which Ryan's mom asked me to move away from the house.  I wasn't sure how to actually move fire so I assigned Ryan the job.

Part 9 - We moved our party to Bea McNally's, the new Irish pub in Hackettstown, which was alive with festive locals. Somehow we got two seats at the corner of the bar which later turned out to be the best seats in the house, as a Pipe and Drum band marched in and gave a show right in front of us.  When they were done, students from the Peter Smith Irish Step Dance School performed in front of us as well.  Both groups were very talented.

Part 10 - We wrapped up our St. Patrick's Day weekend at Mama's, one of Ryan's clients' restaurants.  The owner kindly offered us a free dessert from his menu.  The cannoli and sfogliatelle were the perfect ending to my Irish overload weekend.

And no, Mrs. McC, I still don't have any Irish in me.

Re-Meet the Parents: The story of a red guy in a blue world

As I mentioned before, Ryan met my parents before we started dating but with us approaching two months together, it was time for their paths to cross again. As a family of avid Seton Hall Pirates basketball fans what better way to do this than at a Pirates basketball game?

There was one game left in the regular season.  But this game wasn't just against any school.  It was against our arch-rival, Rutgers, the other school in Jersey.

Rutgers also happens to be Ryan's alma mater.

I remember my dad's Facebook status update for that evening: "Meeting my daughter's boyfriend tonight.  Strike one, wrong shirt."

It was definitely three against one that night (and to think Ryan was worried about me being an only child meeting his huge family...it was my tiny but mighty family showed him the ropes that night!)

We actually had a blast.  Nothing builds camaraderie without a healthy rivalry.

Ryan's the guy with the dark brown facial hair, not the guy with the blue facial hair.

And even though that other school in Jersey won that night (and won the home-away series against us) it was a great night.   With friends in the arena both in the stands and on the bench, I just kept praying that kiss cam wouldn't catch up to us

Let's Catch Up: January

I'm going to try to capture everything we've done (well, the super memorable stuff at least) over the past four months in hopes that this Blog will get updated more regularly as we create more memories and journey along into our future together.  To save time (and my sanity) I'm going to take the first few months and briefly share what we did.  This is really to serve as a time capsule of our (thus far and ongoing) amazing relationship.

January 15th - We became official.  You already knew that.

January 20th - We wasted no time...I met Ryan's family.  His entire family.  Me, the only child AND only grandchild on one side, met his mom, brother, four sisters, their significant others, nieces, nephew, some friends, and who knows who else at a bowling birthday party for his sister Kerri.  I immediately knew this was the start of something good because in a family that size I saw a whole lot of normal.  I wasn't intimidated at all.  They are a good bunch of people who enjoy being around each other, acting goofy, and having fun.  My kind of people.  (By the way, Ryan already had met my parents at my CCafe birthday party back on December 1st where he spent the time he wasn't dancing with me talking to my dad...yeah he knew the way to my heart even back then.)

Perhaps my favorite memory from my bowling family meeting was when his mom, a native of Ireland, approached me, and, after seeing my reddish hair and freckled pale skin asked, "Are ya sure ya don't have a little Irish in ya?" I found myself laughing and apologizing simultaneously for the fact that this Polish girl only looks the part.



Oh yeah, and I beat Ryan at bowling (ok, just one of the games.)

Roses are red, flowers will die, but nothing says "I love you" like reliable wifi

Ryan gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers right after we labeled ourselves as officially girlfriend/boyfriend.  One day he was being particularly anxious about how late I was working.  "When are you going home? Are you done working yet?" and so on.  I thought he just really wanted me to join him and his friends near Rutgers at their favorite hang out spot Stuff Yer Face . It was so unlike him to push me to get done with work or just leave it for the next week.  He's a hard working guy - works full-time and owns a successful IT business - and one of the things I love most about him is his hard work ethic.  Well when he finally had gotten to the point of annoying me enough, I left work and came home to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a note on my doorstep.  The note was his way of telling me he was ready to "share with the world" our relationship (read: make it Facebook official.)

