Long ago, in a land far, far away called "Pre-Recession New York City," Neil and Jamie met and flirted over glasses of Sancerre and pinot grigio at the Hotel on Rivington, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Jamie was wearing Tory Burch flats and straight-leg jeans. Neil was wearing gold sunglasses and contrast-stitched loafers that Jamie still makes fun of to this day. Fashion faux pas aside, nothing got in the way of our initial connection: We talked about the New York media scene, movies, work, our families, our friends...and suddenly we realized three hours had gone by.
Almost eight years later, we still feel the same way when we talk to each other, whether we're at home giving recaps of our workday, at dinner sharing a kale salad and steaks at our favorite café around the corner, on the couch critiquing the latest episode of Mad Men, or on our cellphones when one of us is out of town. Hours slide by like they're minutes, and we always feel like we're running out of time together. Now, we hope we never will.
A proposal that comes after seven-plus years of courtship had better be a good one (obviously Jamie wrote that part), and Neil nailed it (obviously Neil wrote that part). On December 5, 2014, on the rooftop of the Z Ocean Hotel South Beach in Miami, Florida, where we stayed on our very first vacation together in 2008, we shared a beautiful moment looking out over the navy-blue sea, quietly appreciating the view, the weather, and each other. As if on cue, Neil asked Jamie to turn around. She looked skyward, and a small yellow propeller plane flew overhead, a banner trailing from the tail that read: "MARRY ME, JAMIE." Note the correct punctuation, because Neil knew that Jamie, ever the copy editor, would notice. (She did!)
Neil must have practiced, because he grabbed Jamie's left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger so swiftly, it was as though he'd done it every day for the past seven years. And if you think about it, metaphorically, he had. We think the video below, taken by Felix Alvarez right after we got engaged, speaks for itself.
And they lived happily ever after.