It all began with a swipe—well, a like—on Hinge in October 2021. Grace happened upon Patrick’s profile because he, conveniently, was staying at his parents' house in Lakeview for the week to find apartments after moving back from Seattle. They overlapped in the same neighborhood for just long enough to match. One more week, and they might have missed each other entirely.

From the start, Grace and Pat bonded over nights cooking dinner together, long lakefront walks with Grace’s dachshund, Opal, and rewatching The Office. It didn’t take long for them to realize this was something special. So special, Patrick even bought a Divvy bike subscription so he could get to her new apartment in Gold Coast, where parking was scarce and red wine was not. He has never ridden a bike since.

Fast forward to March of 2023. They decided to move-in together, back where it all started, in Lakeview. It was here they doubled their dog duty, adding a second dachshund, Rex. They spent the early part of the summer getting settled in, surviving Rex, and to top it off, each shifting careers. An ideal test for what was to come!

October 2023—two years after meeting—Pat proposed to Grace on a rainy day, in that very Lakeview apartment, and she said yes. Soon after, life gave them a beautiful surprise: they found out they were expecting a baby boy. Wedding planning took a temporary backseat as family planning took the front. They bought a house just outside of Chicago, where Opal and Rex were overjoyed to finally have a yard, and they were overjoyed to welcome their son, Pádraig, in June of 2024.

Now, they’re so excited to finally celebrate their love and future with all of their favorite people—this October, a month that’s come to mean so much to them.