He's a romantic and very giving guy.  He gave me a beautiful bright pink rose the night of our first date, surprised me with these flowers randomly that Friday afternoon, and the most perfect bouquet of long stem red roses (with one peach rose to represent Uniquely Us) I have ever seen for Valentine's Day.

But he's also a realist and a techie, as am I.  Our connectivity is crucial to our relationship.  We are connected through email, phone, text, Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Pinterest, G-Chat, and now this blog.  So when my wireless router was giving me issues he took matters into his own hand.  I think it was a combination of his techie-ness, his overall care and concern for me, and the fact he'd want to remain connected since he'd be spending more time in my apartment which made him insist on buying me an upgraded, faster router and setting it up for me.

My bytes have never travelled faster, my devices are constantly connected, and my heart is aflutter now that I've got an IT guy in my life.

The Story of Us

One day in the Fall of 2012 at a country bar in New Jersey (yes, they do exist) called the Colorado Cafe ("CCafe" or "CC" for future reference), a country boy named Ryan attempted to learn the dance to "Moves Like Jagger."  Halfway through, he walked off the dance floor and into the sarcastic reach of a gal named Cheryl who said, "at least you gave it a try."

The two starting talking effortlessly,  making each other laugh with their shared sense of sarcasm and witty humor, talking technology, and discussing their mutual interest in country music and line dancing.  After a few spins around the dance floor, Ryan and Cheryl were hooked, and exchanged phone numbers right away.  One favorite memory of this night is Ryan showing Cheryl the ropes of East Coast Swing to the tune of "Baby Likes to Rock It"

After some quick texts, Ryan asked Cheryl to meet him for drinks and appetizers on Sunday night, the very next day.  They met, shared a few small plates and a couple of beers, discussed all the things you shouldn't discuss on a first date (politics, religion) and those you should (jobs, career aspirations, educational background, family life).

On October 12, Ryan took Cheryl out for "an adventure." This time, he pulled out almost all the stops and surprised Cheryl with a nice meal at The Grain House Restaurant, a walk to view the NYC Skyline in West Orange at the Eagle Rock Reservation, and a long, dark drive to the country to see a fantastic cover band called "Country Comfort" at a dive bar on a dark, isolated road at Bernie's Hillside in Chester, NJ.  A nice meal, a nice view, a few dances in front of a new crowd, and they were hooked on each other.

A massive hurricane hit, then a snowstorm; a few trips here and there; some loose ends to tie up, and even a minor nose injury - but every week they came back to the CCafe to dance, talk, laugh, and drink together.  Nothing got in the way of Ryan and Cheryl getting to know one another, and most importantly, nothing got in the way of their fun.

On December 12th, 2012 (12-12-12), Cheryl went over Ryan's apartment because she was bored without him at the CCafe.  They shared a few beers, played Jenga, he gave her his Giants hooded sweatshirt, and...kissed her (finally) goodbye in his driveway.

They celebrated Christmas at the CCafe and took their first pic together that night.

They celebrated New Year's Eve together at the CCafe, where after a few beers, a shot of SoCo & Lime, and a champagne toast, the two shared a kiss at midnight that kicked off 2013 on the right foot with the right person.

After exchanging a lot of IMs while at work and a few emails here and there, Cheryl emailed Ryan to ask for computer help.  On January 15th, 2013 at 3:53pm, Ryan replied to Cheryl's email and addressed her as "Dear My Beautiful Girlfriend (can I call you that? :) )"  and that made things official.

But things weren't "Facebook Official" until February 3rd, the night of the Superbowl, when, after the Ravens beat the 49ers, Ryan and Cheryl changed their Facebook statuses.

And that's how the story begins (and the third person talk ends.)

It's now four happy months later and we've decided that we're having so much fun together, we need to share our adventures and happiness with the world.  Our relationship is truly different than all others we've known, and, in such a short time, has taken us on many adventures.  We hope you enjoy seeing the world through our eyes as it has already been quite the journey paved with miles of laughs and experiences.

That is why this is called "Uniquely Us."