Five years ago on October 2nd, Colin and I met at a Paul Krugman lecture in Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan. I had tagged along with two mutual friends, one of whom was meeting Colin there. "You should talk to Colin," our friend Emily told me. "He is also a ballroom dancer." But Colin and I were sitting three seats apart in the auditorium, so our first conversation went something like this:
Emily: Claire, this is Colin. He's also a ballroom dancer!
Colin [leaning awkwardly across our friends in the seats between us]: Hi! I'd love to talk about dancing sometime!
Claire [also leaning awkwardly]: Hi! Yeah.
I'm a charmer, what can I say? Luckily there were many more opportunities for Colin and me to hang out that fall, and eventually talking about dancing turned into actually dancing, and then to dating. And through all that, October 2nd would continue to be... well... forgotten.
Until Colin recently decided to google "Paul Krugman University of Michigan" and found out the exact date, time, and location of our first conversation. As far as anniversaries go, October 2nd isn't all that meaningful, but if you're looking to plan a surprise date night, it's pretty good.
So Colin secretly coordinated with two of my Boston friends to ensure that I'd be free for dinner on Thursday, October 2nd. They emailed me weeks ago to set up a "girls night" dinner, then on the day of, one cancelled because she was "sick." Shortly thereafter, the IEc receptionist handed me a card from Colin. "What?" I thought. I assumed Colin had mailed it to the office, until I opened it to read a sweet note asking if he could pick me up at 7:20 that night.
"Are you coming here?!?" I texted Colin. "ARE YOU HERE?!!!" All of a sudden, I realized that my friends must have been in on it. "Did you tell Ashley to be sick today??"
It was torture to try to focus at work for the rest of the afternoon, but I knew that Colin had a draft of a major grant application due to his advisor that night, so I couldn't skip out of work to hang out with him anyway. Finally the end of the work day came, and I ran home to shower, put on a dress, and get ready for date night.
Colin deserves major gold stars because he made reservations at one of the swankiest restaurants in the city. Top of the Hub is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, the tallest building in Boston (or is that honor held by the Hancock Building? I can never remember which one is officially taller), and has amazing views of the city, river, and harbor. I've been saying for a couple years now that I wanted to get drinks there to enjoy the view, but we never found a good time to go.
The food was better than I had expected for such a "destination" restaurant, and the views totally lived up to expectations! Colin had also found a venue with salsa dancing on Thursday nights, hoping to celebrate our "five years of knowing each other" anniversary by reliving our first dancing dates. But by the time we finished dinner, it was 10:30, and we were both yawning. We opted to call it a night and go home; salsa dancing can wait for next time!
The following morning, we met Colin's brother, who coincidentally happened to be in town for a friend's wedding, for a breakfast of crepes and coffee (or chai, if you're me). And then I headed into work, and Colin headed back to New Haven to get back to business as usual. But from now on October 2nd will be a little bit more memorable!
Emily: Claire, this is Colin. He's also a ballroom dancer!
Colin [leaning awkwardly across our friends in the seats between us]: Hi! I'd love to talk about dancing sometime!
Claire [also leaning awkwardly]: Hi! Yeah.
I'm a charmer, what can I say? Luckily there were many more opportunities for Colin and me to hang out that fall, and eventually talking about dancing turned into actually dancing, and then to dating. And through all that, October 2nd would continue to be... well... forgotten.
Until Colin recently decided to google "Paul Krugman University of Michigan" and found out the exact date, time, and location of our first conversation. As far as anniversaries go, October 2nd isn't all that meaningful, but if you're looking to plan a surprise date night, it's pretty good.
So Colin secretly coordinated with two of my Boston friends to ensure that I'd be free for dinner on Thursday, October 2nd. They emailed me weeks ago to set up a "girls night" dinner, then on the day of, one cancelled because she was "sick." Shortly thereafter, the IEc receptionist handed me a card from Colin. "What?" I thought. I assumed Colin had mailed it to the office, until I opened it to read a sweet note asking if he could pick me up at 7:20 that night.
"Are you coming here?!?" I texted Colin. "ARE YOU HERE?!!!" All of a sudden, I realized that my friends must have been in on it. "Did you tell Ashley to be sick today??"
It was torture to try to focus at work for the rest of the afternoon, but I knew that Colin had a draft of a major grant application due to his advisor that night, so I couldn't skip out of work to hang out with him anyway. Finally the end of the work day came, and I ran home to shower, put on a dress, and get ready for date night.
Colin deserves major gold stars because he made reservations at one of the swankiest restaurants in the city. Top of the Hub is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, the tallest building in Boston (or is that honor held by the Hancock Building? I can never remember which one is officially taller), and has amazing views of the city, river, and harbor. I've been saying for a couple years now that I wanted to get drinks there to enjoy the view, but we never found a good time to go.
The food was better than I had expected for such a "destination" restaurant, and the views totally lived up to expectations! Colin had also found a venue with salsa dancing on Thursday nights, hoping to celebrate our "five years of knowing each other" anniversary by reliving our first dancing dates. But by the time we finished dinner, it was 10:30, and we were both yawning. We opted to call it a night and go home; salsa dancing can wait for next time!
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| Our table, with a view of the Charles River, the Hancock Building, and Logan Airport. |
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| View of the Hancock Building and Boston. |
