The story begins at a community group gathering. Rich's group was combined into the group that Emily was already in. Rich remembers meeting Emily for the first time and not having any romantic thoughts about her as he was too busy talking to his friend Matt.
Eventually the two got to hang out with each other in more social events with friends. Rich started to think about Emily romantically one evening after a group saw Iron Man. Rich didn't see the movie as he already saw it for a morale event at work but still wanted to meet up with friends that night. They all hung out at a place called Clever Bottle. Rich saw something special about Emily as she sat in the corner singing a Beatles song to herself while enjoying the evening.
Rich finally decided to ask Emily out. The couple would have to wait a bit as Emily was going on vacation that weekend. When she returned, Rich made the mistake of texting her if she was free this week. Even though he texted instead of calling, Emily said yes and the couple met up for a late dinner on a Thursday evening before Rich went off on his vacation.
The two had dinner at Barrio. The date went ok...no major catastrophes but Rich had a feeling that he didn't knock it out of the park. Rich drove Emily home and then went on to vacation in Chicago where he talked his sister's ear off about this girl in Seattle.
So after the first date, Rich reached out to Emily to try a second. Emily wasn't sure about Rich yet so she suggested they hang out as friends for a bit.
Rich looked for ways to invite Emily to events and after a few times of hanging out with groups, Emily knew she had to find a way to show Rich she was interested romantically again.
Luckily for her, Rich was still interested in her so it didn't take much convincing. On a night out on the town, Emily asked Rich if he wanted to check out the Solstice Festival in Fremont the next day. Rich had no plans so he said sure. Emily thought it would be a group thing and invited others but Rich was the only one that showed up.
The two met in Belltown by the giant popsicle to take a bus to the fair. Rich knew she was special as she offered to bring iced coffee to enjoy on the ride.
When they arrived at the fair, they grabbed some food and had some nice conversations as they sat by the lake. After lunch, they took in some of the sights of the fair and ended up listening to a band as they missed the parade.
The time finally came for the two to end the day as Rich had a birthday party to get to and Emily had a baby shower to attend. They took the bus back to Belltown, only to meet the next day for coffee and more conversation.
Rich and Emily continued to hang out with each other often. They both had so much in common and hit it off pretty well; however, there were some awkward moments in the beginning such as their first kiss or the parting high five after.
Despite the awkwardness, the couple continued to see each other and go on more adventures. Some of their adventures led them off to different places. At one point Rich was in Paris on business and Emily was in Turkey on vacation. Both missed each other and were able to communicate over Skype and email, but both knew that it was time for the next step in their relationship.
When they returned from overseas, they had a nice dinner at Rich's place. After dinner, Rich took Emily out on his balcony and said that he loved her. She reciprocated in a lovely moment. The couple continued their adventures together growing more in love as the days went on.
It all started with an S+ (calendar invite for those that don't work at Microsoft) sent from Rich to Emily for September 27, 2014 aptly named Surprise Day!. Rich then asked Emily a whole bunch of random questions including such gems as favorite Michael Jackson song to keep her on her toes and guessing as to what the surprise would be.
The day finally came and Rich picked up Emily and they proceeded to the first surprise...Rich rented an electric boat for just the two of them to cruise Lake Union.
The two of them listened to some music and cruised around the lake enjoying a beautiful early fall day in Seattle while building an appetite for the awesome picnic lunch that Rich had brought aboard. Rich captained the vessel well and eventually they made it to a region of the lake by Fremont, where first date take 2 happened.
Rich told Emily that this would be a good place for a picnic and tried to park the boat. It is a busy shipping channel so Rich had to stop his speech midway through so the boat did not hit the shore as it was tousled about by other vessel's wake. Eventually, Rich completed his speech and got down on one knee and handed Emily a photo strip of Will Smith, a picture of Emily, a picture of a bride and groom, and finally a picture of Rich. Emily was a bit confused by it at first but eventually figured it out and said yes. Rich then piloted the vessel to a safer location for lunch.
The couple then went back to Rich's place to prepare for the next surprise. They walked to a jewelry store that Rich preselected and they proceeded to pick out a ring for Emily.
Ring shopping is tough work and makes a person hungry so they both got ready for the last surprise...dinner at Canlis, an amazing restaurant in Seattle. The couple had the chef's tasting menu and despite the first course making Rich feel a little off, they enjoyed the evening and each other's company at a amazing location.