We had already been talking for hours on end over the phone but Amita was in Kansas City so it took us a while to actually meet. Our first date was on her birthday and she took me to a speakeasy where Al Capone used to hang out. I was already pretty hooked but that first date definitely sealed the deal. I asked her if a first date with me was the best birthday present she'd ever gotten and she said "I guess it was tolerable." Exactly the kind of lasting impression I had hoped to make.

On a trip to California, we planned to have Thanksgiving dinner at a vineyard near Yosemite National Park and explore the outdoors the next morning. At dinner, Amita joked that my romance game was slipping because there were no flower petals in the room like we'd had on a vacation the previous year. Little did she know that as we were eating, the hotel was putting flower petals everywhere and setting up pictures of us all over the room... as well as a handmade jewelry box with a ring in it that I had sent them the previous week. She figured out what was happening pretty quickly when we walked back into the room and was mostly happy... but also a little annoyed that I was gloating so much about her jokes at dinner. "Not enough romance, eh? In your face! Will you please marry me?" We're so excited to celebrate with you... see you in Tahoe!