Claire and Grant's first date was on November 1, 2023, at 54Thirty Rooftop (a bar in downtown Denver). The two shared a bottle of French wine as Claire had just moved back to Colorado after living in Paris for a year. Grant battled nerves and a bad cold throughout the entire night but hid it well enough for Claire to say yes to a second date. (The above photo is from a future date at 54Thirty).

After an exciting month full of many dates, on December 3, 2023, Grant took Claire out on a date night to a new cocktail and oyster bar that Claire had wanted to try. After the date, Grant officially asked Claire to be his girlfriend.

On the last day to buy ski passes for the season, Claire convinced (pressured) Grant to buy a pass so the two could go skiing together all winter.

In January of 2024, the two went skiing for the first time at Winter Park (pictured above). While Claire was excited to get back into skiing, Grant was extremely nervous that he would embarrass himself in front of his new girlfriend. Despite the nervousness and with some extreme patience from Claire, Grant was able to ski confidently by the end of the day. The two enjoyed skiing together for the rest of the season.

Over President’s Day weekend, Claire and Grant traveled to Iowa so Claire could meet Grant’s parents and his best friends for the first time. This was Claire's first trip to Iowa.

This trip was the first time Claire and Grant had flown together, and it didn’t go very well. Because of winter weather in Denver, the two missed their connecting flight in Minneapolis and had to make the five-hour drive to Iowa in the dark. They arrived at Grant’s parents’ house at 3 am!

Despite the rough travel, they still had a great weekend. They spent time with Grant’s family, attended an Iowa basketball game, celebrated one of Grant’s friends’ birthdays with his hometown friends, and toured the campus of The University of Iowa and downtown Iowa City. This trip was special for Grant because he was able to show Claire a different side of his life, including the people and places of his childhood.

At the end of April, Claire’s mom and dad flew to Denver to spend time with Claire and meet Grant for the first time.

Grant was excited to finally meet Claire’s parents, but he was nervous and wanted to make a great first impression. On that Friday night, Grant met Claire and her parents for dinner at Linger in LoHi. Once sitting at the table, Claire’s parents could see the nervousness on Grant’s face, but after a few minutes Grant settled in, and everyone had a great dinner of chatting and getting to know each other better.

The next night the four planned on going to the Colorado Rockies game. To surprise (and try to impress) Claire’s parents, Grant got his company’s tickets that are a few rows behind the home team’s dugout. The game was a ton of fun despite the snow that fell about halfway through the game!

By the end of the weekend, Claire and Grant already began planning their next trip to see her parents over the 4th of July.

At the beginning of May, Claire and Grant spent their first weekend in Estes Park together. Estes Park holds a special place in both Claire and Grant's hearts because they independently fell in love with Colorado when they visited for the first time (for Claire when touring colleges in 2015 and for Grant on a post-college road trip with his now groomsmen in 2021). Estes Park has become Claire and Grant's favorite mountain getaway to do together in Colorado.

While Grant had already met both Claire's sister and her parents, he had not yet visited her hometown. Because of this, the two planned a trip to see Claire's family over the 4th of July weekend. This was Grant's first trip to the Pacific Northwest.

On this trip, the two spent time in both Camas, Washington (Claire's hometown) and Cannon Beach, Oregon (location of the Bauer family beach house). They toured Claire's hometown, visited with friends and family, and enjoyed a relaxing few days on the Oregon Coast.

On the last night of the trip, Grant finally worked up the courage to ask Claire's father for his permission to marry Claire.

On September 15, 2024, Claire and Grant spent a great day in Boulder, Colorado leading up to their engagement. After lunch, the two drove to one of Claire's favorite places from college, Lost Gulch Lookout.

Once they arrived at the lookout, Grant and Claire turned to look at the mountains, when all of a sudden, Grant got down on one knee and began to give his well-rehearsed speech (he forgot 75% of it) to Claire. After attempting his speech, Grant asked Claire, "Will you marry me?" and she said yes!

Claire Bauer and Grant Pientok will be married and officially become the Pientoks on May 18, 2025. May 18th is already a special day for Claire and Grant as both of their parents were married on this day in 1996 (Pientok) and 1997 (Bauer). There was no other option for Claire and Grant than to be married on May 18th.