Their story begins on November 18, 2022 when Carolina shows up at Josh’s birthday party… Wait. How’d she end up at his birthday party if they had never met before? I guess the story doesn’t quite start there. A little backstory – Josh was having a joint birthday party with a friend who invited Carolina. Carolina shows up and meets the new and, quite literally, never-before-seen 26-year-old version of Josh. At this party, Carolina wishes Josh a happy birthday, and they only exchange maybe a total of 90 seconds of pleasantries. But this was enough to start their story.

Two whole months go by where there is no real contact between Josh and Carolina. (This is where the story gets good? Two months without talking?) They didn’t have each others’ numbers, they were busy traveling for the holidays, and their paths didn’t quite cross again until January. Carolina was at the airport on her way home from a work trip when she got a text inviting her to a movie night. Even though she was tired from her trip, she had never heard of the movie, and it was at an address she didn’t recognize, she figured there would probably be candy there. And despite being a weary traveler, that was enough to get her to go. Once home, Carolina routes to the house address, and upon arriving, realizes that it’s that same Josh’s house – the one from the birthday party. 

When Carolina walks in, there’s one seat in the house open, and it’s next to Josh – it was as if fate had brought them together again! Oops, that’s not true. Actually, it’s all the way across the room. With, like, ten feet and four people of separation between them. There was also no candy. Two painful blows. But hang in there, the story gets good soon. 

The movie finishes, and eventually, everyone leaves. Oh, sorry, not Carolina. She doesn’t leave. It’s only 9:30 – who goes to bed then? Luckily, not Josh. They start talking about a flurry of topics, beginning with where they’re from and what they do for work, transitioning into their love for music and concerts. Josh introduces Carolina to the artist Clinton Kane, and eventually Josh even shows Carolina the rings he made out of antique spoons, after which they also bond over each of their visits to the same antique stores. They say their goodbyes, each feeling the chemistry, and hoping they’d get the chance to have another conversation very soon. 





Yeah, you got me there. Some say Josh, some say Carolina. I’ll tell the story and let you decide. The next day after the movie night, Josh sends Carolina a DM on Instagram 👀. He tells her all of his favorite Clinton Kane songs. In her first response, she gives him her phone number and tells him to text her 👀. Which he does promptly 👀.

Two days pass, and Josh and Carolina both end up at Target after church with some mutual friends. They laugh at dollar section finds together and then go their separate ways. But when she gets home, Carolina texts Josh that she wants to hang out outside of a Target with him, perhaps at an antique shop sometime 👀? Josh says, “How about next weekend?” 👀. And with that, the date was secured.

So? Who do you think made the first move?

You may be wondering – did they see each other again before their date? The answer is yes. In fact, they saw each other again the following day, completely by accident. Carolina and Josh just so happened to join the same volunteer group independently. As in, two months ago when they had first signed up, they still barely knew each other, let alone that the other was also planning to join the group. This was the first day of training, and coincidentally, they were the first two to show up. With every seat in the room empty, an opportunity is born. They at long last sit next to each other (okay, this one’s true).

One group member suggests that everyone go get dinner after the training. Though everyone is initially enthusiastic, the group eventually dwindles down until there are only three remaining – and I bet you can guess two of them. At the restaurant, music takes hold of the conversation again. Carolina and Josh discover they share a mutual love for Colony House and the band is playing at the Ryman in exactly one month! They buy tickets together immediately, appearing to be longtime friends, rather than this being only the fourth time they had spoken. Well, let’s hope nothing bad happens on their date in a few days, because that would make for an awkward concert, wouldn’t it? 😬.

Hey, did you know that antique shops close when my grandpa goes to sleep? Apparently, they do. It’s Friday. The antique stores close at 5. Their date starts at 6. Josh scrambles to think of another date idea in the meantime, but luckily Carolina knows these parts and suggests the Wedgewood-Houston area of town to narrow down a dinner/post-dinner spot. Josh decides on Il Forno for dinner, which happens to be Carolina’s favorite cuisine – carbs. I mean, Italian. They chat about many things over the course of their meal, but one thing in particular makes Josh’s heart skip a beat. A topic so intimate that most first dates would never dare to discuss it publicly. Personal finance.

With all going so well, they then go to Carolina’s favorite jazz cafe nearby. While enjoying the live band, they end up engaging in another one of Josh’s loves – chess. Wow, two wins for Josh already! What will they do next? You guessed it, watch Fast and Furious. It’s a movie neither of them have seen before, but there are like, a million sequels, so it has to be at least kinda good, right? The movie ends around midnight, but they still don’t want the night to end. And luckily, their mutual night-owl natures align, so they burn the midnight, er, post-midnight oil, some more.

ENTER: The Hygge Game. For those who have never played, it’s a question card game designed to get interesting conversation flowing. And boy, did it flow. They talked about a whole myriad of topics, but most importantly, learned that they each get a kick out of debating. In fact, the biggest debate they’ve ever had was this very night, stemming from one silly question where they couldn’t help but to laugh through their reasonings for minutes on end.

Eventually, Josh checks the time. 3 A.M.?! Already?! The nine hours they spent together had flashed by, but it was time to go home. They decide to see each other again soon. When Josh gets in his car, the stereo kicks on, Clinton Kane playing. The song?

Fitting. ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