The story begins many years ago, long before Erin and I crossed paths, with a college friend named Caitlin Collins, now Caitlin Gunn. Caitlin had an idea of the kind of woman I was hoping to meet. Jump forward to the fall of 2022. I received a text message saying, "I think I may have found someone you'd like." My immediate response was, "Really? Did she just buy a Go Wild pass today too?" A couple of weeks later, I received another text saying "Happy Thanksgiving" along with Erin's contact information. Being myself, I promptly looked her up and discovered she was in her 50s, an orthodontist in the Northwest Hills area. I remember that day vividly. I was at the beach with friends and thought, "Maybe next time." Ten days later, I received a follow-up text asking if I had contacted her. In my head, I thought, "No way am I calling her." Little did I know, there were two Erin Arnolds in Northwest Hills.

On the morning of December 3rd, I mustered the courage to call her. As expected, she didn't answer, so I left a message. Hours later, she texted me back, saying she was out shopping with her mom but would be available Sunday afternoon. In my typical fashion, I couldn't just suggest grabbing a drink. Instead, I offered three options, one of which was having a drink at Hotel Magdalena followed by ice skating at the Four Seasons, to which she agreed.

The date was set for 2:45, because why be ordinary? Those who know me well know that I like to be prepared, so naturally, I pre-bought tickets with a specified time slot. When Erin arrived, I was excited, heading into a blind date knowing nothing about the person other than her name and the picture of a horse next to it in my Apple contacts.

As we sat down for drinks at Summer House, Erin and I engaged in a conversation that seemed never-ending. At least, that's what I thought. Later, I learned that Erin had agreed to ice skating but didn't actually want to go. Nevertheless, we stayed and got to know each other for the next three hours. The following Tuesday, Erin and I went on another date to see "Elf" at the Paramount, which went splendidly. Of course, I pre-asked for a third date. That Saturday, we met at Loro for dinner. If you haven't been to Loro, it's a walk-up-and-order-at-the-counter kind of place. While waiting to order, Erin mentioned she wasn't drinking that night, which I agreed would be a nice change for conversation. However, we had planned to visit Gibson Street Bar to see the Christmas decorations. What was supposed to be a well-planned evening turned into a rushed one, with us being in and out in forty minutes. I ended up calling Barron Johnson, saying I needed a beer to put the flames out.

It turned out Erin wasn't used to dating, and three dates in one week pushed her limits and didn't leave her time to unwind with friends. I quickly learned that when you Uber everywhere, people might assume you don't have a car or are in some kind of trouble. Shortly after, Erin confronted me about not having a car, to which I was surprised and asked what she meant. After clearing up the misunderstanding, life continued.

Jump forward to January 2024, and we finally got to go ice skating, the date we never had. That's when I asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.