Clear Cut Couples: Nolan and Jessica

Jessica and Nolan met in college at Boston College. They had a few mutual friends and would run into each other here and there. Their two best friends started dating so their friend groups began to hang out pretty regularly. They met sophomore year and were on and off again until they really started dating their senior year.

One holiday weekend on campus, they had their first date. Because of the holiday, campus was essentially empty but for some reason, they were still there for the weekend. They decided to get dinner at Hops N Scotch in Brookline, MA. It was the first time that they had really hung out with each other without their friends and were able to talk and get to know each other.

They started dating in January 2016 (6 years) during their senior year of college. They graduated and Jessica moved to New York City while he stayed in Boston to get his Masters degree. After a year of long distance, Nolan moved to NYC as well and they got engaged in October 2021.

After he graduated from graduate school, they decided to do a 3 week cross country trip. They left from New York and drove west through Pittsburgh, Chicago, Madison, WI, Badlands National Park, Deadwood, SD, Cody, WY, and Yellowstone. They camped in most places so they became experts in setting up/taking down their campsites even though neither of them had been big campers. They then went south through the Grand Tetons, Denver (where they saw Paul Simon at Red Rocks), and Taos, NM and then back east through Austin, New Orleans, Nashville, and Charlotte. It was truly an unforgettable experience. They also took a trip to Europe in June 2019 where they stopped in Stockholm, Prague, and Vienna. Jessica studied abroad in Prague so it was fun to have her show him around.

He proposed on October 2nd, 2021. Every fall, they take the train up to the Hudson Valley to enjoy the foliage and spend a day out of the city. He told her that he would plan the day for them so they took the train to Peekskill, NY for lunch and then to Beacon, NY to visit a brewery there that they like and to have dinner. He coordinated with both of their parents and her two best friends to meet them at the brewery so he had to kill some time walking down Main Street by mindlessly looking through random stores while all he could think about was the ring in his pocket. They finally got to the spot where he wanted to propose and because it was such a beautiful fall day, there were a lot of people there taking pictures by the waterfall. He eventually worked up the courage and proposed in front of a small crowd. Her friends jumped out and surprised her and then their families surprised her at the brewery afterwards before they all went to dinner. The next day back in the city, he planned a small surprise engagement party for their larger group of friends at their apartment to celebrate.

Jessica was so surprised! As mentioned before, they always took a fall trip to that area so nothing was out of the ordinary. She had no clue until they were standing by the waterfall waiting to "take a picture" and she could see how anxious/nervous/excited that he was. And she absolutely loves the ring. It was just what she wanted and she never wants to take it off. They are getting married in June 2023 in Westhampton, NY. Congrats you two! We are SO happy for you!