Connect How did your love story begin?

A modern romance: we met on Hinge, bonding over Mario Kart and Tim Robinson jokes. Max lived in Jersey City and I was in West Harlem, we met in the middle for dates, spanning across the west side of Manhattan for nearly a year. Max had planned to move to Raleigh to be near family and his soon-to-be-born niece. We went from hour long NJ/NYC commutes to hour-long flights. We made it work. Today we are still long distance with the goal for Max to move back to NYC at the end of his lease this year.

What is your favorite memory you've shared as a couple?

This past Christmas season we decided to take a day off work to live out our own Elf montage. From the window displays on Fifth ave and decadent hot chocolates from Laduree to ice skating in Central Park, we even trekked through Time Square to write a wish on the New Years confetti. We ended the day at our favorite ramen spot. Despite all the chaos that is NYC during the holiday season, we felt like we were in our own bubble, and had the best time doing cheesy touristy activities.

What would you do with $20,000?

With $20K, we’d split it between two goals. Max, first in his family to graduate college (Tulane!), still has student loans we’d love to chip away at. The other half would go toward a long-overdue couples vacation. After a year of long-distance travel just to see each other, we haven’t had the budget for a real getaway, so we’d love to finally check off a few romantic bucket list spots in the South of France and Italy.