October 12th, 2013.

Saturday, October 12th, 2013 was a big day for me.

I'd met this guy at a bar eight days ago, and we'd been texting all day everyday since. He was tall (very tall) with dark hair, pretty eyes, and model cheekbones. I didn't know all that much about him; just that he was 26, had a poodle, and took five whole days to ask me out.

And October 12th, 2013 was the day.

We went for lunch at Bella Brava in downtown St. Petersburg. He lived about 45 minutes away from my parents' place, where I was living post-college, so I opted to drive us the extra 20 it would take to get downtown. It was a beautiful day - October in Florida generally means lots of sunshine, a tad less humidity, and midday temps hovering in the low 80s. I wore a black crop top and a striped high waisted skirt with flat sandals. I'd spent a whole two days looking for the perfect pair of wedges to wear out with my super tall date, but I had been a season late and a dollar short. I remember feeling funny having to hold my arm up just a little higher to hold his hand.

He wore a light blue polo and navy shorts with boat shoes, because he "thinks it's weird when guys wear flip flops." For someone who'd been bantering with me back and forth over the past week, he was awfully shy. Conversation was easy, but I had to fight to get him to look me in the eyes until I finally said something.

"You can look at me! I don't bite," I'd said to him when we sat down to order drinks. He laughed and took the hint. We spent the entire lunch getting to know each other. I thought I was being my usual calm, cool, collected (and obviously cute...) self, when he kindly mentioned I had spinach in my teeth.

"Oh, no...it hasn't been there long has it?" I asked him.

"Kind of...like the last 20 minutes."

Now that my facade of sophistication had officially been put to rest, I knew I had a keeper on my hands. He got the check, and we hopped across Beach Drive to walk along the seawall where I snapped this beauty (IG won't show it, but the comment is him saying "looks fun." - ha!).

We sat beside the bay, had our first kiss, and I guess you could say the rest is history...as we just celebrated three years since our first date on Wednesday.

The years have had their ups and downs, but we've been there for each other every step of the way...and it's been phenomenally easy. I like to think it's because he's my best friend first, and boyfriend second. It's crazy to think how much we've both grown in the last few years, and how much has changed, but one thing never did: who we are together.



And with that, I'll wrap up my cheesy post and move on to the weekend! FINALLY. I hope you all have big plans - we'll be in Fort Myers for the first time in four months to visit Ryan's parents and a few friends. Even though it's just a two hour trip, it'll be nice to get away for the weekend.

What was your first date with your S/O like? Or what's your favorite first date story? (or worst...like spinach in your teeth. Ha!)