It was early September 2020. I was selling new homes in Erie and Josh was a Software Engineer working from home. We had lived in the same neighborhood for about 2 years at that time and we frequented the same neighborhood bar. We knew of each other and had a handful of mutual friends. Josh had tried to introduce himself to me a several times over those years, but was consistently met with a quick hello which was immediately followed by a cold shoulder. Ya see, I knew he was significantly younger than I was, and that he was some type of engineer (smart nerds are all that a girl should ever really hope for). I also knew that the first time I saw his adorable face I instantly had a somewhat jarring but pretty distinct feeling that his dimples could easily become my kryptonite if I wasn’t careful. ;)

I was heading off to work on just another typical Friday morning when I was met with a completely flat tire as I approached my parking space. This is a fairly frequent occurrence in my line of work. I decided to deal with it later, and jumped in an Uber and off to work. Later that afternoon I called one of our mutual friends; Jed, hoping that he could help with my tire situation after I got home from work.

Well, that night, like many others, I ended up staying pretty late at the office. By the time I got home Jed had long forgotten about my tire. He was well into his Friday evening and was out on the town with 3 of his buddies (Josh included). So, needless to say, I was met with a little resistance when I called him again asking for his help. I was unaware of this at the time, but when we got off the phone Jed explained the situation to his buddies and they all instantly volunteered to help. Within about 15 minutes I had 3 of my guy friends along with the cute guy I had been trying to avoid at my door ready and eager to “rescue” me. ;)

Once we got the spare tire on we realized that we had black filth all over ourselves. So we hiked up the 7 flights of stairs to my place to get cleaned up. It was during this hike that Josh decides he is going to try and make his move. And what does he choose out of all the conversation topics in the world as his opener; dog poop! I kid you not, he rambled on and on about dog poop all the way up the 7 flights and then well into the hand washing section of the evening. I remember giggling to myself and thinking “wow, this dorky, adorable guy really has zero game!”

After we all cleaned up (and Josh finally wrapped it up regarding the poop fascination), I took all of them out for drinks as a thank you. Eventually we all ended up going to Jeds place to play pool. At some point I popped outside solo so that I could finish my picks for the upcoming week of NFL games. Within a few minutes Josh was sitting next to me on the front steps pretending to be an NFL fan as well. I now know that pro football is by far his least favorite sport. Haha! Nevertheless, somehow a friendly bet was made on one of the upcoming Sunday afternoon games. The wager; loser buys the winner a beer.

I had taken the day off that Sunday and was at our neighborhood bar at 11am and very excited to watch football all day! Very much to my surprise, I ended up losing the previously mentioned bet. So, being a woman of my word, I begrudgingly asked a friend to send me Josh’s phone number so I could pay up. I hesitated for a moment because I already knew I had a little crush…but then the Blue Moons coursing through my veins since before 11am overruled all logic and I gave in. I asked him if he wanted to come down and watch the afternoon games with me. And, of course, to enjoy his victory beer. He said yes….and the rest, as they say, is history. ❤️

In 2018 I moved to Cap Hill to start my exploration of Denver. I frequented Capital Tavern, the bar across the street on my days off. As I began to meet the regulars, one in particular stood out. She was always sitting by herself at the end of the bar. Over the weeks, I built up the courage to say hi. I waited till a mutual friend was talking to her to approach. I stuck my hand out and introduced myself. She barely looked at me, and with a quick “I’m Danita”, turned back to her conversation. As someone who can take a hint, I tucked my tail and went on my way. Over the next year I would occasionally try to say hi, but was always met with the same uninterested hello. After a while I accepted that she wasn’t interested and moved on, thinking nothing more of it.

Fast forward a year and I was out with our friend Jed. He mentions Danita asking him to help her change a tire. It was early so we all decided to tag along (secretly I was eager to help hoping for this to be my ‘way in’). After the tire change, Danita offers to buy us beers as a thank you. I end up getting to chat with her the whole walk over. She still makes fun of me to this day, because she recalls me talking about dog poop the whole time. She always tells this part of the story saying all she could think to herself was, “Aw, this guy has no game.” Well... I say to that, look what website you’re reading this story on today ;)

At one point that night Danita changed the topic of conversation (for god knows why?)! Who wouldn’t want to discuss my qualms with dog poop in the stairwell of my apartment building? We started chatting football and her and I made a beer bet on one of the upcoming Sunday morning’s games. I went home that night thinking nothing of it. At this point I was still certain that she was not interested and assumed that bet was just silly banter. Fast forward to the next Sunday afternoon. I am relaxing at home when I get a text from an unknown number. It was Danita saying that she owed me a drink from the bet. She said she was around the corner and I should join her. I jumped out of bed and headed over. We talked all night and at the end of the night, my charms along with my previous passionate rant about dog poop finally won her over (or so I’d like to believe). ;)

Bonus fact: Apparently, and I didn’t know this at the time, I had a pimple on my nose that was seconds from popping that day at the bar and she couldn’t take her eyes off of it. But, that California boy charm trumps all, and it didn’t matter. Also, during our first sleepover, I apparently farted in my sleep. And while Danita says that she thinks that is disgusting and in the past it would have been a very quick deal breaker, she oddly thought it was cute when it was me.