Who knows where I'd be if I hadn't agreed to cover my friend's waitress shift 16 years ago at Mellow Mushroom in Charlottesville, Virginia. Because that’s how I met Bryan, I was his waitress and he asked me on a date.
On that first date, I knew he was the one. It was just easy. I could be myself 100%. My quirky, free-spirited, very driven self.
He asked me to tell him something no one knows about me and I told him I wanted to start a jewelry business. I asked him the same question, he said he wanted to be a dad. And he told me he’s going to be a damn good one. What I didn’t know at the time was that he would be the absolute best.
Last year at Georgia's 3rd birthday party—which we celebrated by eating pizza in the school bus at Mellow Mushroom—we told the girls how Bryan and I met. Of course the girls thought it was hilarious, asked the funniest questions, and made us kiss on the lips, and thought the whole thing was hysterical.
In 2016, Bryan & I ran the NYC marathon together— I didn't even know I was pregnant with Georgia at the time—but it was one of the best experiences we’ve ever had together. Last year, we took a cross-country 5 hour flight to California and he spent the flight with two daughters on his lap and the other screaming at his feet.
And for Christmas, I rented a dump trunk and gave him free rein to declutter the house. (Clearly, we love to give one another romantic gifts.)
Bryan and I have always pushed one another to get out of our comfort zones. I push him to communicate and he encourages me to let things go. I push him to be less structured while he urges me to have a plan. He’s a facts guy and I work from intuition. He’s decisive and I overthink. But, we work at it and we always meet somewhere in the middle.
For the past 17 years, Bryan has left this quote for me the night before my birthday. Sometimes it is hand-written, sometimes he leaves a card but most of the time he just says it. And, it’s the only thing I need to let me know that each year he’s beside me for another adventure.
Everything I could have ever asked for comes from this guy.
