Married Life: Happy Birthday to my Husband Craig & How We Met

Toots + Dill thru the years...

As I watch you play with the lil toy helicopter our "kitties" bought you *wink wink* (me) for your birthday...I'll never forget the day we met...And how a week later when I saw you again I fell in love with you. 

It was May 2010. I had pretty much given up meeting someone who would actually want to date me or better yet become my boyfriend. I was at little bar called O'Mailey's in Nyack, NY - ironically across the street from where my parents had their first date - and I spotted an old friend named Brian I hadn't seen in a few years. The lil bar was packed for 80's night and I had been sitting with my best friend at the bar drinking our tequila sunrises.

I waved at my friend Brian...but you saw me instead. 

Little did I know you came with Brian and a few other friends I knew in another life and bee-lined straight for me. You had a baseball cap on flicked up to the side like I've never seen before. You tried to make me laugh and I didn't realize you planted yourself right in front of my bar stool the whole conversation never leaving my line of sight. 

Then you left 20 minutes later...without my number...without my heart...without the hope of a date. 

A week later...same bar...same 80's night jams...I sat on a near bar stool and I looked up and there were you were turning the corner to enter the lil bar. You smiled when our eyes met and thread through the mass of people towards me. When he reached me, he said, "I can't believe you're here!" I  thought it was a coincidence him being back in the bar. But it wasn't. 

He had been looking for me. 

After a magic trick w/ a disappearing cigarette you asked me out and said "I want to take you out! When can we make this happen? I have to take you out"! We exchanged numbers and then after we confirmed the date and time...you left to go to another bar. 

My friend and I continued on our night and then it hit me that you and I were going to go on a real date. A real life date where a guy actually asked me out and was going to pick me up at 7. After talking to a complete stranger for a total of 45 minutes - adding up both meetings - asked me out. The shock sat in and the doubt creeped forward. 

I said to my friend that I had to go confirm this "Date". Guys just don't walk up to girls in a bar and ask them out, then leave. When I got to the other bar he said he was going to he wasn't shocked at all to see me. He knew I'd come and knew I'd ask to confirm this "Date." He switched from the single bachelor to the man I now love and the man who is my husband. He dropped the cocky pick-up lines that weren't too cheesy and was worried that I was by myself finding him at this other bar. My other friend had waited outside...but Craig wouldn't leave me alone. He wound up leaving his friends and the other bar to walk us to her car. 

I can honestly say that sweet switch to made me fall. 

Little did we know our parents at the time worked together and literally had at least 30% of the same friends - we just always went to different parties. I met the man of my dreams by chance and I'm ever so glad we did! 

It would eventually lead to this...

My Proposal story will be for another day... =) 

Happy Birthday Craig aka Dill! I love you and you are the music to my soul. =) 

 I swear Craig is not a detective...but this is my favorite pic I've ever taken of him. =P